Korea+War+Interview+Project+Kevin+J.+Lee+C+Block

media type="file" key="Asian Studies Grandparents interview.mov" ㄴThis one is the actual interview with my grandfather

media type="file" key="Asian studies interview summary.mov" width="357" height="357" ㄴ This one is my summary/translation

Interview Questions
1. Where are you from, and tell me a little about your background, family, where you when you were born. 2. Where were you living when the War was taking place? 3. How old were you during the War? 4. How many family members did you have? Who else fled down to the South Korea with you? 5. Before the war broke out, what kind of life style did you live? 6. What was your reaction and the reaction of those around you when the war broke out? 7. Have you seen or experienced any actual battles? 8. How were things like during the war? 9. During the war, how was the “new” life in Busan like? 10. What was the most difficult or painful event after fleeing down to Busan? 11. How have the U.S army helped the South Korean citizens? 12. Are there any other family members living in North Korea currently? 13. Do you miss your family or your hometown? 14. Can the two countries re-unite? Why or why not?

= Essay Question = 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.

Through interview, it was evident that Koreans in the past suffered tremendously during the Korean War. Korea War, which took place in Korea, during 1950-1953. The interview has proven that Koreans, mainly grand parents in present year, have gone through many hardships, such as fleeing from North to South, getting food and shelters and also the separation of family due to miscalculations of the duration of the war. During 1950 – 1953, the Korean War broke out, which had tremendously affected the Koreans within the society. During the War, many Koreans moved out of North Korea and into the South Korea to escape form the battleground. Lee do-young was a North Korean who successfully moved down to South Korea, however faced many difficulty in living a new life with no money. Lee do-young had to fix the American Base’s broken radios, and sell them for profit, and that was basically what he did to earn money and living during his first settlement in South Korea, Busan. The significance of this hardship is because many North Koreans did not take all of their belongings to run away, since the North Koreans found the war to be ending shortly. This miscalculation led into another hardship that many North Koreans, including Lee do-young faced, which was the family separation. Family separation was also a problem that branched off of miscalculation of the Korean War. The result of Korean War disabled the fled North Koreans to go back to their hometown to meet their family, which brought social problems, such as trying to cross the border to go see the family and the sorrow of the once-north-Korean citizens. Lee do-young, who left four of his family member in North Korea, never saw them again, which was a emotional shock for him. The fact that the fled North Koreans were not able to return was devastating for the North Koreans. With this historical problems that Koreans faced, the interview with Lee do-young have made the facts learned from class true, as the information about family disconnection and instability to newly moved people was proven to be true. However, this interview has made the interviewer learn more about the individual’s feelings and hardships they faced in more details, such as what actions they took to survive and to live were discovered.

Analysis questions
1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians? My grand father’s story seemed to match with my Korean War knowledge. My grand father said that his family was separated, and that was one of the big problems that happened in division of Korea. My grand father no longer was able to see his family, which happened to many numerous other North Korean grand parents who escaped to the south to live.

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? During wartime, it was natural that people living near the battlefield or country suffer economically and socially, or even perhaps politically. Economically, the war drains the money from the country, which hurts the country’s future, socially, casualties are regularly seen as a result, and in Korean War, the separation of family.

3) Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger. My interviewee, who was my grand father, was able to stay out of danger by fleeing down to Busan, where he worked hard for the loss he had through the escape. He was about 26 years old, therefore did not face any problems such as “messed up childhood” and such, however the escapement to South in short term made his life much harder, but in the long run, it was more beneficial.

Release Form
In view of the historical value of this oral history interview, I, Lee do-young knowingly and voluntarily permit Kevin J. Lee, Asian Studies C, Korea International School the full use of this information for educational purposes.

Signature: ________

Date: ________