남부뉴저지통합한국학교(교 장 김정숙)가 주최한 제1회 한국
문화여름캠프‘한국의 소리’가 19
일부터 22일까지 펜실베이니아주
포코노의 마운트 길리엇 캠프장
에서 열렸다.
학교 독자적으로는 처음 시행
한 이번 여름캠프에는 4학년부터
11학년까지의 학생들과 생활지도
교사 등 총 21명이 참가했다.
학생들은 3박 4일간의 여름캠
프 동안 한국의 전통예술을 체험
했다. 문화예술 파트너 단체인 뉴
욕취타대(단장 이춘승)의 교육 프
로그램으로 사물놀이, 모듬북, 부
채춤 등의 한국 문화를 배웠다.
특별히 부채춤의 경우, 학교 무용
단 출신 졸업생인 김민진, 신주현
강사의 지도 하에 선후배 간의 돈
독한 관계를 다지며 수업을 한 점
은 눈여겨볼 만하다. 캠프 마지막
날인 22일에는 전체 캠프 참가자
들이 모인 가운데 공연을 펼쳤다.
학생들은 이 과정을 통해 한국의
전통음악과 춤을 배우고, 협업하
여 작품을 만들어가는 협동심을
키웠다.
또한, 야외활동으로 진행된 카
누, 수영, 캠프파이어, 브라우니
만들기, 고무신 양궁, 제기차기 등 다양한 레크리에이션은 캠프 참 가자들에게 큰 호응을 받았다. 이 들 활동은 학생들이 자연 속에서 신체활동을 통해 즐거움을 느끼 고, 친구들과의 관계를 더욱 돈독 히 할 수 있는 기회를 제공했다.
이번 여름캠프를 통해 남부뉴
저지통합한국학교는 학생들에게 한국 전통문화와 예술을 심도 있 게 배우고 체험할 수 있는 기회를 제공함으로써,
뉴욕한국교육원은
뉴욕한국교육원(원장 박창원)
은 26일(월) 미국 동부지역 초중
등학교에서 한국어를 가르치는 한국어반 교사와 함께 교사들의
전문성 신장을 위한 교사 연수를
실시했다.
이날 연수에는 뉴욕대 김천미
교수가 참석하여 한국의 영화, 드
라마 및 음악 등을 활용하여 한국
어를 가르치는 내용을 주제로‘한
국 문화 콘텐츠를 활용한 한국어
교수 방법’을 강연했다. 이에 더
해 한국어반에서 한국어를 학습
하는 학생들의 학습 경력을 인정
하는 제도인 The Korean Honor Society와 Seal of Biliteracy 정
책에 대해 설명하고, 미국 학생의
한국 유학 유치 정책 등을 설명하
는 시간을 가졌다. The Korean Honor Society
는 한국어와 한국 문화에 대한 이 해와 참여를 높이는 것을 목표로 한국어에 대한 관심을 증진하고 학업성취도를 보상하는 제도이 다.
Seal of Biliteracy는 고등학교
졸업 시점까지 2개 이상의 언어를 공부하고 해당 언어에 숙달된 학
생에게 그 역량을 인정하는 상장
을 수여하는 제도이다. 특히 Seal of Biliteracy 제도 설명에 대해, 뉴욕주 교육부의 이중언어 담당
관 Candace R Black를 초청하
여 한글 교육에 대한 뉴욕주 정부
의 관심을 제고하였고 교사들의
이해도 증진했다.
이날 연수에는 뉴욕 및 뉴저
지, 필라델피아 한국어반 교사 및 한국어교육 관계자 약 30여명이
참석했다. 이
지역에서는 현
재 약 35개의 학교에서 한국
어반을 운영
중에 있다.
연수에 참
석한 한 교사
는“이번 연수 를 통하여 The Korean
Honor Society와 Seal of Biliteracy에 대해 자세히 알 수 있었고 학교에 도입하여 한국어 반 학생들에게 한국어 학습에 대 한 동기를 높이는 데에 활용되도 록 노력하겠다며 매우 유익한 시 간이었다.”고 전했다.
