{"id":196205,"date":"2025-12-22T10:18:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/196205\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T10:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:18:16","slug":"nasa-astronaut-jonny-kim-reflects-on-his-cultural-upbringing-and-empathy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/196205\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Jonny Kim reflects on his cultural upbringing and empathy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASA <\/p>\n

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is seen outside the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft after he landed with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, and Alexey Zubritsky in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Dec. 9. [UPI\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

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Jonny Kim has flown in space and served in war. After returning from eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the NASA astronaut spoke about something closer to home: growing up between cultures, learning empathy and missing kimchi.
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\u201cGrowing up as a Korean American has helped shape me into the person I am,\u201d Kim said at a news conference on Friday at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center. \u201cI really think about empathy.\u201d
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Kim had returned to Earth on Dec. 9 after completing his first space flight mission, where he took part in scientific research and technology demonstrations.\u00a0
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He made the remarks in response to a JoongAng Ilbo reporter\u2019s question about how his background influenced his life and career, noting that many children of immigrants share the experience of feeling caught between cultures.\u00a0
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\u201cLike a lot of first-generation or second-generation Americans, you can kind of feel in between two worlds,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really feel I was very Korean, or I didn\u2019t feel I was very American. And that was hard.\u201d
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That experience, he said, shaped how he understands others. \u201cHaving those challenges for myself gave me a lot of understanding,\u201d Kim said. \u201cIt certainly has had a strong effect on the person I am today.\u201d
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Kim linked that perspective to international cooperation in space.\u00a0
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\u201cI know KASA, the Korean space agency, is just starting up and I\u2019m very, very proud of that and I\u2019m looking forward to that,” he said, referring to the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which launched in 2024.
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\u201cI think it is reflective of the continued international collaboration that NASA has led and the benefits we can have when we work together,” he added.
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\"Wearing <\/p>\n

Wearing blue suits, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, left, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov, center, and Alexey Zubritsky pose among other participants of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) after docking the Soyuz MS-27 spaceship to the station on April 8 in this photo taken from video footage released by the Roscosmos Space Agency. [AP\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

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Kim also spoke about the food he missed while living aboard the station. \u201cMy favorites were actually sent up in my care package,\u201d he said. \u201cMy loved ones packaged kimchi, rice and dried seaweed.\u201d
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He said the station\u2019s standard menu offered no close alternatives to the Korean staples. \u201cThere was nothing on the menu that was even remotely close to some of those things,\u201d Kim said. \u201cBeing able to have that little bit of home was really nice.\u201d
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He previously drew attention from Koreans by sharing images on Instagram of himself eating such food as\u00a0gochujang (fermented chili paste), kimchi, Spam and instant rice.
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Kim was born in Los Angeles in 1984 to a Korean immigrant family. After graduating from Santa Monica High School in 2002, he joined the U.S. Navy and served with SEAL Team 3, including two deployments to Iraq. He later attended Harvard Medical School as a Navy officer, graduating in 2016.\u00a0
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NASA selected him as an astronaut in 2017. He began his first space mission in April and served about eight months as a flight engineer on ISS Expeditions 72 and 73.\u00a0
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Kim said he has largely readjusted to life back on Earth. \u201cI\u2019ve been back on Earth now for a little over a week and have mostly adjusted to gravity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels great to have weather again, to feel the wind against my skin.\u201d
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\u201cIt was such a huge privilege to serve NASA, to serve the public, serve science and exploration,\u201d Kim said.
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\"From <\/p>\n

From right to left: Soyuz MS-27 crew members NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky are seen during a send-off ceremony prior to the launch of the Soyuz 2.1, a booster rocket with the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, at Kazakhstan on April 8. [TASS\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

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Among the mission\u2019s scientific work, Kim highlighted research conducted in the Japanese experiment module\u2019s life sciences glove box. He said the experiment studied bone stem cells to determine whether different conditions could reduce bone loss, research he said could be important for astronauts and for people living on Earth who are suffering from bone and musculoskeletal-related diseases.
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He also described an experiment that allowed astronauts to use “joysticks and advanced controllers” to interact with robots connected to research centers around the world. The work tested whether astronauts in orbit could operate robots on the surface of a planetary body without landing.
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Kim said daily life in microgravity often defies expectations. \u201cSo easy things are hard and hard things are easy in space,\u201d he said, explaining that simple actions, such as setting objects down, become difficult while moving heavy objects can take only a finger.
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When asked what he missed most during the mission, Kim cited his family and limited access to technology. \u201cOf course, I missed my family,\u201d he said, mentioning his wife, children and dog. \u201cBut the thing I really, really missed was unfettered access to technology.\u201d
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Kim said he enjoys exploring new tools and research freely “through a phone or the computer to the latest large language model or research or technical manuals.”
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\u201cSo I kind of missed my phone,” he said.
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Kim closed the news conference with advice for future astronauts, emphasizing interpersonal skills over technical expertise. \u201cMost importantly, have empathy,\u201d he said after listing the abilities to “listen, to lead and to have compassion.
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\u201cWhat\u2019s important is how we treat one another.\u201d
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\"The <\/p>\n

The Soyuz 2.1, a booster rocket with the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 8. Soyuz MS-27 carried ISS Expedition 72\/73 prime crew members, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, to the International Space Station. [TASS\/YONHAP]<\/p>\n

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN JEE-HYE [[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is seen outside the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft after he landed with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-196205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}