Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey

Introduction Korea’s Turbulent Twentieth Century

1 Introduction KOREA’S TURBULENT TWENTIETH CENTURY THE PEOPLE OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA, now divided into northern and southern nation-states, have had a turbulent twentieth century. In relation to the size of its population and breadth of its territory, Korea has also played a disproportionately important role in the last hundred years of world history. There is considerable irony in this statement because as late as 1876 Korea existed on the margins of the world system, recognizing only one primary interstate relationship —with China—and maintaining only infrequent and highly circumscribed contacts with Japan. Of the West and the expanding capitalist world system Korea knew very little. In the late nineteenth century the Chosŏn dynasty had ruled the people of the peninsula for the astonishingly lengthy tenure of 500 years. Chosŏn’s isolation had obscured from the view of the rest of the world a people who possessed a historical lineage of great antiquity and who had made considerable contributions to East Asian civilization. Written history traces the early states on the peninsula to the fourth century B.C. and since the late seventh century large portions of Korea’s present territory have been ruled by unified state systems: the Unified Silla state (668–918), the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392), and finally the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). In spite of its ancient lineage and long history of autonomy in East Asia, Korea is often thought of as a mere appendage to the great Chinese empire on its northeast border. Korea is no larger than a middle-sized province of China, and it was always in peril of Chinese military aggression. At several times in its history the peninsula or portions thereof have been directly subjugated by Chinese power. But relatively speaking, Korea maintained its political and cultural integrity in the face of its colossal neighbor. It did so through careful attention to power relations along its northern border. And from 1392 until the late nineteenth century, the Chosŏn dynasty maintained a peaceful relationship with the Celestial Empire that was marred only by the disruptions attending the replacement of the Ming by the Qing dynasty during the 1630s and 1640s. Western observers have often mistakenly interpreted this long relationship as one of vassalage. Indeed, this perception was furthered by the ritual subordination that characterized Korea’s formal relationship with China. Korea was, however, an independent state; its society, politics, and culture had evolved separately for over a millennium. While the trappings and administrative structure of the Chosŏn Korea. Source: Made at the University of Indiana Libraries with data from Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Korea’s Turbulent Twentieth Century 3 dynastic system seemed to mirror those of the Ming (1368–1644), these surface features obscured an intricate assimilation of Chinese ideas and institutions with indigenous Korean patterns that had a far more ancient provenance. Korea had absorbed influences from China from the time its first state structures emerged; it used Classical Chinese as the official writing system of government and elite intercourse . But it is more important to recognize what was expressed in this admittedly foreign writing system. Korean state structures may have mirrored those of the Chinese, but their operation reflected earlier Korean patterns of aristocratic hierarchy and stratification. Not until the Chosŏn period did Neo-Confucianism become established as state orthodoxy, and even then its values and language were melded into the indigenous political culture of Korea. Given the commonalities, however, it is not surprising that many still view Korea as an offshoot of Chinese civilization. It was indeed a part of the East Asian civilization defined in many ways by Chinese cultural norms. But Chinese influences account for only a portion of Korea’s own unique civilization. This book seeks to explore Korea’s historical experience over the last hundred years. It is an experience shaped by foreign intrusion, occupation, war, and often violent social and economic upheaval. If such experience were a journey, it would be an odyssey in the true sense of the metaphor. In order to make sense of its twists and turns, we must sort misconceptions from realities. This is all the more important because of the significant role Korea has played in the evolution of modern East Asia. From the beginning of the process that forced Korea into the...