After reading The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings for our weekly meetings, I got more aware that the Korean War is not just a painful history of our ‘minjok(민족)’ but also a war that has involved a lot of external powers including the United States and China. Listening to other students’ experiences of learning about the Korean War in school and how it has been a forgotten war for Americans, I once again realized that the war cannot be simplified into a Korean civil war. This put me in a very different point of view as I acknowledged that Korean War is a shared history of many.
This weekend, Duke Engage peers and I visited the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, which was such a meaningful first visit, celebrating the end of June, the Patriots and Veterans’ month in Korea. Located in the heart of Seoul, the War Memorial serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made during times of conflict, paying homage to the heroes who defended and protected their homeland. Before entering the building, we first faced a wide plaza with all the flags of UN Member States. The size and atmosphere of the site were already enough to dominate us with the gravity it holds. Monuments and statues honoring war veterans reminded me of the Seoul National Cemetery near where I grew up when I was a little kid. I remember visiting the cemetery on Memorial Day even when I did not know what exactly Korean War was. I saw many families and children at the War Memorial of Korea, so I wondered if their visits would also become a valuable memory to look back at.
We first went to the Korean War history rooms, in which the history of the war was elaborated step by step. There also were documents such as ‘Telecommunication Message of Gen. MacArthur after the On-Site inspection of the Han River Defense Line’, which encouraged the active involvement of the American army in the conflict area. The most impressive section was that introduced Korean-Japanese Volunteer Student Soldiers who fought against the invasion. Their participation was originally rejected by UN Command because they were so young, but their commitment was later accepted. A series of letters written by one of the student soldiers to his mother helped us indirectly experience how fearful it would have been, having to use weapons against similar-looking people just because they are ‘enemies.’ You know that you may die at any second, but they kept pushing through to protect their country and people. It was heartbreaking that they also acknowledged that the enemies are not just unknown evils but once a family in the same land.
There were countless battles and so many civilians were sacrificed. After Chinese Communist forces’ intervention, the ROK and UN forces’ march toward the Korea-China border was deterred and the dream of reunification never came true. After the truce talks and Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty, the Korean government waged the Korean War under a resolution of the UN, and they still maintain the alliance with the American government and have a war deterrent force. The room ends with the remark that Korean War is an ‘unfinished war’ and an ‘unforgettable war’. Considering that the memorial was written from the South Korean view, I recognized a few political words against communism or the North Korean regime, but it is undeniable that the Korean War must be remembered.
I also took a look inside the Memorial Hall with candlelights. It was a somber place of remembrance, where we all could pay tribute to fallen soldiers and civilians. We exist and live in this country because they did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves in service to the country. After walking through the history of war, it was great that we had a chance to pause, gather our thoughts, and pay our respects in a tranquil memorial hall.
Through my visit to the War Memorial of Korea, I was able to gain an understanding of the human cost of war and the resilience of our people. The legacies are still around us; US military base is still present in the middle of Seoul, and the North Korean defectors endure life-threatening routes to come to South Korea. Political tensions escalate and dwindle over and over again. The war has never been finished and the generations hold paramount responsibility to remember the history and work towards a future free from the ravages of war.
-Kathy Lee
