Session 8b - 1/23/10 - Jung-Kim - Korea since 1945

[clay dube]

There's a surprising amount of scholarship on Christianity in Korea, but I don't think that this question, "why is Christianity so popular?" has been fully answered to the satisfaction of the scholarly community. Part of the answer lies in the timing, Christianity provided a venue beyond the control of the Japanese colonial government and provided an alternative belief system in a time of great trial. Another part lies in the fact that missionaries got busy setting up colleges - Koreans appreciated and continue to appreciate educational opportunities. But these are only partial explanations.

At the same time, remember that most Koreans are not Christian (perhaps 25-30% are). Christians, though, clearly have a higher propensity to seek to migrate. The overwhelming majority of Koreans coming to the US are Christian.

[Anonymous]

Primary sources related to early contact between South Korea and the United States

Currently, I teach history and many of my students are Korean, so this information
from the lecture and the readings provide a broader context from which to
teach and engage students in Korean life.

Asian history in general interests Hispanic and Latino students regarding
China's role in Latin America and the Asian immigrants (Brazil and its Japanese immigrants)
who live there.

The primary source documents are helpful even for non AP US History classes.

I was able to use a little of Ms. Kim's information on Monday, January 25, 2010 and the
student response was positive!

[Anonymous]

Being a Korean, and a third generation Catholic, I would like to add that one of the main reasons for the success of Christianity in Korea perhaps has to do with the sense of “modernism.” The old Confucian ways seemed to have had many restrictions to the new ideas, where as Christianity offered more liberal points of view in terms of equality, prosperity, progress, and especially education for both sexes.

When missionaries arrived in Korea, they started building schools and offered “western education” with modern science and medicine. The education was offered not only to boys but also to girls. Known for their zealousness for education, many Koreans were immediately attracted to the educational opportunities and converted to Christianity.

As the society grew more and more industrialized, the traditional religion Buddhism seemed a bit too old to many of the younger generation and those who longed for new ideas and modernization started to turn to Christianity. Especially after the Korean War, there were many Christian charity organizations that came and helped with war orphans, the poor, and the sick, that Koreans generally have had very positive feelings toward western missionaries. Christianity in Korea was never by conquest, like other countries that were forced to convert, which also made a difference in its success.

Furthermore, through church, many opportunities started to open up for Koreans to go abroad, especially to the “Mi Guk” (which means the U.S, the “beautiful country” in Korean). In addition, there have been many strong and successful evangelical movements in Korea, so that now just about on every block you’ll surely find a Christian church.

Christianity in Korea has become a very accessible religion as opposed to Buddhism because usually the Buddhist temples are located outside of the cities and sometimes the city folks need to travel a bit of a distance to get there. I was surprised to hear that only a “third” of the population is Christian, because it seems way more than that.

[Anonymous]

Actually, since the introduction of Catholicism in 1784, followed by the arrival of Protestant missionaries in 1884, Christianity has proceeded to become -after Buddhism-, the largest religion in Korea. Today about one third of South Korea's 45 million people are Christians, 11 million Protestants and 3 million Roman Catholics.

[Anonymous]

http://events.latimes.com/travelshow/

Korea Tourism Organization has a boot to allow you to explore your traveling option to korea

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/intro.html

Today and tomorrow at the LA Convention Center
Tickets are $7 at AAA offices
Or $8 online latimes.com/travelshow
And $10 at the door
Free for travel agents

[Anonymous]

The Thursday February 11th Sports section of the LA Times made reference to the continuous rival competition between Korea and Japan that dates back in history.

“In the Korean mind, it is a history of Japanese invasion and occupation going back to the 16th century”

The article tells the story of Olympian figure skater Kim Yuna who represents Korea in Vancouver this year.

19 year old Kim has been titled Korea’s Favorite Daughter and not only its people, but the many businesses that endorse her, are putting the weight of the country’s gold medal and national triumph on her shoulders.

It is a matter of national pride and gold is what they expect of her. The article describes how many other athletes that won silver medals in previous competitions, had gone back to Korea apologizing for their failure to win gold.

Kim knows how serious wining the gold is to the Koreans. When she is in Korea each and every move she makes becomes public knowledge by the media, every tiny error, and every little detail. She feels safer and freer when practicing outside Korea.

By the way, Brian Orser, her coach, is reported to be the most popular foreigner in Korea.
The article says that her last name means “gold”

[Anonymous]

Torrance has a large population of Koreans as did Flushing, New York, where I lived for many years. I've met many Koreans and I'm glad I got the opportunity to learn more about their culture and history. Here are some fun facts I found out: Annyeong haseyo is a greeting used any time of day and translates, "Are you at peace?"

