Pioneering Korean War correspondents
By Choe Chong-dae
For a journalist, there is no bigger story than a war. War sheds blood; it causes death and influences the fate of nations. The greatest work in journalism is often done and reputations are made during war reporting.
During the Korean War, many prominent journalists from the U.S and U.N. allied countries accompanied their troops. Approximately 300 correspondents were assigned to Korea at the beginning of the war and before the resulting armistice, 600 journalists had been dispatched.
Of the correspondents, I am particularly inspired by Marguerite Higgins (1920-1966) and Sara Park (1927-1957), two legendary female reporters whose efforts contributed greatly to war journalism.
While serving as a representative for the Herald Tribune in Tokyo, Marguerite Higgins was dispatched to Korea in 1950. She was the first female correspondent to be assigned. In recognition of Higgins's outstanding service in reporting from Korea during this period, she became the first woman to win the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, in 1951.
She gained a reputation for her courage and talent in reporting stories from the frontlines of battle. She provided eyewitness accounts of the Korean War by working alongside soldiers in the field. In doing so, her reports provided a vivid account of the situation on the ground during the battles. She capitalized on the interest of the Korean War by publishing a book entitled, "War in Korea." This became a best-seller in the United States in 1951. The English version of the book was recently translated into Korean and drew the attention of many Korean readers.
Significantly, in 2002 the U.S. Postal Service honored Higgins with the issuance of commemorative postage stamp in Fort Worth, Texas. The stamp features a 1950 photograph of Higgins taken by Life photographer Carl Mydans.
The other female reporter which drew my admiration was Korean-American journalist Sara Park from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She was hired by the Star-Bulletin in 1950 to cover the Korean War from the winter of 1952 through to the spring of 1953.
With her vibrant personality and her courageous reporting from the frontlines of the Korean War, Park made a name for herself. Park reported that it was necessary for troops to use candles in areas around the frontline, as there was no electricity at that time. From this report, Hawaiian residents started a campaign ``Candles for Korea" which saw approximately 150,000 candles sent to troops to boost morale.
In her coverage of the conflict in Korea, she wrote emotionally about the predicament of her mother country, and the plight of the U.S. soldiers. Despite Park's outstanding service as a Korean War reporter, she is not well known to Korean society.
She died at the age of 30, when the small plane she was aboard, while covering a tsunami warning, crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Park's name was honorably added to the Journalists Memorial at the ``Newseum" (Journalism Museum), in Washington, D.C. last year. Her name is etched into a two-story glass wall alongside 1,842 other correspondents, killed in the line of duty.
The above-mentioned female correspondents broke gender barriers at a time when there were few female reporters covering the frontlines of wars. They won the respect of their peers, the military, the American public and Koreans as well.
They are the unsung heroines of that era and they displayed great courage in enhancing journalism. Although six decades have passed since the Korean War, Higgins and Park's tenacity for reporting has made them stand out in the legacy of Korean War journalism.
Choe Chong-dae is the president of Dae-kwang International Co. and the Korean representative of Compagnie Cotonniere of Paris, as well as a longtime director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at dkic98@chol.com