[Joseonggwan's Global Humanities Journey] Homo Migratio... People Wandering the World

I have loved looking at maps since I was a child. Whenever I learn about a new foreign place name for some reason, I check it on the world map. Then I imagine visiting that place. These days, I often search easily on Google Maps, but to get an overall view, I still open an atlas world map book.

After cities, what draws me next are rivers. Rivers that divide the land, connect people, and nourish the earth. I wonder what kind of people live along those rivers shown on the world map. What kinds of fish are caught in those rivers? When I first encountered Ilya Repin’s breakthrough work, “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” I wanted to visit the Volga River. Surely there are still barge haulers on the Volga. What might they look like now?

When I learned about the Rio Grande during my school days, I wondered how wide the river must be to be named “big river.” I have yet to see the Rio Grande in person, but it remains a subject of curiosity.

Last spring, international news on TV and in newspapers featured stories about migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The news reported that migrants were flocking to the border, hoping it would open after the end of the so-called “Trump Policy 42,” commonly referred to as the “deportation policy.”

During that time, dozens of related photos were released. Among them, there is one photo I stared at intently and eventually cut out with scissors to keep.

Four children are riding on a rectangular black air mattress, and a girl is barely hanging onto it. Four adults are pushing the air mattress as they cross the Rio Grande River. The expressions of the four children captured by the camera explained the entire situation.

On May 11th, migrant families were crossing the Rio Grande River at the US-Mexico border, carrying children on air mattresses.
Photo by AFP News Agency

What is their relationship? Are they one family or two? What did they pack in the backpacks and plastic bags loaded on the rubber boat? And did they safely cross the Rio Grande?

Whenever I see the line of illegal migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, I reflect on myself. If I were the head of an illegal migrant family like them, could I safely bring my family to American soil? Could I take care of my family living as illegal migrants? I, a frail person who becomes exhausted from hypoglycemia with just a little hunger...

Judging people dichotomously is as dangerous as Raskolnikov’s “Crime and Punishment,” but sometimes looking at the world in a dichotomous way clears the mind.

There are 199 countries that are members of the United Nations (UN). These 199 countries can be divided into two categories: countries that want to immigrate to and countries that produce immigrants.

First, let’s look at countries by continent that produce immigrants. African countries suffering from civil wars and poverty are countries that produce immigrants. Citizens in Sudan, Niger, Chad, Mali, and others, who have been groaning under civil war for years, are forced into unwanted wars where they either die or starve. To save their families, they must leave their countries. In Africa, only a few countries, including South Africa, do not produce immigrants.

South America, including Mexico, is also a region that produces immigrants. South America’s situation is quite different from Africa’s. Many South American countries are rich in underground resources and products, including oil. The reason South American countries produce illegal migrants is the result of the pink tide. The welfare policies of left-wing governments that swept the South American region have revealed their true nature. When the economy collapsed due to excessive tax giveaways, citizens with no way out chose to go to the U.S.

The movie “The Swimmers,” released on Netflix last year, is based on a true story. Yusra, a Syrian swimmer dreaming of competing in the Olympics, tries to escape to Germany when Syria is engulfed in civil war and her life is threatened. Her parents borrow money to fund the escape for their children’s future. Her sister and cousin accompany her on the arduous journey. They first fly to Istanbul, Turkey, then look for a human smuggler. The three meet the smuggler and pay money. When they cross the sea relying on a rubber boat, viewers’ hearts shrink. They pay money again for each segment. They hide in windowless container trucks and climb over border fences.

Netflix movie 'Swimmers'.

Yusra and her group miraculously set foot on German soil. Settling as refugees in Berlin, Yusra resumes swimming and finally competes in the 2016 Rio Olympics as a refugee representative (ROT). We often use the expression “through great hardship” in daily life. After watching The Swimmers, I decided never to use that expression again. The Syrian civil war began in 2011. Over 12 years, 5.7 million people had to leave Syria. Countless Syrian refugees lost their lives crossing the sea. No article or photo showing the plight of Syrian refugees surpasses the impact of The Swimmers.

The U.S. and Canada rank high among countries people want to immigrate to. Why do people from Central and South America want to live in the U.S. and Canada? Because if they work physically, they can at least make a basic living. Canada has actively adopted policies to accept immigrants, increasing its population by 1.03 million in the last two years. This has pushed Canada’s population past 30 million for the first time ever.

The U.S., a country of immigrants, has Germans as the largest group by origin, accounting for 17%. Next are Irish and African Americans. Most people are surprised when they hear this. “There are that many Germans?”

In 2017, Syrian refugees crossed the Lesbos Sea in Greece on rubber boats. This photo is an image used by the University of Nevada, USA, to highlight the Syrian refugee issue.
[Photo by University of Nevada]

Christopher Nolan’s movie “Oppenheimer” is about a second-generation German-American who developed the atomic bomb. Let me list some famous German-American names: Rockefeller, Chrysler, Guggenheim, Goldman Sachs, Oppenheimer, Eisenhower, Kissinger, Schwarzenegger, Trump, Steve Jobs, Billy Joel, John Denver...

Why are there so many German-Americans in the U.S.? The answer is simple. Although Germany is now the wealthiest country in Europe, it was poor for a long time until 1950. The country was divided for many years, frequently invaded or turned into a battlefield, and men were often sold as mercenaries. After World War I, the Nazi regime, and World War II, the country was devastated. Germans had no way to survive except crossing the Atlantic.

As everyone knows, Ireland’s population dropped from 8.5 million to 6 million during the potato famine from 1845 to 1852. Over a million people starved to death. Those lucky enough to survive boarded passenger ships to North America to avoid starvation. Major North American cities like New York and Toronto have communities from almost every European country, such as Little Italy and Little Ireland. However, there is no French community anywhere. France has the most fertile land and the best climate in Europe. When food is abundant and the country stable, no one leaves their homeland. Who would abandon their hometown to go to a strange, foreign land with a different language?

If a government cannot protect individuals’ lives and property, people give up on that country and seek better environments. That is human survival instinct. Homo migratio?the migrating human. Human history has been the history of Homo migratio.

We don’t have to go far. At the end of the Joseon Dynasty, people from Hamgyeongbuk-do suffered from hunger and the tyranny of the yangban class and crossed the Tumen River to the harsh Manchurian plains. In 1902, Koreans boarding immigrant ships at Jemulpo Port in Incheon were in the same situation.

North Korean residents aboard the Meredith Victory at Hungnam Port in December 1950.

In December 1950, at the snowstorm-ravaged Hungnam Pier, a more desperate Homo migratio event occurred. Over 100,000 North Korean residents blindly followed the retreating UN forces. Miraculously, they boarded U.S. military transport ships and came to the southern land. Even now, people cross the Tumen River at midnight. They are North Korean defectors. It is said that over 2,000 defectors in China live in fear of forced repatriation. As of 2022, there are 35 million refugees worldwide.

Thanksgiving is the Chuseok of the Christian civilization sphere. Families gather for Thanksgiving. No matter how successful one is abroad, when Chuseok comes, the hometown land is deeply missed. Home is always longing. Now Koreans no longer wander abroad. Wherever they go, they are welcomed. This is the first time in 5,000 years of history.

Author and genius researcher Jo Seong-gwan

Operator of ‘Genius Table,’ former editor-in-chief of Weekly Chosun

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.