Korean+War+Interview+Project+Alice+Ahn+C+Block

=Korean War Interview Project = URL: []

II. Interview Questions:
1. Could you please state your name, age, occupation, family, and any background information such as education and marriage? Could you please explain how old you were and your age and any information you remember that might be important that was during the war? 2. How was everyone reacting to the news when they heard that the North Koreans invaded South Korea? 3. What was the main difficulty that you faced during the war? 4. Can you tell me about any story or event that you remember during the war? 5. What was the role of religion to people during the war? Also, if you have any story about religion, can you tell me? 6. Can you describe the environment during the war? How were the houses? the town? people? Anything that you remember when you think of the Korean War. 7. What happened after the war? How did peoples' lives changed? 8. How were the transportation operated during the war? 9. What do you remember about the North Korea during the war? 10. How did the government treated the survivors of the Korean War? 11. What do you think about the Korean War? Do you think it was a unification war or an aggressive war? 12. Do you think a Second Korean War will occur? 13. Is Reunification possible?

III. Interview (video with subtitles)
Video I. media type="youtube" key="cihZ_N7B9U0" height="344" width="425"

Video II. media type="youtube" key="yBHX9nE69dg" height="344" width="425"

Video III. media type="youtube" key="sHily5zaSJQ" height="344" width="425"


- My grandmother was the interviewee and her description of the environment of Korean War is very similar to the information learned in class. Everything was a chaos; people lost contacts of each other, they were running out of food and money and they had to live under the fear of being taken away or being dead. People were there one day, and the very next day they would disappear. During that time, people weren't wealthy enough to have more than one pair of clothes for even one person. Her description about people being not wealthy enough to eat or wear clothes, matches the description that Hongyong wrote on //Still of Rice//. My grandmother also talked about how bombings were going on, such as bombing the Han River Bridge, which was the only bridge at that time. Due to its' destruction, many people couldn't refuge to South. The civilians suffered greatly during the war, quite enough to say that they suffered more than the soldiers did.
 * 1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?**

- The Korean War had traumatized people in various ways. The major would be separation of family. My grandmother was separated from her father for a long time and the pain of not knowing news about one's family is indescribable. The numerous difficulties and pain always tag along with missing people. Another would be affecting them specifically, not in a broad way. During the war, the unceasing famine was one of the major difficulties every family faced. To survive, people had to eat leaves of turnips and cabbages, sweet potatoes, and bean sprouts left on the farm. Whenever people ate bean sprouts, and sweet potatoes, they were facing the harsh truth that they were in a middle of a war and that they might face their death at this moment. My grandmother doesn't eat bean sprouts and sweet potatoes even to this day because of the pain she went through during the war. The change people went through due to war is not something that can be undone easily; people have to bear with their lives for the rest of their lives.
 * 2) Using your background knowledge try to contextualize their testimony. How do you think major events of the war affected their life at the time?**

-  My grandmother was able to stay out of danger because she was young, not qualified to be taken away, and her family arrived at Masan, Gyeongsang-do, which is the Southeast region of Korea. There weren't many dangers lying there because the UN and South Korean soldiers' base was located at Southern regions and their guards on their base was very strict. My great-grandparents would be one of the reasons that my grandmother was able to stay out from danger. Because they took care of their children safely and well, no one was greatly injured or separated from each other permanently.
 * 3) Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

 V. Essay (1.5 pages long)
In the world, North Korea and South Korea are the only country that is remained separated. The closest yet furthest from each other, the two nations seemed to not get along well. Korea was separated into two due to the result of the Korean War in the 1950-1953. In order to resolve the problems between North Korea and South Korea is to learn, understand the history, and not repeating the same mistakes that had been done.

The Korean War Interview was the first time for the student to make a primary source oneself. Usually, primary sources are drawn from the website, long, and difficult. This project, although it is a primary source, is different from others because it is a fun, short primary source that can be easily learned by others. These videos can also be used to prove such a hypothesis about the war because whatever these people say is a primary source, and their words have credit. The usage of video can vary; it depends on the person who’s watching the videos. The most important part of the video is that it is the first primary source the students made that can be used for learning to others.

Before the interview, the information for the Korean War was very limited; it was very basic and some parts were under-estimated and others were exaggerated. Through the interview with my grandmother, the information became clear and thorough; the amount of information of the Korean War also increased. For example, I thought that North Koreans were always violent, and vicious, and that they always attacked first. Through the interview with my grandmother, I found out that North Koreans wasn’t always violent; their main goal for going into random houses was to take men to join the army and to take away foods because food shortage was a major problem during the war. I also found out that the transportation available during the Korean War was the train and only the train and due to this, numerous accidents occurred to people who clanged on to the roof of the train because there were no seats left and everyone was desperate to refuge to the South.

The video will provide additional information about the Korean War. The well-known information such as North Korean taking away men to the army or killing them, will be reinforced to the audience and would emphasize the importance of it. The video also provides how the survivors still feel about the Korean War. During the interview, my grandmother got emotional in some moments and it showed to the interviewer that the survivors’ pains never go away. The video will provide more descriptive information and personal experience that will make the event more interesting.