Republic of Korea: The Struggle

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If asked a little over a year ago what I thought South Korea was like the answer would have contained a lot of ignorance. With North Korea so close I considered it a Communist nation under a dictatorship. The nation had an economy based mostly off of farming and some factory work. Without a need for special skills, I would assume it would be safe to say that there is very little educational value held and children were expected to work as soon as possible. School is only for the elite, mainly government officials and their families. The streets would be dirty and crowded without having a more advanced utility system or any type of sanitation program cleaning the cities. In the main cities I could see having a small amount of motorized vehicles but more commonly a person would walk or ride a bike to get to their destination. Overall, I would consider them a step above a third world country but not by much.

Throughout Korea’s history it has continually faced oppression and invasion from larger countries and has been under several ruling countries, including Japan beginning in 1910. During the thirty-five year rule, Japanese culture, traditions and linguistics were forcefully imposed on the Korean people creating hostility and a bitterness that can still be felt through the older generation. At the end of World War II Japan withdrew from Korea creating the 38th Parallel ultimately deeply dividing the country in the middle. The two nations, the Republic of Korea (R.O.K) to the south and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K) to the north began fighting at the borders immediately. In 1950 the D.P.R.K. invades the R.O.K officially beginning the Korean War. Two years later, and close to three million civilian casualties...

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...cision, where no conclusion was come to. The international water border is also a large issue because there has never been an agreement to what the actual boundary is. A ship may pass through the water untouched one day and the next destroyed for trying to enter banned waters. This is what created high tensions just a few months ago between the two countries.

Works Cited

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2800.htm on 3.21.2011

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html

http://www.courageunfettered.com/xtra/korea.pp

http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/research/papers/Ali_Globalization.pdf

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/south-korea-country-profile.html

http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/chusok.htm

http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_south_korea.shtml

http://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/South-Korea.html

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