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The Korean War - Impressions After Sixty Years
It's been almost a month since the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, which started June 25, 1950 with the North Korean invasion of South Korea. Though the war lasted about three years, most of the memorable action happened during the first 8-9 months.
By July 5, 1950, the North had taken Seoul and was marching southward. UN troops first engaged in battle at Osan on this hill now marked with a memorial:
By July 22 (sixty years to the day before my posting of this message now), the North had overrun Daejeon and was beginning to march south toward Busan, trying to finish the war off before UN troops could mobilize sufficiently.
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Here are a couple books recommended to me by my "Korean history mentor"
I read this book at the beginning of the year, too. It focuses on the hot summer months of 1950:
If you haven't read at least one history of the Korean War, this is the time to do it!
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There are currently two serials on Korean TV which dramatize the Korean War from a Korean perspective:
I've been watching Comrade in Arms, which seems to be weaving two plots together: the story of a group of South Korean soldiers, and also the story of several soldiers fighting for the North. It's interesting to see the perspectives Korean writers take as they emphasize things that non-Korean writers often overlook, such as broken families, soldiers switching sides, etc. I've been surprised to see how the soldiers fighting for the North are portrayed as kind and sincere, too.
In reading/watch about the Korean War, I am often struck by the differences of perspective. Non-Korean writers tend to ignore the contributions of the South Korean army to the war effort; but you'll find none of that when portrayed by Koreans. In fact, the two Korean TV serials appear to have no non-Korean actors at all.
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One last book to recommend is 내가 물러서면 나를 쏴라: 1128일의 기억 (Shoot Me if I Retreat: Memory of 1128 Day.... I hope they produce an English translation of this soon because it is a valuable contribution to the history of the Korean War.
Excerpts of the book have been published daily in the Jungang Ilbo this year and the refreshing aspect of General Baek's perspective is that he seems to have fought in a remarkably diverse range of situations during the war and served as a go-between with the UN forces. So, this book is full of first-hand accounts and frequently makes reference to both the contributions of the South Korean soldiers. General Baek doesn't short-change in any way the absolutely decisive role of the UN, though.
This is also a remarkably sturdy hardcover book, with lots of photos and maps.
Replies to This Discussion | 이 토론에 대한 답글들
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Permalink Reply by Youngil Ely Loew on -
Hey Mr. Bammel, thanks for these suggestions and reflections. I went ahead and got the Hastings book. Looking forward to reading it!
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on -
You picked a very good book to start with! Hope you like it.
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Ongoing Update - Sixty-Years Ago Today (August 23, 2010)
The struggle by UN forces to defend the Pusan Perimeter reached a climax around this time.
As described in Chapter 8 - "Nightmare on the Naktong" (pages 146-166) of The Darkest Summer by Bill Sloan, between August 5-19, North Korean forces attacked UN lines in what was to be called the "First Battle of the Naktong Bulge" around the Yongsan-Ri area west of Miryang city near the Naktong River.
If the North Korean army had broken through, they might have reached Pusan and pushed UN forces off the Korean peninsula before MacArthur could put together his famous landing at Incheon. Fortunately, UN forces succeeded in holding the line.
However, the first week of September saw yet another sustained North Korean attack in the same area. General Walton Walker's army again held its ground, making this "the last great North Korean effort of the battle" (The Korean War, Max Hastings, p. 97) and effectively spelled the end of the North Korean offensive.
Next up: Incheon!
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Permalink Reply by Conor J. Meagher on -
MacArthur won the war, right?
:)
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Um... well... Let's just say he was a big player. :)
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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I didn't manage to keep watching 전우 (Comrade-in-Arms) on KBC (mentioned in the initial posting to this discussion). It comes on after my bedtime here in Korea and I kind of lost interest when I realized that it's more just a fictional story than it is an account of the Korean War. Has anyone else continued watching it or the other Korean War drama 로드넘버원(Road No. 1) which is on TV now? What are your impressions of these?
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So, to bring our story of the Korean War up to date, I quote from The Darkest Summer by Bill Sloan about the Second Battle of the Naktong Bulge (read previous post to learn about the first one):
p.204 - "At first light on September 5 [exactly 60 years to the day from my post here], Captain Ike Fenton had an excellent view from his command post of the day's primary objective: Obong-ni Ridge.... The order to continue the attack came at 6:00am... "
p. 205 - ".... The resistance was scattered at first.... They advanced about 3,000 yards to a ridgeline running parallel to Obong-ni and only about 400 yards away.... Here Colonel Newton, the First Battalion commander, received urgent orders from General CRaig to have both his compoanies stop where they were... with the Ameican advance halted, the NKPA decided not to wait.... they launched one of their most savage bombardments of the war."
p. 206 - "The enemy tanks rumbled eastward, following the same route as the ones the Marines had destroyed earlier in the First Battle of the Naktong."
p. 208 - "[But] the men off A and B companies didn't fall back. With the help of Army artillery and an 81-millimeter Marine mortar barrage... the North Koreans were stopped."
p. 209 - "The Second Battle of the Naktong was over. Inchon awaited"
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Back in March, we traveled down to the area where a lot of this action in Bill Sloan's book took place. I'm a little late to post about it now, but a battle took place near the hamlet of Changchon near Jinju (Visit in Google Maps.) on August 12, 1950.
