Korean+War+Interview+Project+Jenn+Kim+B+Block

=6.25 War Interview  =   My Grandfather and Grandmother's Story //'Hun Gil Kim' and 'Sang Yeon Choi'// presented to you by JENN KIM ☮ I interviewed both my Grandfather and my Grandmother on Children's Day (05/05/09) about the Korean War. Although my plan was to only interview my Grandfather, my Grandmother's story was so captivating that I thought it would be even better to interview both of them and see how their stories are different, yet similar. Throughout the interview, I did not have to actually address all interview questions because many of them were answered as my grandparents spoke. The environment during the interview was comfortable and quiet, since it was my grandparent's house at Yeoyido. (Except when my cousin jumps into the scene).

Interview Video ★ **The explanations and short summary videos are IN THE INTERVIEW VIDEOS BELOW. After each interview, I come up and generally point out the main points for 2-3 minutes.**

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The Interview in a Nutshell


 First, my grandfather is now 72 years old, and was 13 when the war broke out. main points/ - although not attacked, saw the gun fires shooting at night - contary, ate parsimmone and played - young, didn't judge - second brother was left at his hometown, but taken over by the North by luring - met him around 10 years ago. - reunification should take place in the future - proud of Koreans


 - third grade - wealthy family - lived with north koreans - ate and played with them - father would flee - prosperous man - disguse, rub hands with tools - again when staying in caves - sister who died - no unification - thanks to US

The Interview Translated  **This is JENN KIM and I interviewed my Grandfather and my Grandmother on Children's Day at their home in yeoyido about the Korea War that took place on June 25, 1950.**

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<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**1. Tell me about yourself. Who were your family members? How old were you during the war?** I am now 72 years old. The war happened in 1950 6. 25. Kim il sung's army invaded during this war, and I was 13 years old. I was in elementary 6th grade in Daegu. So I basically remember most of the war. However, I've never seen North soldiers for myself. The Northern soldiers enveloped Daegu, instead of attacking it.

Yes. Also, I had four brothers and 2 sisters. My oldest sister was already married. So my brothers and my younger sister lived with my grandmother- your great grandmother.When the war broke out, and pushed the South to Daegu, we had to run away.
 * So, this means that the war didn't effect the area you were living as much as other regions.**

I was young, but I just knew that we had to run away becasue Kim Il Sung had started a war. At night, i can see the gun fires and hear the rifles and guns. So, we were scared during the night. But in the morning, the war ceased. It was summer so at Kyungsan, my brothers and I would eat persimmon and play. School stopped during the war.
 * What thoughts did you have when you ran away?**

Well, the radio called them an evil, and they were communists, trying to invade. I was too young to even judge if Kim Il Sung was bad or not. I just knew it was a war between the same ethnicity. Life was hard, but the war made the war harder.
 * Then, what were your perspectives towards Kim Il Sung?**

Then, I would have to say that I thought the communists were bad compared to the North, since they had caused the war.
 * Then what did you think about people of the same ethnicity engaged in war?**

My grandmother was very old. so she was just following us. My oldest brother helped us during the war. Got us a car. We didnt have the opportunity to really talk about it.
 * What did the elders say about the war? What was their attitude?**

My grandfather if all the people were in daegu, we thought at least one of the brothers stay where we used to live. My second brother, who was a middleschooler. We were together, but he was sent to where we lived, and the North Koreans took over gohyang. My brother was lured by the Northerners and was taken to North Korea, and he is alive.
 * I heard that you have a family member now in north Korea. What happened?**

I felt so bad for him. I never realized how short he was. He lost a lot of weight, and so small becuase he couldn't eat well.
 * How did you feel when you met him?**

First, i was very thankful that I met him. I found out that he got married in the North with 3 sons and 1 daughter. But obviously, life is so much different there. We just asked how each other were.. I promised him that we will meet again, but not possible.
 * What did you talk about when you met him?**

South is economically prosperous. If we do unify, it'll be harder. Live sepearte. North stop making nuclear, aggreesive behavior stop. Be recognized as a nation. In the far future, when North is able to prosper, we should unite again.
 * What do you think about reunificaiton? Should we or should we not?**

Through the war, South propsered so much. we were poorer than the North. However, during the war lee seong man's way of goernment got twisted. junghee's coup et dat set the field for how we can live today. All the people agreed that we should prosper. Now, korea is in the top 10 economically propserous country.
 * How do you think war effected the second generation and further on?**

I believe Koreans are amazing. Park Junghee is seen as a dictator, but looking at the long term effects, I think that he is an honorable man.

