5/9 - Jung-Kim - Korea's Historical Development

Dr. Kim constantly mentioned that Koreans have a long history of being treated as 2nd class citizens in their own land. She mentioned the various ways Japan violently took control of the land and people, denied Koreans civil rights and forced its citizens into assimilation of Japanese culture. Its very interesting to me the diverse levels of violence and cruelty that are used in colonizing communities. I think its very telling of the times. Although comfort women and cadastral land surveys are not pretty, its no inquisition! I always think of the worst colonizations coming from Europe around the 1500's- because it was not only a land and resources thing- but a deep spiritual and cultural invasion- I would definitely like to discuss this Korean experience when discussing colonization with my students- to analyze the difference in laws, mentality, and also of course to bring forward a discussion on being 2nd class citizens- what that means economically, politically, culturally and sexually.

I liked Ms. Jung-Kim's lecture, particularly the section of the Dark Period 1910-1919 or the Colonial Experience. She started with a comparison of the 250,000 Japanese overseeing 21 million Koreans with the 17,000 French overseeing 20 million Vietnamese. And therefore using this fact to outline how much more strict and restrictive the colonial experience was for the Koreans than the Vietnamese.

I agree with Mseeger, the idea of a citizen's right to protest is an interesting and compelling fact to present. I knew Koreans seemed more vocal and political than Japanese, particularly about Japanese aggression and war history but I didn't know how even older women are quite involved. Finally, the fact that 300,000 Koreans served along with Americans in the Vietnam War was useful. In the next lecture we had on Women in the Far East, I thought the fact about the Korean line, the Japanese nuclear family, and the Chinese clan as insightful comparisons.

I agree-- I too knew so little about both Korean history and modern Korea, and I was also fascinated by Professor Kim's lecture.
In terms of Korea's education system stressing memorization, I wonder if this will change sometime soon? When my parents were in school in the 1950s and 60s, the educational philosophy of the day was "memorize, memorize, memorize," whereas today's prevailing educational philosophy stresses the importance of having students process information and make connections to new concepts. I wonder if Korea's system will change in a way similar to ours and become more constructivist in the coming years?
On a side note- last weekend I went out with a Korean-American fried to celebrate her birthday-- she took us to a place in Korea town that she said was just like a club you'd find in Korea-- anyway, the toilets had all the buttons and features that Professor Kim described, and I got a kick out of that (although I was somewhat worried about pressing the wrong button!).
-Karen

I think the book is good for everyone to read because even students who are Asian descent especially who were born in the United States, they may not know what happened in the past. It will be interesting to see how students respond to such event...

Another thought.... In restrospect, I would have liked to spend a little more class time discussing North Korea, especially with the amount it has been in the news of late. I would especially like to learn a bit about the views South Koreans have of North Korea, and if possible, the views North Koreans really have of South Korea.