Some Korean War Anniversary Links

On this, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, it’s gratifying to see that not all Korean films are anti-American propaganda harangues:

The 15-year-old boy prayed silently beside a freshly dug grave as he and other prisoners waited to be shot by a North Korean firing squad. Kim Man-kyu, barely taller than his M-1 rifle, had fought with other South Korean student volunteers in an 11-hour battle before being captured just weeks into the 1950-53 Korean War.

“Suddenly, a fighter jet appeared and bombed and fired machine guns at the area,” recalled Kim, now a 75-year-old retired pastor. Under attack, the North Koreans abandoned the execution of the prisoners, including some American soldiers.

About 100,000 South Korean students volunteered to fight in the Korean War, which broke out 60 years ago Friday. More than 1,970 perished, according to the War Memorial of Korea, a national museum in Seoul.

Kim was one of 71 students whose story is told in a blockbuster, star-studded film, “71 — In to the Fire,” which opened to huge audiences in South Korea last week. The distributor plans to release the movie in the United States and Japan too, though no dates have been set. [AP, Kwang-Tae Kim]

From the looks of things, there’s still plenty of ignorance to overcome.

Life magazine releases these photos of the Korean War, for the first time.

From the New York Times, a collection of perspectives.

Korean War vets, including two Medal of Honor winners, visit the DMZ.

A South Korean veteran who spent 46 years as a prisoner of the North Koreans has published his memoirs.

In North Korea, surviving veterans are fortunate enough to receive extra rice rations. I don’t doubt that for many North Korean veterans, their honored place in society reinforces their belief in the state’s ideology. For some, however, who might have watched loved ones starve during the famine years, there must be gnawing questions about whether theirs was a system really worth fighting for.

Some messages of thanks from Korea: here, and this from President Lee Myung-Bak in the L.A. Times. It’s not the same message published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that I linked the other day, suggesting a concerted and dedicated effort to show his appreciation to the American people.

This is a good start, but it’s more important that Koreans, especially younger Koreans, have a better understanding of their own history and reality. Meanwhile, back in Seoul, Lee called on North Korea to stop its “reckless” behavior.