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Refugees and Reconstruction: Post-War Korea, 1956

23 min • 29 juni 2016

A pacifist and conscientious objector, Joe Smucker left for Korea by freighter in 1956 to help with the country’s post-war reconstruction. His three years on the peninsula participating in relief work efforts with the Mennonite Central Committee would change his life forever.

In the first of a two-part interview, Smucker discusses the origins of the MCC, a relief organization similar to today’s Oxfam or Doctors Without Borders, their efforts to help cope with the post-war refugee crisis in Daegu and the sorry state of South Korea`s civil government in the post-war era.

Music on this episode is from 김정호 with a live performance of his song `이름모를 소녀'