“Don’t look,” said my aunt. Then, I knew instinctively to not stare at a black car passing Via del Corso near the Spanish Steps.

Every nerve in my system focused on the passing of the ominous car. As the distance between the car and me furthered, my tension finally relieved.

She as well as many other people who are either directly or indirectly related to embassies seems to recognize most of the cars belonging to different national representatives according to the number plates. Thus, she had known the car had been a possession of North Korea.

The stories that I heard of these North Korean families in Rome are fascinating but still foreign.

They bring tape recordings to places and have to be alert at all times. Despite, their national brotherhood, they constantly examine one another’s behavior. Even though they came for an international experience, they ironically cannot associate with the foreigners. Indeed, the book “1984” by George Orwell has accurately delineated the horrors of communism.

Should unification of the two Koreas happen?

This question engages much more complexity than a mere happy family reunion.

The Korean War is paused, not ended. Therefore, unification means an initiation of terror.

We, both South and North Koreans, have diverted too greatly from each other, sensing the word unification as a distant term.