On today’s Making Contact, we head to Soseongri, a small village nestled in the mountains of Seongju County. There, grandmas and grandpas in the 70s, 80s, and 90s have gone from quietly farming to organizing daily protests and blockades to stop THAAD. THAAD is part of a missile defense system that gives the U.S. the ability to carry out a nuclear first strike.

The region has historically been Korea’s conservative stronghold, but with the deployment of THAAD, people are re-evaluating the history they’ve been taught their entire lives.

Featuring:  

Shin Dong Ok, Head of Soseongri Elders Group

Soseongri Residents 

Shi Uh Yeon, Gimcheon resident

Gimcheon Residents

Grace Cho, sociologist and author of Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War

Credits:

Host: Marie Choi

Staff Producers: Anita Johnson, Marie Choi, Monica Lopez, R.J. Lozada

Executive Director: Lisa Rudman

Audience Engagement Director: Sabine Blaizin

Development Associate: Vera Tykulsker

Voiceover for Shin Dong Ok - David Jang Jae Rhee

Voiceovers for Sosongri Halmonis - Juyeon Rhee, J.T. Takagi

Voiceover for Shi Uh Yeon - Juhyun Park

Voiceover for Gimcheon Imo - Liz Suk

Voiceover for Col. Turner Rogers - Claude Marks

 

Archival audio is from the U.S. National Archives, AP Archives, U.S. State Department, and U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

Special Thanks to Io Sunwoo, Juyeon Rhee, and Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans.

Music Credits:

+ Rain - Jio Im and Judy Jun

나그네설움 Instrumental

그래도 - 오재환

고향의 봄 / 도라지 - Judy Jun

July - Jio Im

다신 돌아갈 수 없을까요- 이형주

Photo Credit

Stop THAAD Alliance

Resources:

ZoomIn Korea’s Stop THAAD Coverage

http://www.zoominkorea.org/category/peace-and-militarism/stop-thaad/ [1]

Science at MIT: From Cold War to Climate Crisis

https://radius.mit.edu/programs/science-mit-cold-war-climate-crisis  [2]

 

Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea

http://stopthaad.org/ [3]

 

MULTIMEDIA: Still Present Pasts

http://stillpresentpasts.org/ [4] 

Memory of Forgotten War

http://www.mufilms.org/films/memory-of-forgotten-war/ [5]

BOOK: Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War by Grace Cho

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/haunting-the-korean-diaspora [6]

[1] http://www.zoominkorea.org/category/peace-and-militarism/stop-thaad/

[2] https://radius.mit.edu/programs/science-mit-cold-war-climate-crisis%2520/

[3] http://stopthaad.org/

[4] http://stillpresentpasts.org/

[5] http://www.mufilms.org/films/memory-of-forgotten-war/

[6] https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/haunting-the-korean-diaspora