Yu+Sun+Chin+KRW+Interview

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Korean War Interview **


 * Mr. Osterweil I sent you some e-mails regarding my podcast and release form... (broken mac/phone call) Sorry about the inconvenience!**

media type="file" key="VOICE081213001.WMA" --

Interview Questions
1. First of all, please tell me your name, age, job and marriage status during the Korean War. Did they change in any way after the war began? 2. How was your life like when the war first broke out? 3. How was it like working for the military? 4. How did the ROK army react at the beginning of the war when the North Korean troops attacked? When the Chinese entered? At the end? 5. How did working under the army strengthen/lessen your hardships from the usual refugee? 6. How was life like for you and your family throughout the war? 7. What were the authorities like in South Korea during the war? Were they helpful? 8. How were the refugees? Were they all for themselves, or did they help each other out? 9. How did you react when the UN/US forces came in to help the ROK army? 10. What were scenes of war like? 11. What were your feelings about the Communists? Was everyone strongly against them? 12. What were/are your feelings on the war? 13. What are your feelings on the divided Korea today?

Release Form
**In view of the historical value of this oral history interview, I**__, Bong Ju Yoon,__ **knowingly and voluntarily permit** __Yu Sun Chin (Asian Studies/KIS)__ **the full use of this information for educational purposes.** Signature __Bong Ju Yoon__ Date __12/6/08__** 

Summary
(1st person POV)

My name is Bong Ju Yoon, and I was 28 years old at the start of the war. I was a soldier in the ROK army, and I was married with a baby daughter. It was hard during the war for there was little wage and hard to earn money. For food there would only be a bowl of rice and one or two ban-chans. Since I was a soldier, I mainly moved with the army and my wife fled with my daughter from Dae-cheon to Seoul. The reactions to the North Korean attack was very surprising at first, for nobody was expecting it. My comrades were stationed at the 38th parallel, when tanks and shots came rummaging down their way; they couldn't believe their sights. MacArthur then helped us fight them (though we fought separately) and we went down into the Nakdong River while MacArthur conducted the Incheon landing. When the Chinese came in, it was difficult to fight them for they had so many people in their army. Even if you shot into their midst, tons and tons of people kept coming out. Our army was almost stampeded by their hordes of people. I think that it was better that I was in the army when the war started, for there was the danger of being forcibly enlisted by the NK army. My little brother got captured at Seoul by Communist forces and was forcibly enlisted; and only at the POW exchanges at the end of the war was I able to get him back. Also, the Americans sent us necessities such as food and clothes, so military life was considerably easier. As for my wife, it was a very hard time for there was nothing to eat or wear or even to live. However, the refugees helped each other survive, such as homed people giving homes to homeless people and setting up schools for kids in tents and Seoul/Koryo Universities. President Rhee could not really help the refugees for there were no taxes from farming or the citizens. We survived mostly with American help. But our government wasn't at fault; there was nothing they could do. The North Koreans were bad for starting the war; they gave us no warning. I am very against them for they committed many heinous crimes; they shot a South Korean woman at the Nakdong River, they destroyed factories, stopped all trades. The general opinion in the army at the time was just to kill them off. I really despised the war, for it was thrown onto us without any warning. However, it is very bad that we are still divided and I hope that we reconcile our differences despite our current differences. I strongly wish for the power in Kim Jong Il to die with his death and that we unite very soon.

