Hyun+Woo+K+-+Korean+War+Oral+History+HWK

 Hyun Woo Kim (H): Hello, mom. Today, I'll be interviewing you about your experiences with the Korean War. Jae Hee Chung (J): Okay. H: Before we start, let me ask you some basic questions. How old are you and when was your date of birth? J: I was born in Seoul in January 17, 1964. I'm currently 47 years old. H: Alright then let's start. How did you take part in the Korean War? J: I was too young to experience it myself. H: Okay then, how were your parents involved in the war, if at all? J: My father, he lived in Daegu, and it seems like he evacuated to Busan as he never mentioned meeting North Koreans. H: So he didn't get directly involved. J: Yes, he didn't. When the war began, he was 14. When it ended, he was 17. H: Was he drafted into the army? Because I remember learning that the South Korean army recruited boys and men who were capable of shooting a gun. J: No, he was drafted after the Korean War when he graduated from college. H: Oh, so unlike nowadays, in the past, you had to graduate college to be eligible for a military draft. J: Yes. H: I see. What about your mother? J: She lived in Jinjoo. When the war began, she was only 12. She told me that she had to constantly run to the bomb shelter in the mountains whenever the North Koreans bombed her village. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: Did she ever see a North Korean? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Well, she did see one from afar. They were singing war songs. Not to mention, for a period of time, North Koreans took control over the village, setting up unfair trials against those who supposedly protested against their rule. Those who were convicted were executed through the shooting range. Many villagers turned against each other, and some of them became supporters of North Koreans, or the "reddies." <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: That must have been shocking and disturbing to see. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Yes, war makes monsters of men. (Pause) They also mentioned that, because my, and later your, generation didn't experience what war is like, we don't have the hungry attitude that they had to succeed. Because people of their time worked hard with an unwavering determination, South Korea–devastated, poor, and dependent–was able to become one of the leading nations of the world and allowed us to live in a time of peace and prosperity. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: Are there any other things they mentioned about the war specifically? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Ah, yes, they said that wars should never happen again. They are full of misery and violence. They are cruel and hateful. (Pause) I forgot to mention this before, but after the Korean War, my mother went to a college in Seoul, and even after years since the end of the war, there were numerous houses that had collapsed due to artillery bombardments. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: That's odd. Moving on. When did you first come to hear about the Korean War? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Well, I first learned about it in elementary school, and I especially remember how we were taught that the North Koreans were "red devils." This was because they would continually invade into South Korea often through Gangwondo, where there were lots of mountains and very low population densities. There was this famous incident where an elementary child by the name of Yong Bok Lee was brutally killed by these North Korean spies. When his family was killed in front of his eyes, he still stood defiantly and said that he didn't like communism. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: But couldn't this have been another sort of propaganda to instill further hate towards North Korea? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Actually, the incident was proven through a detailed investigation that it indeed had taken place. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: I see. So, what kind of aftereffects of the Korean War have you observed throughout your life? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: Well, more so than the effects of the Korean War, the effect of the Japanese occupation was far more impacting. You can't just single out the Korean War because the pain started from the Japanese occupation of Korea. I had family members who knew Japanese because of the Korean annexation by Japan, but, yes, I didn't experience any direct effects from the Korean War. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: Yes. To sum it up, what are your feelings about the war? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: (Pause) It's violent and should never happen. We should live and behave to avoid wars, rather than creating them. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">H: Okay, that was the end of the interview. Thank you, Mom. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">J: You're welcome.Type in the content of your page here.
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">Korean War Interview **


 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: left;">Analysis **

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; text-align: left;">By interviewing my mother about the Korean War, I came to realize that certain events in history do not simply disappear; their effects are still visible as of today. The very existence of North Korea is proof of the far-fetching effects of the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Whenever I conversed with my parents and grandparents, I never connected them with the past. I, however, can now see that they were from a different generation, to an extent, a generation of suffering and poverty. My grandparents were direct participants of the Korean War and my parents were the children of the war generation. By interviewing my mother, I was able to see the personal aspects of the war: how my grandmother had to constantly run away to the mountains to avoid North Korean bombardment. Although now almost nonexistent, the visible hatred of North Koreans was evident during my mother's childhood; even in a supposedly objective textbook, she was taught since elementary school that North Koreans were the "red devils" and target for hatred.