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The Korean War Interview By Eunice Jang

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Interview Questions 1. Name, current age, background info(mariage, job, family). Background info durin the Korean War(age, family, etc…) - 현재 이름, 나이, 그 외의 기본적 사항(결혼 여부, 직장, 가족, 거주지) - 한국전쟁 당시 나이와 그외의 기본 사항 (가족, 직업, 거주지)

2. Did you take any part of role during the Korean War? If you did, what was your role? And why did you decide to join that role? - 한국전쟁에서 당신은 어떠한 역활을 맡으셨습니까? 만약 역활을 맡으셨으면 무슨 역활을 맡으셨습니까? 그리고 왜 그 역활을 맡기로 결정하셨습니까?

3. How was you and your family’s life during the Korean War? - 한국 전쟁 당시 당신과 당신의 과족의 삶은 어떠하셨습니까?

4. At the beginning of the war, what was your reaction towards the Korean War? - 한국 전쟁 초기에 당신은 한국전쟁에 대해 어떤 반응을 보이셨습니까?

5. How did the Korean War change your life back then and now? - 한국전쟁은 그당시 당신의 삶과 현재 당신의 삶을 어떻게 바꾸어 놓았습니까?

6. How were people’s life during the Korean War? (Education, food, house, transportaton, family etc.) - 한국전쟁중 사람들의 생활을 어땠습니까? (교육, 음식,집, 교통, 가족 등)

7. How did the Korean War affect people in positive way? - 한국전쟁은 사람들에게 어떻게(어떤면에서) 이로웠습니까?

8. How did the Korean war affect people in negative way? - 한국전쟁은 사람들에게 어떻게(어떤면에서) 해로웠습니까?

9. In your opinion, why do you think the war had started? - 당신은 어째서 전쟁이 일어났다고 생각하십니까?

10. Do you think US and Soviet Union should be blamed for their destruction and division of Korea or be thankful for their help and support? - 당신은 미국과 소련이 그들의 파괴와 한국을 둘로 가른것에 대해 비난을 받아야 된다고 생각하십니까 아니면 그들이 한국에게 도움을 준것에 대해 고마워 해야 된다고 생각하십니까?

11. Can you tell me you’re the most memorable incident during the Korean War? - 한국전쟁 당시 당신에게 가장 기억에 남는 일은 무엇이었습니까?

12. What was your view towards communist during the Korean War? Has it been changed now? - 전쟁 당시 당신은 공산주의를 어떻게 생각했습니까? 아직도 그렇게 생각하십니까?

13. Who started the Korean War? N.Korea, Soviet Union, China(Mao), US, or S.Korea? - 당신은 누가 한국전쟁을 시작하셨다고 보십니까? 북한, 소련, 미국, 중국, 혹은 남한?

14. Do you support reunification after all of these incidents? - 당신은 이모든것들을 겪고 나서도 통일을 바라십니까?

16. What was your opinion towards the Korean War during the war? - 전쟁당시 당신은 한국전쟁에 대해 어떻게 생각하셨습니까?

17. What is your feeling about Korean War now? - 현재 당신은 한국전쟁에 대해 어떻게 생각하십니까?

18. Who do you think is the winner of ths war? N.Korea or S.Korea? - 전쟁의 승자는 누구라고 생각하십니까? 북한? 아니면 남한?

19. Is there anything I haven't asked about that you think I should know? - 제가 물어보지 않은 질문이나 제가 물어봐야 할 질문이 있습니까?

 Interview * Mixture of English and Korean

1/2 media type="file" key="INterview 1_2~2_2.mp3" 2/2 media type="file" key="INterview 1_2~2_2 2.mp3"

 Summary media type="file" key="Summary of Korean War..mp3"