The memory of the Korean War is forever embedded in the hearts of Koreans, regardless of age or generation. With this legacy living on in my subconscious, I believed that I had gotten a basic, if not sufficient, understanding of this hugely affecting event from historical facts and textbooks. Yet the ear-to-ear conversation with a person who had actually been through the scathing ordeal allowed me to deeply understand how and what kind of perspectives held by the Korean peoples throughout the entirety of the war. Before this ear-opening interview, I had a mostly basic blow-by-blow account of the Korean War. Having researched the topic last year, I knew about the different twists and turns that the war had taken along its path, decorated with the “general” opinions and perspectives. For example, I knew that the Koreans’ general opinion of the Americans were negative, believing them to be barbaric and having caused the war itself. However, my grandfather proved false many of these general opinions throughout his memories of the war. First of all, he had a very positive opinion of the Americans themselves, for helping the Koreans throughout the war. Not only did they assist the ROK army in pushing the North Korean forces back to Incheon and later against the Chinese forces, he recollected that they contributed necessities to the refugees while their own government was not able to do so. Also, he recounted that the refugees were not as savage and selfish as reported in ‘Still Life with Rice’. Even though they all had nothing to eat or wear, he told me that the refugees at least helped each other survive by supplying each other with what others lacked; for example, people with homes allowed those without to reside in their dwellings while others set up temporary schools in tents and even universities (Seoul Univ. being one of the few) for kids to continue their education. These recollections were all very appalling to me as even from a primary source I had received perceptions of the contrary; that the Koreans hated the Americans and stomped upon other refugees to survive. Conducting this interview proved to me that while textbooks and even primary sources provided a very general outlook of the war, first-hand interviews like these were able to give a much truer, deeper insight into the minds and hearts of Koreans during this war. By breaking down the circumstances of the time, I was also able to realize how my grandfather’s special role (militaryman) and ensuing memories in the war had given him a just-as-true variation of the common perceptions at the time. Not only did my grandfather prove wrong some of the conceptions I held about the Koreans’ POVs during the war, but he reinforced some of those perceptions with an unmatchable force. Although I knew that the South Koreans were against the Communists, my grandfather’s adamant contempt towards them made me sure of the perception more than any historical fact could. He seethed as he recollected the North Koreans’ crimes against the South, and even remembered the whole opinion to just “kill them”. Yet he also reflected the usual Korean perception of the divided Korea today: despite the qualms he had against the Communists during the war, he still strongly desired for the reunification of the two Koreas. By these memories, I was able to realize first-hand that even though the hate had run deep when the war was ongoing, it would all subside even throughout the frame of many years for the love that the Koreans held for their country was ultimately too strong for the toleration of division. As I did from this interview, I hope that people are able to gather not only a textbook-reprised version of the Korean War, but the differently carved perceptions and emotions of the Koreans as they endured one of the most wounding events of their cultural history. I ultimately hope they realize that the war was not just a mere fact; but an ordeal that continues to haunt the hearts of Koreans to this day through the divided Korea, as I truly did after the interview.

Analysis Questions
1) How does your interviewee's testimony fit in with what you have learned about the experience of civilians?

Although I knew that the civilians' experience as refugees were horrendous throughout the war, I got a sense of closure from my grandfather's point of view. Taking his role as a solder into account, the war life was relatively easy for him compared to the chaotic mess of the refugees' escapes, for he at least had an organized set of day-to-day necessities and movement. Also, when he later reunited with his family (while still in the war), their experiences with the refugees were not as harsh as reported in 'Still Life with Rice'. The refugees worked together to bring homes and schools to people who were less fortunate at at time where chaos was bound to ensue. Thus I realized that although the life of the civilians were very difficult, their unification and cooperation were able to keep the war's memories full of heart and soul.

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?

Most obviously, my grandfather was separated from his family as he entered the war as a regular soldier. He had to move with the military at all times, going south or north depending on where the enemy was moving to. This would obviously have a deep impact upon his emotional state for he was separated from his wife and baby daughter for almost half of the duration of the war. Even through being refugees might have made their lives even more dangerous, at least having their emotional support would help him survive. All in all, the major events of the war would have a very soul-battering effect on his life, for he would be forced to move with the military and practically the enemy in his military role. This meant that he had to constantly change paces according to the Chinese entry into the war and the UN/US forces assistance; his life must have been just as hectic and dangerous as the refugees.

3) Hypothesize or explain how you interviewee was able to stay out of danger.

Because my grandfather was in the military, he was ironically provided protection from the fact that he was facing the enemy straight-on. While the refugees suffered as they were caught by the rampaging adversaries, my grandfather was able to diminish this effect by plowing straight into the NK forces, receiving effective support from his comrades in the process. Also, moving with the military meant that he was out of any danger of running out of food or necessities. The military received constant supplies of food and clothing from the American army; they were essentially allowed a more constant and organized (thus "safer") life than the refugees.