청와대 건너 붉은 벽돌집

The Blue Roof from the Window

My family has lived in a house across from the Blue House, the presidential palace, for 50 years. During the era of military dictatorship, the Blue House was a place of fear and inaccessibility. But as South Korea democratized, more and more people were allowed to approach it. I had grown up surrounded by countless protests, but it was the first time their sound followed me home. The never-ending noise made the house where I was born and raised feel unfamiliar. But the place they now stood was the very spot where I had held a candle to protest just months before. My right to raise my voice also guarantees theirs.