Bulgaria and the war in Korea /1950 – 1953/;България и войната в Корея /1950-1953/

(book)

/Уводът на тази книга е даден тук като на английски, така и на български език/. В Народната библиотека "Св.Кирил и Методий" в София книгата е под каталожен номер Ск 691601. 


My book "Bulgaria and the war in Korea /1950 – 1953/" has its both interesting and instructive history. Because it stayed in one of the drawers of my bureau twenty years without being able to appear before the "world". The reasons are mainly two. The first one is that when I wrote it and offered it to some publishing houses, they responded that my work will be interesting for a very narrow circle of experts and will bring in practice financial losses. Afterwards, making lots of references, I found out that my research work falls into an area, which no Bulgarian history-graphia has ever reached to. That's why with confident pace I walked to the Dean of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" historical faculty, submitting to the attention of the academic authority my study under the form of dissertation. After about two months I was kindly informed that due to lack of expert in the field, where I have undoubtedly made a valuable study, nobody can push forward the dissertation presentation. But, now my study will be published. In this case I'm not lead by the feeling of vanity. Behind my back I have already a number of published books. But I consider that the time has come to narrate about the war on the Korean peninsula mainly lead by the endeavour to reveal the considerable assistance that Bulgaria renders /at this period Bulgaria itself had enormous needs/ to the suffering Korean people. Because everything what I found out as documents is - good or bad - but a page of our latest history. In my study, based as a whole on rich archive material, on quotations from newspapers, as well as on a considerable number of official state and political documents, the whole era of the fifties of the twentieth century becomes transparent as in a water drop, coloured by extreme ideological contra-positions and estimations and when only for some five years after the World War II from the cooperation of the anti-Hitler coalition nothing has remained.

This is the dark time, called "the cold war", in which the constantly strengthening ideological, economic and military opposition in world scale between the two powerful hostile political blocks is effective. Unfortunately the epicentre of the collision between both fundamentally opposite political systems appeared to be Korea. In the long peoples' history the wars never solved honestly pending issues. But always they have created devastating problems. And the consequences have always been obvious - unnecessary victims, mass sufferings of the civil population, spending enormous material and human resources. The war in Korea brought in addition one more negative result: 55 years a people and its national territory are separated by barbed at the 38-th parallel.

Although half an age has passed from these events, the present book highlights in depth one important moment from the contemporary history of Bulgaria.This has been the great selfless moral, economic, social and medical aid that our country rendered during the 50-ies of the 20-th century to North Korea during its war against USA. A subject of the analysis are not only the protests of the Bulgarian community, directed towards the putting an end to this military conflict but also the significant material support, which the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria rendered to the Korean Peoples Democratic Republic.

Special emphasis in the study is put on the Korean orphans and students who lived and studied in our country and who were looked after with great care and love. In fact these are the first international campaigns, which the Peoples Republic of Bulgaria carries out.After so many years, today it's very difficult to explain why the whole circle of problems has been put aside from the attention of our research workers.

After profound investigation in the specialized historical literature it came out, that there are no studies and analytical works on this topic. Parallel to these conclusions quite logic is the question whether the present publication has any actuality in our  days.I do think that in the history of each nation there are pages, which are eternal and in which the manifestation of sympathy has played and will play extremely important role for its self-knowledge, for the establishment of human traditions, enabling its national ascending.

Up to the 90-ies of the 20-th century - a period of extremely dangerous political and military block opposition in world scale - in our country different political campaigns for solidarity and support to the peoples of Vietnam, Cuba, Angola, Afghanistan etc. were carried out. But never before initiatives of this kind reach such a volume like the actual selfless Bulgarian aid for Northern Korea from the period of the first half of the fifties of the last century. We should not underestimate another phenomenon. This is the time when our ruined, unrestored from the war economy and the adjacent heavy material situation of the working people proved not to be an obstacle for the organization of actually vast moral, material and medical aid for the Korean people.

In the theoretical basis of the studied issue, accent has been put on all those provisions and actions of the Bulgarian Government in the middle of the 20-th century, by means of which it has given expression of its attitude to the war in Korea. It's extremely clear, that this is the period of the "cold war" - grievously known both to the East and the West - when the cliches and the stereotypes in the ideologilized to utmost extent international relations have left their deep prints in all Bulgarian publications and in the documents of the official for that period publishing state and public-political organizations. Considering all this we should also underline - we are far from the thought to acquit or accuse anybody. Because this work has been created on the basis of studied in details archive materials, which selflessly witness for actual facts and events that occurred at real time.

