Week 5: Busan

Albeit, Busan isn’t as deeply involved in Zainichi Korean history. However, after understanding the significance of Japanese colonial rule of Korea within Korean history, I thought it would be important to visit Busan to further investigate how biases can show up in Korean institutions in comparison to American institutions within the context of Japanese colonial rule. I realized that the way in which historical events are portrayed can shift based on the perspective they are told in. Being the direct victims of colonization, Korea as a country is bound to have stronger opinions and sentiments regarding Japanese colonial rule. Therefore, this period is covered in far more detail by Korean institutions, and the language used to describe this period heavily reflects the sentiments of the Korean public as I had previously observed in my exploration in Seoul. In addition to the National Memorial Museum of Forced Mobilization, it was eye-opening to witness how evidence and pieces of history have been preserved and how that can also serve as a way to portray history. Similar to the peace statues in Seoul, I realized how powerful even just historical sites or monuments are in capturing a moment in history and sharing that with its audience. For example, a visit to Ami-dong or Nampo-dong allows visitors to imagine what life during Japanese colonial rule was like in Korea during this time for both Korean and Japanese residents.

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