Thanksgiving is a major US holiday connected to the on-going genocide and displacement of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island (“North America”). As families gather to celebrate and mourn on this day, we invite you to review the true story about the origins of Thanksgiving and consider how settler-colonialism continues to impact and shape our lives today.

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For Koreans, US imperialism and colonialism has had profound effects on the recent history of Korea and the Korean diaspora. We have put together some questions to help us reflect on the impact of US settler-colonialism both on Turtle Island and on the Korean peninsula. 

Questions for Koreans/Korean Americans living in the US

As Koreans, we are victims of US imperialist presence in Korea; as Koreans living in the settler-colonial project that is the US, we are also settlers living on stolen Indigenous land. 

How did you come to live in the US? 

• If it was for economic/educational opportunity, how did that opportunity arise? Why was it better to leave Korea than to stay? 
• If you had no choice in the matter, what forces were at play that resulted in you now living in the US? 

Whose land do you live on now? 

• Do you know the history of the land you are on? 
• Whose ancestral home is this land? Are they still here? 
• If you know the history of the land, who can you thank for that knowledge? How was that knowledge passed on to you?
• If you do not know the history of the land, what systems are in place that keep you from knowing that history?

In what ways does anti-Asian racism and violence in the US connect with the legacies of imperialism and colonialism?

What is your relationship to the Korean peninsula? To Korean culture and heritage? What does it mean to practice and observe your culture in a land not your own that was stolen from others?

Questions for Koreans living on the Korean peninsula

As Koreans, we are victims of US imperialist presence in Korea, and we also partake in the global US-led neocolonial capitalist system. 

How has US military presence on the peninsula impacted you and your family? 

What has Korea (north and south) gained from its relationship with the US? What has it lost? 

What is your relationship to the Korean peninsula? To Turtle Island (“North America”)? How has colonialism shaped these relationships?

What traditional and cultural Korean practices were lost to imperialism and colonialism? What practices are retained and continue to be practiced?

What do you know about the displacement and genocide of Indigenous peoples in the US? 

• Who shared this knowledge with you? 

What is the impact of the US’s settler-colonialism on the Korean peninsula? On your life?

How does Korea’s history of colonial subjugation under Japan connect with the experiences of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island today? How do they differ?

Questions for Americans living on the Korean peninsula

As Americans and US citizens, we benefit from a government and system that was built on stolen land and labor. 

What brings you to the Korean peninsula?

• If it was for economic/educational opportunity, how did that opportunity arise? Why was it better to leave the US than to stay?
• If you had no choice in the matter, what forces were at play that brought you to the Korean peninsula?

What is your relationship to the land you now live on? 

• Do you know the history of the land you are on? 
• Whose ancestral home is this land? Are they still here? 
• If you know the history of the land, who can you thank for that knowledge? How was that knowledge passed on to you?
• If you do not know the history of the land, what systems are in place that keep you from knowing that history?

In what ways do your experiences on the peninsula connect with the US’s history of Indigenous genocide and racialized violence? 

How do you benefit from US military presence on the peninsula? What have you lost because of it?

In what ways are you protected by your citizenship/nationality even as you live in a land that does not belong to you?