Readings on Modern Korea (11/26)

[Anonymous]

Korea 1953 to Present

[Anonymous]

Modern Korea-Online Articles

[Anonymous]

How interesting the story of Yi where being Korean and having great pride while being a respected Dr. still can only have "some" positive outcomes. It was just a matter of time that he too was just a slave to the Japanese and was lying to remain "above" his people.

[Anonymous]

It's hard to imagine that the war between North and South Korea is ongoing. I cannot imagine if our own civil war was still ongoing. Brothers, sisters, cousins and other relatives would be living divisive lives due to boundaries and ideology. The old days of blood being thicker than water is by the waste side. In this modern age, it seems that power and absolute power leads a more righteous path than bloodlines.

[Anonymous]

I would love to learn some more about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Because it remains a dictatorship, there continue to be reports of severe punishments of those that criticize their government. What are their borders like? Don't many try and leave?

[Anonymous]

I have a real hard time reflecting on the relationship between North and South Korea, and find it difficult to understand that after all the issues and conflicts that brought about the Korean War in 1950; these two continue to have this state of ongoing tensions.

[Anonymous]

I did not know of Korea's many early inventions. Inspired by religion, the Silla people tried different printing techniques and eventually made the oldest example of wood-block printing, the Dharani sutra. Koreans also developed weapons like the first ironclad vessels used in naval battle. They called them turtle ships due to their unique shape and armor.

[Anonymous]

This article made me so sad! It talks about how now that Kim Jong Il died, many Koreans were hoping for a positive change. And they have seen change. People are dressing more fashionably, using cell phones, and new buildings and landmarks are being constructed. However, amidst all that, many Koreans are still dying of starvation everyday. Rice is extremely expensive and only 1 out of 10,000 North Koreans can afford to eat a bowl of white rice everyday. The article interviewed a North Korean women who considered herself to be among the privileged due to the fact that she lives in the capital, but she barely eats rice and must eat wild greens in order to survive. The North and the South really do need to come together as one nation, but as I read previously in another article, can South Korea handle a merge with a country that is so extremely poor and desperate in need?

[Anonymous]

I found this article very enlightening, since prior to reading it I had many misconceptions regarding Korea. I had this image in my head of a small, minor country that played little significance in the world. To be honest, the most I knew about it stemmed from news reports referring to arms buildup in North Korea. This article, along with the lecutre about Korea, really opened up my eyes to how much I didn't know about Korea. From the article, I learned how Koreans were among the first to invent a moveable type. Korea and moveable print have never been put together in my years of studying history.

[Anonymous]

This article was quite surprising. I knew about the bias towards boys in China, but did not realize that Korea also followed that train of thought. After the initial surprise, I found it interesting that Korea has taken a step away from that train of thought, and now are focusing on girls. The fact that a mom with three boys at ontime was considered lucky, is now considered unfortunate.

[Anonymous]

The selection of online articles provided a great read by providing me with a different view of Korea. Again, East Asia has never been an area of strength for me. Of Korea, Japan, and China, Korea was the country of least knowledge for me. I enjoyed these readings becasue it gave me a completely different view of the country. Althought a small country, it does not seem to be a nation to be messed with.

[Anonymous]

nfong: The life of many North Koreans is indeed sad, especially when the government switched currencies. Imagine saving for decades and having that stripped from you, reducing your life's worth to 30 USD. People in NK are scraping weed off of walls to survive. This just illuminates form of leadership: to oppress the mass by sheltering them from information and the rest of the world in order to keep them ignorant and obedient. I am glad to see that North Koreans are realizing their oppression and hoping for a change; that they aren't just puppets operating from a puppeteer's strings.

[Anonymous]

Park Chung Hee: Wife was assassinated 1974 and he was too thereafter 1979. (Fifth Republic) Daughter is running for president this upcoming election in SK
People happy he died because chance of democracy again.

I'm just so amazed at the turnover of South Korean leaders. I never knew that the terms of many politicians in SK were so short lived. Also, the fact that some leaders committed suicide just shows the pressure to live up to the people's demands. Suicides also remind me of the concept of honor and obligation.

[Anonymous]

I remember hearing about brain drain when it came to S. Korean women. So many of them are educated, however, they don't put that knowledge into use because of motherhood. Yes, girls are golden in Korea now, but what are they doing to contribute to society? The top administrative jobs and executive positions are still held by men. So until men change their mindset that women are delicate or incapable of leading, wanting more girls isn't going to make that big of a difference.

[Anonymous]

I think the handout, "Top Ten Things to Know About Korea," will be very helpful in introducing Korea to students. Many of my students at Garfield High School are not aware that Korea is it's own country, and that it is completely different from China and Japan.

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