The Dark Tourist: War Memorial of Korea
Walking through the aisles of the War Memorial of Korea, I absorbed each historical record and relic as a window into the time period that I still remain a part of: an incessant brewing of conflict between South and North. As the museum’s purpose was to portray a hopeful message of peaceful reunification with the North, I pondered on whether such a future would come to fruition. How did two halves of a population derived from the same familial and ancestral roots become involved in such violence even to this day?
The day I visited the museum was coincidentally the 17th anniversary of the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong, in which North Korean patrol boats belligerently opened gunfire on South Korean vessels. One of South Korea’s most devastating military confrontations since the Korean War, it resulted in the deaths of six South Korean soldiers. Entering the main hall, I discerned six headshots of the perished soldiers hung behind large bouquets crowded with white lilies, while relatives would approach the front and bow down. The commemoration later showcased the keepsakes of those six soldiers. Their navy seal uniforms, several of their mobile phones, watches, and ID cards. This struck me as a reminder of how they were just ordinary citizens, caught in a crossfire intensified by a crippling relationship between the two peoples of similar ancestral and familial ties. Even though I was familiar with the history behind the peninsular conflict, I kept pondering why we hold such hatred, leading to the tragic sacrifices of people fighting a conflict that continues to be unresolved.
Oftentimes, I would hear my grandfather utter the word “jwapa-ppalgaengi,” which, in English, the word has similar connotations and meanings to “commie” or “leftist.” Recently, the word has been used to patronize current South Korean President Moon Jae-in. His policies supporting reunification through peace with North Korea has led to a divided public. As my grandfather includes in the occasional swear words and disparaging remarks on the president’s formal televised addresses, I would assume that he is simply too “old” to understand modern-day politics. My attitude towards my grandfather’s stance paralleled what current young liberal Americans think of their grandparents supporting Donald Trump’s conservative agendas.
But as my mother and I were passing by an exhibition on the Battle of Yongmunsan, my mother told me: “your great-grandparents were killed in that battle. North Koreans executed them in front of your grandfather during the Korean War.”
The more the conflict is prolonged, the less we see the other side of humanity. Sometimes, I see younger Koreans on Youtube or Facebook below political news posts asking, “can’t we block old people from voting?” But what we, as the younger generation, fail to realize is that they have gone through a tragic war, lost family members, and waited seventy years of no hopes of peace or reunification. They have a right to express their agitation at what they had suffered for so long.
