Se+June+H-Korean+War+Oral+History

Interview with Grandmother (Called her and wrote down the transcript) Hello. Can you tell me a little about yourself? (Name, Age, marriage, job, family) My name is BouckSuk Hyun. I am 82 years old now. I was married and had five sons the last being your father. We all used to live in Mokpo, the harbor city, during the Korean War and after it. Your grandfather was a school teacher and later businessman who amassed great amounts of money. How were you affected by the war? We lived in the south coast and were quite relatively unaffected by the war but we still fled. We knew that if we stayed in Mokpo, there would not be a place to flee and we would be cornered at the end. So we fled farther north near islands because the roads there would be worse and harder to be found. Many days we lived in caves on the run. My eldest son was one or two at that time which was harder on us. On what side where you? Did you prefer Syngman Rhee or Kim Il Sung? Why? Of course I preferred Syngman Rhee because he was a democrat. I believed that having a democratic government is the only way for our rights to be protected. Also I was greatly influenced by the people around me such as my father and my husband. How did you feel when the Soviet and United States forces left? I thought so relieved and greatly happy because that meant that our country would be given autonomy. It is inevitable for our rights to diminish when the government is run by a military and since it was run by the American military it was worse. I think that the retreat by the two armies gave great independence to our country. But don't you think this created the stage for the civil war? Even though that this created the stage for the civil war, it is better for the country to have a civil war and have autonomy rather than have a country run by a different country's military. It was a sacrifice that was done by having war but it was to have a decision for the country and independence rather than having a country run by others. What was your initial reaction to the North Korean invasion? I was surprised and angry. The North Koreans were evil beings who were trying to take and unify the country by force rather than using peaceful means. There had been talk about a combined election to help unify the country. But this was a conflict that had its roots in the temporary governments as there was no official government and as two governments were made and two leaders chosen, the legitimacy of the leaders were in question. Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee would not recognize each other obviously and created tensions. This could have avoided by having a combined election or having intermediaries between the two right and left sides but these great leaders were assassinated as well. The North Koreans were going to take by force what they wanted and would not allow anything else. How did you react to the Incheon landing? Is it justified? The Incheon landing was a justified intervention and help because the North Koreans were not justified to attack South Korea. The north were ready for the attack and had been amassing an army. Even though the Americans were intervening in national affairs, it was important that the North were the aggressors. How did you feel about South Koreans going over the 38th parallel? It was different from the North attacking the South and justified because it was a revenge for the attack launched. A war is fought to win and it would be stupid and foolish to say that we have reached the 38th parallel and stop at it. The point in war is to fight until one side is destroyed or the leaders of the war are caught. This is to stop any further attacks or wars. This justifies the South Korean attack on North Korea and the takeover of Pyongyang. How did you feel when the Chinese crossed the Yalu river? The Chinese were being stupid and irrational by helping the aggressor. It was not justified help to the North Koreans and they should not have helped. But is this not similar to the American help? It is different because the North Koreans were preparing an attack and the aggressor in war but the South Koreans were merely attacking for self defense. It was just that South Korea was too able in its counterattack. Chinese help was the opposite as it was helping the aggressors who were the evil ones. What did you think about the armistice and the DMZ? Should the war have gone on? The war should have just gone on and ended with one side losing. Even if it meant the loss of South Korea? The war should have finished even if South Korea lost because a divided Korea is worse than loss of democracy. The divided peninsula we have is always threatened by an attack such as the many things that have been said in the news. This also slowed development and modernization in both countries specially North Korea. It is not important the kind of government in the end but the happiness of the people and the development of Korea that should be taken in account rather than the type of government but because of the armistice, people still talk about being communist or democratic. What do you think of the conflict? Do you think any one is to blame or it was an inevitable conflict? Of course it was the United States and Soviet Union trying to divide and rule. But at that time it was normal to divide land and take it by both sides. The koreans are not to blame in this conflict, they were just used while some opportunists used this to gain power such as Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee. Was there any relative that had conflicts with communism? In fact, one of my uncles was communist and left for Pyongyang. It created a scandal then, when he came back to visit by boat. Everyone was scared and angry and in the end his own brother called the police. My uncle had to leave and many of my relatives were in fact called for questioning. It is a sad world in which we have to call the police for our own kin and have to be questioned for meeting our family. Is there anything more you want to add? My husband had amassed great amounts of money in a promising future but the war ripped everything and lost money. He used to save so much money that the money would stack up to the ceiling as the banks were not trusted but everything was lost as we had to flee. Thank you for your cooperation and sharing your thoughts of something that is a very sensitive subject.

Reflection

I think that I learned the most out of this activity about the Korean War. Not only the first hand experiences but to interview my grandmother I had to research and find out about the details so I did not offend my grandmother and know which questions to ask. Not only that, but I also learned to be a role of a reporter as I should not bias the questions in a way to get an answer I wanted. I learned a lot about my family as well. I honestly did not know that my grandmother remembered so much about the war and would be willing to talk to me about it so freely. It was also interesting to learn that they had to flee as well and live in caves which I did not know had happened to our family. It was also shocking to learn about my grandmother’s uncle who had communist thoughts and the incident. This incident made me rethink about the Korean war and how deeply it has affected the peninsula. It is indeed very sad that a family has betrayed each other for their values. I think I also had to think deeply about the end of this war and have to agree that it should have ended back then even if it meant South Korea losing. It has affected me deeply and I think there is a lot to learn from this interview. Even though it represents only one person, it shows the great grief and the consequences of the war. This interview should teach that a war should not drag on with an armistice as it creates further problems and it makes families break up. Other means should be found to solve disputes of this sorts and learn from the Korean War.

My grandmother agreed but could not get a physical one so my father represented my grandmother under her consent.