The word "Mindeulle" means dandelion in Korean.
It's said that the Korean people are like dandelions. You step on them, but they continue to grow.
For 35 years, the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Imperial Japan. Their rule was brutal. Koreans were regarded as inferior, forced to export the majority of their food, used as forced labor, and brutalized under systemic sexual violence.
In 1945, the Koreans were liberated from Imperial Japan at the end of World War 2. Just as they had begun facetting a new, self-determined nation, the Americans came. And in 1950, 1.7 million Americans, including my grandfather, were deployed to fight for the next 3 years in the Korean War. The conflict claimed the lives of 3 million Korean civilians, and leveled the entirety of North Korea.
The Korean Peninsula has been divided since the end of the war between North and South, with some families being torn apart to this day. A fragile ceasefire has been in place ever since, over 70 years later. South Korea has struggled for democracy over several dictatorships in this time, most recently deposing would-be authoritarian Yoon Sook-Yeoul, who attempted to cease power by stoking an armed conflict with North Korea.
Two years ago I met representatives from a network of Korean peace organizations and associations of Korean Atomic Bomb survivor associations in Seattle, Lee Tae Jae, a 2nd generation atomic bomb survivor and Daesoo Lee, a decorated Korean peace activist.
A year ago I met Fumiaki Tosu, the son of a Hiroshima Atomic bomb survivor and the founder of the Dandelion House Catholic Worker in Portland, Oregon.
Fumi had an idea- and a desire to bring his father, Norimitsu Tosu to the Pacific Northwest, to visit sites and people impacted by nuclear weapons. I had no idea what would come of it, but introduced him to people and told him what I knew.
In February of 2025, a second delegation came to Seattle from Korea. More activists this time, and first, second, and third generation atomic bomb victims, people like Kim Chanwhi, Dr. Joon Shik Shin, and Park Jungsoon, and Kim Gyuri. Then as our coalition sought speakers for our conference in April, we connected again with the Korean A-bomb victims, and Lee Tae Jae came back to Seattle. During a brief conversation, Lee mentioned the events his group was organizing in Korea, and how it would be great if someone from our coalition could attend. I pondered this for a few months before buying my plane ticket.
There is a confluence to these events that resulted in me spending nearly a week with Fumi, his father Norimitsu, and a group of young adults in Eastern Washington, then boarding a plane and spending another week in South Korea with Hibakusha and nuclear-affected community advocates. These series of events were organized by the leaders of the Dandelion House, KANPA, and the Mindeulle Peace Network, and like the Mindeulle, the people cursed by the atom bomb have continued to dig deep, grow, ride the wind, and bloom.
The following posts will serve as some snapshots of my time in these two journeys.
- Written by Sean Arent, Nuclear Weapons Abolition Program Manager, WPSR and NWANW