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<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">**1. Tell me about yourself. Who were your family members? How old were you during the war?** I am now 69 years old. I was in third grade during the war. I didn't know a lot about what was really going on. I lived in Kyungsan Namdo. My father worked at a bank, so our family was comparably wealthy. During the war, we were told to flee so I moved to my grandmother's house, farther away from Seoul. The North Koreans eventually reached where I had fled to, but it was where they had lodged. They didn't hurt civilians at all. They actually lived with us. I would hear guns during the night. Whenever warfare would start, we would flee again to a cave. Elders would go back home and make food when the fights would cease.Of course, me and siblings had fun playing in the cave. It was summer, so there was so much to eat. Plums and peas. My grandparents would chastise us for going out and finding food to eat, but it was the fun part. We would also make tents and live under big trees under the summer. We were bored so we would pick leaves from Akashia trees and play rock paper scissors shows. The North Korean soldiers never hurt us, so we never thought of them as bad. We never htought them as people who would kill us. We would eat together. If they wanted to eat pigs, we would have pork that night.

My father, however was a high status. Those people were taken away. Not farmers. so my father had to run away and hide in the mountains everyday wearing disgues clothies. Also, he even tried rubbing his hands to make them look like a farmer's but didn't work. At night, he would come see us and at night go back hiding.

The hardest time was how my parents had to take care of my third sister, who wasn't healthy. Also, I had another sister who just started crawling. She died because she was shocked by the sound of gunfires.

I think differently from the younger gneration. I just think we are too different for unificaiton. I don't think its a good idea. When South korea becomes even more prospreous, we should help the north. But when we're unifiied and the people go back and forth, too hard to our eocnomyy and socially. The learning, the environment we grew up in is just too different.
 * What do you think about reunificaiton? Should we or should we not?**

Many families were torn apart. Forutnately, my family kept together, but the speration of familie swere most unforutnate.
 * How do you think war effected the second generation and further on?**

Not only was it Korean people's crave for stability, America's help was a large factor for the prosperity. If it weren't for the US, i think we might have even lost the war. Also, most elders believe that Americans were a large factor for the South Korean victory in the war. America and Korea needs to have more interaction. Also, the idea of a global world is becoming more and more important. North Korea needs to stop make nucles, and open up. Its now a gloabl world- one world!
 * What do you think about the economic advancements of South Korea?**

<span style="font-size: 240%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">Interview Questions <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; display: block; text-align: left;">1. Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family. 2. How old were you during the Korean War, and how were you effected by it? 3. If you remember any details, please tell me some. 4. Do you remember any elders talking about the war, or Noth Korea in some way? 5. How did people react when the war first started? 6. Did the war affect your daily life? If so, how? 7. What was your family’s view of the war? Were the supportive, or rather indifferent? 8. Were there times you felt like giving up? Explain. 9. What are your personal opinions towards the North Koreans? 10. Do you have any relatives in North Korea? 11. How did life seem like to you during the war? 12. What do you think about the reunification of Korea? 13. Do you believe that the Korean war is still going on, or has it ended? 14. Has the war effected the next generation? 15. What are the most vivid memories (good or bad) during those times <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">

<span style="font-size: 240%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">The Release Forms <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Not the best quality because they were taken by my cellphone

**<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Grandmother **
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**<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; display: block; text-align: left;">Grandfather **


<span style="font-size: 240%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">Analysis Questions <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> **1. How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?** My grandparents were living safer lives compared to the civilians who were forced to endure the war being chased by soldiers. Looking at my grandfather, his brother sent back to his hometown, but was eventually dominated by the North. Even to today, my grandfather's older brother resides in the North. Moreover, my grandmother's testimony was very different from what I had learned. My grandmother had lived with the North Koreans. Instead of the aggressive, abusive North Koreans depicted by the movies and the documents, my grandmother explains how she had never regarded them as dangerous. In other words, not all North Korean soldiers had hurt the civilians. Both my grandparents' testimony, however, shows the viewpoint of civilians who were rather effected by the war less than others. Although they both had to flee and hide in caves or mountains, both of my grandparents were too young to realize exactly what was going on.

