Book Review: Korea Old and New: A History by Carter J. Eckert The book I chose for this book review assignment is titled Korea Old and New: A History by author Carter J. Eckert along with other contributing authors Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson and Edward W. Wagner. The book is published at Korea Institute, Harvard University in 1990. The book consists of 418 pages and it is more of a survey of Korean history and reference type of book, rather than selected readings on modern Korean politics. I chose this book because it is a complete survey of Korean history from the ancient Choson period up to the economic boom of the 1990's, a span of over 2000 years. Each chapter covers a different period, but they all share the same organization of describing the social, cultural, political, philosophical and scholarly aspects of the period in respective subsections. This made it easier to later refer to previous chapters and compare different periods in order to learn the comprehensive history of Korea. This book is pieced together in two different efforts, one which is to understand the latter history of the post-1945 era with its political liberalization and rapid industrialization period, while at the same time centering its entire text on the question of Korean nationalism and the struggle against the countless foreign invasions Korea had to face. The purpose of this book was composed to provide detailed treatment of how modern Korea has developed with the converged efforts of top eastern and western scholars who wanted to construct a fair overview of Korea's complicated history. Also, the writers wanted to create an updated version of Korea's history by covering the contemporary arena up to the 1990's. The ... ... middle of paper ... ...y say that I was able to get a good overview of Korean history with a strong sense of knowledge gained. What I specifically gained was a better sense of Korea as a unique cultural entity with its own sense of excellence and its individuality. I have also learned that regardless of the hardships Koreans have suffered in this century, they have successfully endured every worst situation a nation can ever experience. From Japan's colonial rule to the heavy influence Korea felt from Russia's communist state and America's democracy, Korea was able to withstand all these instabilities and overcome to what may be a healthy and modernized nation. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like a broad yet thorough overview of Korean history because; this book is precisely written and sectioned accordingly to not make learning history difficult or confusing.
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Show MoreNorth Korea is notorious as the “Hermit Kingdom”. Defensive and secretive to the point of paranoia, its history as well as its present conditions remains shrouded in mystery. What little we do know can be murky at best. The central govern...
Joint Security Area (JSA) is a South Korean film which deals with the relationship between North Korea and South Korea. In the film, two North Korean soldiers are murdered near the border. Sophie, an officer from the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, investigates the incident. With evidence and information, she tries to find the truth of the incident. In JSA, the incident takes a place in 1999. North Korea and South Korea have been divided after the Korean War ends in 1953. Although around 50 years passed after the division, its influences remain and the film describes them. This paper is going to argue how JSA deal with the North Korean people and prospects of Korean reunification with referring to other resources.
Suh, Jungbo 동아일보,“[만화]’원폭 잔혹성 폭로’ 日만화 국내출간 : 뉴스 : 동아닷컴.” Dong A, 14 sept. 2000. Web.
Chŏng, Sang-yong, and Si-min Yu. Memories of May 1980: A Documentary History of the Kwangju Uprising in Korea. Seoul: Korea Democracy Foundation, 2003. Print.
..., South Korea’s economy ranked 15 in the world which is impressive for such a small country. Also, every couple of years, North and South Korea will both agree on a family reunion day in which they allow families who were broken up to meet each other for a day. It is very sad because they are only able to see each other for a day and are not able to know whether they will be able to see their family again. Korea still remains divided and does not show great signs of reunitement being possible.
Goncharov, S. N., John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai. Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao and the Korean War. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1993.
Korea had been known for revolting against domestic and foreign problems because of the desired to become a better country. Chon Pongjun in 1894 wrote, “A Call to Arms at Paeksan” exclaiming that citizens of Korea should rise up and save the people who are suffering. In addition, the Tonghak created “The Tonghak Proclamation to Soldiers and Civilians” claiming that Koreans in general should rise together to revolt against Japan. Then in 1960, Yi Sujong wrote, “Declaration of the Seoul National University Students Association” claiming that students will not allow the Korea government’s rulers to dictate Korea and they will bring down the regime. Even though the three sources are from different time periods and authors, their goal is to establish a changed in Korea by revolting against foreign or domestic rule because Korea seeks freedom. Therefore, fighting for freedom established the connection between the three sources.
