Dongmyung+Lee's+interview

KOREAN WAR ORAL HISTORY =Interview with my grandpa= (The interview was recorded but It was in Korean so I just typed out what he said and translated)

"This is Dongmyung Lee and I am interviewing my grand-father . His name is 이상섭 (Lee Sang Seop) and I am interviewing her on May 31 2010 on the phone. We are going to talk about the Korean War during 1950 - 1953."

1) 자기소개좀해주세요. (성함, 생일, 나이, 성별, 직장, 가족)** 제 이름은 이상섭입니다. 생일은 3월 21일 1932년생입니다. 나이가 올해 만으로 78살이고, 성별은 남성입니다. 학교에서 채육선생님을 32년동안해왔고 지금현재는 은퇴했습니다. 가족은 집사람이랑 아들 3명있습니다. Hello, My name is Sang Seop Lee. My birthday is March 21st, 1932. This year, I am 78 years old in Korean age and I am a male. I worked as a physical education teacher for 32 years and now I’m retired and I do not have a job. My family contains my wife and 3 sons. 2) 6.25 전쟁때 매일매일 느낌이 어떠셨어요?** 6.25전쟁이 처음시작했을때 저는 18살이였습니다. 대학입시를앞두고 열심히공부하고있을때 갑자기 전쟁이나서 엄청 놀랐습니다. 전쟁이났을때 남한을도우러 군대를 가서 전쟁에 참여했습니다. 전쟁을치루는동안 하루하루 매일 나쁜일이이러날까봐 걱정도하고, 한편으로는 매일 미래에대해서 생각했습니다. 전쟁이 언제 끝날지도 걱정되기도 하면서 빨리 끝났으면하는바램이였습니다. 하루하루 매일 걱정하면서도 놀라웠고, 빨리끝나기만을바랬습니다. When the Korean war first started, I was 18 years old. I was studying hard to get in to college and the war started. I was shocked at that time. I had to stop my studying and I had to become a soldier to fight back to the North Koreans. During the war, everyday I was afraid what might happen to me. I was worried that I was gonna get killed or injured. Also everyday, I was looking forward to the end of the war. I was worried everyday about what might happen, and I was wanting for the war to end. I felt like I was dreaming. 3) 오늘 6.25전쟁을 생각하시면 뭐가떠오르세요? 왜요?** 6.25 전쟁을 생각할때마다 머리속에서는 전쟁하는동안 있었던일이 생각납니다. 매일 잠을 2시간밖에못자고 새벽에는 훈련드러가는개생각납니다. 매일해왔던일이기때문에 머리속에서 제일남는거같습니다. Whenever I think about the Korean War, I always think about the daily life everyday. I was only able to sleep 2 hours per day, and in the morning, I had to be awake for the training. I think this comes up to my mind whenever I think about the Korean war because It was what I did every single day during the war. 4) 가장기억에남는 이야기가 있으세요? 왜요?** 가장기억에남는 이야기는 제 동료가 제보는눈앞에서 총에쏘여 죽는거였습니다. 전쟁이이러나고 군대를입대했을때 도와줬던 착한동료가있섰습니다. 전쟁이이러났을때 무엇을해야돼는지 갈켜준 제친구였습니다. 전쟁터에가서 싸우다가 총에쏘여 죽는모습이 아직도 눈에 남내요. 아주친한 동료였기때문에 기억에남습니다. The story that I remember the most was when my friend was shot during the war. When I first went to the military service, he was the one who taught me how to shoot guns and what we should do during the war. I learnt a lot from him and it was very shocking to see him getting shot. I think I remember this story the most because he was a good friend and it was a very shocking event for me that encouraged me to fight harder. 5) 6.25 전쟁을 피할려고 주로어디를갔나요?** 많은시간을 전쟁터에서 보냈고 나머지시간은 우리 남한기지에서 훈련하고 그랬습니다. During the war, I spent a lot of time in the battle field fighting with the North Koreans, and also I stayed in the base for training and resting. 6) 6.25전쟁때문에 하루일상이 어떻개바뀌었나요? 예를들자면 음식값이나 물건값들** 남한기지에서 음식을나눠줘서 음식값은 몰랐는대, 재 아내 말들어보니까 음식값이 아주많이올랐다고했습니다. 라면값이랑 쌀값이 최고로많이올랐다고합니다. I don’t know about how the outside of the base was like but I heard from my wife that food prices increased by a lot. Ramen (Korean Noodles) and rice prices were the highest mainly because of more people buying the product. 7) 요즘 남한과북한이 천안함 침몰사건때문에 싸우고있는대, 그걸생각하시면 뭐가떠올르세요?** 천안함 침몰사건에대해서 티비에서 볼때마다 걱정돼고 전쟁이이러날까봐 두렵습니다. 하루라도빨리 안정됐으면좋겠고 또다시 전쟁이안이러났으면 좋갯습니다. Today when I hear about the Cheonan ship sinking incident from the news, it makes me afraid that it might lead to a war again. I hope this argument will end quickly and I hope there will be no war. 8) 6.25전쟁때 있었던일중에서 어떤일이 가장충격이큰가요?** 방금말했다시피, 제 동료가 총에쏘여 죽었을때 가장 충격이컸습니다. 