THE KUKMIN DAILY

-Tells why he forgave North Korean soldiers who killed his father-


Ewha Womans University Emeritus Professor Suh Kwang-sun (David Suh, 84, photo) recently wrote the following in his recommendation of the book “Why Forgive?” (by Rev. Johann Christoph Arnold of the Bruderhof Christian community movement; the revised edition contains also Korean cases and authors including Prof. Suh. See the linked article below about the book.)

“Suffering is bearing the cross; but for the sufferer, to forgive the wrongdoer is an even more dreadful and painful cross. Nevertheless, I believe that for the one who bears this cross there is the victory and glory of resurrection.”

It was an answer possible for one who has lived his whole life practicing forgiveness. Why and how did he forgive, when he was afflicted with incurable pain? On November 18, in the falling rain, I went to meet Prof. Suh at his small one-room office near Bongweonsa in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul.

“It’s not easy to forgive and to love one’s enemy,” he began. “That is why it’s important; to truly forgive is to do something that is not easy.”

Suh’s father, Rev. Suh Yong-mun, was shot to death by North Korean soldiers in 1950. Suh Kwang-sun was 19 at the time, and from then on he thought constantly about how to pay back his father’s enemies. As an overseas student at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, U.S.A., he observed the students taking part in Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s civil rights movement, and at that point he realized, “Loving my enemies is ultimately the way to avenge my father.”

Returning to Korea, he became a professor in the Department of Christian Studies at Ewha Womans University, and participated in the movement for peace and reunification through various channels. As he encountered persons related to the North Korean church at meetings in Switzerland, the U.S.A., Canada and other countries, he became convinced that it was right to forgive rather than to hate them. “I became certain that the only way for the Korean people to live was to reconcile and cooperate with North Korea, reunite peacefully, and become one nation,” he said.

Nearly 70 years after the Korean War, many persons in the Korean church still have not been able to stop cursing and hating North Korea. Anyone who advocates embracing and forgiving the North risks being labeled “pro-North.” Prof. Suh feels anxious and sorry about this reality.

“Our country is like a Republic of Hate, a Republic of Enmity and Anger,” he said. “Hearing even such statements as ‘You have to hate North Korea in order to be a true citizen of the Republic of Korea,’ I think people’s hearts must be completely packed with hate.”

Prof. Suh has often received the hostile question, “Why is the son of a martyr taking sides with the Reds?” He said, “It has not been easy to confront persons who criticize me, but because I have experienced freedom through forgiveness, I did not get angry or hate them.” Unfortunately, however, “When I don’t get angry, they hate me more…How sad it is, to be more deeply alienated from some people here than from North Korean people,” he said.

“Didn’t Jesus forgive the absolutely unpardonable act of nailing him to the cross?...Now it is incumbent upon the Korean church to cultivate the spiritual strength to forgive.” What to do about persons within the church who are living with hearts full of hatred and hostility? “Because they also carry wounds, we should not hate them but hold their hands and weep together…That is the process of healing and the process of Jesus’ resurrection.”

With regard to the terrorist attacks in Paris, Prof. Suh said, “Isn’t it the Christian attitude to grieve not only for the Paris citizens but also for the good citizens and soldiers of the Middle East who have been victimized by Western imperialism?” He concluded, “Only if we quickly abandon the thinking that we must repay enmity with enmity can we avoid the destruction of civilization.”

Article and photo by reporter Narae Kim (narae@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)


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