My parents were born in the 1960s in South Korea. South Korea's history had been tumultuous during this last century, starting with the fall of the Chosun empire and start of the Japanese Occupation in 1910, end of WWII and along with it the end of the Japanese Occupation, splitting up of Korea into two Koreas with provisional governments set up by Soviet Union and the United States in each of the Koreas, then finally the Korean war then started in 1950 and lasted 3 years. My parents were born in a Korea that was recovering from this violent history, economically and socially.
My mother was born to a farming family in an island off the western coast of Korea, called Ganghwa. Connected by a single bridge at the time to the main Korean peninsula, Ganghwa was an island of farmers and fishermen. She was the second of 6 children; she had 4 sisters and a brother.
My grandfather on my mother's side come from a family tree of some powerful rulers during the Chosun era (the An Dong Kims) that, after a long successful period of power, wound up in the wrong side of history and ended up being exiled to the island of Ganghwa. (In the later part of their reign, they were also infamous for abusing said power.) My grandfather's ancestor settled there, and eventually my grandfather was born. From what I hear, his family had wealth but not a disgraced reputation (due to the infamy and exile status from the past) - which is why my grandmother's family hesitated when he asked for her hand in marriage. My aunts say if my grandmother's family was a little more wealthy, she wouldn't have had to marry my grandfather - who was even blind in one eye due to an accident during his childhood. But fate would have it, her family was impoverished, and his family sent over a gift that won my grandmother over.
I'm not sure of the exact story of my grandparents' lives. Typical of Korean "adults", neither my parents nor my grandparents (or even my aunts/uncles) talk much about themselves or their past. I know they were born into the tail end of the Japanese Occupation era, and endured the Korean War when they were just stepping into adulthood. They told me they didn't migrate south during the war, as I thought all (South) Koreans had to do- which is fascinating; how does life just go on after your country has been run over by another?
As I find more out, I'll keep adding to this story. But all I know now is that my grandparents were married right after the Korean War ended, and my first aunt was born in the year 1956.