South Korean Cultural Ecology - 1905 to 1990 - Part 1. "The Old Days" -- Page 1

A. Overview of Modern Korean History

In Korea there is a word, "Han." It is used to explain the country and its people. Han means both bitterness and resentful acceptance of its fate. It was born from a century of oppression and inequality. The Korean People seem able to endure almost anything. They are a patient people, waiting for their lot to improve, if not in their generation, perhaps in the next. No hardship seems too hard to bear, including an occupation by Japan, which attempted to destroy their culture, and the Korean War that left the country in shambles. Korea is a country that should not be in existence today. Invaded by Mongols, Chinese, and Japanese many times it still managed to survive. Its existence is a tribute to the tenacity and perseverance of its people.

Korea emerged in 1945 from 36 years of brutal suppression by Japan in which they were not even allowed to speak their own language. Many Koreans were forced into the Japanese Army for combat duty and into forced labor groups. Many are still unaccounted for today. Recently new documents were unearthed which proved that the Japanese Government had forced thousands of Korean girls to provide sex for Japanese soldiers. Some emotional scores must be settled before Japan and Korea can begin any permanent cooperation. The Korean War left the country devastated. The end of the war left three million dead (out of 21 million), factories destroyed, housing destroyed, cities devastated and the government in disarray. Total material damage estimates were $3,032 millions of 1951 US dollars. However the United Nations had saved South Korea from the Communist North Korea. The country's success was achieved under the dictatorship of the late Park Chunghee whose objective was to catch up with and overtake Japan. For eight years after the Korean War, the economy under Syngman Rhee was dormant.