look at him in awe. “Hurry up love birds, the foods going to get cold!” yelled my mom from our
small kitchen. We ate talking about how our day went. My mom placed a small radio in the
center of our table. My dad left it when he passed away. That was the only artifact we had left of
him. Areum turned up the volume catching my attention. “Attention Koreans! Japan has
retreated leaving the Korean peninsula in the hands of the Soviet Union and the Americans. This
morning Mr. Kim ll Sung and Mr. Syngman Rhee are discussing the plans for our country. We’ll
get back to you later this evening,” announced the radio host. Everyone ate in silence processing
the news. I wasn’t sure if it was a bad thing. I’ll just have to wait until the radio host comes on
again. “Wow,” Areum said. Yeong left 15 minutes after the announcement to go check on his
parents. He looked a little shaken up, but to be honest we all are.
The rest of the afternoon went by slower than usual. We occupied ourselves by cleaning
around the house. We waited patiently for the radio to start talking until finally it started to stir.
We gathered ourselves near the table which held our most valuable possession. “This is Gyeong
Ji Joon, I am here to inform you what is happing to our country. I hear by announce that the
Korean peninsula will be divided into two. It will be named North and South Korea which is
separated by the 38th parallel. Construction will be going on in these few weeks. Mr. Kim ll Sung
stated, “anyone who crosses the 38th parallel with be executed, no exceptions!” He also
mentioned that his army will be putting up electrical fences to prevent anyone from escaping.
Thank you for hearing our radio station, tune in next time,”
“This is not good!” Areum exclaimed. My mother looked like she saw a ghost. She was so
pale I could confuse her with a vampire. “Now how are we going to see our family in the
South?” I exclaimed. My mom left the kitchen teary eyed. She was probably going to call her
family before they ban that to.