Jeongbang Falls, 2024

To sit at the base of Jeongbang Falls is to be swept into the feeling of rushing out to sea. Of dissolving into mist, joining these tiny water beads in the tumbling, crashing current where water and winds meet. It is said that turtles will dance at the surface, to the beat of the jang-gu. It is a site where spirits play. And it is a place of massacre.

In the Jeju 4.3 Uprising and Massacre, as the people of the island rose for liberation and political sovereignty, their resistance was met with internment & summary execution by the South Korean & US military government. As Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945, foreign occupation over Korea was replaced with US military control & the installment of US-backed President Syngman Rhee. The people of Jeju called for a unified & independent country, free of control by foreign powers, to which the US declared it a “red island,” sanctioning the eradication of any people who identified or sympathized with communism. “Collective punishment” became indiscriminate. It is reported that 256 people were put to death here, at the military base between Jeongbang Falls & Sonammeori Hill. Many were pushed from the peak, falling from pine trees to rocks. Approximately 30,000 people — 10% of the population — lost their lives during this time between March 1947 and September 1954.

Across most any corner of the world, I feel constantly called to the water, to go in. Yet across my days on Jeju, I mostly stayed at the water’s edge. At most, lifting a toe, and placing it back. It was an illucid decision — some sober reverence to the people and freedom fighters of the island, the scorched earth, and the waters that witnessed it all. A deference to the haenyeo women who found bodies there, while diving in the depths for conch and seaweed and abalone. Eclipsed lives floating, amidst the harvests of the sea.

Perhaps it was silly of me, or irrational to stay at bay. For death tinges the waters everywhere, and water travels from coast to poles — permanently & impermanently changing — a liquid record, steeped in the imprint of memory.

Yet as I sat there, 75 years after the 4.3 Incident, it felt a kind of cosmic pact with those who left, in the event named for the same day that I was born. April 3rd. How time threads the slipping of our souls, connected like beading on a cloth — out and in; out and in.

—

Amidst at least $17.9 billions of dollars and military aid sent to Israel since October 7, 2023, I learn that the United States sent its remaining stockpiles of ammunition from the Korean War to advance the continued siege on Palestine. The companions of bombs dropped on Korea over 70 years ago have now been falling in Gaza.

It is a plain reminder of how imperialist regimes and violence perpetuate in cycles, and the ways in which our freedoms are intertwined. As we hold the US role in Jeju & Korea in context today, the parallels with Gaza are clear.

As an entire people is framed and collectively punished, and the Israeli state justifies genocide through the October 7 attacks by Hamas.

As the scorched earth campaign that once razed Jeju has been carried forth across Southeast Asia, SWANA, and Central America, and as 90% of the population in Gaza has been displaced — many up to 10 times or more — and 92% of homes have been damaged or destroyed.

As billions in US tax dollars are channeled to military aid for the Israeli state — the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding until now.

As activists in the US are being disappeared and detained for their free speech and stance toward sovereignty.

Whether looking at the US involvement on Jeju and in the Korean War, or the role in Palestine today – these parallels offer windows into US foreign policy, and the ways in which we must not lapse into perpetuating cycles of imperialism.

—

This past weekend, Israel launched its most intensive military offensive since October 2023, with more than 100 Palestinian people killed in the first night. As the genocide in Gaza continues into its 20th month, with more than 53,475 lives lost and many more missing under the rubble, and as the world turns with accumulating collapse and catastrophe — I am reminded that systems of oppression thrive on our exhaustion, depletion, and disconnection. When we tire to the point of apathy; and scarcity fuels individualism; and separation leads to dehumanization — this is when supremacist systems have clear pathways to win. Palestinian journalist & activist Bisan Owda sends the message: “Israel is in the final steps to wipe us out … We are sending the last call. Isolate Israel. Stop the arms convoys. Stop the life in your countries. We trust you, and we know that you can take off to the streets as if the genocide has just begun.”

At a time when 1 in 5 people in Palestine are facing starvation and 93% of children are at risk of famine: in some small act of solidarity, I’m adding this photo from Jeongbang Falls as a solidarity print. By purchasing this print, all proceeds go to mutual aid in Gaza, starting with the Gaza Soup Kitchen.

Across Palestine and all sites of ongoing oppression, let the oppression of people and beings cease everywhere. May we interrupt systemic and cyclical violence, and continue to shape new histories of freedom and mutualism with all our relations. May we continue the work of knowing and tending to our stories in the past, present, and future.

References:

Kim, Soobin. “South Korea’s Forgotten Anti-Communist Killings.” The Dial, 2023. https://www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-9/south-korea-jeju-uprising-anti-communist-massacre.

Eperjesi, John. “Seeing Jeju in Gaza.” Korean Quarterly, 2024. https://www.koreanquarterly.org/politics/seeing-jeju-in-gaza/.

“About Jeju April 3rd Uprising and Massacre.” Jeju Dark Tours. https://www.jejudarktours.org/en/about-jeju-april-3rd-uprising-and-massacre/.

“Jeongbang Waterfall.” Jeju Dark Tours. https://www.jejudarktours.org/en/historical-sites/%EC%A0%95%EB%B0%A9%ED%8F%AD%ED%8F%AC/.

Beauty of Sorrow. Directed by Josh Park. 2024. https://joshparkfilm.com/beauty-of-sorrow.

Masters, Jonathan and Merrow, Will. “U.S. Aid to Israel in Four Charts.” Council on Foreign Relations, 2024. https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts.

Not My Tax Dollars. “Where Do Our Tax Dollars Go?” https://www.notmytaxdollars.org/.

Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine). “Expose by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, that Israel's military uses US Korean War (1950-1953) surplus ammunition in Gaza, leading to indiscriminate and reckless targeting, in what could very well be a grave breach of international humanitarian law.” X, 21 March 2024. https://x.com/EyeonPalestine/status/1770760050857869818.

“Israel-Gaza war death toll: Live tracker.” Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/18/gaza-tracker. Accessed 20 May 2025.

Owda, Bisan (@wizard_bisan1). Instagram, 17 May 2025. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJw3xfQMmtC/.

“Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit.” US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. https://uscpr.org/StopGazaGenocide/.

“Thousands of Gaza’s children face imminent death under Israeli siege: UN.” Al Jazeera, 20 May 2025. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/20/thousands-of-gazas-children-face-imminent-death-under-israeli-siege-un.

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