박창원 교육원장은“신학기를 맞아 바쁘신 중에도 이번 연수에 참석해 준 선생님과 한국어교육 관계자들께 감사하고 앞으로도 양질의 교사 연수를 통해 한국어 반 교사들의 전문성을 신장해 나 가겠다.”고 밝혔다.
김의환 뉴욕총영사는 24일 (토) 필라델피아 기쁨의 교회에 서 재미한국학교동중부지역협의 회가 개최한 한글학교 교사연수 회에 참석하여 강연했다.
이날 연수에는 미동중부지역 한글학교 교사 및 한글학교협의 회 관계자 등 80여명이 참석하여 총영사 강의를 경청했다. 김의환 총영사는 한글학교에 서 코리아 아메리칸에게 한글을 가르치면서 한국인으로서 정체성 을 함양하고 있는 교사들에게“대 한민국의 번영”에 대해 열띤 강연 을 진행했다. 김 총영사는 대한민국 번영의 원동력이 자유민주주의와 시장경 제에 기반한 국민들의 자율성과 창의성이라는 점을 역설
ShardsofMemory: HowaDistantWarShapedMe
MatthewHyunbinChu[RutherfordHighSchool, NJ]
My only direct link to the Korean War are my maternal grandparents.
They were young children in the early 1950s. Both were born during the Japanese occupation.
My grandfather grew up in Gyeongsangbukdo province while my grandmother was from Gyeonggido.
These areas were overrun by the Korean People’ s Army early in the DPRK’s invasion of the Republic of Korea.
Although their memories of the war are faint, they do recall economic dislocation and social upheaval. They tell me they remember the booming sounds of artillery shells far off in the surrounding mountains which echoed in the valleys near their hometown. They witnessed soldiers marching to the front. They saw tanks on the roads. But being children, they had no understanding of the geopolitical ramifications of the conflict and could not process the meaning of the madness.
They only knew what their elders told them, that the North Korean army was a danger and were the bad guys, and the misery caused by the war was the fault of the communists. The Americans were the good guys portrayed as benevolent allies ready to help defend freedom and liberty for the Korean people.
Today, in their old age, both of my grandparents are afflicted with incurable medical conditions.
My grandmother suffers from Parkinson’ s disease, while my grandfather has been diagnosed with dementia. Their recollections of the war are
fading. Seldom do they bring it up, unless I ask them to. Their immigration journey to America in the 1980s symbolized entrusting their future to the country that saved South Korea from certain communist conquest. They had hope and faith. In America, they dutifully raised my mom and her younger sister, and built a prosperous middle-class life in suburban New Jersey which ultimately made my life better as well. Those terrible war years and the decades of economic rebuilding which transformed the Republic of Korea into an advanced capitalist and democratic country shaped their character, and influenced who they became as human beings. The war was the first crisis and test of their lives.
My grandmother shared with me the story of how her uncle was abducted by the KPA since he was a doctor and could tend to the wounded. Till this day, no one knows of his fate. Her father was the local police chief and the family lived in a relatively large house, but they
had to flee south with the approaching communist army, who were known to indiscriminately kill “class enemies”. She recounted how her younger sister died from measles during the difficult journey.
After the ROK-US-UN counter-offensive later in 1950, when the KPA was driven back up north, they returned home. I found the anecdote of the hungry and exhausted family digging up buried kimchi vessels from their yard to eat as banchon both heartbreaking and amusing.
My grandmother’s stories made the war more real than any history textbook or documentary. The situation of a refugee crisis, broken families, and collective trauma is what thousands of Koreans experienced as a result of the communist invasion. I don’ t think I could ever truly understand the hardships they faced. As I contemplate my grandparents' current health conditions, it has given me perspective to recognize that life is bigger than a few setbacks.
