Korean Job Discussion Forums

[catman]

.....or is this a topic that should be avoided all together?

[Caro wack]

Depends who you talk to. If you can identify the 0.5% of the
population who wasn't brainwashed in Korean public schools
against the truth of what happened on the K peninsula 1945-1953,
you may have the basis for a conversation. Otherwise , forget it.

Of course, it also depends on if YOU know the facts. Here's a
good one: Why is President Harry Truman not recognized
by the Korean government with a monument? Never in world history has one man done more for
another (insignificant) country not his own.

[Missihippi]

I've talked about it with my co-teacher (who is late 20's) before, and she didn't seem to know much about it. I don't think most younger Koreans have much interest in history, in my short experiance here. I don't think it's a taboo topic for younger gens though.

[antoniothegreat]

[bundangbabo]

Yup - The Dream Eye Clinic doctor asked me to thank my father as did a couple of the nurses there for being part of the British forces that fought here. It was very nice of them I thought.

[ppcg4]

I've talked to most of my Korean friends about it when they blurt out how much they hate the US. I agree that the current US presence here has kind of dragged on a bit, but very few of them know how much they owe to the US. (I'm Canadian BTW)

Had the US not helped out against the nasty Soviet commies, this would be Kim Jong Il's version of paradise.

[bundangbabo]

[bundangbabo]

[Xuanzang]

I wouldnt mind talking to survivors who fought in the mountains and in the trenches. I just dont know where to find them. I`m sure Korea has a VA but

[RACETRAITOR]

I've heard some pretty insane stories from my mother-in-law (she was around 6 when it started). If you're talking to survivors of the war, don't expect a lot of pleasant stories. Nobody came out of that thing with a smile on their face.

[denistron]

From the younger generation it seems like mass amnesia. All you hear about is the Japanese occupation.

[Xuanzang]

[SOOHWA101]

[Kimchi Cha Cha]

Hillary wasn't wrong when she brought up 'historical amnesia' when describing South Korea and its mainstream views on its recent history, wonder if she'll bring it up again when she visits this week?

I like to think of nations going through development stages much like people do. South Korea's - despite all its economic and technological advances of the past three decades - still at the awkward teenage phase where it's unsure of itself and its place in the world. Like teenagers, it often has trouble distinguishing friend from foe and has a tendency to bite the hand that feeds - or at least, helped feed - it.

I'd like to think in a generation or two, 20 or 30 years down the track, possibly after reunification with the North, and after northerners come to terms with how shitty a hand they were dealt and after southerners realise just how delusional and easily manipulated they were; Korea as a whole will realise that the Allies - in particular, the US, whilst not entirely angels, were definitely the better of the two forces on the Korean peninsula. Hopefully, Korea by that stage will be willing to look at its painful past with a more objective and critical eye. As clearly, the vast majority are unable to do so at this current point in time.

* - I'd also like to think that by that time, the chief manipulators in the great delusion that it is the Korean educational system's version of modern history have been exposed for what they were and Korea's history is taught with a more even, balanced account.

[wylies99]