Korean War from a Korean Perspective
January 3, 2021 8:23 AM   Subscribe

What are some learning materials created only by people from within Korean cultures/background that share this perspective of events?

What are some of the best authors, books, websites, articles, blog posts that are written by people from within Korean culture about the events leading up and during the war? Particularly that have been written in or translated into english so that I can read them?
posted by xarnop to Society & Culture (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I can't answer your question myself, but I can suggest you ask The Korean at the Ask A Korean website, since he solicits questions like yours, so you might want to fire off an email to him. Here's a related question he answered: How do Koreans See American Involvement in Korean War?
posted by Transl3y at 10:02 AM on January 3, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: There are projects that look at the Korean War from a diasporic lens. In looking for the info about Still Present Pasts (a traveling art exhibit I had peripheral involvement with) I discovered this current Our Conversations project.

As you probably know, the generational divide is wide, with the elders much more likely to be vociferously anti-Communist and pro-U.S. This is reflected in how the war is explained and understood within and outside Korea.

I'm not up to date on Korean Studies scholarship, but you can take a peek at Intl Journal of Korean History (open access), Journal of Korean Studies, and other English-language academic journals and look for any relevant articles. Here's one from an Asian Studies journal: "U.S. Air Force Bombing of South Korean Civilian Areas, June–September 1950" .Let me know if you need help getting access to specific articles! There are also academic books like Rethinking Historical Injustice and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia: The Korean Experience and Truth and Reconciliation in South Korea: Between the Present and Future of the Korean Wars.

For info about the years prior to the war, there's been a growing attention to right-wing violence. The Jeju Massacre is one.
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:35 PM on January 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


Best answer: P.S. I was using an expanded definition of "within Korean culture" to include diaspora - both those who immigrated from Korea and those of later generations. If this definition is doable for you, you can also check out California based Korea Policy Institute, which has a pro-peace, progressive lens on the Korean War. Some of the articles in the readers are written by Korean American scholars and activists.
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:44 PM on January 4, 2021 [1 favorite]


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