For immersion experience

Three immersion experience trips will be offered on Friday (6/9/2023) for all participants to explore Korea together.

A. Hongcheon Ecological Activism Tour

• The first course is to an ecological justice activism site in Hongcheon, a small city in Gangwon province, where citizens are protesting against several ecologically damaging government projects, including the construction of nuclear power/hydroelectric dams, golf course constructions, and tree replacement projects. This persistent weekly resistance protest is organized by a Methodist minister who has continued it for nearly fourteen years in front of the Hongcheon City Hall. On this tour, we will visit the dam construction site and meet with local community members displaced by this construction in order to hear their voices on the ground, learn about the complexity behind the politics of energy management, and participate in the weekly protest. We will also have the opportunity to dine with the community on the protest site. We will be joined by Babtong (Rice-Cooker), a catering ministry team that provides meals at various social justice activism sites to build solidarity between those on-site and their supporters.

• The local committee has prepared a Working Document to use at the protest site. 

• It is a 1.5-hour drive away from Seoul.  

• This experience was featured in one of the Korean newsmedia : https://n.news.naver.com/article/005/0001614911?type=journalists

B. Seoul Christian History Tour

• The second immersion experience is a journey through the historical sites that are important to understand Korean Christianity. Catholicism entered Korean soil in the 18th century, and Protestantism followed a century later when imperial powers competed for trade and invasion, further complicating the modernization process. While the complexity of this era may not be fully graspable through one tour, we would like to offer an opportunity to glimpse into some of its historical moments. By visiting the sites of martyrdom, commemoration, and minjung movements, such as the Seosomun (Western Smaller Gate) Shrine History Museum, Jeoldusan (meaning 'Mount of Decapitation') Martyrs' Shrine, Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery, and Myeongdong Cathedral, one of the central bases for the Korean democratization movement, we will immerse ourselves in Seoul's Christian history. This tour concludes in Myeongdong, a popular tourist area.

• This course includes a fair amount of walking. 

C. DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) Tour

• The third immersion experience is the DMZ (demilitarized zone) tour hosted by the New Center for One Korea, a community-building ministry center located in a village bordering North Korea. Conversing with the community members and exploring the sites that are normally limited to civilians, we will take a glimpse into the current effort to move beyond the Cold war era. This tour includes a visit to the New Center for One Korea, the community center of Tong-il-chon (meaning "Unity Village"), Inter-Korea Transit Office, Camp Greaves DMZ experience, and Dokgaedari, the half remaining bridge between North and South Korea.

• It is a 1-hour drive away from Seoul, entering the border area with North Korea.

• For those who want to go DMZ, you must fill out the DMZ Registration Form by 5/23 (now extended to 5/28)

This is a link of the article that Roger Nam (Emory Univ.), one of the presenters in our conference, wrote after he visited DMZ in 2012: 

• https://sojo.net/articles/pacifism-scariest-place-earth. (note that our trip does not include the Tunnel that he mentioned.)

<Other Info>

Family members or friends are welcome to

• join, and in such cases, an additional fee of $40 per person should be paid. (It would be best if you could prepare the amount in cash, either $40 in USD or ₩50,000 in Korean Won.)

• All transportation and lunch meals will be provided by the IAPT Local Committee for all trips. 

• If seats are available, you may have the option to switch between options A and B.