Flora+K-+Korean+War+Oral+History

Interview 1 (with grandfather): media type="file" key="Interview 1.m4a" width="300" height="50"
 * Korean War Oral History **

Interview 2 (with grandmother): media type="file" key="Interview 2.m4a" width="300" height="50"

Interview Summary: media type="file" key="Interview summary.m4a" width="300" height="50"

**INTERVIEW WITH GRANDFATHER:**
My name is Kwon Yong-Hee, and I was born on 12th March, 1929. My hometown is in Choon-Cheong-Nam-Do, and I am the only child in my family. I studied law in Seoul University. I married at the age of 23, and during the Korean War, I was in Seoul.
 * 1. Please tell me briefly about yourself. Your name, birth date, hometown, family, and where you were at the time of Korean War, etc.**

I joined the army because I received a call while fleeing to Daegu with my family. I was 24 at the time. Before I went to the army, I was a part of the police with a high status. But I quitted because I wanted to study more in university. While being a police, you don't receive any calls from the army because you are already serving for the country. But because I quitted, I was called.
 * 2. How did you join the army? How old were you when you joined the army?**

My parents were just like "oh, be safe". They weren't really worried or didn't show any big reactions since they were from the country side- they weren't really sure about what was going on in the country and what the life was like in the army.
 * 3. What did your parents/family say when you had to join the army?**

In Seoul, everyone was fleeing to the lower part of Korea such as Daegu and Busan. Seoul was quite a dangerous place during the war, because it was very close to the 38th parallel.
 * 4. What was the situation like in the place where you were at during the war? (People's life, reaction to war, etc...)**

My job was to drive a truck and send equipments needed for the war. I started driving since then (hahah). I got this job because I graduated a driving school.
 * 5. What was your job in the war? How did you manage to get that job?**

I was only working behind the actual war, so I don't know the situation or the life of soldiers in the war. For me, I stayed in the 포청 (similar to police station), and as I wasn't in a high status, the life there was not too comfortable, although it must have been better than the people actually fighting in the war...
 * 6. What was the situation like in the war? What was life of soldiers like in the war?**

I never got a close view of injured people since I was never in fight, but I saw many injured men being sent away to Busan on a train. I only saw them from far away, and they were all injured badly with gun shots, or with badly hurt arms and legs. Seeing them, I thought the soldiers were all really brave. At the same time, I was relieved for the fact that America had South Korea's back. Without them, we would probably have lost.
 * 7. Many people get injured and hurt in a war. What were most of their injuries like? How did you feel looking at the injuries?**

I don't have a lot of experience or anything particular that left me with a great impression since I never actually went out to "fight" in the war.
 * 8. Please tell me about your experience in the war, such as the things that left you a great impression.**

I don't know how they came to the agreement, but the armistice was made by the drawing of the 38th parallel. Korea became quite peaceful when the armistice was made but the effects of war was very big, and left many people dead or injured.
 * 9. The war ended in an armistice. Do you know how North and South Korea made an agreement for armistice? What was the situation like when armistice was made?**

People were happy but were also in a misery at the same time because of the huge effects of war.
 * 10. What was people's reaction when armistice was made?**

People that finished their service periods were sent back, but people who didn't finish their service period had to stay behind and work in the military. I also had to stay behind but I was sent out earlier than other people because I became ill with appendix.
 * 11. When the armistice was made, where the soldiers sent straight back to home? Did you have any sequela due to the war?**

China continuously sent help to North Korea because they were both communists. They constantly sent thousands of men to help North Korea. This was why it was so hard to defeat North Korea even with the help of America. The Chinese will just never give up. No matter how many times they lose, or how many people die, they will come back again. American army resided near the Naktong River, stopping the North Koreans attack below the Naktong River. This was why everyone was fleeing to places below Naktong River, such as Busan and Daegu.
 * 12. Lastly, is there anything I haven't asked about that you think I should know?**

**INTERVIEW WITH GRANDMOTHER:**
My name is Yoon Gil-Young and I was born on the 4th August, 1929. My hometown is also in Choon-Cheong-Nam-Do and I am the eldest child, with 6 siblings. I married at the age of 22, and during the Korean War, I was in Seoul.
 * 1. Please tell me briefly about yourself. Your name, birth date, hometown, family, and where you were at the time of Korean War, etc.**

I saw many other people fleeing to places below Naktong river. I also fled to Daegu with my husband's parents.
 * 2. What was the situation like when you were fleeing?**

We were a rich family, so we brought almost everything we had with us, including rice and Korean pastes, etc. We also brought a maid with us to cook and take care of the household, so I had quite a comfortable life during the Korean War. It was really peaceful in Daegu, and we saw no violence at all. It was like there was no war going on.
 * 3. What was your life like in Daegu?**

I was pretty worried about my husband being in the war, but I wasn't as worried as I am now with my grandson serving in the military. I wasn't really worried at the time because I was so young. Only being 23, I was clueless about the life in the army and the situation of the country. I just sat back and had a comfortable life with small worries about your grandfather (hahah). But I don't consider those times pleasant.
 * 4. Weren't you worried about Grandfather being in the war?**

**NOTE THAT THESE ANSWERS ARE TRANSLATED AND REPHRASED BY FLORA KIM (:**

Reflection:
In the two interviews I had with my grandparents, although there weren't much detail on the war itself, we can get a glance of the situation in Korea. The interview reflects on how much people suffered and were affected due to the war.

One thing we must take note of from this interview is the fact that America and China were involved in the "Korean" war. Although this is already a commonly known fact, it once again reminds us of how serious this war was. Through this interview, we can also see how much the Chinese were involved in this war. Grandfather described how the Chinese never gave up. He said that they continued sending more army no matter how many times they lost, or how many people died. They were willing to sacrifice millions of their own people for this war. This shows how determined China was to make the whole world turn into communists. On the other hand, with America also getting involved with this war and sacrificing their own people, we can see how much America wanted to keep the world as nationalists. It also reflects America’s strength at the time. Using grandfather’s opinion that “South Korea would have lost without America”, we can conclude that America was strong and developed enough to defend their own country and at the same time fight off the continuous attack from the Chinese.

Through this interview, we realize that the Korean War was not just a civil war within a small country. It was actually quite a big and serious war, that involved the two most powerful countries in the world.