UK Journalist Illuminates 'Forgotten War'

Fifty-eight years ago on this very day, April 22, 1951, the Korean War (1950-53) had been blazing for almost a year, and U.N. forces were sure the war was won. The Imjin River front stood still in silence, as Britain's 29th Infantry Brigade stationed along this critical line was about to wrap things up. But catastrophe broke loose with the largest communist offensive of the war.

Outnumbered 7-1, the soldiers stood in desperation for three days. One particular battalion, the Glosters, was stranded in enemy territory and had to fight back-to-back until their ammunition was exhausted. ``That's why it's called `To The Last Round,''' said Andrew Salmon, a Seoul-based British journalist, about his new book on Tuesday. ``The Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951'' (Aurum London) is the first comprehensive account of the conflict with China and North Korea and is being translated to film by internationally renowned director Daniel Gordon.

``British forces have fought all over the world since the 1950s, but Imjin River remains the bloodiest battle since World War II. Of the brigade's 4,000 men, 1,091 were dead, wounded or captured… However, today in the United Kingdom this tragedy is almost forgotten,'' said the author. Back home, he said, military history is a popular genre but there are barely any books on the Korean War.

British journalist-author Andrew Salmon, right, appears at a press event in Seoul, Tuesday with Lee Kyung-sik, The Korea Post chairman, 77, who interpreted for British soldiers during the Korean War (1950-53). Salmon’s new book “To the Last Round” is the first to trace the United Kingdom’s bloodiest battle since World War II that took place in Korea in April 1951. -Korea Times Photo by Lee Hyo-won

The Korean War itself is dubbed ``the Forgotten War,'' sandwiched between Hitler's World War II and the politically-charged Vietnam War. ``This is an important book because the Korean War is being forgotten, and such a tragic war should never ever recur,'' said special guest Lee Kyung-sik, 77, who interpreted for British soldiers during the battle. He is one of the four Koreans that Salmon quotes extensively in the book. Lee had memorized 100 English words a day for survival, since the smallest misinterpretation could risk lives on the front. A former reporter for The Korea Herald, he is now the publisher-chairman of The Korea Post.

``For many people the war is still alive,'' said Salmon. He met one British veteran who was haunted by the vision of a Chinese soldier he had killed, and was ``exorcised'' only when he revisited Korea recently. One soldier, Sam Mercer, 22 at the time, volunteered for ``travel and adventure,'' and lost an eye and a leg and spent two and a half years in captivity. But the veteran said, ``I don't regret a moment,'' and Salmon knew he had ``a fantastic story.''

In this black and white photo from 1951 titled ``Send it to Marion,'' a British soldier, looking at the photo in the center, asked the photographer to take it 30 minutes prior to his death. Feeling the end at a close distance, he asked that the photo be sent to his wife Marion. -Courtesy of Andrew Salmon

Salmon spent two years onresearch, interviewing some 50 veterans in America, Canada, Ireland, Belgium, England and Korea, and browsing through the national archives in London, Washington and Korea. Gordon began filming in London last month and is now in Gloucester to capture the local cathedral's Gloster regimental chapel. One interesting relic is the stone ``Korean Cross,'' which the Gloster commanding officer carved during his 18 months of solitary confinement in a Chinese prison camp.

``After a trilogy of films in North Korea, this marks my debut in the South,'' Gordon, the first non-Korean filmmaker to shoot in the Stalinist state, was quoted as saying in a press release. ``Ever since Andrew told me about his project, I have been intrigued. When I read the men's personal stories I was blown away by their courage and what they had endured during this battle.''

The movie's main aim is to bring the surviving veterans of Imjin River to Korea. The addition of computer graphics and dramatic reenactment by actors will add to the budget.

The filmmakers are seeking private investment because South Korean governmental bodies refused to fund the movie, reasoning that ``the Korean War is not in line with the `brand image' (they) want to promote," Salmon said. ``I think if you want to understand how prosperous and free Korea is, you need to contrast it with the brutality and poverty of the war,'' he added.

``Korea is now a rich country, one of the richest countries in the world. To fully understand that, you have to contrast it with the way it was 50 years ago. That is a tremendous achievement by the Korean people. On a different angle, war is the greatest human drama. Much of the great poetry, literature and film are on the drama of war. I'm surprised Korea doesn't package its tourism toward the Korean War,'' he said.

The filmmakers hope the film will be ready to be screened by the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War next year. ``I truly hope the Korean government and society will unite to commemorate next year's 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. For next year will be the last significant event that living witnesses will be able to participate in,'' said Salmon.

``(`The Last Stand') is just one story of the Korean War. There are thousands of more stories that will die forever unless Korea also tells them,'' he continued. ``South Korea owes it to herself to remember this human tragedy with the appropriate scale and appropriate honor.''

Salmon covers the Koreas for Forbes, The South China Morning Post, The Times and The Washington Times and is the author of ``American Business and the Korean Miracle: U.S. Enterprises in Korea, 1866-the Present.'' He lives in Seoul with his wife Ji-young and daughter Hannah. For more information about ``To the Last Round,'' visit tothelastround.wordpres.com.

>> Read about another book on the Korean War, "Diary of a Boy Solider," which the author, now a retired doctor, wrote as a 17-year-old soldier in the war.

Boy Soldier's Diary Testifies Human Strength

This book gave way to a most beautiful "inyeon" or friendship with the author, Dr. Park.


"Diary of a Boy Soldier"
"소년병의 일기" (문학)
Munhak: 230 pp., 10,000 won

Various works in literature depict the reality of war in modern history. But rarely do we see such a vivid and thorough record such as Park Myung-kun's ``Diary of a Boy Soldier'' (Munhak: 230 pp., 10,000 won), a journal he kept on a day-to-day basis as a teenage corporal during the Korean War (1950-53). More than just a valuable historical record, it is a testimony to the human spirit and its strength to survive.

