KOREAN NET

Rochester Adams High School in Rochester, MI (Source: Rochester Adams High School - social media)

Adams High School in Rochester, MI sent an apology to parents of its student on March 9. The apology was in response to the discovery of inappropriate posting by a faculty on a social media platform connected to the school. The post in question had an image for its student with the Japanese Empire's rising sun flag in the image. Korean students of the school visited school’s principal, Pasquale Cusumano, to inform the school that the Japanese Imperial rising sun flag is a symbol of oppression and hate for many ethnicities and requested its removal. Faculties of this school discovered that the image in the post designed as an advertisement of their charity concert contained inappropriate imagery and apologized that the people who designed and posted the image was not aware of the significance of this matter. Also, the school announced that they immediately sprung into action to assist any who might have been affected by the post.

Coincidentally, the posting was made on March 1. Adams High School also made a detailed explanation of the March 1 Movement and its history in the email sent to parents. They explained that the March 1 Movement is a national movement to protest barbaric colonization of Imperial Japan as Korea was colonized in 1910 by Japan, and during the colonization, Koreans faced number of crimes against humanity including discrimination, persecution, imprisonment, murder, and genocide. They added that the Republic of Korea commemorates the date, March 1, as significant day for the country. Furthermore, the school and the surrounding district is working hard to provide a safe environment for their students to learn, and added that they will continue to support all members to make the right decision and choices and be respected for them.

The school community will focus on the education for the students, faculty, and community members so that they can respect, appreciate, and celebrate different history and culture from their own. They also made clear that they will vitalize ways to build resilience for any similar future problems, and if needed, punish any future wrongdoings. To this end, the school offered a concrete plan by utilizing a program to educate empathy, responsibility, and self-learning to change students behaviors. Adams High School is committed to proactively support this endeavor. The school’s action following the students request was proactive and to seek the right solution; this was enough to earn trusts from students and parents alike.

This is not the first time Korean teenagers are correcting information regarding Korea and Japan. In 2017, Ms. Hyun-jung Choi, who was a high school sophomore at the time, requested to change a map posted on a British media website (thestack.com) where it only showed the Sea of Japan, to change it to the East Sea. In 2019, CBS changed a map shown during the Sunday Morning program during their segment on BTS from Korea. This was because the map CBS showed also marked the disputed sea as the Sea of Japan. BTS fans protested the marking of the Sea of Japan to CBS, and they altered the map by removing the Sea of Japan.

CBS Sunday Morning segment showing Sea of Japan (left) and after they reflected the protest from BTS fans (right) (Source: CBS Sunday Morning - YouTube)

The future of Korea is bright as teenagers are willing to voice their opinions and not turn a blind eye to what they perceive as wrong. However, it is more pertinent to provide them a supportive environment to trust and learn within the school and also the nation - knowing that they will listen to their voices.