Where war and home front meet : the shared spaces, traumas, and hopes of North Korean soldiers and civilians during the Korean War
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: History, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Kim, Yee Rem
issued: 2021-08-31T15:37:35Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: As the fall of 1950 deepened, the Korean War literally came home with the retreat of the North Korean troops back across the 38th parallel, complicating the distinction between who belonged to the war front or the home front. This thesis examines letters written by North Korean soldiers and civilians that demonstrate their shared experiences, traumas, and hopes. They reflect soldiers’ fluid identity between the war front and the home front and reveal the agency of the authors of the letters who tried to cope with and survive the war, yet remain absent in the history of the Korean War. Through the framework of the history of the everyday life, this thesis recognizes and argues for the shared experiences between soldiers and civilians and their agency to improve their situations as the war theatre was further compressed. Focusing on the first turning point for the Korean People’s Army (KPA) after the successful Incheon Landing Operation by the US and UN forces in mid-September of 1950, this thesis follows the trajectory of the KPA’s frantic retreat and rapidly worsening living conditions for the people when the war zone and the home front merged into one space. Yet instead of suffering as victims of the extraordinary circumstances of war, letters demonstrate how people coped, or at least attempted to, through writing, by taking initiative when help could not be found nearby. North Korean people found ways to navigate war-ravaged terrain and were not silent victims. The thesis examines the literacy campaigns that began before the war, children during the war, physical and psychological merging of the war and the home front, retreat and civilian refugees, and shared challenges that the soldiers and civilians tried to overcome with the failing infrastructure and economy.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/79527
note: Where War and Home Front Meet: The Shared Spaces, Traumas, and Hopes of North Korean Soldiers and Civilians during the Korean War by Yee Rem Kim B.A., Yonsei University, 2018 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (History) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2021 © Yee Rem Kim, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled: Where War and Home Front Meet: The Shared Spaces, Traumas, and Hopes of North Korean Soldiers and Civilians during the Korean War submitted by Yee Rem Kim in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Examining Committee: Steven Lee, Associate Professor, Department of History, UBC Supervisor Timothy Cheek, Professor, Department of History, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Donald Baker, Professor, Department of Asian Studies, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract As the fall of 1950 deepened, the Korean War literally came home with the retreat of the North Korean troops back across the 38th parallel, complicating the distinction between who belonged to the war front or the home front. This thesis examines letters written by North Korean soldiers and civilians that demonstrate their shared experiences, traumas, and hopes. They reflect soldiers’ fluid identity between the war front and the home front and reveal the agency of the authors of the letters who tried to cope with and survive the war, yet remain absent in the history of the Korean War. Through the framework of the history of the everyday life, this thesis recognizes and argues for the shared experiences between soldiers and civilians and their agency to improve their situations as the war theatre was further compressed. Focusing on the first turning point for the Korean People’s Army (KPA) after the …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0401812
language: eng
degree discipline: History
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Lee, Steven Hugh, 1962-
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79527