Interesting story on MBC about heroes who through their actions managed to save some of Korea’s cultural treasures in the middle of the Korean War.
Take Lt. Col. Jang Ji-ryang, for instance. In August 1951, he was the operational staff officer of a South Korean fighter wing. During the battle for the Nakdong Perimeter, he was ordered by the US commanders to bomb Haeinsa Temple, home of the Tripitaka Koreana.
Jang refused. He faced execution for insubordination, but was eventually pardoned when the course of events became known.
In Seoul, much of the city was reduced to rubble thanks to the shelling that accompanied the UN siege of the occupied capital, but Sungnyemun Gate and Deoksugung Palace survived relatively unscathed.
The Deoksugung, in fact, was being used as a North Korean army headquarters, and could have been shelled. US artillery officer Lt. James H. Dill, however, did not order his guns to fire on the palace. He said his conscience would not allow him to destroy a country’s historical relics to exterminate the enemy.
Anyway, the Cultural Heritage Administration says it has compiled a book on their deeds to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the ROK.
13 Comments
That was pretty cool.
If I was in Lt. Col. Jang’s position, I would of done the same thing.
i wouldnt do the same thing. who gives damn about an old ass building during the time of war. what if those enemies managed to kill several sk or american troops? what if they killed and raped innocent civilians? so many people died during the war, and they were concerned about an old building?
man God bless jang and dill.
He faced execution for subordination
Insubordination?
Hey, Pawi-babe!
Shifting your avatar in rapid succession from Yu Kwan Soon to Pak Chung Hee? Feeling a little schizoid, are we? Or are you channeling Lon Chaney,the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’ these days?
Please don’t poke the Troll, Bad Monkey…
M’self, i’m real glad what was saved was saved, and wish that more had been saved; in general pespective on this i quite disagree with kimchi2000.
To this list of heroes should be added the Abbott of Odae-san Sangwon-sa who faked the burning of his temple in order to save it and its treasures, and the Korean Army Captain who ‘chose to believe him’ and walked away (having already tragically followed orders to destroy the great Woljeong-sa) and was punished for that…
‘Yu Kwan Soon to Pak Chung Hee?’
who?
Interesting topic. If there was a gold medal for saving world treasures, possibly Zhou Enlai of China might be a leading candidate.
As China’s Red Guard consisting of mostly college students, unemployed ajoshis, and bored ajumas, were frantically trying to create revolution by destroying China’s past, the hysterical idiots wanted to destroy the Forbidden City(gugong). Luckily, Zhou sent troops to prevent the masses of indoctrinated imbeciles from destroying a world treasure.
Funny thing about mobs and stupidity…and their desire to destroy.
Yup, legend sez that Zhou Enlai’s personal orders also saved the grand Lingyin-si Temple of Hangzhou… and probably many others. (has there ever been a listing…?)
I would like to join those honoring the brave souls who have risked their lives and disobeyed orders in times of war to save artistic and cultural monuments of lasting significance to civilization, especially in the midst of truly bitter and desparate ideological wars like the Korean Civil War. Since we’ve already gone beyond Korea’s boundaries in talking about Zhou En-lai during the Cultural Revolution, maybe we should mention one of the outstanding examples of the 20th century, General Dietrich von Choltitz, Nazi military commander of Paris in August 1944 who wilfully disobeyed Hitler’s direct orders to blow up all the major monuments and bridges of Paris when he evacuated the city, and left the phone off the hook with a frantic Adolf screaming “Brennt Paris an?” on the other end.
I’d also like to thank myself for having the restraint to not disobey the orders to blow up the church in the AC130 Spectre Gunship “Death from Above” scene in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
I’m glad they weren’t destroyed. Especially Lt. Col Jang gets my kudos, because I really want to see the tripitaka. War’s bad enough without museums and relics getting bombed. Poor showing on the NK troops for hiding out in Doksugung.
(from Team America, World Police: fuck yeah!)
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=bvmeecIlfE4
here’s a better one.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yORxNdM2K8s&