Viktor Pak, of Korean descent, doesn't remember his parents well — they passed away when he was just two months old. His family story is rooted in a difficult past. In the 1930s, during Stalin's mass deportations, Pak's grandmother was among the tens of thousands of ethnic Koreans forced to leave the Russian Far East. She arrived in Uzbekistan with nothing, hoping only for safety. According to Pak, Koreans continue to express appreciation to the Uzbek people who welcomed them during the forced relocation of 1930.
