Ha+Jung+KIm+KRW+Interview

=**Korean War Interview** =


 * Interview Questions**

1. Where were you born and raised? Was the place you were born significant to the Korean War? 2. How was the daily life conditions for the people? Were the conditions any better or worse depending on how old or young you were? 3. How was your life affected by the living conditions such as education? 4. Describe the beginning of the war. How were the military condition, preparations for battles, and other things that were related to the war? 5. When the U.S. joined South Korea as allies, how did the tide of the battle change? What were your opinions of the U.S. joining on the war? 6. During the war, were there any issues concerning your family or relatives? For example, were they falsely accused or taken as prisoners by force? 7. What were some of the emotions that you had or experienced throughout the war? Why do you think you faced the certain emotions? 8. What was your role in the military? How did you manage to survive through the chaos? Also, describe the living conditions of the soldiers. 9. How would you describe the life of the civilians? How did they manage all the hunger, sadness, dread, and etc.? 10. What were the changes that came as the war started to come to an end? Were there any signs of possible improvement? 11. What event from the war is the most memorable to you? What is the significance, and why is it so memorable to you? 12. Is there anything else that I didn’t mention that you would like to share?

**Interview**  (in English)

media type="file" key="HaJung Kim KRW.m4a"


 * Release Form**




 * Analysis Questions** 

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

My interviewee, my grandfather's testimony fits in with what I have learned about the experience of civilians because he mentioned similar conditions as I have learned and read in class. He mentioned how everyone had to be careful and cautious when the North Korean soldiers were around because if they were to blame them or say something that will displease them, they were taken away or killed. Also, in the story //Still Life with Rice//, it was also mentioned how the people had to hide in their houses and escape to different states to stay safe and unharmed. Before my grandfather was in the army, he used to have a plain life at home hiding and being cautious everyday. As a result, he had experienced the life of the civilians well which makes his testimonies well fit in with what I have learned.

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?

The major events of the war had significant effect on my grandfather's life. Since he was a soldier and a translator, the major outcomes of the war or anything that may have had any relation to the war was important to him. For example, his conditions and living styles had changed when the March to Incheon happened because his side had more advantage since the North Koreans could not receive any supplies. As a result, the outcomes of the battles brought significant changes to the armies affecting their situations and other relations.

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

Since my grandfather was the translator and a soldier, he was not directly in contact with the North Koreans in battles. He was usually placed not so close to the front because he needed to communicate with the Americans during the battles and plan together with them and translate for others as well. Due to these reasons, my grandfather was able to avoid direct contacts and major danger which helped him to stay out of dangers and etc.

=**Essay **=

Through the interview of my grandfather, I learned a lot more about the Korean War. Even though I knew a lot already, it added more information with much more details because the things that my grandfather told me were primary source information and he had experienced the war. Also, during the interview, I had gained more insight on the lives of the soldiers and armies in which I wasn’t very sure of and lacked information on. In general, the interview had increased my knowledge of the war and understanding, and have added information to the things that I have learned in class.

Considering this interview in historical point of view, it had much more significance than my individual knowledge. In terms of history, the people who didn’t live through the war or don’t have much information or insights could learn form my grandfather and many others. Also, without the people who have survived the war, no one would have accurate or have any idea of what had actually happened throughout the terror of the war. For the critics, historians, researchers, and etc. need primary sources even though it may be a bias to form their theories and opinions that they will present through textbooks or books. Mainly, because we have these sources that we could get from these survivors, we are learning from it and reading through the terrors to not make it repeat itself in future generations. Another fact is that for the other nations around the world who are not as familiar with the history of Korea, they need historical evidence from the critics and the survivors to teach their generation of people and such. As a result, the primary source has more impact on the general world than to a certain individual trying to learn about it since no one can probably learn about an event in history without having someone who has experienced yet. For example, the Koreans are not familiar with the war that the United States and Iraq are going through. Therefore, we will definitely need a primary source to understand what exactly happened, and same goes to other nations who are not familiar with the news of the war. Therefore, the sources that come from the survivors are more essential to the general history than to an individual alone.

Finally, for understanding the war, it would help everyone understand better about the war. It would help us form more of our opinions and develop ideas on it to lead on to more topics and relations to the subject. Also, listening to a person who survived the war can have a great influence in a person causing them to change opinions, and get different perspectives. In general, everyone would most definitely benefit because not many people were probably concerned about the Korean War. People knew about it but not all the details that were included in it. As a result, we all got new insights from this interview and learned something that we have not known before that influenced our thinking. To conclude, the interview was a sufficient way to involve students to spend time with their grandparents learning about he Korean War and getting new point of view.