Also, check out the attached picture. It's a picture of a Korean Buddhist temple and has a swastika. In Korea, it is associated with the peace and harmony of Buddhism. You will always see it on temples or on stores that sell Buddhist goods. People will even display it on their houses for good luck! Regarding the WWII memorial answer: Korea was under Japanese rule during WWII. Starting in 1941, Japan started conscription of Koreans into the armed forces. All Korean males were drafted to either join the Imperial Japanese Army (April 1944), or work in the military industrial sector (September 1944). Korea was granted independence after Japan surrendered to the Allied forces (creating North and South Korea).

[clay dube]

How many know about the Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion. It's in San Pedro. Here's info:

http://www.sanpedro.com/sp_point/korenbel.htm

Which gets me wondering -- perhaps it would be a good adventure for students to do an LAsia hunt. What landmarks can they find?

[Anonymous]

While I missed the morning session, I really enjoyed all the detail and up to date information that was brought up in the lecture. She did a wonderful job of giving us her perspective as a Korean-American. I really enjoyed her insights on day to day Koreans. I too was intrigued about the Christainity issue. Thank you all for the wonderful information. Thanks Clay, I might have to go down to San Pedro to see them!

[Anonymous]

Oh yes!!!
I live and work in San Pedro

I have a video of my son flying his kite at the Korean Bell.

Teachers feel free to show your students this video that you can find in my page

http://pattycampuzano.glogster.com/

Is a magnificent and windy place.

[Anonymous]

From the Korean people that I have met in my lifetime, I can only say that Christianity is very big in Korea, and especially among Korean Americans. The christian Missionaries really did a job on the Asian Population, and they were obviously needed in these countries. I really can't say that it is a bad thing.They are very devout people, and they give generously with what they have. My Korean friend owns a dry cleaning business, and to my surprise they built a church cash for a poor village in Korea. They spent over a million dollars doing it and it left them with no cash , but to them it is better to build souls. Money can always be replaced with more hard work, but the souls and lives of people are sometimes not replaceable. Isn't it nice to know that there are people like this in the world. Maybe I should ask them for their next million, and they can save my soul !

[Anonymous]

The park in San Pedro is a beautiful place for kids to experience. I have gone there a few times, since I live locally in Palos Verdes Estates, and I never cease to be amazed that this bit of cultural wonder is sitting atop a hill in San Pedro. I really love the place. San Pedro is such a multicultural area anyway, that it works there.

[Anonymous]

This session on Korea was very fascinating. I totally respect Professor Jung-Kim, and found her lecture to be very informative, but in dealing with the Japanese treatment of Korea, I feel she was boxing with kid gloves. Maybe because she herself being Korean, she did not feel that she should be the one to express the outrage toward the Japanese treatment, and the continued denials of that treatment. The forced assimilation of the Korean people to Japanese culture, including the changing of their names, and the whole idea of "Japan and Korea as one Body" so that Koreans become Japanese, is tantamount to cultural genocide. Japan has never acknowledged this as being wrong, and we, the country that helped rebuild Japan, and gave it its constitution, have never pushed them to do so. This is a tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the "Korean Miracle", it is inspiring to see a country come from so far down economically to being one of the economic giants. Per capita, South Korea must stand second to none. We can certainly take inspiration from them, as we try to put our house back in order.

[Anonymous]

I found it interesting to review some research on The Immigration of Korean Americans, and I found that Koreans focused on Hawaii for their immigrations from 1900 to 1946. The Koreans were brought to the island paradise for their ability to work the sugar plantations. Their country was in constant turmoil from the Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895, and many of them were very happy to leave. About 8000 left. Koreans left for Hawaii before the Japanese stopped the mass exodus in 1905. The immigrant Koreans were supported by their churches in Hawaii, as they are in the world today, wherever they are located. Immigration to the United States was not discriminated against because they came into the country relatively unnoticed. There were not that many of them who came to the United States itself. They therefore did not become such a burden. They were not allowed to become naturalized citizens. After the 1924 Immigration Act, immigration from Korea ceased. After the Korean War in 1953, North Korea became a closed society. Before the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, the only Koreans that came to our country were brides of American Servicemen, college students, and children of Korean Women and American Servicemen. Many orphans were brought over to be adopted by American Families. After 1965 Koreans entered our country at greater rates, and by 1990 there were more than 798,000 Koreans in the United States. Many of them were professionals, including doctors. In my opinion they are a much welcomed people into our mosaical society.

[Author]

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