Interviewee: Young Woo Lee
Interviewer: Sam Lee
This interview is with Young Woo Lee, born September 22, 1963, in Mokpo, South Korea. Young is the Damimmoksa (담임목사), meaning lead pastor, at Murrieta’s Vision Church, a Presbyterian church. Young starts the conversation by talking about how there is a gap between his parents’ generation and his generation, especially with regard to lifestyle and mindsets. He then discusses his memories about living under Park Chung Hee, how he felt about generational gaps, and many famous incidents during his life, such as the Gwangju Massacre, and his participation in the student demonstrations that created Korea as it is today. The experiences that he shared reveal a very important point in Korean history that bridges the early decades just after Korea’s division into North and South and the present, showing so many social and political changes as well as their values in society during those times.
I met Young Woo Lee very early in life, as he is my father, and so I have known him my entire life. The interview with him was recorded via Zoom during October 23, 2023.
My name is Samuel Lee, and I am a third-year student at Colby College, taking the Modern Korean History course, HI244A. I am very interested and passionate of this course and the interview, because it reveals recent history that I know little of, and as a result it shapes my Korean American identity. I hope this interview helps other Korean Americans who do not know too much about their past generations to understand what Korea has gone through to create the society today, and hopefully not abandon their Korean side.
Interviewee Biography:
Young Woo Lee, born in Mokpo on September 22, 1963, is a man who identifies as in the “386 generation”, a very politically active student population in South Korea. Being a person who lived during Park Chung Hee’s rule, he has seen a lot of good factors, such as economic improvement, but also bad factors, such as no freedom of press and violence of the police. He is seen as someone who was a part of what led Korea to what it is now. He currently is a father of two sons and resides in the United States as a pastor for Vision Community Church in Wildomar, CA.