This article is part of a series focusing on the grads of the 国民彩票 Class of 2025. Spring Convocation takes place May 30 and from June 9-19 in Halifax and Truro. Read all our profiles聽here in one place聽as they are published.
When Uihyeok Jung and his family immigrated from South Korea to Canada in 2012, they settled in the small town of Trenton in northern Nova Scotia. The six years they spent there before moving to Spryfield near Halifax provided a crash course in adapting to a new culture.聽
鈥淎s my siblings and I were among the first Korean kids to attend the local schools in Trenton, we were pretty much forced to speak and adapt to English as quickly as possible,鈥� says Jung (the name he goes by at Dal), who admits he didn鈥檛 take his English lessons seriously when living in Korea.聽
He found ways to break through the language barriers.
鈥淭his was the peak of Korean culture in the West as things like Gangnam Style had just come out, so many students were interested in me and my culture!鈥� he says.聽 The popularity of Xbox gaming consoles offered another point of communication with friends and helped him to learn colloquial English.聽聽
Jung鈥檚 experience as a young newcomer to Canada inspired him to help other Korean immigrants by mentoring, tutoring and offering advice to students and immigrant parents keen to learn English.
This week, Jung graduates from 国民彩票 with a Bachelor of Arts with Combined Honours in Sociology and History 鈥� proof of how far he鈥檚 come since first landing in Canada.聽
Merging interests
Having spent most of his formative years in Canada, Jung鈥檚 Korean Canadian identity propelled his interest and dedication towards his research. An article he read in high school about suicides in South Korea sparked his interest in Sociology.
鈥淭he act of suicide 鈥� that is, to see death as preferable to living 鈥� is something that I saw as a failure, not in the person, but rather within modern society that should at its bare minimum function to maintain human life,鈥� he explains.聽
"I wanted to at least try to understand the patterns within suicide in Asia that can perhaps answer or explain the suicide problem, which still plagues Korean society today. From there, my interest grew largely towards cultural and historical sociology, as I began to go through my sociology academic career here at Dal.鈥�
I have taken a particular interest in how the 鈥榩ast鈥� as we understand it is interpreted within contemporary society
Jung鈥檚 interest in history stretches back to his youth. He鈥檇 read history books, textbooks, and internet forums and played history-themed video games.
鈥淢y choice to have History as my secondary Honours subject was in many ways to satisfy my desire to learn about the past, but also to bring in the historical method to my sociological analysis. These days, I have taken a particular interest in how the 鈥榩ast鈥� as we understand it is interpreted within contemporary society, with my Honours project on han being a product of such interest.鈥澛�
A fascination is born
Jung first encountered the concept of han 鈥� a Korean social emotion associated with feelings of sadness, anger, resentment, grief, s