75 Years After Korean War and No Gun Ri, Forgotten Pain—Memoir That Launched a Movement—Now in English

A Haunting Memoir Bearing Witness to the Madness of the Korean War and the Fragile Emergence of the Public Conscience

MT. PLEASANT, MI, UNITED STATES, June 21, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On the 75th anniversary of the Korean War and the little-known No Gun Ri incident of July 1950, the Cora di Brazzà Foundation proudly announces the first publicly available English-language edition of Forgotten Pain, the pivotal 1994 memoir by Eun Yong Chung (Do You Know Our Pain? / Geudae, uriui apeumeul aneunga). Soon to be released in both paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon, this deeply moving account helped ignite global awareness of Korean War atrocities and has significantly shaped how the moral dimensions of the conflict are understood.

Written by Eun Yong Chung (1923–2014), Forgotten Pain recounts the harrowing ordeal of his wife, Park Sun Yong (1924–2025), who survived the No Gun Ri incident and witnessed the deaths of their two young children during the early weeks of the Korean War. The memoir is a powerful meditation on grief, trauma, and the long struggle for recognition and justice. Though the events at No Gun Ri occurred nearly two decades before the more widely known My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, they remained obscured in silence for generations.

The 1994 memoir played a pivotal role in breaking that silence. It catalyzed a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation by a team of Associated Press journalists, led to a joint inquiry by the governments of the United States and the Republic of Korea, and ultimately contributed to the establishment of the No Gun Ri International Peace Foundation and Peace Park—a center for education in peace, justice, and human rights.

This landmark English edition has been translated by Won Kwang Paik, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Central Michigan University, and edited with a foreword by Hope Elizabeth May, Ph.D., J.D., Professor of Philosophy at Central Michigan University and founder of the Cora di Brazzà Foundation.

The volume also includes a poignant foreword by Koo Do Chung, Ph.D., President of the No Gun Ri International Peace Foundation and son of the author. Together, father and son waged a decades-long campaign to uncover the truth, demand accountability, and advocate for those whose voices were long ignored.

Dr. May reflects: “Forgotten Pain is an ideal text to ‘enter the forest’ of the Korean War. Chung’s courageous testimony places the No Gun Ri incident within a broader context that invites reflection on war, morality, and the evolution of humanitarian norms.”

With its profound emotional resonance and historical significance, Forgotten Pain makes a vital contribution to global memory and to ongoing efforts in peace and human rights education.

Charles Hanley, who led the Pulitzer Prize-winning AP team that broke the story in 1999 and co-authored The Bridge at No Gun Ri, underscores the memoir’s significance:
“Eun-Yong Chung’s account of the No Gun Ri massacre—born of a grieving father’s decades of devotion and tireless research—is a seminal document of profound historical importance. It stands as searing testimony to one of the most horrific American wartime atrocities of the 20th century. Told with unflinching detail, the narrative plunges the reader into the stark reality of modern conflict. A shattering indictment of the madness of war, it shows us that truth must be pursued, whatever the cost, to confront the madness.”

Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions beginning June 25, 2025.
Media Contact:
Hope Elizabeth May, Ph.D., J.D.
Editor, Forgotten Pain
Founder, Cora di Brazzà Foundation
Email: hope@coradibrazza.com
Website: coradibrazza.com

Hope Elizabeth May
The Cora di Brazzà Foundation
hope@coradibrazza.com