DL+KWI

Daeun Lee Korean War Interview = = =Interview Video ( With subtitles )=

Part 2
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= = =Interview Questions=

**Korean War Interview Questions ** **Background Information** - - Grandmother, can you please give me some information about yourself, such as your name, age, family, and marriage?

**Korean War** - - Were there any forces against Christian where you lived? - - How did you find out that the war broke out? - - Do you remember hearing anything about which side (North or South) started the war? - - What changes did the war bring to people in your community? Please feel free to talk about anything that you didn’t feel the same when the war broke out. - - What did you do when the war broke out? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Do you remember any encounters with policemen or soldiers? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Did you have any children at that time? If so, how did you deal with them? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Could you talk about your journey? Were there lots of bombings? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Were there any family members that you lost during the war? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Can you please tell me how you came to South Korea?

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">What happened after the war ended and you came here? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Was life as free and comforting as you expected it to be? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Did you hear from anyone after the war? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">If not, do you know anyone who did hear from anyone in the North? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Did you ever regret coming to the South? If so, why? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">How do you feel about the Korean War? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">- - <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Is there anything else you would like me to know before we end the interview?
 * After the War**

=1.5 Page Essay=

**Korean War Interview Essay** <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My grandmother’s life was very similar to what we read about Hongyong in class. She and her husband were both 22 years old when the war had started, and escaped to the South with their child. According to my grandmother’s testimony, there were numerous bombings on her way to the South. Occasionally while walking, planes would fly above the refugees and drop bombs, and people would have to drop on the floor, just hoping that it wouldn’t hit them. She saw lots of dead people, either because they were hit by the bomb, or died of hunger. Also, like we read in our readings, the soldiers bombed the bridges so that people couldn’t cross the river. My grandmother’s story after the war also matches with what we’ve learned, because they falsely accused my grandfather of being a Red spy. Luckily, he was freed, but he could have been killed just like we had read in class. The whole testimony of my grandmother fitted very well with our learning of the civilian lives. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">It seems like the major events of the war only caused the civilians to suffer. People always had to be afraid of bombs and soldiers and become suspicious of any stranger they saw. Also, the war caused separation of lots of families because men were forced to join the army, and lots of mothers tried to escape the North with their children. Not only that, but life after the war was also very hard for the people, because they were almost empty handed and had to sustain their lives with almost nothing. To make things even worse, there were anti-communists in the South that occasionally accused people from the North of being communists and took them. Things were extremely chaotic and confusing for the Korean people, since they experienced brothers betraying and killing their own brothers. It seems like all the significant things of the war involved innocent civilians to suffer the most. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> According to my grandmother’s story, she was able to stay out of danger because her family’s braveness, surviving skills, and little bit of luck. My grandfather was courageous enough to come back for my grandmother and escape together to the South. My grandmother made an extremely bold decision when she made her family go up to Seoul from Pusan, while everybody was fleeing Seoul. They were also both very fearless at Tae Dong river when they crossed it on foot, and also threw away all their North Korean money without hesitation. Their ability to survive was also quite important, because they made a decision of packing only their basic life support equipment. Not only that, but they ran into the burning house for it, because they knew it was necessary for their survival. Lastly, my grandmother claims that she was very lucky because God prevented her from getting into danger. I agree with her indeed, because luck does play a huge role in saving people’s lives, especially at situations like wars where innocent people are killed for no reason all the time. My grandparents seemed to have survived thanks to three main things: courage, ability to survive, and good luck.

=<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Analysis Questions =

<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> **<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians? **  <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> My grandmother’s story fits very well with our lessons on the experience of the civilians. Her story about the refugees was very similar to what we had learned about Hongyong. Also, the videos that we saw in class went well together with her story, because it was true that the North claimed that the South attacked first. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> The lives of the civilians were harshly affected by the war, because their lives were greatly threatened during the war. All the bombs dropped killed numerous Korean refugees, and many lost their family members during this war. The shocking incidents of the war lead many people to become desperate, confused, and suspicious. It was the poor and innocent civilians that suffered the most from the war. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> My grandmother was able to stay out of danger, because she and her husband were both courageous. Her family wouldn’t have survived if they didn’t escape together, cross the Taedong river on foot, or return to Seoul while the war was going on. Also, they made the right choices to leave Pyongyang while everybody was escaping to the North thinking that the South were coming up, and only bring basic life supplements unlike the others that brought as much things as they could. However, I do believe that she was somewhat fortune, because all these wouldn’t have been possible if they didn’t have all that luck. Although they had the braveness and the survival skills, they had luck that allowed them to stay out of danger. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">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? **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">3) Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger. **

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