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#YooAreHere: Seoul to Soul!

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안녕하세요 Hello from Seoul! Yoo just returned from a whirlwind week in Seoul, Korea (May 23-June 1, 2025). I was honored to receive the “Alumna of the Year” recognition by my alma mater, SEOUL FOREIGN SCHOOL, which I attended from 1977-1982 (3rd grade to 7th grade). I would have been in the SFS Class of 1987. I delivered a speech about solidarity and compassion at my school’s graduation ceremony on May 30, 2025.

Yoo have not been to Korea since 1982… but I have now visited Korea twice in less than one year, including my first time back in September 2024 thanks to the Seoul Film Commission tour!

(Links: My SFS Alumna of the Year video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdEGsiPWCp/ and https://www.seoulforeign.org/alumni and https://youtu.be/0sCiHasmAk8?si=_bbvPlrJRvEJqFj7)

During our trip, Yoo did a lot of sight-seeing, including visiting the countryside of Yeonchon where I visited their war memorial museum in Yeoncheon Gorangpogu History Park; the tomb of the last king of Silla, King Gyeongsun, and the Horogoru Fortress on my first day. This town is very close to the DMZ, so there were many warning signs on fences about “no drones” allowed and the presence of mines on the other side of the fence. You could see North Korea in the distance!

Other trips included visiting the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, the Gyeongbokgung Palace, plus walking tours of various neighborhoods including the trendy Hongdae neighborhood and visiting traditional outdoor markets. I also visited Yeouido Island where I lived from 1977-1982 and stopped by my old apartment building. And I had a second #ReYOOnion with my friend Minnie Roh, an award-winning broadcast journalist whom I knew from our days together as students at the Columbia University School of Journalism (Class of 1992)! We met in person last year during my first trip after 33 years! It’s been great to reconnect after all that time.

We also visited the National Assembly to take some photos because Korea was in a special election run-off through June 3, 2025 to elect the new President after the short-lived December 2024 military coup. There were posters and banners of all the presidential candidates and of course, protests and rallies held everywhere. It was exciting to be in Korea during such an historical moment in history!

And boy did Yoo eat! We ate at so many amazing places, including traditional 19th century Korean cuisine; 삼계탕 Samgyetang chicken soup stuffed with ginseng, jujubes, pine nuts, chestnuts, garlic, and sticky rice; 곤드레밥 Gondeurae Bap (rice made with Korean thistle); and of course hanging out at various 안주 Anju spots (Korean traditional mix of eating good eats with lots of fun Korean alcohol like 막걸리 Makgeolli rice wine)! Yoo met some of my family (cousins, aunts, uncles) for a traditional “Andong” style meal because my family hails from the town of Andong! We also visited a trendy “LP bar” where the owner plays from their own personally curated collection of vinyl records and CDs (hello lots of #GenX alt rock and rap tunes!) And of course, Yoo had to get my favorite childhood snack – roasted chestnuts sold by street vendors!

I also did some research for a few potential future TV development and book projects (both fiction and nonfiction and for YA AND adult genres) and networked with some people I had met from my last time in Korea for a Fall 2024 Seoul Film Commission “fam” tour (tour of various locations and filming studio sites in Korean Hollywood).

For my school’s May 30, 2025 graduation ceremony, I delivered a speech about how my alma mater SFS had a huge lifelong impact on me, both academically and personally. I encouraged students to share their success with compassion and in solidarity with others because our school not only emphasizes a hard work ethic but also a service to others, especially those less fortunate and in need. I then attended our school’s alumni reception the next night before we flew back to Los Angeles. Speaking of alumni, much gratitude and a huge 감사합니다 “thank you” to dear friend and SFS Alum Larry JY Park (Class of 1993) for nominating me for this year’s Alumna of the Year recognition. Larry is an amazing writer himself and thank you for your service, Larry, as an LAPD officer, and for always hosting our Los Angeles-based SFS reunions at your home.

Below are photos of our trip. 2025 has been a huge year of travel for me. I’m on the road again in a couple weeks to attend the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Philadelphia, PA to accept the 2025 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award for RISING FROM THE ASHES: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire (2024 Norton Young Readers).

