Last week I was in Washington to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University.

I delivered congratulatory remarks together with the university’s President Steven Knapp, Chairman William D. Adams of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dean Ben Vinson III of the Columbian College and Dean Reuben E. Brigety II of the Elliot School of International Affairs. Ambassador Ahn Ho-young was also present to deliver a congratulatory speech.

George Washington University’s Professor Emeritus Young-key Kim-Renaud, the daughter of the late Korean novelist Han Moo-sook, was the moderator of the ceremony. Poetess Moon Chung-hee was there, too.

The university is a special place for South Koreans because our first President Syngman Rhee graduated from it in 1907. It was also the alma mater of Dr. Soh Jaipil, also known as Philip Jaisohn, who founded the first Korean Newspaper, the Independent News, in 1896.

Standing there, I imagined a young Syngman Rhee and Soh Jaipil studying at the university as undergraduate students more than a hundred years ago, dreaming of an independent, modern Korea.

In my short speech, I pointed out that since the university was a gateway not only to Washington, but also to the United States and the world, the establishment of the Institute for Korean Studies at the university was highly symbolic and important.

Indeed, it was especially meaningful that the Institute for Korean Studies opened its doors just a few days before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. It was as if we had announced loud and clear the tremendous importance of Korea to the country.

Since George Washington University is located only a few blocks away from the White House and Capitol Hill, I roamed about the neighborhood after the ceremony. I also walked around the National Mall where I saw the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

I have been to Washington a number of times while I studied and taught in New York and Pennsylvania, so I am quite familiar with the city and its vicinity.

At the sight of historic sites at the Mall, however, I was still overwhelmed by the original dream of the Founding Fathers about freedom, justice and equality. I found myself still inspired by the spirit of America that has made America “great” for the past century: ethnic and cultural diversity, and the capacity to embrace differences. What the Trump administration seeks to accomplish seems to be not so much “make America great again” as “make America strong again.”

Watching the radical social and political changes that have been taking place in the US for the past few weeks, liberals all over the world are concerned about the future of America and the world. Professors of the humanities are especially worried because the so-called “Trumpism” seems to defy what they have been preaching for the past five decades. As a result, America seems to be sharply divided into mutually antagonizing groups: liberals and conservatives. Meanwhile, the original American dream seems to be fading.

As I stood at the National Mall, pondering the irreducible chasm between the original American dream and the grim reality, I also brooded on the nebulous future of Korea, which is caught in the vortex of international politics between China, Japan, and the US.

Interestingly, there is a striking resemblance between Korea and America these days. For one thing, both nations are split into two radically different, mutually exclusive groups. Washington was bustling with people coming to attend the inauguration ceremony and others arriving to protest. Soon they would clash in the streets of the capital city as the world watches.

The scene in Washington reminded me of the confrontation between anti-Park and pro-Park demonstrators in Seoul. The current chaotic situation of Korea worries me.

Experts have been warning that the “Korean dream” is now beginning to fade as well, with our economy staggering from the recent problems faced by Samsung, Hyundai and Hanjin. Our nation is also faltering because of the chaotic political situation caused by the Choi Soon-sil scandal and revelations about the blacklisting of dissident actors, painters and writers.

To make matters worse, young Koreans and foreign immigrants no longer seem to believe in the Korean dream; they believe that no matter how hard they try, they cannot become successful in Korean society. Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you are not likely to prosper in Korea.

On the plane bound for Seoul, I could not take my mind off the bleak landscape of Korea. When you return home, you should be happy, excited and full of expectations. If that is not the case, something is seriously wrong.

Whenever I am overseas, I compare the foreign city to Seoul and return home with so many things to tell my friends. This time, however, I was just heavy-hearted, with nothing much to tell. When my American friends in Washington asked me what would happen to Korea in the future, I simply replied, “Let’s wait and see.” What else could I say?


By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. He can be reached at sukim@snu.ac.kr. -- Ed.