#129 Let Us Not Forget

[스티븐스 대사]

I have written in this blog before about the ways in which Koreans, Americans and others have sought to remember and honor the sacrifices made during the Korean War.  In 2010, we marked the sixtieth anniversary of the beginning of the War.  I will not forget the testimony of veterans and survivors I met at reunion gatherings, at old battlegrounds, at villages and towns throughout Korea.  I also began reading during this period stories by Park Wan-suh, another survivor of the Korean War, who died in 2011.  Park’s writing delves into the impact the Korean War had in the ensuing years on so many Koreans, especially women.  I only started reading Park recently, and I am glad to see that good English translations are making her work available to a non-Korean audience. 

In any event, I had just finished reading Park’s autobiographical novel, “Who Ate Up All the Shinga?” when I met with Ms. Lee Mi-il and representatives of the Korean War Abductees' Family Union (KWAFU).  This meeting reminded me that the suffering Park Wan-suh describes in her books is still very much felt in people’s lives in Korea.

KWAFU aims to raise awareness about South Koreans who were abducted during the Korean War.  It wants to account for the missing and to bring home the remains of those who died far from their families.  KWAFU's message is as moving as it is simple:  "Forget Me Not." 

(From left) Together with Mr. Lee Kyung-chan, KWAFU Director, Ms. Lee Mi-il, KWAFU President, and Mr. Choi Kwang-suk, KWAFU Commissioner of International Cooperation

KWAFU has documented the cases of thousands of Koreans from the South – mostly young men - who were taken to the North and never heard from again.  In addition to sharing their personal stories of waiting long years for loved ones who never returned, the KWAFU delegation gave me a two-volume, 1,300 page tome of firsthand testimony and documentation that underscores that the scale of the tragedy.

In her description of the terrible days of war as Seoul fell and refell, Park Wan-suh writes, “the full revelation of how many had been taken away or killed defied our wildest imagination.  The scale was too immense, too cruel.” 

I respect KWAFU’s efforts, including its plan to establish a museum or memorial in memory of those abducted to the North.   While families of the abducted no longer face added hardships and discrimination as they did in the past, I know that the memories of lost fathers, brothers, and sons remain painfully fresh even today.

When dealing with the challenge of North Korea as a foreign policy matter, reasonable people can disagree on approaches and strategies.  But I appreciate KWAFU – and the work of Park Wan-suh – reminding all of us that the sacrifice and suffering that underpinned the Republic of Korea’s great success came in many forms, and should not be forgotten.