That's why even 50 years later these documents do not need interpretations. They reflect in its whole colourful scale the opposition between the two political systems. It's well known that at each war, ideological or whatever it might be, all means are allowed. "A la guerre comme a la guere" – as the French say for similar cases. I would avail myself of the opportunity to mention just in one line, that the demolition of the world colonial system after the end of the World War II also contributed to the development of new complicated and contradictory processes in international aspect.

It's important to outline, that in the present work not only the concrete aid of Bulgaria during the very war is treated, but also the assistance in the subsequent stages (up to 1955 incl.) showing the additional Bulgarian help for the restoration of the totally ruined after the war economy of Korea.

Nowadays, staying at the position of the convenient "time" distance, when the wounds and the devastations from the war on the Korean peninsula are restored, we see actually quite different Korean Peoples Democratic Republic.

Today this is a country with authority not only in the region of the Far East, but in the world as well. The possessed nuclear weapon and far range rockets make the country a real factor, which cannot be disregarded, in the international dialogue.

That's why I consider worthy the efforts to mention in addition one fact - 50 years ago Bulgaria gave its contribution for the building of Northern Korea, which brought the country today to these serious economic and military achievements. The explored in the book abundant archive material gives good opportunity in details to be revealed the actual dimensions of the Bulgarian aid for Korea, which high economic values cannot be co-measured with its moral greatness.

I do hope the present work will be of interest not only for the scientific workers, but also for a wide circle of readers, some being even direct participants in the described - most of all and only on the basis of documentary archive material - events.

And now let's try to trace step by step the history of the relations and contacts between Bulgaria and Korea in the period from the first half of the fifties of the 20-th century. 

НЯКОЛКО ВСТЪПИТЕЛНИ ДУМИ

Уважаеми читателю !

Книгата ми „България и войната в Корея /1950г. – 1953г./” има своята колкото интересна, толкова и поучителна история. Защото пролежа в едно от шкафчетата на бюрото ми цели двадесет години без да види бял свят. Причините основно са две. Първата е, че когато я написах и я предложих на някои издателства ми бе отговорено, че моето произведение ще заинтересува само доста тесен кръг от специалисти и ще донесе на практика финансови загуби. След това, правейки редица справки, установих, че изследването ми попада в област, до която българската историография изобщо не се е докоснала. Затова с уверена крачка се запътих към Деканата на историческия факултет при Софийския университет „Св.Климент Охридски”, предоставяйки на вниманието на научното тяло там своето проучване оформено като дисертационен труд. След около два месеца любезно ми бе отговорено, че поради липса на специалист в областта, в която аз съм направил своето безспорно интересно и стойностно проучване, не може да бъде даден ход за защита на дисертацията ми.

Но, ето че сега, проучването ми ще бъде отпечатено. В случая ни най-малко не се ръководя от чувството за тщестлавие. Зад гърба си имам вече доста издадени книги. Струва ми се обаче, че е дошло време да разкажа за войната в Корейския полуостров най-вече воден от стремежа да разкрия значителната помощ, която оказва България /която през онзи период сама е имала въпиюща нужда от какво ли не/ на страдащия корейски народ. Защото, всичко, което открих като документи, е – добра или лоша - но страница от най-новата ни история. В моето проучване, изградено изцяло на базата на богат архивен материал, на цитати от вестници, както и на значителен брой официални държавни и политически документи, прозира като в капка вода цялата епоха от 50-те години на ХХ век, обагрена от крайни идеологически противостояния и оценки и когато само за някакви си пет години след края на Втората световна война от сътрудничеството на антихитлеристката коалиция не е останал и помен. Това е мрачното време, наречено „студена война”, в което властва единствено постоянно засилващата се идеологическа, икономическа, стопанска и военна конфронтация в световен мащаб между двата мощни враждуващи политически блока. За нещастие епицентъра на сблъсъка между тези коренно противоположни политически системи, се оказа Корея. Никога през дългата човешка история войните не са решавали справедливо спорни въпроси. Но, са създавали потресаващи проблеми. Като последиците от тях винаги са били налице – ненужни жертви, масови страдания на цивилното население, изразходване на колосални материални и човешки ресурси. Войната в Корея донесе и още един негативен резултат: вече 55 години един народ и неговата национална територия /единствнени в света/ са разделени от бодливата тел на 38-мия паралел.                                                 

                                                                               Авторът