A History of Korea

Jinwung Kim

Description

A masterful account of the complex history of the Asian nation

Contemporary North and South Korea are nations of radical contrasts: one a bellicose totalitarian state with a failing economy; the other a peaceful democracy with a strong economy. Yet their people share a common history that extends back more than 3,000 years. In this comprehensive new history of Korea from the prehistoric era to the present day, Jinwung Kim recounts the rich and fascinating story of the political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic developments in Korea's long march to the present. He provides a detailed account of the origins of the Korean people and language and the founding of the first walled-town states, along with the advanced civilization that existed in the ancient land of "Unified Silla." Clarifying the often complex history of the Three Kingdoms Period, Kim chronicles the five-century long history of the Choson dynasty, which left a deep impression on Korean culture. From the beginning, China has loomed large in the history of Korea, from the earliest times when the tribes that would eventually make up the Korean nation roamed the vast plains of Manchuria and against whom Korea would soon define itself. Japan, too, has played an important role in Korean history, particularly in the 20th century; Kim tells this story as well, including the conflicts that led to the current divided state. The first detailed overview of Korean history in nearly a quarter century, this volume will enlighten a new generation of students eager to understand this contested region of Asia.

Introduction
I. Dawn of the Korean Nation
1. The Prehistoric Age
2. The Origins of the Korean People
3. Old Chosŏn
4. Confederated Kingdoms
II. The Period of the Three Kingdoms (57 BCE — 676 CE)
5. The Growth of Koguryŏ
6. The Rise and Decline of Paekche
7. The Rise and Growth of Silla
8. The Rise and Fall of Kaya
9. Silla's Unification
10. Political and Social Structure of the Three Kingdoms
11. Culture of the Three Kingdoms
12. The Three Kingdoms and Japan
13. "History War" with China
III. Parhae, Unified Silla, and the Later Three Kingdoms (676 — 936)
14. Parhae's Rise and Growth
15. Government and Society of Unified Silla
16. Flourishing Culture of Unified Silla
17. The Later Three Kingdoms
IV. The First Half of the Koryŏ Period (918 —1170)
18. Forging a Centralized Government
19. Ruling Structure
20. Economic and Social Structure
21. Foreign Relations in the Early Koryŏ Period
22. Development of Aristocratic Culture
V. The Second Half of the Koryŏ Period (1170 – 1392)
23. Disturbing Koryŏ Society
24. Koryŏ and the Mongols
25. The Downfall of Koryŏ
VI. The First Half of the Chosŏn Period (1392 – 1650)
26. Establishment of a New Order
27. Reorganization of the Ruling Structure
28. Social Structure and Economic Life
29. Territorial Expansion and Foreign Relations
30. Culture in Early Chosŏn
31. The Growth of the Neo-Confucian Literati
32. The Struggle with the Japanese and Manchus
VII. The Second Half of the Chosŏn Period (1650 – 1910)
33. The Revival of the Dynasty
34. The Rehabilitation of Culture
35. The Dynasty in Disturbance
36. Culture in the 19th Century
37. Politics of the Taewŏn'gun
38. The Open Door Policy and the Reform Movement
39. The Tonghak Peasant War and the Kabo Reform
40. Japanese Aggression and the Downfall of Chosŏn
VIII. The Period of Japanese Colonial Rule (1910 – 1945)
41. Government by Bayonet and the March First Movement
42. Japan's Shift to the "Cultural Policy" and Korean Nationalism
43. Japan's Tightening Grip on Korea and Korean Nationalism
44. Japan's Historical Distortions
45. Wartime Policy of the Allied Powers on Korea
IX. Liberation, Division, and War (1945 – 1953)
46. From Occupation to a Separate Government in South Korea
47. Economic and Social Problems in South Korea
48. North Korea after Liberation
49. The Two Koreas before the Korean War
50. The Korean War
X. The Period of Postwar Reconstruction (1953 – 1971)
51. The Establishment of Authoritarian Rule in South Korea
52. South Korean Economy and Society
53. South Korea's Relations with the United States and Japan
54. The Rise of the Juche (Chuch'e) State in North Korea
55. The North Korean Economy
56. North Korea's Foreign Relations
XI. Reversal of Fortune (1972 – 1992)
57. From Autocratic Rule to Democracy in South Korea
58. The Prospering South Korean Economy
59. Militaristic South Korean Society
60. South Korea's Foreign Relations
61. The Totalitarian State in North Korea
62. The North Korean Economy
63. North Korea's Foreign Relations
64. North-South Korean Relations
XII. Both Koreas in a New Phase (1993 – the Present)
65. South Korean Democracy in Full Bloom
66. South Korean Economy and Society
67. The Faltering Juche State in North Korea
68. North Korea's WMD Program
69. North-South Korean Relations
70. Shaking the ROK-U.S. Alliance
71. South Korea's Relations with Neighboring Countries
72. The Prospects for Reunification
Timeline of Korean History
Select Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Asian Studies
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Korea
• History of Asia
• Asia
• Corée

