-았/었- is not the past, it is a set block

Where the picture shows up in -았/었-

1. 1

   finished and hard

   점심은 벌써 먹었어요.

   jeom-si-meun beol-sseo meo-geo-sseo-yo

   I already had lunch.

   The empty bowl pushed away and the spoon set down beside it

2. 2

   the result in your hand

   열쇠를 찾았어요.

   yeol-soe-reul cha-ja-sseo-yo

   I found the key.

   After a long search, the key picked up and squeezed tight in your fist

3. 3

   hardened into how you look now

   저는 아버지를 닮았어요.

   jeo-neun a-beo-ji-reul dal-ma-sseo-yo

   I take after my father.

   Holding your father's photo up beside the mirror and finding the same face set on both sides

   닮았어요 describes the present, not the past. Koreans rarely say 닮아요.

4. 4

   a result you cannot step out of

   약속 시간에 늦었어요.

   yak-sok si-ga-ne neu-jeo-sseo-yo

   I'm late for the appointment.

   You push open the door of the meeting place and the clock hand has already gone past the hour

5. 5

   a future already set

   이대로 가면 우리 다 죽었어요.

   i-dae-ro ga-myeon u-ri da ju-geo-sseo-yo

   If we keep going like this, we're done for.

   You are still driving the cliff road, yet the picture of after the fall has already hardened

   Using -었- for something still ahead makes it sound already sealed, which is far stronger.