I was not able to find a historical marker to indicate the exact location of where the battle took place in the Changchon Valley, but the follow photograph (with a copy of Bill Sloan's book in hand!) is pretty close.
This battle took place as US Marines were marching on Jinju and got ambushed by the North Korean 83rd Motorized Regiment. It is described in Chapter 7 "Triumph, Tragedy, Traps, and Tears" of The Darkest Summer.
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Today marks the 60th anniversary of Macarthur's invasion at Incheon, which turned the tide of the Korean War. I was expecting the front page of the paper to mention it but it looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger's visit to Korea is a little more prominent in the Joongang Ilbo.
Anyway, the books mentioned in my initial discussion post are great places to go for the story of the invasion and Halberstem's The Coldest Winter is probably the most interesting account anywhere.
Here are some photos to give perspective to how far Korea's come in the last sixty years:
1. Back in 2002, my sister and brother-in-law visited Korea for the World Cup. We took this photo in Incheon very close to MacArthur's landing spot as we boarded for a short afternoon cruise in the harbor.
2. The invasion at Incheon was preceded by the Allied forces taking Wolmi Island, which was then used to as a base to cover the invasion of the mainland. Today Wolmi Island has been converted into an amusement park. This photo at Wolmi Island was also taken in 2002:
3. Last year I was in Incheon for the release of KBC co-administrator Don Southerton's book on the history of Incheon. It's a fascinating account which can be read online here: http://www.chemulpotosongdoibd.com and includes plenty of photos of the area from before and after the invasion. I thought I took a photo of the harbor from the hills of Chinatown, but I can't seem to find it now.
4. I can see the towers of Songdo New City every morning when I climb Nojeok Hill near our place in Ansan if the sky is clear. Songdo used to be a beach destination just down the road from the invasion spot; today, the beach is but a memory.
The following post shows my view from Ansan; MacArthur's forces landed just on the other side of the big buildings: http://seongpodong.koreanconsulting.com/2010/04/i-can-see-songdo-ne...
5. Needless to say, Koreans tend to be more interested in the future than looking back 60 years to remember the death and destruction (Remember, for every UN serviceman that died in the war, up to 20-30 Koreans lost their lives.)
The new Incheon Bridge crosses the waters over MacArthur's invasion approach. Here's the website that tells about this incredible engineering feat: http://www.incheonbridge.com/EngDefault.aspx.
And here's a photo taken from the website:
6. Here's a photo from yesterday's Joongang Ilbo about a reenactment of the invasion that took place next to Wolmi Island a couple days ago:
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Permalink Reply by Don Southerton on -
Thanks for sharing the link to my book Chemulpo to Songdo IBD. In crafting the book, I poured over hundreds of archival photos of the Incheon Landing. Few structures survived the pre-landing attacks by naval forces and aircraft.
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Permalink Reply by Hannah Nedrow on -
To add to your list of history books, Bruce Cumings just released his new book "Korean War: A History." Just bought it a couple of days ago, but haven't read it yet. His book "Korea's Place in the Sun" was helpful as well.
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Thanks Hannah. I will have to get a copy of the new Cumings book.
Also, here's another reenactment photo in today's Jungang Ilbo (http://pic.joins.com/article/photo/article.asp?Total_ID=4459960):
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Permalink Reply by Karina Chua on -
Here are more information about Korean War with participation by the Philippines:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/09/123_73049.html
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20100915000627
http://www.thebucheon.com/article/article_view.php?num=7739&acd...
http://www.kyeongin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=541313
Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos was part of the Korean War and has come to Korea 2 weeks ago for the celebration. He also game a Colloquium in The Catholic University of Korea. Video of the Colloquium can be viewed on links below:
1 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXiHiaAw-9k
2 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BstMyjbomP4
3 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piacq3WrChE
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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on
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Karina,
This a great contribution to the discussion! Thanks!
Indeed, it's remarkable how each country looks at the war through its own eyes. Reading books about the Korean War from a US perspective makes it sound like the US did everything. As mentioned in my initial post to this discussion, the TV dramas made in Korea about the Korean War don't seem to cover anything but the Koreans.
But of course, there were soldiers from many countries fighting with the Korean and US forces, including Filiipinos.
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