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Park Myung-rim, Professor of the Graduate School of Area Studies at Yonsei University

The Korean War has been a powerful ruler of our society for the past 70 years. It gave another ordeal to Korea, which had escaped the Japanese colonial rule. So the Korean government formed ‘The 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee’ in the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. The committee actively promoted various projects at home and abroad and ended its activities for one year and six months in June this year. So we met Professor Park Myung-rim of Yonsei University, who participated as a civilian member of the committee, and discussed the heritage left by the Korean War and talked about the solution of reconciliation for peace in Northeast Asia.

Interview | Choi Un-do, Director at NAHF Office of Education and Public Relations

Q1. Please introduce ‘The 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee’, which you have worked on. What was the most memorable of the many activities and projects the committee has conducted?

A1. Korea has formed a committee to promote the commemorative project with domestic and foreign veterans and the people on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. The Prime Minister, and a civilian are co-chairmen. The period of activity was from January last year to the end of June this year. At the same time as the committee was launched, Covid-19 spread quickly, and we had a lot of difficulties. But we actively promoted various projects both at home and abroad.

All the events that were promoted for a year and a half were meaningful and touching. But I was most impressed by the fact that returned 147 remains of the dead in the Korean War on June 25 last year, and 3 million masks to the war participating countries. The former was moving in that it showed the will of the state to be responsible without forgetting the person who sacrificed for the nation. And the latter was also impressive because it proved that Koreans must repay the help and dedication they have received from the world.

Q2. You must have been really impressed by this activity.

A2. I can not forget the gratitude of the leaders and veterans of the countries that received the mask. The acts of giving surgical masks in global crisis or sincere words of gratitude are the expressions of humanity in our deepest parts. I do not think there is anything bigger than love among the string of heart that connects humans. It is awe and respect of each other's lives. When I visited the scene of war a long time ago, I saw endless deaths and realized something. I felt the enlightenment of the time again with the heart and behavior of Koreans and the world in the commemorative programs for Korean War.

In addition, we have become more aware of the status of the Republic of Korea, which has developed as a country that can repay the help we have received. That was why the 70th anniversary was special, watching the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversary after the 30th anniversary. It was humility and pride as a Korean citizen and a global citizen. There is nothing more proud than being able to return to the help that individuals or countries have received in difficult times. Every moral human being wants to repay the grace that someone has given. However, not everyone with a moral mind has that ability, and not everyone moves their mind into action. In that sense, the last 70 years of our community are really special.

Q3. If we do not understand the Korean War properly, it will be difficult to understand the specificity of changes in Korean society after the war. Can you tell me more?

A3. I think Korea after the Korean War is a microcosm of global development after World War II. Korea was completely ruined at the end of the war, literally 'complete ashes'. I use the metaphor of art and history to describe it as a historical '0 years'. In 1953, the tragic situation in Korea was thoroughly and completely destroyed enough to be called '0 years'.

Currently, Korea is an economic advanced country invited to the G7, a trade giant, a state of high technology, and a democratic country with freedom and human rights. I think the journey that made these is close to the process of miracles that created the world in blackness, made light in the dark, and made something in nothing. Without this miraculous development, diverse, systematic and international rewarding patriotism would have been impossible. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no other country that has experienced colonial occupation and war in such a short time to become a developed country.

Q4. What are the characteristics of the Korean War? And I wonder about the international situation at the time of the outbreak of war.

A4. The Korean War was the world war comparable to the First and Second World Wars, in terms of size, influence and characteristics. The number of troops, medical staff, countries that supported supplies, and countries that participated was much higher than World War I. It was a war in which all continents were involved, which was more than 70% of the total countries at the time. Of course, participate in a war to South Korea was seven to eight times more than that to North Korea. The Korean War caused a lot of noise in villages, factories, and streets around the world. Monuments for the Korean War, and related facilities are built all over the world: Cape Cod in the United States, the Pacific and Indian Ocean, and Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. This was the most unusual world war. As a national war, the Korean War is the only example.

At that time, people in the free world regarded 'freedom and peace in Korea' as the same as the world and its own. And the people of the communist camp recognized 'revolution and ideology in Korea' as the same as the world and their own. It would have also affected that this war was the first great ideological war in human history, centered on Washington and Moscow. The quiet towns of Colombia, the Philippines, Turkey, the United States, Britain, Australia and Ethiopia have had a sad story of the young men who were killed in the war in Korea. Factories and homes in Eastern European countries continued to send supplies to North Korea. East Germany in Europe and China in Asia were terrified because they thought that the United States was targeting them next attack. This is due to false claims and propaganda that Kim Il-sung, Stalin and Mao Zedong have sophisticatedly distorted 'the US and South Korea have invaded North Korea'. It also allowed Stalin to firmly control the communist world. Stalin was a very precise and strategic person. He thought that he should take control of the communist world by using the Korean War from the time he allowed this war disguised as the invasion of North Korea by South Korea.

