Session 2 - Jennifer Jung-Kim, 9/15 afternoon

[Kim Leng]

Lindsay,

Check out the movie I Can Speak.  I found an upload on Youtube with Vietnamese and English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_ystasyg4.  It's about a comfort woman in South Korea, but it doesn't start out serious.  I think the film does a great job covering such a tough topic.  Did you happen to get all the notes regarding the symbolism in the comfort women statues?  This article on CNN contains a chart with the symbols: https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/05/asia/south-korea-comfort-women-statue/index.html and an interview with a comfort woman who recalls the horror. 

 

 

[Gisela Gaona]

These two readings allowed me to have a deeper understanding of the Japanese occupation of Korea. In the chapter selected out of Lost Names, what was compelling to me was when the teacher of Richard Kim apologized to Kim's parents and stated, "As one Asian to another sir, I am deeply ashamed." I am assuming that part of the Japanese style of occupation is to completely rid the natives (in this case, the Koreans) of their culture, language, and identities.  It seems to me that when I read accounts of Japanese invasions, they are always extremely brutal and unforgiving. Therefore, I did appreciate that in this story the Japanese teacher apologized to the Korean parents for the manner in which the Japanese government chose to conduct the occupation of Korea. In the future, I would like to read more about why Japan chose to occupy and invade countries in such an aggressive manner. 

[Ingrid Herskind]

Last week, Japan's Osaka city ended its "sister city" ties with San Francisco over the display of a 'comfort women' monument. The Osaka mayor stated that the monument "destroyed the two sides' relationship of trust." The Mayor of Osaka stated that part of the problem was the monument's inscription, which he said "presents uncertain and one-sided historical facts." 

After our discussion about "comfort facilities" and "comfort women" with Dr. Jung Kim, I was struck by the mayor's comment about "one-sided historical facts." The mayor further stated that "there is disagreement among historians when regarding the historical facts such as the number of 'comfort women', the degree to which the former Japanese army was involved, and the extent of the wartime harm." These comments made me think about how we discuss history and how different cultures embrace past successes and failures. 

Historian Jill Lepore states that "the study of history requires investigation, imagination, empathy, and respect. Reverence just doesn't enter into it."  I was struck by our discussions in class about the 'comfort women' and Japan's response to the accusations and often wonder if the international controversy will ever be addressed. How can a nation properly investigate its own past from a position of empathy and respect?

[Kim Leng]

I truly enjoyed reading excerpts from Linda Sue Park’s When My Name Was Keoko. In just a few chapters Park was able to express the sentiments of one family in having to change their Korean names to Japanese names.  This painful experience is voiced by Uncle who said, “I won’t do it…Let them arrest me!  They will have my body, but not my soul__my name is my soul!”

Wow!  I can’t imagine having to change my name. How have I not heard about this before? I don’t remember my teachers going in depth into the Korean War.  I think this historical fiction will bring to life experiences of a Korean family during the occupation of Korea in 1910 that will provide discussions about culture and identity. 

Has anyone used teachingbooks.net yet?  If you haven’t, it’s a free database that offers lesson plans, book trailers, and other book related resources to all California students and teachers starting this school year. Teachers may create an educators account to gain full access to the resources.  Check out this link for Linda Sue Park’s When My Name Was Keoko: https://www.teachingbooks.net/qlz94fs.

 

[Mario Galindo]

Thanks for the resource--had missed this before.

When I read this piece I finally began to understand what I had heard about and experienced as a kid. Growing up in LA I grew up multiculturally. One of my first neighborhood friends was Nisei. I got to know the family and since we were neighobors got to hear weekly rehearsals from my friend's grandmother, who lived with them. She played a stringed instrument that was a kind of harp that lied flat on the floor while she played and sang hauntingly slow melodies to (I never asked or found-out what the music or instument is called).

Because of my friendship I quickly noticed that there was some kind of animosity when years later more and more Korean people came to Los Angeles. Little comment that my friends mother and aunts would say about Korean people. I understood a bit because the same thing happened when my family made some comment about Central Americans when they started to also come into our worlds more often-- about the same time as when more and more Korean people had migrated to Los Angeles (I grew up near to what is now called Koreatown: it wasn't called that at the time). What I didn't understand (with both the Korean and Central American friction) were the historical and cultural details. "When my Name was Keiko" added a lot more detail to what I had learned since. Reading in the specific POV of an adult remembering back to when they were children clarified this on a personal level I connected to because of my reminiscing.

These same types of details are the aspects that can build specific lessons on culture, ethnicity, history and migration--all topics within the realm of my classroom. Thanx, again, for the resource.