Before taking us to the battlefield, Park introduces early 20th-century Korea under Japanese colonial rule. The joy of liberation (1945) and finally being able to read and write in Korean at school were short-lived, however. The inter-Korean conflict broke out in the summer of 1950, and Park was forever separated from his family, ``not knowing it would be my last farewell… not having had a chance to hold their hand or hug goodbye like they would nowadays.'' After surviving the war, he would fulfill his childhood plans to become a doctor and immigrate to the United States. Now, aged 73, the retired professor lives in Texas.

Doctor Park Myung-kun, top left, was 17 years old when he served in the South Korean armed forces 1950-52. He chronicled the 20 months in a diary./ Courtesy of Munhak

Park's story stretches across important moments and places in modern Korean history, from colonization all the way to the Korean Diaspora. Moreover, it is an extraordinary tale of endurance ― both physical and moral.

Born in North Korea in 1934, Park was ``the baby of the family,'' he told The Korea Times in a recent e-mail interview. Communists took away his eldest brother and his family had no news of his other brother who was studying in Seoul. As the only son at the time, Park said he felt a ``duty to take revenge'' and voluntarily joined the 6th division of the South Korean army at the tender age of 16. They were recruiting North Korean youths who could speak the northern dialect, and one entry shows how soldiers sometimes had difficulty communicating.

Park and others joined the armed forces completely untrained, except for some basic knowledge of handling rifles. ``I was in a way forced to be brave, although deep in my heart, I was scared most of the time,'' he explained in the interview. The harsh reality of war was omnipresent, and four comrades were killed just a few days into his military life. No one is to be trusted at the front, where the enemy hired toddlers to poison soldiers.

He said one of the most terrifying moments was when he had to flee an attack barefoot on a snowy day ― his boots were too large and were more of a hindrance. Fortunately, he had an extra pair of socks.

Surviving on the Front

Early entries trace the route of Park's infantry. He smartly kept track by locating the address signs of abandoned houses. We see how these young men made their way through rough times, taking whatever they could, like toothpaste in abandoned houses, and catching fish using grenades. The helmet doubled as washing bowls, food bowls and even pillows. Unable to bathe or change, lice would add to the discomfort.

While striking in factual detail, the diaries are marked by a sense of detachment. About six months into warfare, Park writes about being bothered by the stench of rotting corpses. When asked if the sight shocked him, he said: ``Perhaps I had become insensitive about death... I got used to seeing dead bodies. I knew that if I died, my body may become like one of these bodies but I did not want to think about it much.

``This was when I was on the very front line where life meant very little. Frankly, I did not feel many emotions those days. Having an emotion or deep thought was a luxury. When you know you may disappear from this world at any minute, the only thing you have is the basic instinct of survival,'' he said, adding that emotional detachment is perhaps a ``protective mechanism'' that enables people to ``endure unimaginable hardships.''

What is most remarkable about the diary is that Park managed to write almost everyday. ``I did not want to stop (writing the diary), because even though I was not certain if I would be alive the next day, there still was a thin line of hope that I could survive the war and show my parents the diary,'' he said.

He further explained in the interview that he had a good fountain pen and was able to obtain good quality paper from an empty house. ``There was always a quiet moment even on difficult days,'' and he often grabbed a minute before dark using candlelight.

Doctor Park, top left, poses with fellow soldiers near Nakdong River in Gupo, Busan, May 1952. Courtesy of Munhak

The diary entries chronicling his 20 months as a soldier (1950-52) are laid out with additional notes. Archaic or dialectic terms were changed, and some names were switched, in which case there are explanations.

Less than a year on the frontline, Park suffered a wound below his knee and was hospitalized for several months in what used to be a school building. The entries become more introspective as he spends each day listlessly, reading novels or watching movies to chase away the loneliness.

His longing for family would peak on holidays like Chuseok (Thanksgiving) and when other patients would have visitors. Occasionally Catholic nuns would stop by on an evangelistic mission. One touching entry is about mouth-watering persimmons. Usually visitors would share food with neighboring patients, but Park was unfortunately two beds away. Ever since, he would indulge in the sweet fruit whenever he could and even grew a persimmon tree in the yard of his U.S. home.

Meanwhile, fear of being crippled by the knee seized him, but the possibility of being discharged from military service also boggled him: what lay ahead for an ``orphaned'' 17-year-old? But he would recover and return to the army. Yet the ruthless cruelness from senior soldiers would strengthen his determination to leave and become a doctor. As a young boy living in a Stalinist state, he realized early on that doctors had comparatively more freedom.

Becoming an American Doctor

But all was not lost for Park. Though devastated to learn that his parents and nephews were unable to cross down to the South, he reunited with his sister and brother. He went back to school and made what he calls a ``miraculous'' entry to Seoul National University medical school. During his residency, he was encouraged to apply for the Educational Council for Foreign Medical Graduates program, which granted him residency in America.

When asked about pursuing medicine, he said, ``I thought my experience in the army would pull me through the long duration of medical school. I believe my experience of hardship during my military service gave me confidence, taught me to be patient, and to work hard for whatever I chose to do.''

The doctor arrived in the United States in 1962, and obtained his pediatrics degree after years of struggling with English and a tight budget. He met his Korean wife, a schoolteacher. In 1991, he won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and in 2005 he received a special honor from the Seoul National University medical school alumni association.

Park wishes to tell young people one thing: ``Do not be disheartened by reality, but don't be satisfied by reality, either. Always dream big and make constant effort to achieve it. Heaven helps those who help themselves.''