Sarah Teo, Bhubhindar Singh and See Seng Tan, ‘South Korea’s Middle-Power Engagement Initiatives: Perspectives from Southeast Asia,’ RSIS Working Paper, No. 265, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Singapore (Nov, 2013)
Before World War II Japan ruled Korea as one country from 1939-1945. After World War II Korea was split into two countries. The U.S. took the side of South Korea, which was ruled by Syngman Rhee. Syngman Rhee lived March 26, 1875- July 19, 1965. He had a traditional Confucian education then went on to Methodist school where he learned English. He became a nationalist and later a Christian. When he was 21 he joined a group that’s goal was to free Korea from Japan. The club was broken apart and he was arrested from 1898-1904. He earned a PhD from Princeton, becoming the first Korean to earn a Doctorate from an American University. He returned to Korea after it was annexed from Japan. He was elected president of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai where he lived for a year and then moved back to Hawaii where he had been living, trying to create an international movement for his country. He remained president for 20 years before being p...
Korea ended its isolation in the mid-nineteenth-century age of imperialism, in 1882, as a defensive measure against its neighbors, signing “Treaty of Amity and Commerce” with the United States to provide “good offices if there is an external threat”. As a result of the rising Soviet-American rivalry at the end of World War II, the Korean peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel. The divide ran along the 38th parallel which is part of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) separating North and South Korea . The Soviet Union supported North Korea with Communist-control and the United States supported South Korea in democracy. In 1953 the Armistice Agreement ended three years of fighting (starting June 25, 1950) that killed over a milli...
My paper will be about North Korea’s transition to a new regime. After reflecting on materials that we’ve already read, there is a need to have a collaboration by the major players surrounding the Korean Peninsula. The three countries that I want to investigate are China, Russia, and the U.S. To understand the history of these three countries and the current political situation that will lead to a peaceful transition of a new North Korean regime. Throughout the years, there have been many fluctuation’s in the relationship of these three countries. Some years China, Russia, and the United States seem to have similar motives, but yet so different at the same time. Furthermore, the last thing that any of these
In the closing stages of World War II, the soviet troops, moved quickly to Korea. When the US heard about this progress they were shocked and also moved to Korea, to prevent the soviet from making all of Korean into a satellite state. Dean rusk (United states secretary of state) decided and created the 38th parallel line that would divide the Republic of Korea (ROK) which was controlled by the US and Democratic people’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), that w...
The Korean War explicitly portrayed the atrocious battle between both the North and South side which gave the United Nations its military role for the first time, thus expanding the war from a domestic to an international scale. Sometimes called “The Forgotten War”, the Korean War was mainly overshadowed in historical terms by the conflicts that occurred before and after it, World War II and the Vietnam War. The Korean War had raged for years without a true resolution and after years of battles, even the compromise that was made was not a complete one. The current situation regarding North and South Korea is quite volatile. In order to apprehend the Korean War, one has to look at events that took place before the war, how the war was conducted and the aftermath of the War.
...rsuit, I now understand Korean culture on a deeper level. For the culmination of my research I am writing a paper of my findings and observations.
Historically, the Korean War played a tremendous role in both North and South Korean societies. The Korean War was simply a victim of the rivalry between the Communism and the Capitalism. North Korea followed the communist beliefs, while the South Korea was backed up by the United States and its allies. The result of this war was deleterious, over 5 million people were killed from both sides. (Stueck, 1997). After experiencing a huge amount of loss both economically and socially, the Korean peninsula still remains divided. In other words, Korean people have experienced extreme tragedy for nothing in return. Visibly, the two Korean states have now a miniature intention to get into Militarized Interstate Disputes (MID). Accordingly, a realist