[Margaret Siryj]

i totally agree with you, Miriam.  I truly enjoyed Dr. Kim's lecture on Korea and she was so kind to share a link for a Korean film that was only available on youtube, but unfortunately, contained no English subtitiles.  Dr. Kim's knowledge on Korea was insightful and I gleaned so much information that I have shared with my World HIstory and Geography students.  I am in full agreement that the curriculum that is in use in some schools and districts barely stratches the surface when it comes to understanding Korea, the history, and its peiople.  My multi-day learning segment includes the information that Dr. Kim shared on the DVD with our class.  HIghl school students share the same interest in other cultures as elementary children so, the resources she shared were used to augment the curriculum for 1950s Korea to modern times.  My school has a sizable Korean heritage students and this coming semester I will be using my learning segment with my 10th grade World HIstory and Geography students.  Students are fascinated with other cultures, and this Professor did an outstanding job sharing her enthusiasm, and needless to say, extreme knowledge of Korean history. 

[Christine Moguel]

YES!  I love that!  Using math and science skills to help students graph out the demographic information is a great way to get that cross curriculum vibe going.  I will definitely be using that strategy seeing as how my special education students THRIVE with visuals and comparable numbers.  Yes absoulutely !   

[Christine Moguel]

I had no idea how entrenched Japan was in Koreas society- or mass publication censorship.  I would also really like to learn more about how that all panned out and how the Koreans broke free of the confinds of that type of censorship from their neighboring force.  The expansion of power in East Asia has clearly been influx throughout the 19-21st centuries, and probably before even- its interesting for me to see the division of economies and power so clearly defined now, however it wasnt always like that.

[Christine Moguel]

"And I discovered a film last week called I Can Speak that told the story of one comfort women in South Korea.  In the film, the main character Ok-boon said, “If I forget, I’ll be losing.” Let's teach our students about what happened in Korea!".  This film sounds amazing!  Thank you for recommending.  While it might not be appropriate for my students, I would definitly like to watch it myself to gather a better understanding of what some women went throught during the time period of the Imperial Army in Korea.  So interesting!  Thank you!

[Christine Moguel]

Dr. Kims' Lecture was fresh and so insightful, overwhelming at times, but thorughly interesting.  I agree that we have not learned enough about Korea through our studies- and to what is actually avaliable in our world civilization/geography classes in middle and highschool.  What we do see are the images on CNN student news everyday.  Those images that depict a sterile and military North Korea and its leader.  I think it is imparative to expose the South Korean side fo the country.  I actually work very close to Korea town in Los Angeles, and I think it would be a great idea to take them to the mall and get to see the different pop culture creations out there.  My students would really enjoy that experience coupled with a serious geography lesson about the country.

[Sophia Kang]

I definitely agree with you in that history (often depending on where we learn about that history) is often oversimplified and biased. I also often doubt if I have learned my history accurately. What might help is possibly looking into the different perspectives of socioeconomic people during this time? For example, the idea of those with more socioeconomic power choosing to oppress because they can, versus the ones who are barely getting by. I'm not sure if Dr. Jung-Kim has access to stories in the perspectives of both lower and upper class Japanese and Koreans during this time. The last few chapters of Pachinko (a must-read novel about Japan and Korea during this snippet of history) provide an interesting insight into differing views of both ethnicities toward each other depending on their socioeconomic status. The author's novel is also based on a lot of research in Japan, so I would highly recommend. 

[Lindsay Reiss]

I think that it is important for our students to learn about different class systems like that of Korea. It is something that helps build perspective. I too teach my students about equity and self-advocacy. Looking at class structure helps to build understanding.

[Lindsay Reiss]

I think censorship is a really great topic for our students. In the U.S. we experience free speech and freedom of the press. Many students are not aware of the censorship that occurs and has occurred over the years throughout the world. Primary sources are also great to include for our students and I think they would really benefit from seeing them.

[Kathryn Sutherland]

One thing I have taken away from this seminar is how connected the history before 1800 is to the history after.  We barely touched on pre-1800s history for East Asia (I mean, the class was titled East Asia since 1800...) but just getting the brief snippet of history about Korea really framed the post 1800 events.  I thought it was so interesting that Korea has existed with relatively the same borders from the late 1300s.  I was also surprised to learn that there was relative gender equality during this time (at least, until 1644, when equal inheritance was slashed to 1/3 inheritance).  The rigid social stratification that had existed under the Choson and the rise of the yangpan scholar officials set the stage for unrest, and ultimately for Japan to take advantage of the internal rebellions plaguing and weakening Korea.  History does not happen in a vaccuum, and this class really put in to perspective how interconnected every global event truly is. 

[Reynaldo Mangabat]

I completely agree o that strategy of comparing the social class structure in Korea 1800-1945 and compare how it to how social classes now are still stratified in their society. It woud be interesting to know how much more complex that social stratification is now and what are the factors that contribute to the social stratification aside from economic factors. 

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