[Len Krieger]

Angelique,

I enjoyed reading your post and wanted to add on to what you said about the KWP proverbially beefing up their military prowess and making that the main focus of that time. I think this is smart on many different levels, mainly because if it didn't scare the Super Powers you alluded to already, it at least put this area of the two Koreas back on the radar.

More often then not in history, when we see countries suffer from catastrophic events such as war, civil unrest, epidemics spreading, infrastructure destruction, and in this case famine; the last thing on a lot of countries minds is the strength of their military at that point and time. Most countries we have seen in History (Germany and France to name a few) during times similar to this are trying to lick their wounds, gather their bearings, and rebuild the entire country from the ground up and not just put all their eggs into the military basket. Military strength though is not only a good morale booster for the people of the country that needed one, but it also can ensure the hope of a new day where the situation they were in would not be allowed to happen again.

[Len Krieger]

Believe it or not Jennifer, the student actually chose to draw it on her own. She is in my credit recovery class, and when I asked her why she chose North Korea, she said she learned about North Korea in Advanced Placement World History (which makes sense) and she was quite knowledgeable about Kim Jong-Un, but when I mentioned Kim II-sung to her it was definitely crickets in that regard lol,

I'm not surprised she chose it though, because the way our curriculum is set up in Texas, we have a few opportunities to learn about the 2 Koreas in the traditional curriculum. AP however, is such a wide variety and they actually go into a lot more detail then we do on topics and concepts, because they have a lot stronger students then we do in traditional, and considering I have never taught Advanced Placement it would make sense the credit recovery student would in fact choose it over a traditional regular student.

I am still trying to ponder how I can use what I learn here in the 2 Koreas and apply it. With World History in Texas, we kind of just have to graze the surface of the topics we cover, which I understand considering we have to cover from Plato to Nato in a mere 180 days.

[Len Krieger]

Billie,

After reading your post and the last sentence of it, it got me thinking about how powerful that statement you made was ":there were hopes of unifying the peninsula, but that still has not happened to this day"  

I thought about this and it's amazing considering how long ago the Korean war was and there is still the differences we are learning about that they share today. It also made me think about Vietnam during this time period. During the Cold War, when the Vietnam War took place and was finally over, it only took a few years before North and South Vietnam reunified and became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that we know of today. I wonder if Vietnam has ever had conversations with North and South Korea or gave them advice or feedback on how they reunited even after the devestation the country went through? In a weird way ,it kind of gave me hope that the two Koreas would reunite one day, and if and when that ever happens, I just hope and pray I am still around to see it, I am not going to hold my breath for that though.

[Len Krieger]

After the zoom session last night, I found out the answer to the question I posed 'how did the Olympics impact Roh Tae Woo's election in the same year and how did he feel overall about having them there the same year he was elected?'

 

I was amazed to learn that the Olympics were so important to South Korea's global image at that time and that it had to be a successful event. Also, that Roh Tae Woo wasn't as fearful as hosting them the year he got elected as I would have been if were the new leader coming into the 6th republic. The Olympics to me, is the one global event that puts the spotlight on all the countries of the world every four years, and to think all that goes into it logistically to make it successful and becoming a new leader in a country at the same time is really mind blowing. I also, found it interesting that Korea was one of the few countries to ever host both winter and summer olympic games. Being from Texas, I am almost certain we'd never be asked to host a winter olympics haha. 

[Len Krieger]

I really enjoyed the video lecture, it really made me think about how I teach about Korea and the Cold War going forward. When I normally teach about it in World History, I drill and drill it was cold because no shots were fired between the Soviets and Americans, but Dr. Jung-Kim made the point that though their war was proxy, there was a civil war going on between the two Koreas which made it hot between them.

 

The light bulb went off for me and got a lot of ideas of how I can now use the Koreas as an extension of the main talking point I hit which is it was only intimidation and aggression between the Soviet Union and United States, but there were countries at the time like North and South Korea who were fighting a civil war along with Vietnam and try to find pictures, videos, and document based questions to use as a hook to delve further into why they were at war and how it applied to the US and USSR.

 

I also enjoyed to get to know the leaders and how and why they came to power. The whole rebulic system was fascinating to me and is something I was unaware that happened in Korea, because it seemed though each leader served each regime seperately they were similar in the fact that issues like popularity, term limits, economic/ political growth and expansion and corruption, culture builders and promters (i.e. 88 Olympics), were prevalent in almost all.

[Len Krieger]

The video and attached files really sparked my intrigue about the two Koreas. In reference to the attached files, one thing that I was able to relate with, were the flags. As a World History teacher, I have for about seven years now, done an activity to start the course where students get to pick a country of their choosing to research and draw the corresponding flag for that country. It always surprised me, that I would get students that would research South Korea and draw its flag, but never North Korea.

 

My interpretation of this, stems from the common misconception that many think Korea is just Korea and not two seperate countries. In regard to the flags, I was also astonished each flag has the deep meanings they do. I have gone almost a decade now seeing the South Korean flag, and never knowing the meaning behind it or that the lines on the flag actually had the backstory they do and the variation of the lines in it. Also on a sidenote, my brother Nick and I, watch a lot of cooking shows, and I quizzed him to see if he knew any of the top 10 dishes in Korean cuisine. Much to my chagrin, he nailed 5 out of 10 including #1 bibimbap.

 

The video was quite intriguing as well currently owning a Hyundai Sonata and having owned a Kia Soul, (golly I loved that car) and for a man that is 6'6 230 pounds, I will say, it was quite spacious contrary to popular belief. Also, I found it interesting that a lot was mentioned about Korea's pop culture, but nothing was mentioned about Korean athletes in sports that they have world famous and elite stars in such as: Basketball (Ha Seung-Jin), Baseball (Ji-Man Choi), Football (Hines Ward), and MMA my personal favorite fighter who I have met and have his authograph The "Korean Zombie" Chan Sung-Jung.

[Len Krieger]

My name is Len Krieger, I am a World History Teacher and Head Basketball Coach from Houston, Texas. I recently turned 34 years old, and have been teaching and coaching for over a decade now. My hobbies include: Going to church, reading the Bible, playing poker, fantasy football, watching/playing sports, cooking/BBQing, and learning. I have also been known to tell a joke or two. I look forward to learning from each and every one of you and cannot wait to see what the Two Koreas can offer in regard to my students.

Sincerely,

-Len

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