Hi Kyung Kim interview transcript
Recorded May 29, 2001
Posted September 10, 2001

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Hi Kyung Kim, composer

Dan Olson: "At The Edge of The Ocean"—I'll ask you about your composition, and we'll learn more about that in just a moment. Say a word about you. What is your personal connection with family, friends, anyone who may have been involved with the ... who may have suffered at the hands of the Japanese ... what happened to them?

Hi Kyung Kim: Actually, I have ... happened to be ... my family was deeply involved with the Japanese ... I mean they were victims of that ... under that colonization.

DO: Was it your family that was part of the underground resistance?

HK: Yes. Yes ... it was my mother's family ... my mother's side. And ah ...

DO: What did they do as part of that?

HK: Ah ... according to ... it is ... all according to my, their family ... they're telling us the story because it's not my direct experience. But my mother's grandfather, mother's grandfather was very aware of our country ... and independence from Japanese. And so he supported the underground movement, and that's where, actually, my grandmother and grandfather ... they met through that underground movement. And-

DO: What did they do in the underground?

HK: Um ... well I ... I don't exactly how they worked, but they tried to have some kind of movement toward the Japanese government and how we can get ourselves back together, and maybe they were trying ... starting to do small things. Like the famous instances that when Japanese emperor is going through ... then they hear about the news, then they go to the station and they try to bomb them or gun shot ... shot them like that. So maybe they were planning to do all that kind of things. And there is a very famous history collection ... I heard about it ... but that happened ... happened at my grandmother's house. There was a very famous leader of that underground movement. ... And he was chased by the Japanese police, and he came to my grandmother's house: He was hiding. And he was hiding in the ceiling, and the Japanese police, they came and they were trying to find him. And so ... whole family ... I mean, I think eventually he was killed, the person ... himself was killed and my grandmother's whole family, they were put into prison. They were in jail, including my grandfather, grandmother, and great aunts, uncles. So even my youngest great aunt, my grandmother's sister, was in high school. And high school girl, they put her into the prison. And, ah ... so I didn't know exactly how they tortured them in prison.

My mother, I just learned recently, my mother said they were hanged. They were hanged and they were beaten. And I thought several of them got gunshot wounds, and I thought that that was the reason my grandfather died very early, young in his age, 40. When he was 40 years old, he was gone. And I heard about that it was result of ... that being in prison. So I thought it was gunshot wound. It's not just that. They were tortured too much. So he died that young age, and my grandmother eventually from that gunshot wound, her leg. And so she was not able to walk ... and she died. And my great aunt, also same thing. I think they shot at them on their legs. So both of them were gone by these gunshot wounds. So my family is very directly, deeply involved with this.

DO: Those are terrifying stories, terrifying accounts.

HK: Yes.

DO: How did you first hear about the idea for the commemoration?

HK: Actually I heard from some Chinese composer, who's name is . And he called me, and he, at the beginning stage, he was involved and he thought it was a very good project and a meaningful project. While he was telling me about this I said, "That's very unusual." That's my first reaction. And then he thought my name was recommended, and I thought ... well, that's very nice, and I thought that is, for me, it is a very meaningful project. Very meaningful. And also, when I heard from him, I haven't though about it, so that was my first reaction. And then, second time I heard, I got a phone call from my teacher, who is involved in this ... a composer, and he said also my name was recommended. I said: "Yes, I heard, and this is something ... a special project." Then finally, I got a phone call from ... the director, and so it became very clear. He was giving me the background, how it started and what was the reason. So, at that time he ... asked me that they are commissioning me, but it is for ... we all contributing our own time . And I though, Wait-it is not the issue, issue of the grant or commission fee is involved. It didn't matter to me, and I thought it was really good, so....

DO: What do you think is the value? What is the importance of commemorating, remembering, the events: the occupation in Korea, the massacre in China? What is the value of that?

HK: I think ... we live in a present time, but our history is based on what had happened before, the past. And we all remember what happened, but we forgot, or we forget, or even if we remember it, we try to ignore it or don't mention it because our wounds are so deep and you don't want to touch it. And sometimes that happens too. And so I think it goes different ways, but we talk about this, remember this, and think about it and what did it do to mankind. Then do we think that it should happen again? And so we need to think about this.

DO: Will the commemoration reopen old wounds? Will it create hard feelings?

HK: Yes. Yes. That ... I actually had forgotten about all this, my family tragedy, and I have grown up with hearing this story. My mother and my family was telling us when we were young students, and then we thought that was one of those stories. And we didn't feel ... we were not mature enough. And we just didn't learn our past history. But now we are grown up, and we think about this. Now it brings me all back how terribly difficult that was, how difficult that was, it must have been for the family. My family. And it is not just ... my family is one instance. There's many families in the whole country. So it brought me back, personally, all those wounds.

DO: How will this music help heal that?

HK: That music, if I say about the music I wrote, is often people think their emotions or their feelings and they cannot put it into words. They cannot express themselves just through words. So often they can put it into art or music: They sing, they perform. And so it all comes out without words. There is—this is very famous in my house-there is a calligraphy that says: Communication without words. Chinese character that we know: Even if we don't say exact words, what is in our heart? And the music.

