Korean+War+Interview+Project+Elaine+Lee+B+Block

Interview Questions
1) What is your name and age? 2) What is your background information? Family? Job? Marriage? 3) In your opinion, how did the Korean War start? 4) What was life generally like during the Korean War? (everyday life) 5) During the war, what is the most memorable scene or event that occurred? 6) What was your general opinion on North Koreans? 7) What memories do you have of June 25th, 1950? 8) How did life change once the Korean War began? 9) Who do you believe won or lost the war? 10) What legacies from the Korean War remain today? 11) What are the similarities between the Korean War and the occupation of Japan during WWII? 12) How did the Korean War affect the world’s view on Koreans in general? 13) If Korea had the chance to reunite, would you be in favor of this decision? If so explain, if not still explain. 14) How did you react when you first found out about the war?

**Release Form **
In view of the historical value of this oral history interview, I Soonhee Park knowingly and voluntarily permit Elaine Lee, Asian Studies, KIS the full use of this information for educational purposes. Signature of interviewee //__Soonhee Park__// Singnature of Interviewer __//Elaine Lee//__ Date __5-13-09__

**Analysis Questions **
My grandmother's testimony fit with all the packets and readings we've been reading during class. I was quite amazed on how similar her testimony was to __Still Life with Rice__. My grandmother explained how she had to evacuate away from the North Korean soldiers, which is exactly what Hongyong did with her kids. My grandmother also explained how there were so many bombardment going on at the time, just like Hongyong explained in the book. Also during class we learned that the soldiers of both Korean army were forced to join the army, just like my grandmother told me when she was explaining how she felt bad for the soldiers. Another fact that matched was that the communists tried to take people away and kill them. We've learned this through the packet and movie. My grandmother also explained how her relative lost her husband during the war and how her relative thought her husband was dead. Turns out, her husband was alive in the North. We talked about separated families through packets and specifically saw the exact same example through the movie, __Taegeukgee Hweenaleemyuh__. June 25th, 1950, my grandmother found out that there was going to be war. Being the age of 10, she didn't know what was going on and just followed her parents along with her three younger siblings. They evacuated to Cheongju where her father hid in the field. This affected her life harshly by bounding her from security. She didn't know whether her father would be captured by the communists or not. Not only that, but when her family was at the refugee camp she had a big responsibility of taking care of her three younger siblings when she was at such a young age, 10. Because of the war, she saw bombardment and experienced begging. However, although she went through a tough time with the harsh atmostphere and environment, the war has made her strong as a person. My grandmother's father was rich, so her family didn't an extremely tough time compared to the others. Despite the fact that her family was financially more stable than the others, she was able to stay out of danger by evacuating quickly with her family and probably the fact that she was determined to take care of her siblings prevented her from intervening with any major danger.
 * 1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?**
 * 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 you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

Essay
Through interviewing my grandmother, I’ve learned important facts and messages beyond what we’ve learned during class. Before the interview, the Korean War was just another historical event documented in a pile of papers. However, interviewing my grandmother made me realize how real and palpable the event was and how significantly influential it is to Korea today. Through the interview, my understanding of the war was not only clear but makes the war seem even more palpable. My grandmother’s journey on evacuating from the communists army exemplified many events and situations people were in at the time. For example, my grandmother had to pack their luggage and limit the amount of materials they can bring, just like Hongyong did. She also had to hide under a tree to get away from the bombardment as much as possible. Her family was always on the run since the communists were after her father. My grandmother said that she also had to beg for food once she was at the refugee camp. When she told me her stories, I could see her thinking of her flashbacks and how she suffered. This made the war seem very real to me, as if I was at the scene too. My grandmother also showed me a scar she got from on her foot from a vehicle a US soldier was riding. That was a real life evidence of the war. Although it’s not that I don’t believe the war happened, the interview simply delivered the hurtful feelings a witness went through. The interview also provided many facts that I didn’t know before. For example, I didn’t know that people hid in corn fields to avoid being captured by communists. I thought they simply staid home and stayed quiet. It was interesting to hear that my grandmother’s father pretended to be a farmer and avoided communists. I learned that the rich were targeted because communists believed that wealth should be distributed to the government, not the individual. Also through interviewing a witness of the war, I realized our different opinion on reunification of Korea. Since my grandmother has witnessed the hardship separated families go through, she strongly wills for the reunification of Korea. On the other, I, someone who only read about the war through textbooks and papers, thought reunification would just bring chaos and damage to our country. This shows the different perspective of people who experienced the war in different ways. My grandmother’s experience of the war definitely teaches us some facts about the war. First, I figured out that during the war, the number one thing to do is evacuate as far as possible from the enemy. Second, the one thing on the civilians’ minds was ‘survival.’ My grandmother’s father was paranoid about the communists which made him evacuate as soon as he heard the news of the second invasion of the North. This exemplifies the strive of humans to survive in any desperate condition. Third, I learned that for witnesses of the war, reunification is a more wanted and favored option because of the tragic family separation. To us students, reunification is merely an option, whereas for witnesses of the war it is their ever-lasting wish. 

Interview Video with Subtitles
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