Flying Yangban

Link post: Koreans in Saipan during WW 2

I plan to do a piece on Koreans who lived in Saipan during the Second World War.  This post is to get some links filed away.

Some background info in this article on Emperor Akihito's visit to a Korean war dead memorial.

From CNMI Guide on WW 2 History:

Saipan provided the United States military with its first opportunity to learn about military occupation of enemy territory with a Japanese civilian population. Civilians encountered during the period of the battle and afterward, while emergency conditions still prevailed, were placed in secure camps to keep them out of the way of the fighting. Thus assembled, the U. S. military could better meet their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Schools were established as soon as conditions permitted. In September, 1945 the camps housed 13,954 Japanese, 1,411 Koreans, 2,966 Chamorros and 1,025 Carolinians

Very similar (too similar) information here.

Saipan provided the United States military with its first opportunity to learn about military occupation of enemy territory with a Japanese civilian population. Civilians encountered during the period of the battle and afterward, while emergency conditions still prevailed, were placed in secure camps to keep them out of the way of the fighting. Thus assembled, the U.S. military could better meet their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Schools were established as soon as conditions permitted.

In September, 1945 the camps housed 13,954 Japanese, 1,411 Koreans, 2,966 Chamorros and 1,025 Carolinians. Within a two square mile area near Lake Susupe life in the compound was primitive and only the bare necessities were provided. Weathered boards, tattered tents and battered tin sheets from the bombed out sugar refinery provided the only shelter from the weather. Each hut (han) accommodated from 20 to 55 people. After the fighting, families were released from Camp Susupe during the day to cultivate vegetables since food was scarce. Food production was increased from 79,469 pounds of produce in September, 1944 to 286,029 pounds in September,1945.

Lots of first hand accounts of life in internment camps after American conquest of Saipan, as told by naitives plus tons of pictures.

Very interesting booklet by the US 2nd Marine Division instructing its men on how to behalf and what to expect during the invasion of Saipan, although it barely mentions Koreans.

Marmot post on colonial-era Koreans in CNMI

I am working a little bit with a guy at a museum in Saipan on Koreans who were there during the Japanese colonial period.  I wrote a post about it at the Marmot's Hole and and just linking to it here so I can more easily access it for future research.

Remembering past and present Korean victims of oppression (Gwangju and North Korea)

Today is the 26th anniversary of the Gwangju revolt and massacre.  During this week in 1980 hundreds or thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators and members of a "citizens' army" were killed by South Korean military forces.

(JoongAng Daily/Joint Press Corps pic)

See this extensive post at the Marmot's Hole for more details.

In Seoul, members of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) commemorated hundreds of thousands or millions of North Koreans who have died and are dieing in North Korean gulags and preventable famine.

(Chosun Ilbo pic)

LiNK has a full slat of events planned for the next two or three weeks, which I will take the liberty to cut-n-paste:

Screenings of the award-winning documentary "Seoul Train" followed by a Q&A session with LiNK representatives about the North Korean Human Rights crisis will be held at:

May 18th, 1pm - Seoul National University: Bldg. 140, GL room
May 24th, 5pm - Ewha University: (Location)
May 29th, 8pm - Istanbul Restaurant: Noksapeong station exit 2, through underpass at corner
May 30th, 12pm & 6pm - Kyung Hee University: Jung Won Gwan Ji Ha, 1 floor, B117
June 1st, 5pm - Dong Guk University: Hae Hwa Gwan, 202 

Symposiums with experts speaking on the issue of North Korean human rights will be held at:

May 22nd, 5:30pm - Koryo University: Kim Nyun Gwan So Theatre 418; Speakers: Tim Peters (Activist, Helping Hands Korea), Kang Chul Hwan (Defector, Co-Author of Aquariums of Pyongyang), and LiNK representatives.

May 23rd, 5pm - Sogang University: K Gwan 203; Speakers: Tim Peters (Activist, Helping Hands Korea); Sohn Jung Hoon (Defector, brother was killed in a public execution in North Korea), and LiNK representatives.

May 25th, 1pm - Seoul National University - Socheon Convention Hall Bldg. 140-1; Speakers: Tim Peters (Activist, Helping Hands Korea), Kim Sung Min (President of "Radio Free North Korea"), and LiNK representative.

May 27th, 4:30 pm - Sookmyung Women's University: Centennial Hall 503; Speakers: Cho Myung Sook (Principal of Yuh Myung School/Jayoutuh School-helps North Korean refugees resettle in Sout Korea); Ahn Myung Chul (former North Korean prison guard), and LiNK representatives.

Join us at these events, and many more to be announced!

If you want to get involved, email them today.

Old gun go boom!

This looks like fun:

From Yonhap:

Dr. Chae Yeon-seok of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Friday he has built a replica of the 14th-century weapon which can fire arrows 150 meters, and that he sucessfully tested it.

The artillery piece, 30.2 cm long and 4.6 cm in diameter, was a state-of-the-art weapon in Northeast Asia at that time in terms of its power and range. It is believed to have been invented by a scientist during the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392).

The replica was constructed according to an original that had been passed from one owner to another, including antique dealers, over the years. Chae built the replica after being asked recently to determine its authenticity.

The original has an inscription reading "18th year of Hongmu," which was the 11th year of the reign of King U of the Goryeo Kingdom or 1385 A.D.

If the inscription is accurate, the gun is the oldest in Korea, apprently produced by scientist Choi Mu-seon of the "Hwatongdogam," a state agency established to produce artillery, in 1377, Chae said.

Can I blow up something next?

