Today is the day of the mid-autumn harvest festival, also known as “Korean Thanksgiving.” It’s a major holiday celebrated in both North and South Korea that predates the division of the peninsula. Traditionally, people return to their ancestral hometowns to gather with family, share a variety of delicious foods, and pay respects to their ancestors.
But for North Korean refugees, there is no going back. Holidays like Chuseok can be a painful reminder of the loved ones they had to leave behind.
“The first Chuseok in the US felt very empty and lonely. It was just me and my two-year-old daughter, Mia, back then. It didn’t feel like a holiday. I had multiple emotions at the same time. Loneliness, emptiness… there were so many feelings that I couldn’t even put into words.“ – Holly, escaped North Korea in 2013
Holly now lives halfway across the world from North Korea, but every year during Chuseok she still sets out an offering table for charye (차례), or ancestral rites. For hours, she prepares special foods with great care, remembering and honoring her parents and loved ones.
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It’s been almost a decade since Holly and Mia first resettled in the US. These days, Chuseok looks a little different—it’s become a lively gathering with the many friends and neighbors they’ve met over the years! Holly gathers with other Koreans in the community, and they go all-out preparing delicious food, like rice cakes and pajeon. She takes great pride in wearing traditional hanboks with Mia, and explaining each dish when guests arrive. The festivities always continue long after dinner, with Korean games like jegichagi, a version of hacky sack, and yutnori, a board game.
Living in the US, Holly and Mia have been introduced to new traditions too. Just a month after Chuseok, their community gathers again to celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey and pumpkin pie, in true American fashion.
Holly still has hope that in her lifetime, she’ll be able to celebrate Chuseok with all her family and bring Mia to visit her hometown in North Korea. We’re working towards this future by rescuing North Korean refugees, empowering them as agents of change, and increasing North Korean people’s access to life-changing information and technology inside the country.
Help us continue this work until the day North Korean families can reunite in freedom
Join LiNK’s Liberty Community, a group of passionate monthly donors from all over the world, dedicated to providing the resources needed to create long-term impact on this issue
Flash Drives For Freedom – Months ago, I donated two USB drives from Mercari to the Human Rights Foundation, so the North Korean people have access to information. Recently, I also came across this Daily NK article talking about the subject.