One of the major events of the war that definitely effected their life was when the North pushed the South all the way to the Southern tip. Because of this, both my grandparents were forced to flee or live with these soldiers who had been occupying such areas. Moreover, my grandmother's story of her father connected to a lot of what we had learned in class. Like the book Still Life with Rice, some people were taken away by the government to serve as soldiers or even researchers. My grandmother's father, who was a prosperous banker had to live his life during the war hiding in mountains disguised in farmers' clothes, rubbing his hands with soil on purpose to make them look worn out.
 * 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?**

My grandfather had fled to another area which was further away from the actual battlefields. His oldest brother was the leader, providing cars for the family to ride to move around in. My grandmother explains how when actual guns were being shot in the air, the townspeople moved into caves. However, generally, my grandparents only fled for the basic reason to be further away from the war fields. However, not all family members were able to always stay out of danger. My grandfather's second brother was eventually lured by the Northern soldiers into the North. As a result, he still resides in North Korean.
 * 3) Hypothesize or explain how your interviewee was able to stay out of danger.**

<span style="font-size: 240%; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;">The Essay <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(99, 112, 242); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; display: block;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> word count: 770

My grandparents and I are very close compared to most other teenager’s relationship with their grandparents. However, throughout this interview, I was able to learn not only more information about the Korean War through a primary source, but more about how my grandparents grew up and what they had gone through. This interview helped me see new perspective of the war, and realize that all the documents and the stories aren’t the only facets of the war. Also, although I was to interview only my grandfather, my grandmother’s account of the story was interesting as well. At the end, I was able to also see how my grandparents differed yet were similar during the time of the war and their thoughts of the war.

There is historical significance from my interview, considering the amount of information I was able to hear from my grandparents. First, my grandfather helped be realize how some families had to be sacrificed. According to him, their family left one of their sons in their hometown for the sake of the cultural ideology that “men had to continue their family” just in case a bomb would kill anyone. Eventually, this had led to my grandfather’s second eldest brother being lured to the North by the Northern soldiers. These were stories that I had read before, of the North literally brainwashing younger generations to follow them into the communist regime. However, the major contribution that makes the interview of valuable was the reunification of my grandfather and his brother sixty years after the war. My grandfather explains how much he shocked seeing his older brother short and skinny – he conjectures that it is because of malnutrition. Therefore, hearing these stories about actual reunification of families were a new contribution apart from always reading about families being stripped away from one another.

My grandmother also had some very interesting information that would help us better understand the Korean War. Before, I had this fixed mindset that the Northern soldiers would just kill innocent civilians, accusing innocent people and taking them away. However, my grandmother’s life living with these Northern soldiers expressed another perspective to the story. She explained how she slept, ate, and played with them and yet never regarded them as dangerous. In other words, these soldiers had no intention of hurting and civilians in the first place. Although this is information that contradicted by thought, my grandmother also helped be strengthen some issues during the war. One was about men being taken away by either Southern or Northern governments to either become soldiers, or work academically. My grandmother’s father, who was an economically prestigious banker had to live his life during the war hiding from being found by any other soldiers. Hearing details about how he disguised himself as a farmer and made his hands look dirtier were fascinating, yet sad to hear.

Moreover, my grandmother’s account of her younger sister’s death was one of the most shocking factors I learned through the interview. I realized that not only did the war effect people directly- for example, being shot- the war effected people indirectly as well. My grandmother’s younger sister died of shock and restlessness after hearing gunfire shots continuously. She had just started to crawl when this happened. My grandmother explained how this was the hardest time during the war.

Furthermore, both my grandfather and my grandmother were effected by the war tremendously although they had not been the focal targets of the North. However, many similarities between the two were their perspectives towards reunification. As we are discussing in class these days, is reunification really necessary? If so, how should they take place. Both my grandparents reveled that they did not want to unify with the North due to the economic, social, and political issues it would bring. Also, probably because of the environment my grandparents had to grow up in as children, they thought that the United State's intervention in the Korean War was one of the pivotal factors for the South's victory. All in all, the interview was a good experience since because I was able to learn about more different perspectives towards the war. It is important for all readers and learners of the Korean War to keep in mind that many different circumstances and situations were put into play and not all of them ended up as the history books say they do.