I Lived Through Colonization and War in Korea but never Stopped Singing

Dr. Kim Kyung-jin was born in 1936. He grew up in Manchuria speaking Japanese at school, Korean at home, and then Chinese in the street. Before class, all students had to face Tokyo, bow, and pledge their allegiance to the Japanese empire. He said he would see people dead on the streets on his way to school, overdosed on opium. He was also there when the last Chinese emperor, the boy Puyi, passed through in 1943. Everyone was meant to bow and avert their eyes but he reckons he had a good gander.

When the second world war ended in 1945 and the Russians were coming into the area, the Japanese ordered them to retreat so they got on a train headed South towards Seoul. He left his dad at the station and never saw him again. About 10 years ago, a local historian tracked down old news reports from the 1930s and 1940s that featured his dad so he could remember what he looked like.

When they got back to Seoul, he started his hobbies of ice-skating, rugby, and singing. He went to school but the Korean War soon started in 1950 with the North Korean communists invading. While the communists ruled Seoul, he survived by teaching new recruits to the North Korean army patriotic songs (otherwise they'd kill him). He still remembers those songs and sings one of them for us. After that, as the war changed direction, he got picked up by the Americans because he could help them translate road signs in English, Japanese, and Korean. He followed them because they had better food and they were nice to him.

Then, in 1960, the war had ended and the country was struggling to become the democracy it is today and there were national demonstrations trying to kick out South Korea's first president. Dr. Kim was downtown in Seoul at the famous protests all kids today learn about in the books when he was shot in the arm by a Korean policeman with an M1 rifle. Still has the scar and he showed me it today. Pretty ironic that he survived the Russians, the Japanese, the North Koreans, and the Americans, and it was eventually one of his own, a South Korean, that shot him.

He lived through colonization, war, and dictatorship but he still smiles, laughs, and has a super positive outlook on life. He speaks multiple languages. He has done a Masters, a PhD, and has been the conductor of an orchestra for the past 40-odd years. He reckons he walks 13,000 steps a day to stay healthy.

What a dude! Absolutely floored me.

Big thank you to Professor Sam Denny (Associate Professor, Department of English Education at Sangmyung University) for arranging this for us and joining us on the podcast.

Korea Deconstructed by David Tizzard

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▶ Music: Tampas Dusk - Sharks (Fade Out of Sight)