Sunday, March 29, 2015

Jeju Incident / Jeju Massacre

In a few weeks it will be time for me to teach students about the Jeju Massacre. I don't actually know that much about it-- just the basic outline and main events, most of which are contested. It's one of the super super occluded parts in Korean history. Today, however, I saw a news article about a documentary made by Jane Jin Kaisen, and luckily enough, the documentary is available on Vimeo (go watch it at this link). It starts off a little slow and unconventional, but ultimately I understand why Ms. Kaisen chose to do it that way-- and it works.

Strangely this is just one day after I saved a new article that talks about the Peace Park built on Jeju Island. You can access the article (no pay wall, yay!) on the website of Cross Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review (just click here).

Perhaps this difficult period in Korean history will finally be faced and emotionally processed.

More Links:
Japan Focus article by Sonia Ryang on the massacre (2013)
Earlier article in Japan Focus by Tessa Morris-Suzuki on museums and the Korean War (2009)-- doesn't really get into the Jeju issue, but related to the Cross-Currents article, also.
An academic article on the government's process to uncover the history of the massacre (behind a paywall)
This -might- be the same document as behind the paywall above-- the English translation of the government's fact-finding report.
Human Rights Monitor Korea on the Jeju Massacre (2014)
Excerpts from a speech by historian Bruce Cumings on the massacre. Because these are excerpts I am a little worried the original meaning may have changed a bit.
Detailed article in the Jeju Weekly
Blurb about the translated book Dead Silence with fictional stories of the Jeju Massacre
News article about the Korean (low-budget) film Jiseul about the Jeju Massacre (it won an award at Sundance in 2013)
New York Times article from 2001
Newsweek- Ghosts of Jeju from 2000
History Channel
Wikipedia on the Jeju Uprising (remember, the info here can be edited or mis-edited at any time)

I may add to this page at some point in the future. In the meantime, it's a place where I can bring together various things I want to look at again when I prepare to teach this particular subject in a few weeks.


2 comments:

Judith said...

Tried to watch the video on Vimeo, but it's password protected. :( Any idea what the password is?

CedarBough said...

Yes, I got that password. But I think if you just send her a message on Vimeo that she'll give it to you, too. If you can't figure out how to do that, use FB to contact her (I did and it worked). If you're still stumped, let me know privately.