Columban Sisters Minah, Paulina, Angela, Bella join the peaceful protest
Korean Youth – Hope for the Future
I still vividly remember the night martial law was declared in Korea on December 3, 2024. I was finishing a thankful, ordinary day and falling asleep when I received a message from a friend: “What on earth is happening in our country?” The message woke me up, and I checked the news online. Breaking news reported that President Yoon had declared martial law. The justification was absurd—he claimed that anti-state forces were cooperating with the opposition party and threatening the nation. I couldn’t believe that something like this could suddenly happen on such an ordinary day. “Martial law? Is this fake news? Martial law that I had only read about in textbooks or seen in movies and documentaries from the era of the new military regime – happening in 2024?”
Fortunately, citizens quickly rushed to the National Assembly to protest and demand that martial law be lifted. About two and a half hours after it was declared, the motion to terminate martial law passed. Yet many people stayed up all night, filled with fear and anger about what had happened in a democratic country.
We could not allow someone who used his power to ignore the sovereignty, safety, and dignity of the people to remain in the presidency. From the following day, people began gathering in front of the National Assembly every day to protest for President Yoon’s impeachment. I heard that many young women in their 20s and 30s especially joined those protests.
That weekend, Columban Sister Erisa Lee was scheduled to hold an Advent retreat at the Seoul convent for young adults. The theme of the retreat was “Mary set out on a journey…” (Luke 1:39). But the Sisters struggled with whether it was right to sit quietly in a retreat while young people were out in the freezing cold protesting for justice. Mary, pregnant with Jesus, set out to support Elizabeth in solidarity—so how could we remain still? The day before the retreat, Erisa sent a cancellation message to the participants: “Dear young people… I believe that being on the road with others who hope for a bright future is living Advent with our whole selves. …Let us meet on the road.”
I joined the protests several times with the Columban Sisters. The crowd included people of many generations, but as the media had said, young people led the protest. Many brought light sticks – the same ones they use at the concerts of the K-pop artists they love. They said those light sticks were the most precious lights in the world. They used that precious light to brighten the cold, dark protest sites for the people they loved. Led by that light, the demonstrations were peaceful, not violent.
Many people say that young people today don’t care about the common good and are individualistic. They say young people are absent from the Church, that there are no vocations, and that they have no interest in spiritual life. But seeing young people holding up their light sticks in the freezing cold made me question those claims: ‘The young people they say are missing from the Church are all gathered here, crying out for justice. Maybe it’s the Church that isn’t paying attention to what young people are thirsty for. Maybe it’s the Church that doesn’t know how to approach them.’
If they joined the protests driven only by anger, the protests would have been violent. I believe the protests were peaceful and passionate because they were led by justice rooted in love. Perhaps this is the kind of justice God intends for us.
One of my acquaintances who has a daughter in her 20s asked her daughter, who attended the protests every week: “Your generation values individual happiness, so why do you go out and protest every week?” Her daughter replied: “Yes, personal happiness matters. That’s exactly why we can’t tolerate someone who threatens it by taking power. Because we respect each other’s happiness, we stand in solidarity.” Hearing this, I felt that young people are practicing “Love your neighbor as yourself” in a way that makes sense in their generation.
Now, more than a year after the martial law and impeachment crisis, a new president is working to guide the country back to normal. But those who led the rebellion have still not been punished, some continue to defend martial law as justified, and they try to mislead young people. Social, economic, and spiritual darkness has not disappeared. Yet I believe many young people are still struggling onward along paths of justice and love.
Remembering the light they brought to the protests, I pray that I too may, like Mary, set out on the road and stand in solidarity—so that the light of hope we carried together will never be extinguished.
By Sr. Minah Seo for Far East Magazine