Korean+War+Interview+Project+NOGA+C+Block

NOGA KOREAN WAR INTERVIEW Interview Questions


 * Introduction**
 * 1) Do you remember what was going on when you had to evacuate your house?
 * 2) How was the environment when the war has broken out?
 * 3) Can you please briefly describe what your position in the society was at the time of the war?
 * 4) Do you remember anything that happened to people who you knew? Or even family members?
 * 5) What was the most difficult thing that you went through during this time in Korea?


 * During the War**
 * 1) Where exactly did you reside during the war? Does it relate to how you ended up here?
 * 2) What were the Pros and Cons of the location you lived in?
 * 3) Did you receive any education during that time? How were the facilities? where there orphans?
 * 4) Did anybody you know get captured by the North? Did they come back?
 * 5) How were your family effected during war?
 * 6) What factors changed you the most during war?


 * Memories**
 * 1) What were some of the elements that kept you alive and not to give up?
 * 2) What is the most memorable about the war?

Translated Answers We didnt evacuate. We only listened to the radios while our president told us not to worry and all. at that time, we only had the radios, so we believed everything that came out of the radio. But then we realized that seoul was invaded and that we were losing the war. We thought of evacuating, but we just sat down in our house and listened to the radio for more information
 * **Introduction**
 * Do you remember what was going on when you had to evacuate your house?

When the war broke out, again, nobody knew where the North has came into. The radio calmed everyone down so at the point where the war started, not many people in my area was worried because the president kept on announcing that we were winning, but then we were actually losing! Seoul was taken over and we were in a bad situation!
 * How was the environment when the war has broken out?

I was a girl that lived in Gimpo. My position in society was just a regular student who tried to stay alive... My neighbor was a very smart man and he was one of the few people who received education, so he was taken by the North Koreans to work for them. Of course he didnt want to, but he had to do so to stay alive and keep his family safe. My elder brother was dragged out to war and never came back...I was 16 and my "oppo" was 19. I have never seen him since...When all the guys were hiding, my elder brother didnt and the army took him to fight in the war.
 * Can you please briefly describe what your position in the society was at the time of the war?
 * Do you remember anything that happened to people who you knew? Or even family members?
 * What was the most difficult thing that you went through during this time in Korea?

 I lived in Gimpo, but I cant really determine whether it relates to how I ended up here. I lonly lived in Gimpo, so that is the only place I knew. I didnt go to seoul, nor Incheon, but stayed home.  The bad things were that the Chinese troops who came in were scary, and that we lived right next to a military airport. Our house was right next to the target of the enemy, so that was very frightening. The good things about where we lived was that not many North Koreans were near our home. When we saw our neighbors, everyone had evacuated, but we stayed because my parents and my grandparents were very loyal to their home and they quoted "If we are going to die, we are going to die here!!" so we stayed and nothing happened. Half of our city was burnt down with our house, but all our family was not harmed. I dont really want to think about war...  Our house was in the country side, so it was really far from school. Anyways, my grandfather believed in a wierd religion that believed that studying was useless and so they didnt send me to school. After a couple of years, I went to school, but during the war, we all stayed home and didnt go to school. Orphans? Of course. There were so many orphans that I thought dying as a whole family will be better since there were so many families where either the child had to watch their parents burn to death or the other way around.  <span style="color: rgb(0, 19, 230);">Remember the neighbor who I told you about? te one that had to work for the North Koreas? well he had a brother, who was a soldier. Well so they were hiding in a basment while his little brother was caught by the American Soldiers. Our fellow soldiers forced our neighbors brother to find his brother or get killed by their guns, so they got the neighbor's brother and as soon as they captured the person who worked for the North, forcefully, was killed. <span style="color: rgb(0, 21, 250);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 14, 230);">I was really young and my family was effected a lot. My "oppa" was taken to war and never came back. Our family saw people burning to death right in front of our own two eyes, that left a scar in our family's heart. One day, we also saw our own house burn down in front of our faces. My father went to Japan a lot for his job and whenever he did, he used to buy wedding dresses for my sister, which had been burried underground by my mother so that the theives wouldnt steel it, but those things were all burnt during the fire. <span style="color: rgb(0, 19, 250);">My view towards war has changed a lot. During the war I was always wondering how fellow brothers can do such cruel things to eachother. I think tht the factors that changed me was basically the whole war itself.
 * **During the War**
 * Where exactly did you reside during the war? Does it relate to how you ended up here?
 * What were the Pros and Cons of the location you lived in?
 * Did you receive any education during that time? How were the facilities? where there orphans?
 * Did anybody you know get captured by the North? Did they come back?
 * How were your family effected during war?
 * What factors changed you the most during war?

