"But for Koreans, the fateful decisions of hundreds of thousands to support or not support the Northern troops remains woven into the fabric of postwar memory."  (Robinson, p. 117) 

What struck me most about the readings, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Korean war and its legacy was just how deep psychological scars of confusion and distrust went.  Nothing about the Korean war was simple; the start of the war is contested, the role of the U.S. and UN is confusing to those outside Korea, the sheer violence on both sides, but particularly by the US, is dumbfounding and seemingly pointless.  These scars clearly have an effect on the populace of North and South Korea today--with North Korea's "bunker mentality" and political unrest and mistrust in South Korea for many years after.  What I never realized, though, is that the arbitrary line drawn at the 38th parallel was just that--arbitrary.  And for people who were not among the politically active and motivated, the choice of which government to support during the throes of the Korean War must have been upsetting, confusing, and life-changing.  

Since MASH was a bit before my time, and the Korean War a bit before my parent's time, I've only really heard things about the Korean war tangentially in pop-culture: the characters of Red Foreman on "That 70's Show" and Don Draper on "Mad Men" were both Korean War vets, and mention it from time to time.  But in my history classes in high school and college, the Korean War was presented in the context of the Cold War, and only briefly touched on.  What a disservice to such a complex war with global implications!  Especially since relations with North Korea have been strained ever since.  

What I am looking forward to in Dr. Jung-Kim's lecture tomorrow is how these formative scars and memories have shaped the pop culture of South Korea that we see today.  I had no idea just how destroyed both South and North (particularly North) Korea were after the war, and it will be interesting to hear how both countries have dealt with the physical and psychological aftermath of the Korean war. As an educator, I am particularly interested to hear how Korea has a 98% literacy rate!

In response to "Top Ten Things in the 21st Century article from The Korea Society, it struck me that Numbers 3, 4 and 5 speak to the notion that the ideology of Confucianism has remained relatively strong on the Korean Peninsula.  Number three was interesting and noteable because "scholarship was important" to early Koreans.  This was shown in the movie, "YMCA Baseball" when the young man became conflicted with his career choices.  His father, a scholar felt strongly about his son choosing the same path, and with future plans of becoming the head scholar of his school.  The son saw Baseball and decided this would be his future destiny.  In the movie, the father decides to show up to one of his son's games to see what "the hype" was all about.  In the end, the son goes with honoring his dad and taking over the scholar role and school.

One of the ideals of Confucianism promotes loyalty, and in the article Number 4 staates that the fourth century ushered in this philosophy of service to leaders.  By leaders, I am referring to the leadership that was shown to the son by the father in "YMCA Baseball".  Even though the movie was set in early 20th century, Seoul, the philosophy stands today.  The article stated that children should "accept paternal leadership".  The important idea to remember is Confucianism is hierarchal and the father was known to sociey as a "scholar leader".  Even though the son faced an internal conflict, he ultimately, did what was expected of him under Confucianism. 

Number 4 was thought provoking because teachers use the outside to provide learning opportunities for their students.  In my classroom, I plan to use our campus to allow students a different environment, and change things around by asking my World History sophomores to read aloud while outdoors and continue with a debriefing on what they thought about this change of venue.  My campus is awesome and we have a koi pond that contains quite a few fish.  I have never thought about taking my class outside, but plan to do so while enjoying the subtle movements of the fish.  Number 4 totally caught my attention, and think my students will enjoy the class period, or perhaps, part of the period to do this. 

Most of what I learned from Korean history have been small sound bites as the current political climate unfolds. Although I, and others, have hope for a unified Korea, understanding the history of struggle for the governing of the peninsula illuminates the zietgeist. One thing that I found fascinating was that the formation of the Peoples Republic of Korea was on my birthday (September 6th). I also had little idea of the history of imperialism Korea faced with its neighbor nations. For most of the 20th century, other nations have been involved in the soveriegnty of this dense nation. Despite these interventions, Koreans have been of the technological giants in the world. They have also become a gloabl power, playing multilateral roles in the U.N alongside western allies. 