그걸보고 놀라서 더욱더 열심히 싸우개되었고, 동료를위해 열심히싸웠습니다 As I mentioned before, the event that affected the most was when my friend got shot and died. That was a shocking moment and made me fight harder in order to be able to win the war. I fought back with the North Koreans for my friend. 9) 전쟁에대해서는 어떻개처음으로알게되셨어요? 전쟁소식을들으실때 뭐하고 게셨어요? 느낌이 어떠셨어요?** 전쟁이처음으로 선포됬을때 저는 독서실에서 책을읽고있었습니다. 갑자기 밖에서 아주큰 소리가들려서 나가보니까 사람들이 뛰어다니면서 전쟁이 선포됬다고 걱정하고있었습니다. 아주 놀라웠고 꿈이길바랬습니다. I first heard about the war when I was studying in a library. A sudden loud noise came from outside, therefore I ran out to see what was going on. I saw people running around scared. I was very shocked and didn’t like what was going on. 10) 전쟁이끝났을때 어떠셨어요?** 전쟁하는동안 매일 열심히 훈련받고 잠덜자면서 싸웠더니 전쟁에서 살아남은거같습니다. 전쟁이끝났을때는 기분이너무좋았고 한시름놀수있다고생각했습니다. During the war, I got trained every single day and I think that is how I got through the war. I was very happy that the war was over and I felt like I could relax now. 11) 6.25 전쟁이랑 베트남전쟁이랑 비교를해주세요.** 재생각으로는 6.25전쟁이랑 베트남전쟁은 아주 비슷한거같습니다. 하지만 베트남전쟁이딴나라들까지 참여하면서 더커지고 베트남전쟁은 20년동안이였지만 6.25전쟁은 3년이였습니다. I think that the Korean war and Vietnam war was very similar. However Vietnam war included different countries which made the war bigger, and also it lasted for 20 years. The Korean war was only for 3 years. 12) 전쟁 훈련은 어떠셨나요?** 훈련은 지옥같았습니다. 아주 힘들고 어려워서 힘들었지만 한편으론 동료들이랑 재밌게놀수있어서 좋았습니다. The training was like the worst part of the war. It was very tiring and hard. However, it was fun to play with my co-workers.
 * Please tell me about yourself (Name, birthday, age, sex, job, family)
 * 2) How did you feel everyday during the Korean War?
 * 3) Today, what comes up to your mind when you think about the Korean War? Why?
 * 4) What is a story that you remember the most? Why do you remember it?
 * 5) Where did you stay the most during the war?
 * 6) How did the war affect your daily livings such as prices for food?
 * 7) Today, South and North Korea are fighting about the Cheonan ship sinking. How do you feel about this?
 * 8) Which event during the war particularly affected you?
 * 9)How did you find out about the war? What were you doing at the time when you first found out about the war? How did you feel?
 * 10) How did you get through the war?
 * 11) Can you compare the Korean war to Vietnam War?
 * 12) How was the training in the military service?

Thank you for your time grand-pa!

=Analyze=

This interview was a great way to show us how the life would have been during the war. I talked to my grandpa about the war and he was telling me how the war was very scary. This interview helped me find out about what was like during the war and it helped me to understand the Korean war. My grandpa told me everything about the Korean war such as the cause of the war and how they were treated in the military base. I would have been very scared if I was living during that time. My grandpa told me about how the war has affected us a lot. He said that it was better for us to be separated into North and South Korea because if we united with them in the past, we would have more civil wars today because there would me more arguments about the government. This interviewed showed how the life back in the time of the Korean war was really scary and hard. The story about the base made me think about how it would have been very difficult to shoot guns. I would have been very scared if I was in the Korean war. Today the sinking of ship incident is rising and the relation between South and North Korea is becoming worse. After hearing about the stories that my grand pa told me, I am scared and I don’t want to go on a war with the North Koreans. I hope everything will be solved without violence. I think this project was a great one because we were able to see what was life like back in the time of the Korean war.