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__Olivia Edwards Korean War Project __ media type="file" key="Korean war interview.m4a" Podcast of my Korean War Interview

Script for my Korean War Interview: __Asian studies script__

The Korean war had a huge impact on both the North and the South, leaving both countries in ruin with very little to recover with. The south however, had an advantage. They had back up from America to get them back on their feet, giving South Korea an amazing development. But even if the evidence of the Korean war has been covered up; new buildings covering old, advanced technology and a large western influence; the Korean war will never be forgotten. Those who survived it, lived through it, and suffered from it will never forget the hardships that they faced. I have interviewed a woman who was alive during this time. Mrs Park (as she will be referred to as she did not want her voice or first name to be recorded during this interview) was twelve years old when the Korean War begun. She lived with her mother and father and baby sister in a small town now known as Nowon-Gu. When asked how old she was in the duration of the Korean war, Mrs Park replied that she was 12 years old when it begun and around 18 when it ended. When i asked her to clarify this, as we know that the Korean war only lasted for 3 years. Mrs Park then said, “It does not matter when the officials decide the war is over. For everyone else, the war didn’t finish for many years. I was lucky enough to be able to escape to America when i was a young woman. I managed to get away. By the time i was 18, Korea was beginning to get back on its feet and become a developing country. This was around the time i think that the war was officially over for the people of South Korea, once the hardship is over, the war is over.”

During this time I could see that Mrs Park was getting emotional when she spoke of the government’s official ending of the war. When i asked her this next question, her emotion clearly showed. I asked her how her family was treated and how they were affected by the war. She answered, “I remember how old my mother looked. She was young and fresh once, and then in about a year, she became old. It was the worry. My father was the optimistic one. He had to serve in the war but not for long. My father was born without an arm. He was only useful at the beginning in the offices. So he was soon sent home when they no longer needed him. I was very lucky, most people never saw their fathers and brothers again. However, because of this, many people were unhappy with us. They shouted at us and wouldn’t give us food. The man who was selling vegetables did not want to sell to us. So in this instance, we were very unlucky.” I then asked her about the streets, were they safe? She told me stories about animals and crops at the start of the war. If you were seen with more food or money than you could survive on for one day, the soldiers would take it away and give it to other people. Also, the other women would steal food from you or steal pets or animals for cooking. It was quite unsafe in that sense.

The next question made Mrs Park stop and think. I asked her what she thought about the state of north Korea and how badly it was affected. She answered differently than i thought. “I suppose North Korea were in a worse state than us. North Korea did not have the benefit of the US behind them. I think we recovered much more, and at a faster pace. I know now that South Korea was doing much damage to the north as well, but at the time, i didn’t know this. Everyone thought that it was just north Korea; that they were the ones who started the war and they were the ones to ruin our country.” I then lead her on to the question of who actually started the war, was it the north? Or was it the South? She told me that her mother had always told her that it was the north that started the war but that her father had argued with her mother when she said this. He had always said that a war cannot begin without both countries. Both were to blame. “After years of contemplating that very question, i realised that my father was probably right. Although it is easy to blame others when you have a conflict, whether it’s a little argument or a war, is not only one person’s fault. I’m sure South Korea had much to do with the beginnings of the war,” Mrs Park related to me.

“Then do you think that South Korea will ever truly forget the Korean war? Or do you think that they are scarred for life?” I asked her. She told me that she thought that South Korea had been scarred before. “The Japanese scarred our women and now the North Koreans have scarred our men.” Her descriptions of life in the war lead me to believe that she was sincere. This was all she had to say on this subject, so i decided to move on. I then asked her what she thought about the American involvement in the Korean war. Mrs Park answered with the following, “I am very grateful to the US for joining forces with our soldiers. In honesty, i don’t think we would have been twice what we are today without them. In fact i think we would all be following a communist law as one red nation now, i certainly don’t think you would be here, being educated in this country, being allowed into the home of a regular Korean.” I then lead on to my next question, “What do you think about the western influence that still lingers in the South?” She answered that she enjoyed having western influence, it was nice to see diversity in their country. Even though some of the traditions were lost, Korea still became a strong country and managed to maintain enough of their individuality to be different from the western countries.

I then asked her whether she thought that the Korea from before the war was a better nation to be a part of or whether she believed that South Korea was better off without the divide between the countries. Mrs Park answered, “I believe that Korea is a stronger nation now. You can’t put two conflicting ideas into one nation and expect it to work out. The divide would have happened at some point, i am just grateful that we had the west on our side to get us through at the end.”

Mrs Park decided not to answer many of the questions that i asked, feeling that she could not rightfully state her position without going against her personal morals. So i simply asked her to summarize how she felt overall about the war and its consequences. She told me the following, “The Korean war was an unfortunate event, a period in time that was unfair to South Korea, and, i’m sure, North Korea too. People lost their lives, or family members, or their homes or their beliefs. For me to say whether the South or the North was to blame, is ridiculous. The North killed our men, women and children, but i’m sure that we killed theirs. I think South Korea is finally in a place where we can look at what happened with an open mind. It was a tragedy, but tragedies happen. The main problem that i can see facing us now is that the rest of the world will forget what happened. Every school in the world studies the Nazis and Germany, yet it is rare to find the subject of the Korean war addressed in detail in any schools other than in Eastern Asia. The older women and men of Korea will never forget this period in time. All i ask for now is that it is not forgotten.” I then asked her if there was ever an apology from North Korea. She told me that an apology from one man who is in power means nothing. Was he the one with the rifle killing innocent people? No. So he should not be apologizing. It is too late for sorry, it is time to leave it alone now.

For my final question i simply asked Mrs Park whether she thought North and South Korea will ever reunite or not. She told me no. She said that the countries have been far apart for too long. They have lived apart, worked apart, and followed different rules for so many years that it would be impossible to reunite with equal powers. South Korea would see themselves as the stronger nation, but so, as i would assume, would the North. They would also want to be the strongest nation. That concluded our interview, after two hours, Mrs Park decided that she wouldn’t like to answer any more questions. I would like to thank Mrs Park for giving up her time. This has been Olivia Edwards interviewing Mrs Park on the Korean War. Thank you for listening.