Learn about Korean culture and modern history through a panel discussion, the screening of the blockbuster Korean film Ode to My Father, and the launch of the K-Friend in Mid-America website.

There will be Korean food too!

About the Panel

“National Division, Modernization and Democracy in Cold War South Korea,” featuring James Person, Coordinator at the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy, Woodrow Wilson Center, and Gregg Brazinsky, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, George Washington University.

About the Film

“Ode To My Father” (“Guk-je Si-Jang”) is the story of Deok-Su, a completely ordinary man, who in the face of tumultuous events, marshals extraordinary courage to protect his family. Sticking together they survive some of modern history’s most significant events. As a child, Deok-Su had to say goodbye to his father during a North Korean refugee evacuation amidst the Korean War. His last words to his father were a promise that he would always protect the family. As he matures, that vow leads him to the coal mines of 1960’s Germany, and even into the jungle of the Vietnam War.

“Ode To My Father” is a heartwarming tale of a regular man who musters superhuman resilience for the sake of his family, all set in the maelstrom of modern history as it crashed over Korea. With echoes of tumultuous events happening around the globe today, “Ode To My Father” is a loving look at one family who manages to survive and even thrive. 126 minutes; directed by J.K. Youn.

Schedule:

Doors Open: 4:00PM

Keynote: 4:30PM

Korean Dinner: 5:15PM

Ode to My Father: 6:00PM

This event is free and open to the public.

Presented by the Global Voices Lecture Series, the Korea Foundation, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago, CJ E&M, and the Wilson Center.