Also that is—especially some folk songs—they can sing it and, word by word, it could mean many things, but it contains other than just what is in the ... beyond what words can carry. And so, what I try to do, did do for this piece, is I—since I'm talking about my nation of people's feelings—I used the most famous folk tune, which is called ..., and that carries, actually ...., it doesn't exist, there is no hill named ..., but we think, we think that ... over that hill there might be hope, better world. That's what the name means. And I though it was perfect.

So I used that folk tune from different provinces, which cover all the country, and which starts the first section, starting from the central part of the folk tune, most popular. And then going down to southwest and the east. So there's three different folk tunes, which created three sections in my piece. And as it goes on, it starts with ... and sad. And it brings out ... our feelings and memory. And then it moves on in the middle section, that becomes little bit more violent. And the anger comes out ... and yet ... it's not just the anger stays, it moves on future, futher. And so we are thinking forward, forward. So, as it moves on, eventually the third folk song is very cheerful and so it cheers up many people. Often the tune is used for military purpose and I thought that was perfect and used it for the third section and moved fast and cheerful.

That was the third section, the last section. However, the beginning and ending, I used Korean gong, which is called Ging. That gong is a very ... has a unique sound, which has that sound, it has a very deep sound and resonates, echoing quietly and long. It embraces a sound. So when people have percussion ensemble, or farmer's band, as we say, we use this instrument as one of those time keeper. Also it embraces all the fast and complicated rhythms with the simple beats. So I opemed the piece with that sound, ending with that sound. I want to go peacefully and embraces all our wounds, but we are moving forward peacefully and that has something to do with what my father had taught me a lot. And my father, who passed away eight years ago, and was from a Presbyterian church, the minister, and he gave me the very last word. That was my very last conversation with him, he said to me and to my husband ... "I have one thing to tell you, what I have learned in this world. What is the most important thing? Number one is love. Two is love. Three is love."

So those three are the most important things I want to tell you ... that's a lifelong experience from me. Then, I think that is very important, that is something I wanted to say in this piece, that we remember this and ... but yet, we'd like to move forward. And I don't want to ... we don't want to have this happen again. And peacefully reconcile . And also, this tells a lot about the title of the piece, too, "The Edge of The Ocean."

DO: To me, when I heard the title, it sounded like a description of your homeland, Korea, at the edge of the ocean.

HK: Which is right: My homeland is a peninsula, covered with all the Pacific Ocean, and so does, well, so does Japan, and China's a continent, and it is ... we are all connected. The Phillipines, Taiwan—all is connected. And actually came to me while we were driving the California highway coast. And I was sitting in the passenger seat and looking out at the ocean: Endless, vast, huge. And then it was a so long drive, but endless, so huge, and I was thinking about what is behind, at the other end? That is Asia-all the countries connected.

From here it is very far, but I think about Korea as my homeland small. And when I picture it in my head, that is very small, you know when you're looking at a map, like a finger size, small. And Japan is there, small also. And China. And we are all small countries. If we look at it as a bigger picture, bigger scope from there, it's like a ... it's all connected. And also, we, each individual, it looks like ... I see this small bubble. And a lot of bubble. And it covers when wave comes, it covers all. And we are all coming in and go ... comes and goes, like that. So then I go ... this is really good. It covers and connects everything. And then I feel like Why can't we be like this?-huge and vast, and the ocean embraces each other, all of us. And so, I thought that was a very good title of the piece.

DO: It sounds wonderful. I think we're just about done. I have only one or two last questions. When your friends and family members and other people you know, including Caucasians, have heard of this idea of a commemoration, what kind of a reaction have they given you?

HK: Actually, reactions from my family or Korean community, they heard about this and they thought ... that's how it goes. I'm a little bit coming slowly, and they go, they have to think, "That's good. That's nice." And then Korean newspaper in San Francisco, actually, they covered this. And ... the title of the article, it was-they say that thinking about all the souls, the lost souls, during Second World War. So that's how they titled the article. And the community, Korean community, they felt ... the reaction was very positive, very positive, and they liked it. And they wanted to move, like us. It's a very meaningful project.

And people who are not Koreans and Caucasians, some of them exactly don't know exactly what happened. And so they go: "Oh, that's good. That's good." And so many of us don't know. And so they will bring attention to ... and the history. Sometimes when we learn history, we don't learn it exactly the way that it had happened. And it ... so I feel that this is one thing that I want to be very strong. We can move forward, however, what had happened, it is not us, some individual. It's not one individual. But whoever ruled in government, they sent those people, but each individual-for instance, my father went to high school from countryside to Seoul. And he stayed with a Japanese teacher. And he was very kind to him. And he stayed with him more than a year. And each ... some of those individuals are friendly and kind people. However, one thing we should remember this is that's what had happened. We should not deny it, or we should not hide it. And that was the fact. Fact that we have to be honest, and it will be very good if we can admit that what had happened. It was not us. It was our ancestors, whoever controlled. And that if we remember this, then now we think, "Well, it happened before then, we don't want to make that kind of same thing that happened, again."