Harin's+Interview

**Oral History of the Korean War** by Harin Lee 
 * 1) What’s your name?
 * 2) What’s your current age?
 * 3) How old were you during the Korean War?
 * 4) How did you feel when the war initially started?
 * 5) Do you see North Korea as some type of antagonist? Why or why not?
 * 6) How did you feel about the Americans?
 * 7) How did you survive?
 * 8) What was the most difficult part of your experience?
 * 9) Was the war a good or bad thing? Why or why not?
 * 10)  What do you think about how the war ended with an armistice, meaning we could still have another war?

**Podcast**

[|Release_Form_HL.jpeg] Part I media type="file" key="Oral History HL Part I.mp3" width="240" height="20" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Part II media type="file" key="Oral History HL Part II.mp3" width="240" height="20" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Note: The interview was done in Korean//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">** Summary **

//I sat in front of my grandmother as she calmly waited for me to prepare the podcast and begin the interview. There was some silence, it felt as awkward enough just sitting there and doing nothing. I pressed the record button and I told my grandmother we could begin. She put her hands together and looked at me, indicating that she was also ready.//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Oh Myung-Sun (오명선), 71 and current residency in Suji, was 11 years old when the Korean War started on June 25, 1950. When the war started, she was scared, the sound of shells passing over and bombings frightened the daily life she was living. Her family decided to flee, thinking that perhaps returning later would yield a safer area after the passing of soldiers. The walk back was even more perturbing than leaving, as the pathway was littered with the corpses of civilians. Despite the absence of their faces (as they were covered) they lay in mounds on the edges of the train tracks that she had to walk on to return home. The North Koreans were immediately seen as imposing figures, they had weapons and were prepared to use it on anybody. Her husband's(though she did not know him at the time) parents were murdered by the North Koreans, at first their death was unknown but later they were found buried, their bodies mutilated and discarded. The North Koreans were the ones who started the War and caused the amount of casualties that left people with nothing. She recalls the arrival of American soldiers on September 8. They appeared to all look so similar, that they presence intimidated her to the point that she was afraid. They however, fought for the Koreans and donated food, drink and clothes for those in need. Had they not put in the effort to feed the starving population, she reckoned that many would have starved to their death. She concludes that Koreans partially deal with the presence of the American bases in Korea because that generation feels gratitude from the amount of help the Americans gave. Many people would rely on the soldiers because they would give way for methods to receive food from selling their clothes or doing their laundry. The American soldiers would sell their old military clothes to the Koreans and they would dye and sell them, in turn for rice and supplies. Myung-Sun's family made their living by going to the woods and cutting down logs and selling them as fuel. The rice they received would feed the family and also be made into rice cakes, which were sold for even more rice. She did not go to school for a year, since her family lacked the finances and stability that could come with education. In schools they would try to feed the many hungry children, during lunch hours they would hand out steamed rice bread. Since hunger was the most chronic problem, it was the most difficult to deal with. The lack of food always rooted in the constant hunger that no one could satiate. The war itself was of course a horrible event, the amount of casualties and suffering was far to great to consider it beneficial in any way. Despite the fact that the country grew into a large and prosperous nation afterwards, a war is too far great of a suffering to try to achieve success. Because the war ended in an armistice, Myung-Sun still believes that a war is potential, but it would not start immediately. But she insists that there will be a war in the future, unfortunately.

<span style="color: #b184db; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">**Reflection**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What surprised me about this interview, even though I expected it, was how much my grandmother was aware of the state of the country. She seemed to know the coming in of UN soldiers and the major events that occurred during the war. What also surprised me was how she was able to attend school during the war. I assumed that perhaps education would have ceased by the time war was imminent, but apparently education prevailed. The clarity of her memories was understandable, the images of war would obviously persist even later. It seemed as though they were events that were so long ago, but yet they seem to come back haunt us, especially now with the aggressive tactics of North Korea becoming unveiled, albeit with notice. I wonder what the outcome of this country will become, and it doesn't seem as though it will be a diplomatic negotiations, but let's just say, I truly hope for it.