But Kim Il-sung, Stalin and Mao Zedong's preemptive stroke led the free world to form the first ever UN force, centered on the United Nations and the United States. They can be said to have failed thoroughly because they have made other countries realize collective security and unity through 'participate in the war'. In a word, this war is the first war in which the free world and the communist world have faced each other since the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in Europe and Asian Militarism. The world has entered a full-scale Cold War after this hard fight.

Q5. What are the effects of the Korean War?

A5. Millions of terrible casualties have been reported. It was an unprecedented tragedy. With that incident, Korea and the world thought that war should not recur on this earth. And the whole world has built up its will for life and peace. The reason why Korea could develop at the same speed as light is that the experience of the war has created a solid collective will to overcome hardships and difficulties. “How hard is it? Is it worse than the Korean War?” These iron wills are formed in people. It's like a hardened skin from a mind-set, and it's stuck in everyone's heart.

First of all, this war was a world-formative war that laid the foundation for the world order. This has solidified 'freedom' and 'communism' centered on Washington and Moscow, and the international confrontation between capitalism and socialist camps. This war has changed international relations. Until recently, the United States and the Soviet Union, which were members of the Allied Powers, turned into enemies. And Germany and Japan, which were enemies, became allies of the United States.

This war has formed the 'postwar regime = postwar order' that we call 'armistice regime' that has been ongoing on the Korean peninsula to date. The most decisive turning point caused by this war is the following two: First, the foundation of the interior and exterior of Korea and North Korea is set today. Second, Korea is out of the traditional security of China-Japan-the Soviet Union(Russia) and the threat to the territory due to the ROK-US alliance. In other words, the Korean War was the most decisive state-making war for both Korea and North Korea.

Therefore, the nature of this war is the global civil war. In this war, the two Koreans and the world fought fiercely over what ideology and system are more civil, more liberal, more civilized, and superior. At that time, all Koreans were citizens of the world. So the Korean War was not an international war, not a civil war, but a typical global civil war.

Q6. What does it mean for the Korean War regarding peace on the Korean Peninsula? I also wonder why you became academically interested in the Korean War.

A6. Today's Korean Peninsula has two security regimes: 'armistice regime' and 'North Korean nuclear regime' due to North Korea's preemptive strike. I think this has led us to take the core of the task for peace on the Korean peninsula. If we overcome these two systems, the Korean peninsula can go back to long-term peace. Historically, the Korean peninsula is an area where unprecedented long-term peace has continued when it overcomes the short-term war.

About 20 years ago, it was the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. At the time, I submitted a draft of the peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula that replaced the armistice agreement. It was the first announcement since the end of the war, both in the government and the private sector. Since then, I have had presentations and discussions in Seoul, Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing, and Berlin, and I have continued to develop the draft. This was because I wanted to contribute a little to overcoming the postwar system and establishing a permanent peace system.

Q7. You once said, “Remember the end of the war rather than the origin of it to move on to the future. You must remember the future of peace rather than the past of war.” What if there is a desire to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War?

A7. I would like to build the Korean War Memorial Museum next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington or near the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Holocaust is a symbol of World War II. The Korean War was participated by the largest number of countries in the world, and it is the world war and the hard fight that represents the world of the Cold War era. In addition, Korea has overcome the world war of the Cold War Era most successfully. Thus, the Korean War shows the tragedy and devastation of war, solidarity for freedom and peace of world man at that time, their commitment and sacrifice, the possibility and rapid progress of postwar humans. This is a very good example of human history.

In the meantime, I have had a lot of experiences even if it takes time to desperately hope for the Jeju 4·3 incident or the Korean War. For example, the first claim made on the 40th anniversary of the Korean War, the War Pension Scheme for Korean War Veterans, is an example. Think of the fundamental nature of the Korean War, the desire of the world for peace, the national power of the Republic of Korea, the wisdom and capacity of later generations. I believe that the Korean War Memorial Museum will be built soon. It will become a landmark that prevents war and strengthens people's will for peace. This is the dream I had at front of the Holocaust Museum in Washington on the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. I think it is time to start my first step to realize my long dream ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War.