 Analysis Questions My grandfather, who was 25 years old, during the Korean War, was an official interpreter of Korean Army. So his experiment was slightly different from the experience of other civilians. However, a great portion of his story seems to match with what we have learned about the experience. As we have learned, he described the life during the Korea War as a tragic and terrible time. There was no proper education and the only school that children could get was occurred inside of the 'tent school'. Also he mentioned about the lack of food that all people has to face and not enough place to rest and sleep. So several family, which each had at least four to nine members, stayed in one small tent. Many orphans were formed as it was too crowded. As we had learned in class, his family also had trouble crossing the Han River. They, however, somehow manage to find a small ship. But rest of the people couldn't cross the Han River, as the bridge was broken. So the hardship that he and his family had to face during the refugee life matched with what we have learned about the experience of civilians.
 * 1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?**

The war affected every Koreans' life. It ruined people's dream and future. It destroyed all hopes of people, having a happy life, harmonious family, and stable job. For example, my grandfather wanted to become a diplomatic official. So he studied hard for it. However, as the war started, he had to join the military and couldn't fulfill his dream of becoming a diplomatic official. So later he changed his major and chose social welfare for his major. Also it gave people unforgettable memory, which would last forever. Everyday, they lived in fear of death and insecure future. Some people died from the war others died from the refugee life. Many people starved every day and couldn't find a place to sleep. Children couldn't get a proper education and lost their family members and became war orphans. Their goal was to survive in the war. So every Korean is the victim of the Korean War, as they are affected either directly or indirectly.
 * 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?**

Even though my grandfather was a soldier, as he could speak English, he didn't fight in the forefront. He usually worked with a corps, under charge of weapons. And as this group is protected by other corps, his survival rate was much higher than other soldiers during the Korean War. Also his family went to Jeju-Island during the war. And as the communist couldn't come down farther than Busan, his family had a safer life compare to other families. Also he mentions that it was a pure luck that his family could cross the Han River by a small boat, when no other family could cross it.
 * 3) Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

 Essay
 * -Analyze the historical significance of your interview, how has the interview added to your understanding of the war, and how you think it will help us better understand the Korean War in a 1.5 page essay.**

Every history is from a first-hand source, a story of a person who experienced it. So the first-hand source is one of the most accurate and specific resources that one can get. Even though as it is from a single point of view, it may be biased, it is historians’ job to put all of those first-hand sources into one place and make those into a unbiased story, which we call as a history. So this interview with a person experienced the Korean War, provided me an another way to interpret the war and better comprehension of the war. By this first-hand resource, a new section of history is written, different from the previous one. Usually, a history only states the facts of the situation. So it is hard to know the internal state of people who experienced. However, the interview gave more than just a simple factual information. The interview provides what did they feel and thought about the situation, why did they react in that way, and how did they perform. And unlike the secondary source, which usually neglecting the country’s culture and custom, the first-hand source can explain the situation, connecting it to the condition that the foreigners cannot understand. As the only primary source that we learned was Helie Lee's __Still Life with Rice__, it was a great chance to compare the two first-hand sources. Unlike Lee's book, which mainly concentrates more on the factual information and the situation, along with the author's experiments as a civilian during the war, the interview concentrates more on his inner nature and reaction during the war. Also, Lee's experiment during the war was an extreme case, compare to other people who survived, which is quite hard to understand how ordinary civilian survived. So these diverse points of view towards the Korean War resulted more in depth understanding of the war. Lastly, during the interview, as the interviewer can ask a particular question that he or she cannot understand, interviewer can get better comprehension. However, just by reading a secondary source, when people have a question, which isn’t explained at the source, they have a hard time looking for the answer. So when I interviewed my grandfather, I was able to ask many questions that I had been curious about and when I couldn’t understand his words, I could immediately ask him for a more explanation. As a result, the Korean War interview taught me more information and situations during the war, as the experienced person explained the war in a new point of view and helped me for a better understanding, as I can ask questions and get answers right away. So the interview was such a valuable lesson that taught me the importance of the primary sources and the incidents during the Korean War.