I've been living in Daejeon, South Korea, for 20 years. It's a relatively medium-sized city with a population of 1 million. It offers a higher-than-average standard of living and a wide range of amenities right at your fingertips.
"I want to entrust all of you a mission: to be human."
But in Korea, as everywhere else, “all that glitters is not gold.” The fragmentation of society along the lines of right and left, young and old, women and men, locals and foreigners is very palpable. The social divide is not just the one marked by the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North and South; it is the invisible line that divides people.
This social divide is linked to—and directly proportional to—social isolation. They said on the radio yesterday that, in the past, 1 in 100 teenagers felt a deep sense of loneliness. Now, 1 in 20 feels it—and feels it more intensely. Young people, in an almost addictive way, are increasingly turning to Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT to ask about everyday things—small, trivial questions like “What should I eat today?” or “What color goes best with this drawing I’m working on?” and so on…Chats with friends are becoming less frequent, and it seems more fun to chat with AI than with a friend who sometimes interrupts you or responds with something you didn’t expect.
We can only face the challenges of social division and growing isolation with greater human warmth, deeper relationships, and a more attentive gaze—by being people who truly listen and embrace one another wholeheartedly. People today have—and will continue to have—an ever-growing thirst for humanity, "be human", beauty, goodness, and dignity. Perhaps that is why I am now reminded of what Pope Leo XIV recently said to young people in Madrid: “‘I want to entrust a mission to all of you: to be human.’ Yes, be human! Men and women of flesh and blood—not mere appearances, but trustworthy faces.”
Ester Palma. SEMD. South Korea
