From Seoul to Delhi: A shared legacy of freedom and sacrifice

Seventy-five years ago, on June 25, 1950, war erupted on the Korean Peninsula, splitting an ethnically homogenous people into two starkly different states. This division, like the partition of India, left a deep and enduring chasm between people who once shared a common history but were torn apart by political ideologies. Today, the contrast between the two Koreas serves as a profound lesson of the enduring strength of the people versus the often unrelenting grip of the state. During my recent months in South Korea as a Korea Foundation fellow affiliated with Seoul National University, this lesson has come alive in vivid detail. On June 3, South Koreans went to the polls and peacefully elected a new president — a quiet yet powerful testament to democratic maturity. The process was remarkably calm, especially when compared to the more vibrant and noisy electoral theater of India, with its loudspeakers, posters and visible influence of money and muscle. And yet, both nations, born from colonial trauma, have long upheld the sanctity of peaceful power transitions. This democratic resiliWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times