War Museum of Korea

Last weekend (10.2) I went to the War Museum of Korea, on a trip organized by my coteacher for Uijeongbu foreign teachers and their coteachers to attend.  It was fun!  My coteacher, Gina, went around with me and another friend and translated the plaques/gave information she knew about different events.  It was really neat to hear about a lot of the things in Korean history, especially from someone who could offer some cultural context.

The museum is for Korean wars alone, and was rather large!  Poor Korea has been invaded a LOT throughout history for its prime location between China and Japan.  Both counties frequently attempted to occupy Korea in order to gain easier access at occupying each other and taking over.  Korea was also invaded and occupied by Genghis Khan!

During the times of Genghis Khan and Yi Sun Sin, Korea was still unified.  It did not split into North and South until the Korean war.

A highlight of the museum for me were the exhibits on Yi Sun Shin (1545-1598).  Yi Sun Shin is a Korean admiral of the Joseon dynasty, who thwarted Japanese forces from occupying Korea and is considered one of Korea’s greatest heroes.  I first learned about Yi Sun Shin last year when I visited Korea, as I was staying on the southern coast in Yeosu, where Admiral Yi had a lookout station and oversaw the construction of Korean turtle ships.  Resultantly, MANY things in Yeosu are turtle-themed (including Hyangilam Buddhist Hermitage, one of my favorite places).  These ships were employed to amazing success in the battle of Myeongyang, where Yi defeated 333 Japanese ships with only 13 Korean.   

Turtle Ship!  16th century Korean turtle ship in a wood-block print dating to 1795.

Recreation of a turtle ship I saw at the museum.

After many attempts by Japan throughout history, Korea was forcefully occupied by Japan from 1910 to 1945 (though the occupation unofficially got its start in 1876).  In fact, some events leading to the occupation include an attack on Ganghwa island (location of Bomunsa temple, see) and the assassination of Korean Empress Myeongseong  at Gyeongbokgung (Palace I visited, see).  [**History is always more interesting when you can directly connect it to an experience of your own, such as having visited the location!**]  Japanese rule officially ended in 1945 at the end of WWII with the Allied bombing of Japan.  Korea harbors resentment towards Japan to this day for inflicting cultural oppression, forced labor (including prostitution), and many war other crimes on its people during this time. 

Of course, a major aspect of the museum is the Korean war.  Korea’s civil war occurred not long after the Japanese rule ended, beginning in 1950 and ending with an armistice in 1953.  In 1945 at the end of WWII, American officials divided Korea at the 38^th parallel according to governmental leanings and military allies.  The American-occupied south established democratic government, and the Russian-occupied north established a communistic government.  This divide and the atrocities committed during the war still effect Koreans today.  Many alive today were children during the war, their family members killed or separated from them permanently by the divide between countries.  The state divide and government choice has created the vastly different modern Korean culture in the North and South. 

As you enter the building, you walk through an outside columned corridor with large stone plaques dedicated to the many countries that assisted South Korea during this time.  Many other countries’ soldiers are represented in the columns at right, but the whole left wall is covered with the names of American soldiers who died in the war, listed by state.  There was also a room dedicated to the United Nations assistance during the war, which featured tributes to each nation.   

The room is round, and in display cases on the walls there are uniforms and flags for each county.  In the center of the room is a sculpture of a giant teardrop, composed of military dog-tags.  It is hung with barbed wire, and the flags of the nations which contributed the most to the war surround the base of the sculpture.  I found this room very moving and interesting. 

All in all, the war museum was a very valuable experience!  As you can see, there were many things which fascinated me :).  The above is all my paraphrasing of the bits of history I understood or found online ... so if anything is obviously inaccurate, please let me know.  I inserted links for further reading so you don't have to take my word for it ... if interested, please go to the links!

History is important and intriguing!

xo,

Kayla