Sam+KRW+Interview

Interview Questions

 * 1) Can you briefly introduce about yourself? (Names, age, background information, etc.)
 * 2) What is Korean War to you? What kind of memories do you have during the wartime?
 * 3) Tell me about your experiences in the beginning of the war.
 * 4) How did people react to the invasion of North Korean army? Were they upset about it? Or did they even have time to get upset about it?
 * 5) Using your background relevant to Korean War, what did you do for your nation, South Korea?
 * 6) As a South Korean general, how was a condition of ROK military?
 * 7) Comparing the condition of North Korean and South Korean military, did you think that South Korea had a chance to win the war?
 * 8) Relating to the help of other countries, which countries or a country helped South Korea greatly?
 * 9) Why do you think that U.S. supported South Korea so much such as sending U.S. army and providing needs of South Koreans?
 * 10) Korean War gave both North Korea and South Korea casualties. Why did those countries fight despite the fact that they were aware of the tremendous numbers of casualties?
 * 11) Was Korean War reasonable for both countries, North and South Korea? What’s your opinion about the war?
 * 12) What is your most memorable event from that time period?




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<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Summary
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My grandfather, Yang Chan Woo, was born in 1926. On June 25th, 1950, my grandfather was called to assemble at South Korean Military Headquarters. He was a young lieutenant who belonged to Capital Protection Military Headquarters. For three years, he fought for the nation and put all of his efforts to fight North Korean army. He spent his youth to fight in the war. Back then, he wasn’t married; however, he had to take care of his families: parents and his siblings. All South Korean citizens were very angry and shocking about sudden invasion of North Korea in the midnight of June 25th, 1950. However, they had to escape all the way to Pusan. Many of them had feelings of hatred and hostility towards North Korean armies. After the danger of North Korean army became immense, 16 UN countries and United States came to help the condition of South Korea. Their support was profoundly helpful and even made South Korean army to become stronger. Especially, Incheon Landing organized by General MacArthur was a significant event for South Korean army’s movement towards North. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">During the wartime, he promoted from a lieutenant to a battalion commander. However, there were numerous miserable and disastrous events until he got to that position. He had to see deaths of his own soldiers and fellow generals. He told me that he still can’t forget their faces and those moments of their deaths. After three years of disastrous battles, the war ended. My grandfather emphasized the importance of Korean War. He told me that young people like me shouldn’t forget about Korean War and how the country got out the challenging situation of it and became what Korea is right now. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Analysis Questions
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <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;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> I interviewed my grandfather who experienced Korean War as a general of ROK military. On June 25th, 1950, he had to report to South Korean Military Headquarters because of North Korea’s sudden invasion. His family had to escape all the way to Pusan. My grandfather also had to escape to Pusan although he kept on fighting with North Korean army. Relating to the civilian cases, he wasn’t able to know a lot about them. However, he told me that it was just a chaos with starvation and deaths. Numerous things that I had learned from the class were very similar to those of actual wartime. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <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-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">My grandfather was affected by almost all important events of Korean War. Because he was deeply involved with the ROK military, he was a part of every military event and battles of the war. He especially emphasized Incheon Landing as one of the most effective events of the wartime for him. In his opinion, Incheon Landing was the primary cause of taking back Seoul from the hands of North Korean army. Most of the events during Korean War influenced my grandfather greatly. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">//3. Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.//


 * <span style="font-weight: normal; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">When I was young, I used to live with my grandparents for a while. One day, we went to a sauna together. I was surprised when I saw my grandfather’s body. His body had scars all over the place, which he got from Korean War. Bullets and knives are the causes of those scars. Despite the fact that he got all those scars, he was safe and survived until now. The primary reason for his survival was protection of other soldiers for him. Because my grandfather was an important general, many soldiers had mission to protect him. Also, he himself was brave and good enough to take care of his body. **

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<span style="color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: Georgia,serif;"> **<span style="color: rgb(0,0,0); font-family: Georgia,serif;">How has the interview added to your understanding of the war? How do you think it will help us better understand the Korean War? ** <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Korean War occurred on June 25th, 1950. North Korea with armed soldiers and tanks crossed 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. Many South Koreans had to escape from the sudden attack of North Korean army. They also had to suffer in starvation and deaths of tremendous numbers of people. With astounding numbers of casualties to both North and South Korea, Korean War ended on July 27th, 1953.

<span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I knew lots of things about Korean War. Since I was young, my grandparents and Korean tutors taught me about Korean War. Although I was learning in American environment, I still had to know about Korean history. Korean War was one of the most important parts of my Korean history education. My grandfather was the most influential educator of my Korean history education.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Yang Chan Woo, my grandfather and a formal general of ROK military, experienced the war and he still remembers every moments of Korean War clearly. As a general of ROK military, he was deeply affected by all those important events of both ROK military and its allies. For example, he emphasized the importance of Incheon Landing. He told me that there would not be South Korea possibly without the Landing. In the conversation, he told me more stories about the important battles such as Kumkang Mountain Battle. All those stories were exciting and scary at the same time.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The interview with my grandfather helped me a lot on learning and achieving new perspective. Before the interview, I strongly believe that I was not aware of conditions of many battles between North and South Korean armies. However, I was able to learn how miserable and disastrous the actual conditions were. Moreover, I expanded my view on the war. The war was not only a fight between North and South Korea but also a fight between Communists and Capitalists. The political issue was profoundly involved in Korean War.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Through the interview, I learned lots of new things about Korean War. My grandfather explained to me about things that I couldn’t understand when I was young. The interview with him was an opportunity for me to learn more realistic things of Korean War than those of the media such as movies and textbooks. It was a valuable opportunity to expand my knowledge about Korean War.

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