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KRC Seminar Series 2025
KRC Seminar Series 2025
The 'lucky ones': The Australian POW in Korea during the Pacific War
The 'lucky ones': The Australian POW in Korea during the Pacific War
Date: Wednesday, 26 Mark 2025
Time: 1-2PM AWST
Location: Building 202, Room 136, Curtin University
Contact: joanna.elfving-hwang@curtin.edu.au
Australian public understanding of prisoner of war (POW) experiences often centers upon the harrowing images and narratives of emaciated Australians and the construction of the Burma-Thailand railway. The existence of three Allied POW camps in Korea was not widely known. For some POWs previously imprisoned in other camps in Southeast Asia, the pervasive perception of being the "lucky ones" resulted in many Australian POWs refraining from sharing their "colourless" stories upon returning home.
Dr Hea-Jin Park
Dr Hea-Jin Park is a historian and a new team member of the KRC at Curtin. She was born in Korea, raised in Paraguay, and has been calling Australia home for over 20 years. She completed her medical degree from the Australian National University for her thesis on the history of South Korean agricultural migration to South America. Her current research projects focus on the story of Australians who have had a significant impact on the relationship between Australia and Korea, including the Australian missionaries and their work in Korea since 1889, the Australian veterans of the Korean War and two Australian kelpies, just to name a few. Her work has been featured in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) reports and materials.
This seminar is supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2022-OLU-2250005)
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