Success requires planning ahead and doing things that I don’ t necessarily like to do. I’ve also come to believe that we are not invincible and there is only a limited time to forge accomplishments. These are invaluable lessons taught by their fortitude in the face of war and adversity.
Scholars correctly point out that the DPRK is an outlier in the international community of nations; a rogue totalitarian state whose only purpose is oppression and destabilization. Objectively weak states such as
North Korea use threats and manufactured crises to gain leverage over larger nations, such as the United States, China, and Russia. Kim Il Sung’ s preemptive and premeditated full-scale attack on the Republic of Korea was the first use of this type of international manipulation and rejection of norms. North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel under his orders, backed by fellow dictators Stalin and Mao, who wished to see North Korea prevail, but for different reasons. The Chinese Volunteer army rescued North Korea from certain defeat. Using this tactic of deception and extortion for the past seven decades, the North Korean regime continues to extract concessions from its allies and adversaries alike.
I’ve always believed that the division of Korea would not be permanent, and unification should be the goal. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Reflecting on the war and its aftermath made me examine my own values and beliefs, as they relate to my Korean heritage and the role of history in my life. In addition, by studying the war, I’ve come to believe that violence and aggression is not the best way to resolve what seems like unresolvable issues. North Korea's attack on the Republic of Korea exemplifies using violence to solve a political problem. The Communist regime’s actions are in line with the military theorist Carl von Clausewitz maxim that war is merely an extension of politics.
I’ve come to understand the
advantages of debate and peaceful change. Admittedly, it can be uncomfortable to confront an opposing stance on an issue. When this happens, one is compelled to recognize the strengths of competing arguments. Listening to others on controversial topics and participating constructively in dialogue forces me to appreciate a position very different from mine. I came to understand why someone else’ s views can be rational and plausible. The give-and-take that can occur in the realm of diplomacy at the conference table rather than the battlefield can lead to surprisingly positive results. From the beginning, the DPRK maintained that South Korea started the war. By 1952, a stalemate developed on the peninsula, the two coalition armies attempted to end hostilities. But it was “negotiations while fighting” which accomplished little, but more destruction and loss of life.
Disagreements about POW repatriation and the demarcation of the cease-fire line prolonged the struggle. This bitterness has been the obstacle to any type of reconciliation. A diplomatic solution to the impasse in Korea sometime could have saved millions of lives and billions of dollars. Decades of mistrust between the two Koreas may have been avoided. After all, the Cold War confrontation occurred in other regions of the world did not always lead to an attempted military solution. A thought experiment of counterfactual history allows us to see what could have changed without the North Korean invasion and subsequent war. The outcome may still have been a divided nation. It is also possible that in this alternate timeline, the North Korean government may have collapsed to be absorbed by South Korea. Maybe a more moderate and
reformed regime in Pyongyang would have brought about a stable detente creating the conditions for peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas. Noone really knows. The lessons of the war taught the Republic of Korea to be more vigilant and prepared against potential aggression. The United Nations response in the defense of South Korea was swift and determined. It demonstrated the importance of an international system based on law and order backed by armed force.
Despite North Korea’ s continued existence as a political anomaly and economic basketcase, it is also clear that no nation can prosper or thrive in complete isolation.
For me, the Korean War is no longer just a historical artifact. The unresolved “Korea problem” remains a global flashpoint. Learning about the war from the fragments of memory of my grandparents has drawn me closer to them.
As I piece together this tragic event, I’ve become more attached to my heritage. It has taught me to be a more flexible thinker and to act as a more self-reflective person. As someone who does not enjoy confrontation, I’ve always sought some form of moderate compromise and the “middle ground” on arguments. Obviously, this is challenging and many times I am forced to stand firm to my convictions. Similar to the situation leading up to the Korean War Armistice, it may result in a stalemate.
Researching the war has inspired me to gain an interest in provocative and uncomfortable topics that face our society and nation, including debates about partisan politics, wealth disparity, racial injustice, climate change, and of course, the future of Korea.
