Vana Kim

Vana Kim (@vanakimvana ) is a writer and activist based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Seoul, Korea in 1946, her earliest memories are of the Korean War; when Seoul was bombed, her family sought refuge first in a mountain village—a distinctly healing, spiritual experience—and later in Busan for the duration of the conflict. After high school, her life took a dramatic turn when, in 1964, her family was forced to leave Korea to escape the ideological war of the military government. Their exile led them to Brazil, where Vana worked at Kotia, a Japanese agricultural cooperative in São Paulo, and as an assistant fashion designer. In 1968, the family re-emigrated to Canada. Reflecting on their shared history of displacement and trauma, Vana later pursued philosophy and dedicated herself to a path of healing. This journey culminated in an ethic of emotional self-reliance, which directly parallels her activism advocating for “permanent peace and neutrality” on the Korean peninsula. Across both her personal and public life, Vana champions the conviction that the realization of peace must begin within the self before it can blossom throughout the community. Special thanks to the American Friends Service Committee (@afsc_org ) and the Korean American Foundation (@koreanamericanfoundation ) for sponsoring this Legacy Project interview. _______ KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience. CREDITS Interviewer: Kimberly Young Sun @kimberlyyoungsun Video: Janice Chung @janicekaramchung , Cedric Stout @cedricstout.official , & Kimberly Young Sun Audio: HJ Lee Editor: Jacqueline Yeon @jacqofkite Production Manager: Kimberly Young Sun Motion Designer: Aj Valente Music Composer: Jang Hyeong Yoon Executive Producer: HJ Lee

I loved working with my granddaughter @hanamariekim for @coveredca #granddaughter #grandma #actors #asianactors #allinthefamily

Hot Cheetos Grandma for @agi_app 🔥🔥 . . . #hotcheetos #grandma #senioractor #comedicactor

Catch me with @amymkeum and @kevinwoo_official in Death Name directed by @rei.media streaming on Tubi this Friday, January 9!

With the lovely Chang family shooting for Uber today . . . #koreanfamily #koreanactors #ubercampaign #senioractor #seniormodel #한국가족 #광고촬영 #시니어모델

Vana Kim (@vanakimvana ) is joined in conversation with her daughter and granddaughter, Una (@unakimuna ) and Hana (@hanamariekim ), as they reflect on their family’s history of exile and how the legacy of division reverberates through generations. Vana traces her family’s connection to North Korea to her grandfather, industrialist and entrepreneur Lee Jong-man, who left his family in the south to migrate north in efforts to stop the division of the country. Vana’s mother, who later was able to travel north to meet her father, inherited her father’s dedication to a unified homeland and became an advocate for peace. Owing to their proximity to North Korea, Vana describes how her family was treated differently: her brother, Sejin, had to pursue his education abroad, and relatives suddenly stopped talking to them for fear of retaliation. Una and Hana wonder if their family’s complicated history with their homeland is perhaps why they have difficulty locating one, identifying more as people living in exile than as immigrants. For Vana, whose philosophy and career have been shaped by peace, this history has made “normal” dinner talk impossible, infusing conversations with the weight of war, separation, and longing. Yet she also reminds us of the importance of maintaining “heart connections” with those we can no longer reach in ordinary ways—an ethic realized within divided families and homeland. _______ KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience. CREDITS Interviewer: Michael Roh Video: Kimberly Young Sun @kimberlyyoungsun , Janice Chung @janicekaramchung , and Cedric Stout @cedricstout.official Audio: HJ Lee Editor: Jaehee Cheong @jhee_c218 Production Manager: Kimberly Young Sun Music Composer: Jang Hyeong Yoon Executive Producer: HJ Lee

@embodiedlabs #VR #virtualreality #agingcare #seniorcare #senioractor #seniormodel #시니어배우 #시니어모델

Repost @embodiedlabs Thankful to our talented actors for such a great performance over the weekend! Each had a personal story that matched our vision for this upcoming #vr lab on End of Life Conversations which we hope inspires powerful emotions and thoughtful actions for our viewers. Here are some behind the scenes looks. #360video #production #startuplife

@zevia 🍑 #zevia #model #seniormodel #peachesncream

Thanks to @victoriawallharris and the @zevia production team for a lovely shoot day! #zevia #photoshoot #seniormodel #peachesncream

@edwardslifesciences “Not How I Go Out” heart valve campaign @station @bigbeug #healthyheart #healthyliving #senioractor #seniormodel

@wellcaremedicare @traffikglobal @laureldailey #easychoice #healthplan #medicare #medicareadvantage #seniormodel #시니어 #모델 #한국모델