<span style="color: rgb(7, 36, 242);">I think that it is all destiny. If you are meant to die, then you die. If you are not, then you dont. At that time, I couldnt go to a church near my house, but I have always believed that God gave us a life to live and to fulfil our dreams with, so how can I give up such an opportunity? media type="file" key="AsianStudies.mp3"
 * **Memories**
 * What were some of the elements that kept you alive and not to give up?
 * What is the most memorable about the war?

<span style="color: rgb(240, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block; font-size: 120%;">Interview Part 1 media type="youtube" key="tCmk9YzJBQA" height="344" width="425"

Part 2 media type="youtube" key="wLIQl-vYPUc" height="344" width="425"

Part 3 media type="youtube" key="F8YAIv9jRRY" height="344" width="425"

Part 4 media type="youtube" key="2rdj83miZ00" height="344" width="425"

<span style="color: rgb(240, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block; font-size: 120%;">Summary

I interviewed my "ajuma" that is currently staying with us in Korea who looks after me. I was very comfortable in asking her these questions because she took care of me since I was around 10, which made it possible for her to open up to each questions and add personal comments after her answers. My interview focuses on things that effected the citizens during the war and how the Korean war changed families and well, mainly, my "ajuma."

In this interview, I got to know a lot about my "ajuma's" past and how her family has been through a hard time during the war. I thought that the answers were very common, but the personal comments taught me furthur things that no textbooks nor the internet taught me. The reality of war.


 * <span style="color: rgb(219, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block; font-size: 120%;">Analysis Questions

1. How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?** I think that my testimony fits in with the things I have learned about the civilians because she has lost a family member herself, but she still doesn't know whether he is alive or not. It ties on to the character of the "Still Life with Rice's" Hongyong. Both Hongyong and my interviewee has lost their family member during the war and doesnt know whether they are alive or not. I learned how serious losing a family member was. The civilians that I have leaned about was very similar to my interviewee's, but there were some aspects that differed greatly based on the location one resided in. My interviewee lived near Gimpo, so although there were several bombings, but the attacks werent as harsh as Seoul, but the people's lives were lost due mostly to the bombing campaigns.

First of all, my interviewee mentioned about how some people worㅏed for the North Koreans even if they didnt want to, to live, counting her uncle. My interviewee 's Uncle worked in North Korea to survive, but was captured by the American Soldiers right after, which became a problem. They were both hiding under ditches and underground basements, but first her uncle's brother was captured and he was forced to persuade his own brother that was hiding to himself up to the Americans. I found this very unfair and guilty and reminded me greatly of the times when the troops that were supposed to protect the Koreans accidentally or even purposely (the village case) killed the innocent Koreans. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> My interviewee was able to stay alive because she was "lucky." First of all, she lived in Gimpo, where the attack was not that harsh, despite the fact that her house was right next to an American Landing Strip. She said that basically half of the city was wiped out, but the other half and not hers. I found it very interesting when she told me the story about her house burning down and I told her how lucky she was. One day, when she was about to go home with her sister and her younger brother, the bomb landed in the house, but they were about to escape from it, just as the bomb was about to explode. My interviewee also told me that having faith in God that time really helped because even if you are alone, you had someone to depend on, which made her feel less lonely and motivated her to survive.
 * 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?**
 * 3. Hypothesize or explain how your interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(9, 27, 26); text-align: center; display: block; font-size: 120%;">Essay


 * How has the interview added to your understanding of the war? How do you think it will help us better understand the Korean War?**

A confusian might say that learning from books are enough and that it is accurate, but a Taoist will say that experiencing the events will help you learn better. I agree with the Taoist because from this interview, I actually felt how the war was like instead of just reading it off the textbooks at school. The reality of the Korean War through somebody who has actually experienced it made me shiver and feel angry, which not many books or textual evidences could have done.

Though this interview, I realized, once again that war is not an ideal thing to do for mankind. This interview didnt add on new information about the war, but added on to what I had already known. Hongyong's life in the //Still Life with Rice// seemed very dramatic, but soon after the interview, I had realized that it wasn't overly common, but neither was it rare. The severity of war crept through my veins as my interviewee spoke as she looked directly in my eyes. I have never really stared into my interviewee's eyes, but when I did, it kind of reflected the lost lives that she saw during the Korean War.

This Interview was a great way to learn about the Korean War. Through this interview, I went deeper into the experience of my interviewee instead of what happened around her to dig deeper into the events and the feelings that were floating in the atmosphere during the times of war. This interview will both inspire and give an idea of how war is serious and is not meant to be done, to people who dont really know about the history.

Although the concept of war is understood clearly through the interview, I think that to help us more efficiently to understand the Korean war, it will be interesting to have both a North Korean interviewee and a South Korean one to get balance out the testimonies and regulate the bias-ness. By doing this, I think that people will have a very fair idea on how the Korean War took place and the "truth" of the contents.

<span style="color: rgb(245, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 120%; text-align: center; display: block;">Permit Form

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