The Waiting

"Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s The Waiting tells the story of Gwija, a North Korean woman who marries again and forms a new family after becoming separated from her husband and young son while marching south with a group of refugees fleeing the Korean War. In illustrating the plight of biological family members separated along the North-South border, Gendry-Kim celebrates the beauty of “found” family ties forged to mitigate the destructive forces of war. And by centering her graphic narrative on women’s experience, she also acknowledges the arduous process of bringing gender equality to Korean society; The Waiting poignantly depicts Gwija’s emotional exile as a consequence of not just war, but patriarchy."