[USFK Forums] Korean War Memory & A Bowl of Rice with Beef Soup

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Tuesday, October 18, 2005]: Here is my letter to the editor of the Korea Herald:

A bowl of rice with beef soup

March 19, 2002

Letter to the Editor The Korea Herald, Saturday, April 18, 1992 Page 6 Opinion

Memory of Korean War

To the Editor:

Here is an open letter to R.M. “Bill” Davis, who was only 15 when he became a GI and participated in the Korean War (1950~53) in April 1951. His touching article was carried in The Korea Herald (April 6, 1992). This letter may somehow serve to fulfill at least in part his search for inner peace, which was said to have been a long and difficult process. We greatly sympathize with it.

My profound, heartfelt salute goes to you and to Ed Reeves, one of 12,000 Allied casualties at Changjin Reservoir (sic: to the regrets of the Koreans still called “Chosin Reservoir” by Chosin Few as well as The National Geographic, which was and is a grave American mistake resulting from the Japanese way of reading “Changjin”) in December 1950 who lost his feet and all his fingers (pp 78~79, The National Geographic, March 1992), for the sake of their respective sacrifices and sufferings without which it would have been impossible to see the life style and the living standard of South Koreans today.

Now, here is my vivid memory of the Korean War. It was the dawn of September 15, 1950 when Douglas MacArthur’s troops landed in Inchon*** with heavy support shelling from the battleships. To me the shelling in the dawn was the liberty from the communists. It was so bright. People* shouted, “The Sun also rises in the west!” Sky was lighted by shellings observed at a remote distance in Seoul, peeping through an attic window of an unoccupied building in the dark facing westward. A 16-year-old boy was hiding after his beloved father (dean of Seoul Theological Seminary who was the preacher of the protestants’ joint Easter service held on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1950 at Namsan near Seoul Hilton) was captured by the Reds on August 23, 1950 whose fate is still unknown.

The irony is that Kim Il-sung had his 80th birthday celebrated on April 15, 1992 in an extravagant way, whose stupid mistake of attacking the South Korea in his 30s was never admitted. But, the history came to a turning point that even Russians have recently admitted their involvement in the Korean War. Reuter says Kim was quoted as saying he was ready to bury the hatchet with the United States. Kim must, before burying the hatchet or before dying sooner or later**, apologize for his wrongdoings to all of us, including the families of those missing in action, whether they are in Korea or elsewhere.

“A bowl of rice with beef soup” (Kim said in his last New Year’s message) is not enough for birthdays of 20 millions in the North.

Taxis introduced to Pyongyang streets these days have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the world, just like you have had a long search for inner peace. Happy Easter to you, Davis, and very best wishes to you for happier days ahead.

C. Y. Lee
Tongjak-dong
Seoul

l * My original draft reads “What was then shouted in English was” instead of “People.” It was editorially corrected. ** Kim died on July 8, 1994. *** at the beachhead of Inchon under heavy selling from battleships (the original version).
l The text is being converted into this fashion in the morning of Tuesday, March 19, 2002, a day after 25 North Korean defectors arrived in Seoul, who defected through Beijing’s Spanish Embassy on March 14, 2002.