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 05 novembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9780253000781
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

A HISTORY OF KOREA

A HISTORY OF
KOREA
FROM LAND OF THE MORNING CALM TO STATES IN CONFLICT
JINWUNG KIM
INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
2012 by Kim Jinwung
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences- Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kim, Jinwung.
A history of Korea : from Land of the Morning Calm to states in conflict / Jinwung Kim.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-00024-8 (cloth : alkaline paper) - ISBN 978-0-253-00078-1 (ebook) 1. Korea-History. 2. Korea (South)-History. 3. Korea (North)- History. I. Title. DS 907.18. K 53296 2012
951.9-dc23
2012032989
1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. Dawn of the Korean Nation
The Prehistoric Age
The Origins of the Korean People
Old Chos n
Confederated Kingdoms
2. The Period of the Three Kingdoms (57 BC-AD 676)
The Growth of Kogury
The Rise and Decline of Paekche
The Rise and Growth of Silla
The Rise and Fall of Kaya
Silla s Unification
Political and Social Structure of the Three Kingdoms
Culture of the Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms and Japan
A History War with China
3. Parhae, Unified Silla, and the Later Three Kingdoms (676-936)
The Rise and Growth of Parhae
The Government and Society of Unified Silla
Unified Silla s Flourishing Culture
The Later Three Kingdoms
4. The First Half of the Kory Period (918-1170)
Forging a Centralized Government
Ruling Structure
Economic and Social Structure
Foreign Relations in the Early Kory Period
Development of Aristocratic Culture
5. The Second Half of the Kory Period (1170-1392)
Disturbances in Kory Society
Kory and the Mongols
The Downfall of Kory
6. The First Half of the Chos n Period (1392-1650)
The Establishment of a New Order
Reorganization of the Ruling Structure
Social Structure and Economic Life
Territorial Expansion and Foreign Relations
Culture in Early Chos n
The Growth of the Neo-Confucian Literati
The Struggle with the Japanese and Manchus
7. The Second Half of the Chos n Period (1650-1910
The Revival of the Dynasty
Cultural Rehabilitation
The Dynasty in Disturbance
Culture in the Early Nineteenth Century
Policies of the Taew n gun
The Open-Door Policy and the Reform Movement
The Tonghak Peasant War and the Kabo Reform
The Downfall of Chos n
8. The Period of Japanese Colonial Rule (1910-1945)
Government by the Bayonet and the March First Movement
Japan s Shift to the Cultural Policy and Korean Nationalism
Japan s Tightening Grip on Korea and Korean Nationalism
Japan s Revisionist History of Korea
The Allied Powers Wartime Policy on Korea
9. Liberation, Division, and War (1945-1953)
From Occupation to a Separate Government in Southern Korea
Economic and Social Problems in Southern Korea
Northern Korea after Liberation
The Two Koreas before the Korean War
The Korean War
10. The Period of Postwar Reconstruction (1953-1971)
The Establishment of Authoritarian Rule in South Korea
The South Korean Economy and Society
South Korea s Relations with the United States and Japan
The Rise of the Juche State in North Korea
The North Korean Economy
North Korea s Foreign Relations
11. Reversal of Fortunes (1972-1992)
From Autocratic Rule to Democracy in South Korea
The Prospering South Korean Economy
Militaristic South Korean Society
South Korea s Foreign Relations
The Totalitarian State in North Korea
The North Korean Economy
North Korea s Foreign Relations
North-South Korean Relations
12. Both Koreas in a New Phase (1993 to the Present)
South Korean Democracy in Full Bloom
The South Korean Economy and Society
The Faltering Juche State in North Korea
North Korea s Weapons of Mass Destruction Problem
North-South Korean Relations
The Changing ROK -U.S. Alliance
South Korea s Relations with Neighboring Countries
Prospects for Reunification
CHRONOLOGY
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
Acknowledgments
I deeply thank my Patron, Spencer C. Tucker, former John Biggs Chair of Military History at Virginia Military Institute and currently Senior Fellow of Military History at ABC-CLIO . Dr. Tucker helped me find a publisher for my work on the history of Korea and offered many suggestions and constructive criticism on my manuscript, all the while expressing endless enthusiasm for its publication. This book would never have been completed without his help and reassurance.
