Kryptonthenoblegas

My memory is a bit murky but when the north koreans first came south her family decided to stay in their village (They believed that it was no use, because they reckoned that the 인민군-people's army would be pushed back north again). But a lot of the people did flee south, so the village kinda looked like a ghost town (many villages along the border really did become ghost towns)- most of the younger children were at school, and all the teens had either fled south to avoid conscription by the North, or were in the fields/boats working, so it was only my grandma, and a couple of other middle school children who didn't have school that day. So my grandmother apparently was just in her house by herself when she heard a group of North Korean soldiers nearby (apparently they were looking for food or smth). As a 14 year old girl, she panicked a bit (She had heard of horrid things that the people's army had done- some of which were probably just false rumors) so she ran around looking for a hiding place. When the soldiers opened her house gate, she made a split-second decision to hop in with the pigs from a nearby pen and hide in the hay with them. After rummaging around her family home for food, one of the soldiers said, 'Look they're's a pig pen!' and they started approaching the pen- probably intending to get some meat. Afraid that she would be caught- she crouched behind the pigs in the dirt and tried to conceal herself. When one of the soldiers went inside to bring out the pigs, he saw my grandmother, her face full of tears, snot and mud and stumbled back, calling out, '귀신이다!- it's a ghost!'. They eventually backed out and ran away, leaving the pigs and my grandmother in the mud. Apparently she got scolded by her mother who came back from the mudflats for getting her clothes dirty afterwards lmao- they evacuated the next time the North started coming south.

Generally, a lot of people (including people in my family) are resentful for the fact that China came in and 'destroyed things'. My older relatives are mostly thankful for the UN, because they 'saved the country' and helped the south. I've heard that North Koreans (kinda rightfully) hate the US for pretty much flattening their infrastructure during the korean war. Obviously since my family are all from the south, my perspective is likely biased. When my grandparents lived under temporary North rule apparently they were forced to attend rallies which talked about how 'treacherous' the south was and it was full of 친일파s (japanese collaborators) and that they were being 'liberated'. Some people did get dragged off and killed (no one in my immediate circle of relatives though) so a lot of people complained and were resentful behind closed doors.

Yes she was... my grandfather went around and whenever he met someone from his hometown he always asked if they had seen him mother. He apparently even went Yeonpyeongdo (which is like near the border of present north korea) to find her. Since his hometown was in the south at the time, most people reckoned that they would be able to return in a few months, staying in areas like Paju and Incheon, near Kaeseong, so that they could make a quick return (A few high schools in Incheon- most notably 송도고등학교, were originally from my grandfather's hometown, during the war the teachers and much of the student body fled to Incheon to continue their studies in the South- they intended to go back after the war but obviously they didn't). Because of that, a lot of families left behind a family member (typically a mother, since fathers could get drafted) to watch the home and keep it from being looted I guess. Unfortunately since Kaeseong was ceded to the north a lot of families got stranded in this way.

My grandfather apparently very rarely talked about the war- most of what we know comes from my aunts. This was probably because they really had to start with nothing, living in run-down refugee camps with little supplies. I can't confirm this 100%, but apparently my grandfather once even resorted to hunting snakes for food.

My grandmother, meanwhile, is a bit more nostalgic. I know... it does sound a bit funny but for much of the war she lived on an island where neither the north or south soldiers really bothered going to, so she lived in relative seclusion and even got to finish middle school during the war (She never got to high school though- the island didn't have one).

I unfortunately don't have any survival tactics... but I guess if enemy army members are looting my house I'll hide in the bushes in my backyard and wail so that they think I'm a ghost and run away lol (I don't think it will work because I'm a teenage boy with a pretty a bad acne problem but... I guess it's worth trying?)

My condolences to your family... one or two of my great-grandmother's sister's children got sick and passed away during the war from what I have been told...

They didn't really have ample time to evacuate- because of how rapid the retreat was and how the Chinese attack was a surprise. My grandmother's village was a bit more south in comparison to my grandparents, and just below the Han River, so apparently they had a bit more time to evacuate. My grandfather, though, had to do it in a rush and they fled quickly. Both of them though that they would return quickly so neither of them bought much stuck- so they just brought some bundles of clothes and a few important things (Like our 족보- family genealogical book)