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I’ll Be a Sturdy Home, One Magic Can’t Build

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The Kang Tae-wan Fund launched to support migrant-background young people facing financial hardship and social exclusion.
  • Tae-wan’s mother created the fund using donations, a human rights award and her son’s industrial accident compensation after his death at 32.
  • The fund’s first beneficiaries described receiving help with living costs, medical bills, insurance premiums and debt.

The four hands holding a cake knife belonged to Eun-hye, 64, and three young women from Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Pakistan. Together they cut the cake at a July 23 event, while Eun-hye wished for the three young people to have the ordinary life her son Tae-wan had wanted.

I’ll be a sturdy home, one magic can’t build.

— Eun-hyeThe title expresses Tae-wan’s mother’s hope that the fund will provide migrant-background young people with dependable support.

“Home” became the central idea of the Kang Tae-wan Fund, established by Eun-hye and the group Migrants Together in Busan. The fund aims to give migrant-background young people a place to rest, cry when life becomes overwhelming and regain the strength to leave again.

Tae-wan came to South Korea from Mongolia with his mother at age five. After receiving a conditional residence visa, he died in an industrial accident at a special-equipment vehicle company in Gimje on Nov. 8, 2024. He was 32. Eun-hye continued fighting to establish the circumstances of his death, while imagining a home built around her son’s dream for young people who must treat basic security as a wish.

When things are too hard, you can come here and cry. You can sleep for three nights and four days. Once you regain your strength, you can open the door and go back out.

— Cho Byung-joonThe chair of Migrants Together explained what the fund’s idea of home should offer.

The fund combines public donations left after his funeral campaign, Tae-wan’s posthumous Roh Hoe-chan Award prize and his industrial accident compensation. Its first recipients include Aisha, Marina and Asem. Asem remembered Tae-wan as a mentor who offered career advice at an automobile company. Marina said the fund helped her afford basic living costs after unpaid health-insurance premiums, overdue bills and hunger had pushed her into severe hardship.

Happy.

— Kang Tae-wanHe used the word after starting work at a company, five months before his death.

The account presents legal status as something that can transform a young person’s life, but not as protection from every danger. Tae-wan once described himself as happy and said each day felt exciting after receiving a residence visa. His death, however, showed Eun-hye that simply being recognized as someone who belongs does not guarantee safety, security or a future.

Every day feels exciting.

— Kang Tae-wanHe described his feelings after receiving a residence visa.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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