Advantages And Disadvantages Of East Korea

In the midst of the 19th century, Korea was regarded by westerners as the Hermit Kingdom. In similar vein as their close neighbors to the east, Japan, who practiced Sakoku, or Isolation, Korea emulated a similar isolation. Though Korea was highly strict and in constant refusal for having any form of dialogue with westerners, they still maintaining relationships with China as a tributary state and friendly relations with Japan at the time. Though, there were some Koreans like Yi Hangno, a fierce supporter of the isolation policy, who thought that instead of having peace, to wage war against the aggressors who try to conquer Korea. Something to take note of is the name, Korea, itself was term that was made by a westerner. It was a corruption of one of the three kingdoms that were prevalent by the name of Goryeo. Westerners who …show more content…
Some of these negative responses include western materials/products and clothing and just as Japan had to deal with it, Korea also had to face the spread of catholicism within the land. They viewed this as the West slowly seeping in and taking control of the masses. In response to the widespread of the Catholic religion, there was a revival in confucian orthodoxy and the creation of a new religion, Tonghak, which would become widely popular among the the peasant class. Despite these initial negative reactions towards the west, there soon became some benefits to making contact with them. Some of the benefits that could be derived from help with the West were improving education and technological advancement as explored through the essays of Pak Unsik. We can even see how much of an influence that the western powers had on the eventual first president of korea, Syngman Rhee. In his essays, we see that he uses the west as inspiration and to build nationalism amongst the Korean people as proof of their immense potential and urge for