Korea in the Nineteenth Century

[Haena Shin]

I enjoyed reading the Concise History of Korea by Michael Seth. Korea had a lot of foreign influence from the West as well as Japan and China at this time. As Westerners considered, Korea the "hermit kingdom" in this time period, its interesting to learn that Koreans themselves were restricted to travel abroad whereas foreigners would visit Korea periodically. The discussions in class were also very interesting in how Korea was coveted as the "little brother."

Similar to other comments regarding the prosperity of Christianity in Korea, I wonder how Christianity it was able to thrive and grow so quickly. I think the March 1 movement was an important factor during the Japanese Occupation when Korean nationalism was high. While the growth of Christianity had a lot of positive benefits in Korea, what were some of the negative impacts of it in Korea? 

It was also refreshing to hear about so much information regarding Comfort Women and advocacy groups who continue to make sure that the public is aware of the tragedies that occured to these women and current discussions between Japan and Korea regarding this issue. There are so many documentaries and films that paint a different picture and I'm excited to see some of the different ones that Professor Kim mentioned.