Jisoo, a 26-year-old Korean woman, was born to Korean parents but has spent most of her life in the Middle East. She moved to Jordan with her family as an infant, where she lived for eight years, before settling in Lebanon around 18 years ago, the country that shaped her teenage and young adult years and has effectively become her second home.

She studied arts at the American University of Beirut, and after graduation she could have returned to Korea, but she chose to remain, planning to launch her own project and build her future in a country with which she feels a deep emotional connection.

"The people are the secret of my love for Lebanon"

Jisoo does not deny the difficulty of Lebanon’s reality, with its wars, crises, and daily challenges, yet she believes that what sets the country apart goes far beyond all of that. She tells Annahar: “What makes this country unique is its people. They have a cheerful spirit, and they know how to smile even in the hardest circumstances. This is what I loved about them and have not found anywhere else."

She is often asked, “Why don’t you leave Lebanon?” and “How can you live amid wars?” She simply replies: “I live as the Lebanese do. Just as they do not leave their homeland, I too cannot leave the place that has become a part of me.”

She concludes her talk by reciting the Lebanese national anthem, in a moment that encapsulates a story of belonging, not defined by nationality or birthplace, but shaped by years lived, memories accumulated, and the belief that home can be the place the heart chooses even before official papers confirm it.