I also thank Robert J. Sloan and Sarah Wyatt Swanson, editorial director and assistant sponsoring editor, respectively, at Indiana University Press, for their excellent suggestions for improving the quality of the book. I also thank the anonymous reviewer of my manuscript for valuable suggestions and comments that further improved this work.
Finally, this book could not have been completed without the love and sacrifice of my daughter, Hyungeun Grace Kim. Her love for her father and endless encouragement helped make all this possible.
Jinwung Kim Taegu, Republic of Korea
Introduction
Koreans, a branch of the Ural-Altaic family, began their long, rich history as small tribes entering Manchuria (Manzhou) and the Korean peninsula from the Asian mainland hundreds of thousands of years ago. The vast plains of Manchuria, which now belong to China, had been the main arena of activity for Koreans until AD 926, when the Korean kingdom of Parhae fell to Qidan (Khitan) Liao. At first the Korean people came together into a cluster of villages and tribal states, termed walled-town states. As stronger walled-town states subjugated weaker ones under their dominion, these walled-town states grew into confederated kingdoms, including Old Chos n, Puy , Kogury , Paekche, and Silla, as well as the Kaya confederation. Among these, the kingdoms of Kogury , Paekche, and Silla developed into centralized kingdoms, opening the period of the Three Kingdoms. When Silla unified two rival kingdoms in 676, or certainly when Kory ended the period of the Later Three Kingdoms in 936, Koreans finally came together into a single homogeneous nation that has kept its identity despite repeated invasions by surrounding countries and peoples.
During the Kory and Chos n dynasties, Korea was an autonomous, unified state with a sophisticated central government for a millennium. When Japan annexed the Chos n kingdom in 1910, Koreans lost their independence and came under Japanese colonial rule. Koreans tenaciously resisted unrelenting pressure from the Japanese to annihilate their way of life, and they succeeded in preserving their own culture intact. Since liberation from the Japanese in 1945, and as a result of the Cold War, Korea came to be divided into two states, North and South. Despite this division, Koreans in each state have regarded those in the other as their brethren and have aspired to reunification.
In short, throughout their long history, Koreans have endured all kinds of trials to maintain an ethnic and cultural identity quite separate from that of China or Japan. Koreans all speak the same language and share the same culture, and clearly their language, alphabet ( han g l ), arts, and customs are distinct from those of the Chinese and the Japanese.
Although it began as a small nation on the eastern tip of the Asian continent, Korea has had a long, important civilization. Korea s extensive history has been characterized both by the persistent assertion of a distinctive Korean identity and by military, political, and cultural assaults from external sources. Korean historians note that, throughout its history, Korea has been invaded by foreign aggressors once every two years on average. Given Korea s strategic location and the much greater power of its neighbors, first China, and then Japan and Russia, it is remarkable that the Korean nation has survived.
While establishing its national identity, the Korean nation has produced remarkable cultural achievements. Recently South Korea (Republic of Korea) has excelled from the standpoints of political and economic development. Indeed, it has been universally acclaimed as a political and economic success story. An internationally recognized middle power, South Korea is marked not only by a fully functioning modern democracy but also by a high-tech modern world economy. It has raised itself from the depths of devastation and poverty following the Korean War (1950-1953) and shaken off the shackles of authoritarian rule to become a fully democratic nation committed to human rights, the rule of law, and economic prosperity for its people. The history of South Korea is also one of the fastest socioeconomic growth stories in the world during the past six decades. 1 As of 2008 it was the 15th largest economy and the 12th most active trading nation among 186 countries. It has become a much more dynamic and creative society than it was 20 years ago. The country is now a leader in information technology, and its popular culture, known as hallyu, or the Korean wave, dominates much of Asia. South Korea s full-fledged democracy and internationally oriented, prospering economy has earned it recognitio