Korea under Japanese rule

centuries, Korea was very slow in changing from its agrarian society into an industrial society with “technical enterprises and other productive economic activities” . Apart from other reasons, the domination of Japan and the Korean War which bombarded the country to its death were the most prominent ones. However despite other countries’ expectations, president Park Jung Hee, also a military general who ruled the country from 1961 to 1979, was able to not only recover Korea from the…

Collapse of the Japanese Empire In the nineteen century, there was a great race for colonies among the biggest imperial powers. At that time, Japan was a country with a developed military force and remarkable ambitions. Thus, during a short time, Japan had colonized such countries as Korea, Taiwan and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The participation in the League of Nations gave Japan an opportunity to colonize the Northern Mariana Island, the Carolina Island and Marshall Island with no…

North Korea “Mysterious. Terrifying. North Korea is the most isolated country on earth... ‘the Dear Leader’, rules as a god-king. He controls the world’s fourth largest army and plutonium for nuclear weapons.” (National…) North Korea is an enigma; for outsiders, it is difficult to understand North Korea. However, after one takes a deeper look, one will see that there are many reasons for North Korea’s erratic behaviour. Since it was discovered, Korea has been a destination for the world’s most…

This chapter will explore the development and the popular culture and industry rise, especially in terms of music. As Mark James Russell wrote in his book Pop Goes Korea: “Koreans have long been known as singers and lovers of music, as visiting envoys from China pointed out over 1500 years ago. There were several music traditions in the Joseon dynasty [of 1392 to 1897]. The most famous, the long song-story pansori, grew from the shaman culture of Korea’s southwest. In addition, farmers’ music,…

Great changes in culture and advancements in technology in short spans of time, staying strong under less than friendly circumstances. That is the Modus Operandi of South Korea, despite the nation’s relatively young age, and conditions of coming into existence; it is a major Asian power. Prosper in the face of adversity, with the odds stacked against you, when no one expects you to. Seeing where something comes from can shed light on how it became the way it is. When someone or something is…

There were three treaties that progressively brought Korea under Japan’s rule. The first of these treaties was the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876. The treaty also known as the Treaty of Ganghwa Island in Korea was signed by representatives between the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Joseon on February 26, 1876. There were a few things that led up to the creation of the treaty. One…

hitching post” were written in different historical backgrounds; “The white rabbit” has a setting of Japanese colonial period and “Mother’s hitching post” has a setting of the Korean war. However, the two stories express one common theme, which is the pain of Koreans. In his story, “The white rabbit”, Kim Yu-jong describes the pain of Koreans who felt powerless due to their loss of nationality under Japan’s colonization. In Park Won-so’s story “Mother’s hitching post”, she portrays the pain of…

strongest country in East Asia, Korea was strongly influenced by the Chinese, and Japan was starting to open up relations with foreign powers (mainly the west). However, by the end of the mid-20th century, everything changed: China gained a new political system, Korea was annexed and freed of Japanese rule, and Japan suffered a major loss. So, how did everything change so quickly and within only one century? Ironically, the end of the Qing Empire and the end of Choson Korea was roughly around…

main legacies was the creation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea. Named the Hermetic State, it stands as one of the few totalitarian countries today. However, the current regime in North Korea would not have come to life had there been no Soviet influence on that peninsula. If there was no USSR influence, Communism, anti-American sentiment and the eventual dictatorship would never have sprung up in Korea. Through their like-minded ideals, like a puppet master the…

fought for South Korea, and China fought for North Korea, who was also assisted by the Soviet Union. The Korean War was three different conflicts from the perspective of the disparate groups who fought in it. For North and South Korea, the conflict was a civil war, a struggle with no possible compromise between two competing visions for Korea’s future. To the North was a coalition led by three dictators Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Kim Il-sung devoted to creating a Communist Korea, a…