For centuries Korea has been struggling to find itself a rightful place in the shadow of foreign powers -- Russia, China, Japan, and after the Second World War, the United States. Postwar Korean literature often revolves around the country's search for its own identity despite wars and partitioning. I was thinking about how the story "Cranes" portrays the Koreans in a divided nation?

In my International Relations class, we discussed the idea of Partitioning as a solution to foreign policy conflict. After talking about WWII and the division of Korea, we analyzed the problems with partitioning an area into two or more segments as a solution to international conflict. I had them read the short story "Cranes" and then discussed how its themes portray Korea as a divided nation. 

One student stated that the story "Cranes" is heart-warming as it depicts a war-torn country where people have to choose sides and even best friends could hate each other. When Songsam recalls his happy childhood with Tokchae, he realizes what a divided Korea has done to its people. Peace has to happen some time, and if not in the country, at least between friends.  Another student suggested that Songsam's release of Tokchae expresses his yearning for their innocent childhood. When Songsam remembers the crane they once raised and set free, he realizes the importance of allowing his friend to escape. They reconcile and renew their bond of affection despite their political differences. And another stated that the inevitable conflict between the two friends illustrates the kind of tension and affection in a divided Korea. The two governments are divided by political rivalry yet attached by a common bond between families and friends on the other side of the thirty-eighth Parallel. Childhood memories cherished by Songsam and Tokchae signify hope for unification.

I really enjoyed this story and loved bringing literature into a foreign policy discussion.  I think I will read more from this collection of short stories.  

" The Flowers of Fire" is such an interesting story. Dr.Yi is a typical Korean successful businessman who tried to manage and control their children's marriage. He definitely does not want his daughter to marriage a foreigner with big nose no matter how, they just wanted their daughter to find some Korean husband an dlived closer to them. When my husband was hired as a Guest Professor in ShenZhen University in 2002, one of the foreign language professors was from Canada, Byran, who fell in love with one of his students who was from South Korea, then the conflict started from the day they told her parents in Korea. Her parents immediately ordered the girl to go back to Korea, or they would stop paying her tuition. Bryan took all responsibilities and supported his fiance. She finished her study in Shenzhen University and went back to Korea, then Bryant had to quit his position in ShenZhen University and went to South Korea as an English teacher there in order to convince her parents to approve their marriage. Meanwhile, they have had their first son, and her parents-in-law finally changed their mind. The couple finally got married in 2012 and lived Canada with three children. When I read this part of the story, I can't stop thinking of the love story of our friends. The older generations of Korean lived very traditional ways in Korea. " Are there any borders in love" is such a good question for Dr.Yi and other Krean parents. The dividing line between North and South Korean deparated many families for years, and it also prevented Koreans from united as one. Absolutely, there's no borders between Koreans and lovers.

Loved this assignment with you created based on the Korean lesson in our seminar!  Our students are amazing and I love hearing their reflections.  Creating lessons that engage students to think about how similar their lives are to others as opposed to how different they are hooks in so many other types of thinking.  It brings about ideas of empathy, compassion, nostaglia, and cutlure appreciation.  Bravo!  Loved it!

The Korean flag has three parts, the white regtangular background, a red and blue " Ying & Yang" (Taeguek) symbolizing balance, and four blactrigrams at each corner. When I became an interpretor, my first group of foreigners were from south Korea. They were three engineers and one interpretor of their own who can speak Chinese very fluently. They demonstrated very impressive etiquette , and they always bow and very respectful. They are extremyly patriotic and they shared the facts with me, Koreans never use products not made in Korea, the cars, food and others. They traveled with all suitcases full of products from Korea, ciguarrets, instense noodles, closing, and etc. I am seriously thinking their patriotism is the key that Handai and Samsong would develop so quickly and occupy the world markets.