Until my next #YooAreOnTheRoad blog, remember… Happy Writing! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! #WriteLikeYooMeanIt

Yoo loved the quiet beauty of Yeonchon and the view from the Horogoru Fortress!
Because Yeonchon is so close to the DMZ border, there were many fences forbidding entrance plus warning signs about no drones and mines on the other side. Yoo could see North Korea in the distance.
Yoo paid respects at the tomb of the last king of Silla, King Gyeongsun, in Yeonchon.
Our first special Korean meal of traditional food served authentically from the 19th and early 20th centuries!
Yoo & Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Hyungwon Kang on many adventures in Korea. Grateful thanks to HK for his tour guidance. To find out more about my 오빠 Oppa HK, check out his photo gallery on my website and his website here: https://www.kang.org
Yoo had to stop by the National Assembly (the Korean version of the U.S. Capitol) because we were visiting Korea during its special June 3 election for a new President after the December 2024 military coup! The National Assembly is breathtaking and a HUGE building. Very awe inspiring!
My first time eating 곤드레밥 Gondeurae Bap (rice made with Korean thistle)! Yum!
Yoo visited Seodaemun Prison History Hall for a second time since my last trip in the fall of 2024. I love this museum so much. It’s very sobering but also inspirational because you learn so much about the Korean Independence movement. Mansei!
Yoo had dinner with my family in Seoul! We ate traditional cuisine from the town of Andong, where my family is from!
Yoo LOVED 삼계탕 Samgyetang chicken soup stuffed with ginseng, jujubes, pine nuts, chestnuts, garlic, and sticky rice! Yoo did a LOT of eating on this trip! LOL! 🙂
Yoo had to buy a bag of my favorite childhood snack – roasted chestnuts from a street vendor!
Yoo had a second #ReYOOnion with Class of 1992 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna & dear friend Minnie Roh, an award-winning broadcast journalist! Link: https://kr.linkedin.com/in/minnieroh
Okay so of course me and Columbia J-School alum pal Minnie Roh and I enjoyed a lot of 막걸리 makgeolli rice wine at a cool hipster 안주 anju joint she introduced me to! LOL! 🙂
Yoo visited the famous Gyeongbokgung royal palace which was walking distance from my hotel. This year, Yoo wore civilian clothes, but last year on our Seoul Film Commission tour, we dressed up in traditional hanboks!
Yoo visited the Changdeokgung royal palace in September 2024 on our Seoul Film Commission tour. Yoo got to play dress up in a traditional hanbok on this trip, so I had to include this picture!
No, this is NOT another royal palace. Now I am at the traditional gate that graces the campus of my alma mater, Seoul Foreign School!
Yoo visited the Seoul Foreign School gym! It looks exactly the same as when I was here in 1977-1982! Although it’s much shinier and has gotten a lovely facelift in the past 43 years!
When I was a student at SFS, I loved playing soccer during gym class. The field seems to have gotten bigger since I attended!
Here is one of the Seoul Foreign School cafeterias! We serve grades K-12 and also have a British school now, too! I didn’t remember a pizza oven at our cafeteria 43 years ago though… LOL!
Even though the new and fancy Seoul Foreign School cafeteria now features a state-of-the-art brick pizza oven, I went traditional and had more Korean food! Yum!
Shhhh! Yoo are in the Seoul Foreign School middle school library. My favorite part was this secret bookshelf!
Guess what book Yoo found at the Seoul Foreign School library?
Hey! Check out this awesome book called STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE by an author and fellow SFS alum David Yoo… WHO ALSO IS MY YOUNGER BROTHER! 🙂 For more info on my awesome brother and his books, go here: https://daveyoo.com/author/
Yoo were honored to see the unveiling of my Alumna of the Year plaque on the SFS Alumni Hall of Fame wall! I’m right near Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings who also attended SFS during the same years as me!
Yoo gave the Alumna of the Year speech at the Seoul Foreign School Class of 2025 high school graduation ceremony. (Photo credit: Juhie Suh SFS Class of 1992 and Seoul Foreign School)
Congratulations to the Seoul Foreign School Class of 2025!
Yoo are so proud of the wonderful high school SFS Class of 2025! Your speeches and achievements were very inspiring and moving. Congratulations!
Yoo ended your second visit to Seoul Korea since 1982 with an awesome Seoul Foreign School alumni party at the Four Seasons Hotel! Delicious food, great alumni networking, and it was an honor to also meet and talk with the staff and faculty of our school! 감사합니다! Thank you!

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