August 5 - Session 1 - Jung-Kim - Korea Since 1945

I really enjoyed the clarifications of modern Korea, a country that I really don't know much about. In terms of my World History Classroom, I would definately do a "mind of" activity where I assign groups of 4 to become experts on a political leader of Korea. They proceed to draw out a full size figure of him, but use illustrations and words to describe what he is thinking (brain), how he feels (heart), his strenghts (arms), etc.. Also I would break things down onto a type of Flee Map (Combo Flow/Tree Map) to help students know the differences and similarities of each candidate/politician. It would go something like this:

Kim young sam (Mar 1993-feb 1998)
Presidency:
Platforms:
IMF Crisis (Asian Financial Crisis):

Kim Dae Jung (Feb 1998-Feb 2003)
Philosophy:
Poloicies:
Peace:

Roh Moo-hyun (Feb 2003-Feb2008)
Contradictions:
Results:
Post-presidency investigations:
Life:

Lee Myung Bak – Pres 2008
Past Experience:
Political Career:
Campaign/ Econ Plans:
Scandals:

P.S. FIRST! 😛

It was fast. It was intense. It was enlightening.
The gifts and handouts were a nice touch.

Came away with 4 big ideas that I will incorporate into my class.
1. Kim Il Jong was a egocentric dictator; 5 wives, grand kids going to Tokyo Disney? Nukes for nuclear power?
2. SK Transitioning from Japan to US to Military Dictators to finally Democracy was difficult evolution. Although politically difficult, the theme of a strong unified economy ran throughout. Amazing how many big Korean MNC there are. We didn't get to find out about the FDI strategy too much. I will look into that more. Especially interested to see that our priorities of anti-Soviet over true democracy continues to taint our relationship today.
3. The Korean Wave of culture - I recognized more than I thought I would. thought that it was from Japan originally. :}

This session filled in a lot of blanks for me with regards to Korean history post 1945. While I had some previous superficial knowledge of Korea up to this point, I did not know much if anything about North Korea in particular. I knew who the leaders were, but not their perspective on Korean unity, their economic needs, or anything else specific. I did find it quite humorous when we saw the picture of that goliath behemoth structure in the capital of North Korea that is unusable and unlivable. With regards to South Korea, I had thought their democratic movement came far earlier than the late 80s. I was not at all surprised to discover the US supported a dictatorship despite the desires of the people. Nor was I surprised to find out a number of Koreans began to dislike or even hate the US due to this foreign policy. I teach my kids constantly of contradictions in US policies at home and abroad, so this will help in those discussions. I believe it is important our kids don't grow up with that arrogant "USA is the best and is always right" attitude, since it is that every attitude that leads to many foreigners disliking Americans. Thus, I teach them to question everything and its accuracy, and this information definitely helps.

Libby, I agree that discussing Kim Jong Il's eccentricity is a good hook for students into North Korea. This seminar has also convinced me of the effectiveness of very visual powerpoints. There are a number of photos, including the assassination one we viewed today, that I will likely always remember and that helps provide context for the history.

I think my seniors are in for a wake up call when I show them the articles describing how much the Korean students study. I hope it will begin a discussion comparing cultural values, what makes for 'good' adolescents years, what makes for a good working population, etc. A cross-cultural comparison like this will hopefully be an eye opener for my seniors.

Lots of great information I can use! I always refer to North Korea when I teach the novel, 1984, and I talk a great deal about cult of personality. What I liked learning was that Kim Il sung was not the people, nor the Soviets' first choice as a leader, but he had eliminated the opposition in ruthless ways, so he became the great leader. I like the term "proxy war" to talk about some of the struggles the US and USSR had during the Cold War when they were feeding support to different countries. Loved the story of the son and grandson trying to get into Japan on fake Visas. Here the people of their country are only surviving because of foreign food shipments, yet they can try to go to Tokyo Disneyland, or send the kids to school in Switzerland. Who knows, maybe that will be a good thing for Korea's future. Their recent political shifts over the current and previous president are interesting too. We need to realize that other countries' policies and politics can change as quickly as our own.

Professor Kim

I am so very happy to have information on North Korea! Although the Koreas tend to get the short end of the stick North Korea really gets short changed…there just isn’t enough material regarding North Korea, so I enjoyed the portion of Professor Kim’s presentation that covered this.

Having the opportunity to discuss the readings was insightful…especially with the ability to ask questions about this less known region of the world. I was truly surprised to hear that North Koreans can travel outside the region and tourists are allowed to enter North Korea.

I may have said this before, but I really did learn something about my own students with this series of lecture on the Korea’s…I once had a student come into my class in tears, I inquired what was wrong and he told me he received a B+ on a Math Analysis test, I said, that’s great what 's wrong with that? He said, Ms H you don’t understand my father is going to kill me… This young man was truly devastated by his grade…I knew it was a cultural thing but I did not get it till now! Education is not just valued , it is extremely important to the Korean family!