About My Korean Colleagues

During lunch hour today, I ran into a Korean Ph.D. student from the laboratory I used to work in. We were both very happy to see each other and started to chat right away because it had been quite some time since we last saw each other. He asked me where I had spent my Christmas vacation. I told him that I had taken the opportunity to rest at home. He replied, “I had a lot of fun skiing during the Christmas holidays. It is very comfortable to do physical exercises outdoors. By the way, you should have gone outside to practice the Falun Dafa exercises during the Christmas holidays.” I burst into laughter and replied, “That was a good suggestion. Thanks!”

After we bid farewell to each other, I couldn’t help thinking about other Korean colleagues I had worked with for four years in the research laboratory that I had left two months ago.

The laboratory I had worked in belonged to a Korean professor, so the majority of the ten-plus research staff were Koreans. More than three years ago when Dafa practitioners in Canada first started to call for an end to the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China and collect signatures for the nationwide petition, I clarified the facts about Falun Dafa to all of my colleagues at the research laboratory, distributed truth-clarification flyers to them, and offered them an opportunity to sign a petition. At that time, very few of my Korean colleagues had even heard about Falun Gong and those who had heard about Falun Gong knew very little about it. After I spent a few minutes talking to them about Falun Gong, all of my Korean colleagues signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.

While I was working at the research laboratory, my Korean colleagues and I chatted a lot during lunch hour, and I would often take the opportunity to tell them the facts of the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Because we all come from Asia and share some common culture, they could understand some of the issues related to the persecution a lot more quickly than westerners. For example, I had to spend a lot of time explaining to my native Canadian colleagues why Jiang Zemin insisted on or had the authority to persecute Falun Gong practitioners [even though they did not commit any crimes or violate any law.] But it took only a few words for my Korean colleagues to understand and they even finished my lines for me. They would keep nodding and said, “I see. I see. China is a communist country, so it is determined to control its citizens’ minds.”

One of my former Korean colleagues who was a Ph.D. student at the lab once told me excitedly after returning from a business trip to Vancouver, “I saw Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver! I saw Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver! I saw them doing the sitting meditation on my way to and from the Vancouver airport. They had a lot of banners.” I explained to him that he must have seen our fellow Falun Gong practitioners in front of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver because Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver take turns doing the sitting meditation in front of the Chinese consulate.”

I once had a long talk with a postdoctoral fellow [researcher] from Korea. He said, “The Chinese government is persecuting you so severely. You should take actions to topple the government.” I said, “We are not against the Chinese government. All we do is expose the lies that the Chinese government has spread about Falun Gong to the people of the world and tell people about the facts of the persecution.” He immediately understood our goal and said, “That’s right. That’s your most powerful weapon! Do you know how the former Korean President was thrown out of power? When his lies and crimes were made known to the Korean people, he was thrown out of power because of the Korean people’s condemnation and distrust. You have chosen the most effective solution. Keep up the good work and work even harder!”

During one lunch break, a Canadian Ph.D. student who was new to the lab asked me how long it had been since I last went back to China. I said that it had been about three or four years. He asked why I didn’t go back to visit my parents, and I explained that I couldn’t. “Why?” he asked. Before I even started to answer, the Korean colleagues nearby all started answering the question for me. “She practices Falun Gong, and the Chinese government is persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.” “The Chinese Consulate has bugged her home phone line.” “Her name is even on the blacklist.” The lunch break that day became a discussion about how the Chinese government has been trampling on the human rights of local Canadian residents on Canadian soil. The Canadian student kept saying, “Really? Really?” That night, he carefully watched the truth-clarification VCD that I gave him from start to finish.

A Korean post-doctoral researcher from another laboratory liked to come to our lab and chat with us. I gave him a copy of the Korean truth-clarification material that I had brought back from Geneva. After a period of time, he told me, “I talked to a friend in Korea on the phone. He said that there were several thousand Falun Gong practitioners in Korea. I told him that there were many Falun Gong practitioners in Canada, too.” Since then, whenever he saw me, he asked, “How’s your Falun Gong practice going?”

Each of my Korean colleagues have some small stories related to Dafa. Their support for Dafa and their righteous thoughts will bring them a wonderful future. They have also made the four years that we spent together harmonious and cordial. Best wishes, my delightful Korean colleagues!