Remembering the Hungnam mass rescue

From Yonhap:

Chung Jeong-sun, an 85-year-old former refugee from North Korea, is still grateful to the U.S. sailors who saved her life in one of the world's largest evacuation operations during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Some even compare the humanitarian act to the heroism of German industrialist Oscar Schindler during World War II that inspired the Oscar Award-winning movie "Schindler's List."
"Without their help, we could have been slaughtered by the communists," Chung said in a recent interview at her modest home in Bucheon, a sprawling city west of Seoul. "How can I fully express my gratitude to them?"

Chung, then 30, and her three-year-old son were among the 98,000 North Korean refugees transported by U.S. ships from the North's northeastern port of Hungnam to South Korea in December 1950. The North Koreans fled the harsh system of their communist homeland....

'We herewith proclaim the independence of Korea and the liberty of the Korean people'

I just want to wish the people of Korea, including my wife and daughter (half of her, at least) a happy Samil (March First or Independence Proclamation Day). 

On this day in 1919, Koreans across the country read a proclamation of Korean independence and demonstrated against Japanese colonial rule.  The Samil movement was brutally crushed and the Korean people had to wait through 26 more years of Japanese colonial rule and three years of American military administration* before finally regaining their independence on August 15, 1948.

You can help proclaim the liberty of the North Korean people at the LiNK meeting at Sookmyung Women's University this Friday.

*(Please note that I am in no way equating the Japanese and American administration of Korea.  Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 but did not gain formal independence until 1948.)

A full English translation of the proclamation is below (stolen from here)

Wanted ASAP: Information on Non Gae

I still don't have time to blog and certainly not much to do research.  I was hoping that someone else might be able to help with something.  I got this in the email yesterday from Lay Har Yeo:

I was wondering if you could tell me the story about Non Gae the kisaeng. I am doing some research on her for a singaporean tv programme and cannot find much on the internet.

Here is one thing I had cut-n-pasted in a previous post:

Non-gae, a renowned kisaeng (female entertainer) in the town of Chinju on the southern coast killed a Japanese general in the defense of Chinju Fortress. She lured the amorous invader to a cliff above the Namgang River, embraced him and dived into the water with her rings (on her fingers) locked together.

Non-gae's story has been passed down in poetry, song, dance and stories and remains very much alive in the hearts of the people of Chinju. Visit Chinju Fortress where Non-gae dived off the cliff and the locals will be happy to describe how Non-gae locked her arms tightly around the evil Japanese general and how the Choson sailors beat him with their oars as he floated down the river. The rock from which Non-gae jumped is a favorite photo opportunity for tourists, young and old.

Unfortunately, I forgot to link that quote.

If anyone can help, please email Lay Har.

Pictures from the Korean war

I was looking for some images for my new banner and came across a few Korean War pictures from David Douglas Duncan.

Many of the pictures come with descriptions, such as the one below:

"When it seemed that . . . machine-gunner [Corporal Leonard Hayworth] was shattered beyond all hope, a black-jawed, smiling old veteran crawled over . . . Sitting shoulder to shoulder with the younger man, he calmly told him how they were still holding the line . . . The grimy old veteran talked a feeble smile back upon the face of the corporal. Tears still streaked his face up under his helmet where the rain could not wash them away, but the Old Marine seemed not to notice. [Korea, September 1950.]" This Is War!, p. 26.

The site also has several other cool galleries, so be sure to check them out.

Commies in Gwangju

As I said before, I will be guest blogging over at One Free Korea for the next couple of weeks.  My second post there covered a presentation by a man who said he used to work at North Korea's Unification Front.  A money shot:

About 30% of the people involved in the South Korean democracy movement were either North Korean agents or under their influence of North Korean agents. A couple of the leaders of the Gwangju uprising were working for North Korea....

If the files of the UF can be opened, you will find the names of many SK democracy leaders on their lists. There are still some remnants of pro North Korean people in South Korean leftist groups.

(BTW, I will link to my own posts but I will not trackback.  That seems vaguely sleazy to me.)

The other forgotten war in Korea

(UPDATE:  I'm bumping this up for two reasons.  First, it is a great piece that should be read by all.  Second, I'm swamped at work and don't have time to post.)

I found this piece in my local paper, the Raleigh News and Observer.  It starts out like this:

Ron Rice crouched in a trench on a sweat-popping July afternoon, shaking off a long, dirt-kissing crawl to escape the crossfire of two North Korean machine gun nests

1950?  Try 1967.

During the Vietnam war, the Norks tried to take advantage of the distraction to spread their special brand of communist 'revolution' to the South.  But ROK and US forces were up to the task:

Few know about this successful defensive campaign against North Korean infiltrators who hoped to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea. Fewer still realize that the fighting along the Korean DMZ marked an American military victory that offers bedrock lessons for the counterinsurgency campaigns against the irregular forces fighting American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It turned out differently than the Vietnam War, but nobody knows about it," said Army Brig. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, author of the most detailed comprehensive historical analysis of the Second Korean Conflict and commander of the team training the new Iraqi army

By the magic of the Internet, here is Bolger's piece.  Be sure to read all the N&O piece.  Bolger's report will take a little more work but the topic is fascinating for anyone interested in recent history in Korea.

Before you go, here is one more teaser from the N&O article:

The Second Korean Conflict started Nov. 2, 1966, just two days after President Johnson arrived in Seoul for a state visit, with the ambush of an eight-man American patrol less than a mile south of the DMZ. Six GIs and a South Korean soldier serving with them were killed.

In late October 1968, North Korean commandos landed along the east coast of South Korea, aiming to start a guerrilla movement among peasants and small farmers. South Koreans rejected their overtures, and South Korean soldiers killed 110 commandos.