"THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT IS SOMETIMES FUNNY" - A Visit to the Korean War Memorial

Back in Seoul – and on our last full day in Korea – we visited the Korean War Memorial.  It is a beautiful, imposing building with some striking statuary in front of it.  Inside, I was surprised to discover that it was a memorial to all wars the Koreans have participated in – not just the “Korean War”.  There were, of course, tanks and planes from the 1950-53 conflict and an explanation of it, but there were also displays and artifacts from back to the Three Kingdom period, through the Silla, Goryeo, and Josean dynasties.  There was also a touching memorial room for those who died in war, including the American soldiers who died defending South Korea.  Maeve, one of our colleagues, found her uncle’s name on the wall of slain soldiers.  He died during the Korean war at the age of 16. 

Korean War Museum

A monument to peace - walking around this is a very tranquil experience 

Model of an ancient Korean ship

Armor display

From General Paik's slide show

The outstanding and unforgettable part of this visit, however, was the session we were privileged to have with General Paik, Korea’s first 4 star general who was  the leader of the South Korean forces during the war.  He’s 92 years old now but comes to work at the War Memorial Museum every day and seemed please to meet with us and explain his part in the war.  In his office is a painting of him shaking Douglas MacArthur’s hand, but in his presentation we saw photos of him and General Ridgway, General Van Fleet, then President-elect Eisenhower – all the way up to the current commander in Korea, General Thurman. 

General Paik with MacArthur in Korea

Shaking General Paik’s hand was awe-inspiring.  As we greeted each other and he took my hand I couldn’t help but think of the other hands this man had touched.  He explained that when he was working side by side with MacArthur, he was only 29 years old (MacArthur was 72).  When asked if he agreed with Truman’s decision to fire MacArthur, the General gave a fairly diplomatic response, saying he didn’t know enough about the reasons why the firing occurred, but he did know about the army’s needs for the chain of command to be respected.  He added that he thought MacArthur did a good job for Korea and its people while he was here.  He sort of obliquely inferred that the reason North Korea invaded the south back in 1950 was because of the United States’ diminishment of forces after WWII.  He said, “The American government is sometimes funny – after WWII was over they cut back the army to 10 divisions” – which he felt left South Korea vulnerable to the North.  I remember when I took Dr. O’Keefe’s Military History course – a recurring theme was the American dislike of large standing armies, so I understand why we cut forces back so drastically after the world war – but General Paik evidently thinks that cutback resulted in another conflict. 

The general graciously answered our questions, though skirting anything controversial.  Actually, according to Dr. Peterson, the general himself is controversial as what he had to do in the name of military success in securing the 39^th parallel in the 1950s obviously was not without collateral damage. He spoke excellent English – having gone through officer training at Fort Benning, Georgia – but had a military interpreter for most of the Q&A sessions.  Afterwards he autographed copies of his book that several of us had bought and shook everyone’s hand.   I can’t wait for the next time I teach the Korean War so I can tell my students about this remarkable experience. 

2012 Fellows with General Paik