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The Korean War and North Korean Propaganda Lesson
Day 1: Introduction/activation of prior knowledge: Why is the Korean peninsula divided into North Korea and South Korea? What do we know about each of these countries? (2-3 minutes) Mini-Lecture: Korean War causes, results, and aftermath. Quick introduction to propaganda (10-12 minutes) Video: US Korean War Propaganda (3 minutes) Group Activity Set-up: Textbook passage introduction. Who started the Korean War? (2 minutes) Group Activity: Students partner to read each passage and fill out the associated worksheets (20-25 minutes) Reflection: Potential questions - Which text was which? What showed you that? Why are the accounts of who started the war differ so greatly? What is each telling of events trying to accomplish? Which text should people believe and why? (10-12 minutes) Day 2: Introduction/activation of prior knowledge: Discuss student responses to eduCanon video. (5-10 minutes) eduCanon Video Video clip: North Korean propaganda video about US (1-2 minutes) Group Activity Set-up: Demoing how to look at propaganda. Guiding questions - What message is this trying to convey? What images and/or language tell you this? What is the purpose of this message? (4-5 minutes) Group activity: Students partner up and examine 1-2 pieces of propaganda on their own (10-12 minutes) Video: My escape from North Korea TED Talk (13 minutes) Reflection: What do you take away from this story? What can the international community do to help North Koreans? What can you do? (5-10 minutes) Day 1 Materials: Click Here to see the Korean War Prezi Korean War Prezi Talking Points WWII Ends! Another War Brewing… After WWII ends, the allies (US, China, USSR, England, and France) are left to restore world order. Part of this involves the Korean Peninsula, which they decide to split in half. North half under USSR’s trusteeship, Southern Half under USA’s trusteeship Where have we seen this word trusteeship before? UN Trusteeship Council, which was disbanded in 1994, was set up to deal with issues like this. However, there are some issues. The USA and USSR are at the beginning stages of the Cold War. The USA wants to spread democracy throughout the world, the USSR wants to spread communism throughout the world. Neither side likes the other but both sides are too powerful to fight each other directly. So, think of the idea of a “hot” war as direct fighting, the Cold War is more of a standoff. Korea divided at the 38th Parallel But both sides want to re-unify the country under their rule. The Cold War Heats Up North Korea invades South Korea. This gives the USA and USSR/China a way to fight each other indirectly. The Korean War becomes the first hot war of the Cold War UN Troops lead by the US back South Korea and their President Syngman Rhee, citing the Domino Effect or the idea that if South Korea falls, so too will the rest of Asia then even other areas of the world. China and USSR back North Korea and its leader Kim IL-sung Sidenote: South Korean President Syngman Rhee is not really that great either. He does not allow political dissent, jails those who disagree with him, and has lots of human right abuses of his own. Nonetheless, he’s the guy we back, so we overlook that. US Mission Changes After pushing the Communists back past the 38th Parallel the United States decides that it no longer simply wants to defend South Korea but want to “liberate” North Korea from the Communists. The US push up into North Korean territory making their way to almost the Yalu River, take a look at the second page of your handout and find the Yalu River. You’ll notice that the Yalu River is very close to the Chinese boarder, the US getting this close to China makes the Chinese nervous and they decide to send troops into North Korea. The Chinese warn the US that if it continues to push to the Yalu River, they will consider this an act of aggression and it will result in a full-scale war. US President Truman wants to avoid this. However, his general in Asia, General MacArthur, wants to provoke the Chinese saying there is “No substitute for victory.” Finally, on April 11, 1951 MacArthur is fired for insubordination (or not listening to his boss) and the US and South Korea enter into peace talks with North Korea and China. They agree on going back to the 38th Parallel as the dividing line, however they cannot agree on what to do with the North Korean prisoners. China and North Korea want them to be forcibly “repatriated” (sent back to North Korea). The US wants them to be able to stay in South Korea if they want. Negotiations (official talks) continue for almost 2 years until… Korean War Over! Fearing the outbreak of WWIII, both sides reach an agreement on July 21, 1953. The agreement states that the prisoners can stay where they want, drew a new boundary near the 38th Parallel that gives South Korea an extra 1500 square miles and creates the 2 mile wide territory known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which despite its name is one of the most highly militarized zones in the world. Aftermath South Korea finally force Rhee to resign and flee the country in 1960. It becomes a full fledged democracy and experiences tons of rapid growth. US is an ally throughout. Today South Korea has become highly developed, urbanized (over 80 of its population live in urban areas), and prosperous country (Developed, first world country). On the other hand, North Kroea has had the Kim family remain in charge. Kim IL-sung remained in power until his death in 1994. His son Kim Jong-il took over as the country’s “Dear Leader” and ruled until his death in 2011 and his son Kim Jong-un has been in control since. North Korea has brutal dictatorship with lots of human rights abuses. It is closed off from the world earning it the name “Hermit Kingdom.” It has continued to try and develop nuclear weapons despite international efforts to stop it from doing so. And it makes significant use of censorship and propaganda. Now we will look a little more into propaganda. When you all do your Holocaust Unit in LA, you’ll look at propaganda in depth. But for now we’ll use the definition that propaganda is information used to promote or publicize a political cause or point of view. Not only North Korea uses propaganda but so do all governments and companies throughout the world, including our own. Let’s take a look at a United States propaganda video from the Korean War. You’ll hear in this the Communists referred to as “Reds.” As you can see in the video, the purpose of this is to tell the USA’s side of the story and persuade people that we are right. Propaganda is not only used in the media but also in the textbooks we see in classrooms. Now we’re going to take a look at a passage from a North Korean textbook and one from a South Korean textbook. As we do so, we want to think about the question “Who started the Korean War?” Day 2 Materials: North Korean Propaganda Talking Points Was everyone able to watch the 26 facts video? Which one fact caught your attention the most? Why? DMZ has tons of wildlife, SK keeps trying to get it to be a Nature Reserve NK says no Year 104 in NK - Junche Calendar from textbook reading yesterday Now, let’s take a look at an actual NK propaganda video and how they portray the USA to people in NK NK Propaganda video - How does life in the US compare to how they portray it? What images do they use to make their point. Now that we’ve seen a little video propaganda from NK we’re going to look at some of the posters and images that North Koreans see on a daily basis and analyze those messages. Model propaganda analysis using worksheet Okay, now let’s break up into groups of two, take a look at some of the other images. Focus on one or two specifically. As you look at the images use a marker to circle parts of the image that communicate a message. Finally, choose one to fill out your worksheet about. On the worksheet you do not need to use complete sentences just jot down words and phrases that make your points. We’ll have about 10 minutes to do this. A couple groups can share what they’ve found after. The last piece we will look at for today is a video of a woman who escaped from North Korea. Looking at the propaganda, we see how absurd it appears to us, but it’s important to remember that there are real people suffering in North Korea. These people have been told these lies all their lives and the vast majority have no hope of ever escaping this reality. As you watch the video you can follow along with the timeline that’s provided. Think about how her attitude changes throughout the story and how you would feel if you were in her situation. |