When browsing the web, you might occasionally see that phrase; everyone has probably seen it at least once.
"404 Error. Page Not Found."
It's the screen that appears when you mistype an address or when the page you were looking for has disappeared.

But one day, while staring blankly at this 404 error page, I had this thought.

Do you remember when you first landed at an airport in the U.S.?
Or when you moved to another state without any connections?
Our state of mind at that time was exactly like a 404 error.

When I entered the life address I used in Korea,
the server in America bluntly said,
"That page does not exist."

I couldn't understand English, didn't know where to make a doctor's appointment,
didn't know who to ask about registering my child in school,
and spent an entire day just trying to get a driver's license...
Every life address we entered resulted in an error message.

When the 404 screen is completely empty, it makes you feel even more anxious.
At that time, our lives felt just like that.
"Where am I, and who am I...?"

But these days, many websites have very friendly 404 pages.
They don't just end with "not found"
but provide links like these below.

Return to Home
View Frequently Asked Questions
Browse Other Menus

In immigrant life, there were also these links.
When I was lost and wandering,
a bowl of soup bought by a senior who settled here first,
the church deacon who told me, "This is how you do it,"
and a line of information I stumbled upon on the USCIS website.

Thanks to those links,
we didn't stop in front of the error screen
but clicked again, tried again,
and slowly started to adapt.

In 2026 now,
we, who have settled to some extent, are no longer afraid of the 404 error.

Rather, now we
become links for those who have just immigrated.

"If car financing is tough, look into refinancing first."
"I heard a Korean market is opening soon, just hang in there."
"This school district is better."

Just like a website suggests menus with
"Did you mean to search for this?"
we have now become the ones providing life recommendation links.

A 404 error is not the end.
It is a signal that says, "The address is incorrect. Please try again."

When business isn't going well,
when communication with my child breaks down,
when I'm overwhelmed by car payments...
that's all a 404 error in life.

If you just close the browser, it's over,
but if you click the 'Home' button on the screen,
you can start again.

don't just get annoyed; try to smile once.
"Ah... I've come this far overcoming these errors."

Did you type the address incorrectly?
It's okay.
You can just enter it again.

We have already
created paths even in a wasteland without language or maps.

Today, from our respective places,
I sincerely support all Korean immigrants
who are wonderfully managing their lives like a website.