Graduation from Normal School and Teaching Life: 1941-1961
I was born to a farming family in June 1941 in Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do, which was under Japanese colonial rule in Joseon. I grew up in my birthplace until Korea’s liberation in August 1945. In March 1947, I entered Seoguk Elementary School in Gwangyang.
The following year, on August 15, 1948, the government of the Republic of Korea was established, marking the birth of a new independent nation. In December of the same year, the Third United Nations General Assembly recognized the Republic of Korea as the only legitimate government on the Korean Peninsula.
When I was in the third grade of elementary school, on June 25, 1950, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the South, leading to the outbreak of the Korean War. The United Nations forces, led by the United States, intervened in the war. In March 1953, I entered the middle school affiliated with Suncheon Teachers’ School, and on July 27 of the same year, an armistice agreement was signed between the warring parties. The Korean War resulted in approximately 3 million deaths, and most of Korea’s major cities and industrial facilities were destroyed.
In March 1959, I graduated from Suncheon Teachers’ School and was assigned to Ok-gok Elementary School in Gwangyang, where I taught a co-ed fifth-grade class. In 1960, the fraudulent March 15 election under the Syngman Rhee regime sparked the nationwide April 19 student protests against corruption. This anti-dictatorship movement led to the resignation of President Syngman Rhee on April 26, and the establishment of the Second Republic on June 25.
By 1961, I had been teaching as an elementary school teacher for three years at my first assigned school. On May 16 of that year, Major General Park Chung-hee declared that the corrupt and incompetent government and established politicians could no longer be entrusted with the nation’s and people’s fate, and seized power through a coup. Around October of the same year, I applied for the Korea Military Academy, passed the entrance exam, and became a cadet in February 1962.
The first chapter, “Graduation from Teachers’ School and Teaching Career (1941-1952),” covers the first 20 years of my life, which was a period of preparation. As many years have passed, my memories have faded, and there aren’t many significant events to reflect on from that time. However, in the context of reassessing historical awareness, I wish to recall the faint memories of that era by considering the historical background.
