Korea
Korea is a peninsula in eastern Asia where people have lived for the past 12,000 - 15,000 years. The country is located between China and Japan. It was once a large unified country that had governed territories in Manchuria as recently as 1908, and some territory in present-day Siberia. At one point, it was the centre for the very best silk in the world, as noted in ancient Chinese scripts. Korea was also known for having the world's best goldsmiths during the 7th-8th centuries. The publication technique of movable type was invented in Korea in 1232, long before Gutenberg introduced the concept in Europe. These types used Chinese characters and were initially mainly used to mass-produce Buddhist sutras.
Politically, Korea is currently divided into the communist Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the capitalist, democratic Republic of Korea (ROK). This division has been in effect since Japan's capitulation in 1945 at the end of World War II. For more on the regions of Korea (both North and South), see Provinces of Korea. The nation is renowned for its traditional dish called kimchi (see Korean cuisine) - which uses an innovative and unique process of preserving vegetables by fermentation (developed before electric refrigeration existed).
Names
(Full article: Names of Korea)
In Korean, Korea is referred to as "Chosŏn" (조선; 朝鮮) in the North and "Hanguk" (한국; 韓國) in the south. The western name "Korea" (from Goryeo (고려; 高麗)) is a neutral name often used by both countries in international contexts. There are complex historical reasons for the use of all three names, of which the following paragraph is a summary.
Before the Three Kingdoms Period, "Joseon" was the name of various early states in northern Korea, while "Han" was used in the names of several tribal confederacies in the south. (According to the Dangun myth, "Old Joseon" was the first Korean state.) In the 660s, the kingdoms of Baekje and Goguryeo came under the control of Silla, and Korea was called "Silla" (or Unified Silla by modern historians) from then until the 10th century. In 936, the newly formed kingdom of Goryeo defeated Silla. From Goryeo came "Cauli" (the Italian spelling of the name Marco Polo gave to the country in his Travels), from which came the English names "Corea" and the now more commonly used "Korea". (For the Corea-vs.-Korea debate, please see Names of Korea.) In 1392, the Joseon Dynasty came to power and the country was renamed "Joseon" (Daejoseonguk in full, or "Great Joseon Nation"). In 1897, the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk) was formed, reviving the name "Han". In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan and the name reverted to "Joseon" ("Chosen" in Japanese). In 1919, a self-professed Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was formed in Shanghai, which used the name "Republic of Korea" (Daehan Minguk), a modified form of the name "Korean Empire". After independence from Japan and the country's division in 1945, the southern American-occupied zone became the "Republic of Korea" (or Hanguk for short in Korean) in 1948, due to the influence of the non-Communist Shanghai group. Meanwhile, the northern Soviet-occupied zone became the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (or Joseon for short in Korean) under the control of Kim Il-sung, who wished to use the name "Joseon" for its ancient and northern connotations.
History
(Full article: History of Korea)
There exists archaeological evidence that people were living in Korea 18,000 to 12,000 years ago. According to a few ancient transcripts a kingdom called Gija Joseon was established in 1122 BC. Historians are still debating the exact order of events.
In the period 57 BC to AD 668, the Three Kingdoms of Silla (or Shilla), Goguryeo, and Baekje existed, as well as the minor confederacy of chiefdoms called Gaya. Gaya was conquered by Silla in 562. All three major kingdoms were influenced by China. Buddhism was introduced in 372. In 660 the Silla kingdom allied with China's (Tang Dynasty) to overthrow the other kingdoms. While Silla was forging diplomatic ties with China, Baekje had sustained a close relationship to Japan before it completely fell to the Silla-Tang alliance. During the Unified Silla period (681 to 935) Buddhism expanded, and culture developed substantially.
The kingdom of Goryeo was founded in 918 and replaced Silla as the dominant power in Korea in the years 935-936. The kingdom lasted until 1392. During this period laws were codified, and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished, and spread throughout the peninsula. In 1231 the Mongols invaded Korea. For the following 150 years the Goryeo ruled, but under the control of the Mongols.
In 1392 a Korean general, Yi Seonggye allied himself with the Chinese, overthrew the Goryeo king and established a new dynasty: the Joseon Dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty moved the capital to Hanseong (now Seoul) and adopted Confucianism as the state ideology. During this period, the Hangul alphabet was introduced by King Sejong in 1443.
During the mid- to late- 19th century, Korea tried to prevent the opening of the country to foreign trade by closing the borders to all nations but China, resulting in it being called the Hermit Kingdom by many. In 1871, the United States first met Korea militarily, in what the Koreans call the Shinmiyangyo. Beginning in 1876 the Japanese forced trade agreements on Korea, won influence over Korea following the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). In 1897, Joseon was renamed Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire). A period of Russian influence followed, until Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). The Japanese attempted to exert direct influence on Korea but its failure to coerce led to the assassination of Queen Myongsong Hwanghu (1895) by Japanese mercenaries and the forced abdication by King Gojong(1907) to his mentally handicapped son Sunjong. Korea became a protectorate of Japan in 1905. In 1910 the country was officially annexed by Japan, thus establishing the Japanese Colonial Period in Korea.However,some evaluate the word "colony" does not apply to Korea,because of Japan's much devotion for modernization to Korea and the Korean with the cost of the lives of some part in Japan,compared with ,for example,the British attitude against India or Africa.
During Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), Koreans were deprived of many rights, including the freedom to assemble and associate, free speech, and an independent press. On the other hand,the colonial government built hundreds of new schools and made education more accessible than before. Separate sets of schools were built for the Japanese and the Koreans in Korea, derived from the fact that the native language was different.Elementary school for the Koreans instructed Japanese, with started the counterpart of ABC.Some evaluated the divided system might make Koreans put at a disadvantage, with limited access to higher education. The higher education at that time was far for most of the Japanese as well as for the Korean from the aspect of economic environment. By the end of the war years, subjects such as Korean history and language were dropped in favour of their Japanese equivalents. The Japanese established modern Transport and communication networks across the country, and extraction of raw material expanded as they took over the mines and forests.
After the former Korean emperor Gojong had died, anti-Japanese rallies took place nationwide on 1 March 1919. A declaration of independence was read in Seoul. This peaceful protest was brutally suppressed by the colonial rulers.
Anti-Japanese rallies continued throughout the colonial time. After the outbreaks of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and World War II Japan attempted to wipe out Korea as a nation. The celebration of Korean culture was suppressed and Japanese equivalents were made compulsory. Newspapers were prohibited from publishing in Korean and the study of Korean history was banned at university. Hundreds of thousands of able-bodied Koreans were drafted to work in Japanese mines and factories. Many Korean men were forced to join the Japanese military. Tens of thousands of forced Korean laborers were killed alongside their colonial masters when the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a fact marginalized by modern Japan in its peace memorials commemorating Japanese victims of the bombings.
The surrender of Japan, the earlier collapse of Germany, combined with fundamental shifts in geopolitics and ideology, led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones effectively starting on September 8, 1945, with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union taking over the area north of the 38th parallel. This division was meant to be temporary and was first intended to return a unified Korea back to its people until the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China could arrange a trusteeship administration.
Initial hopes for a unified, independent Korea quickly evaporated as the politics of the Cold War and domestic opposition to the trusteeship plan resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate nations with diametrically opposed political, economic, and social systems. In June 1950 the Korean War broke out, ending any hope of a peaceful reunification for the mean time. See History of South Korea and History of North Korea for the post-war period.
See also: List of Japanese governors-general in Korea
See also
- South Korea
- North Korea
- List of Korea-related topics
- Culture of Korea
- Cuisine of Korea
- Famous Korean people
- Hanja
- Korean language
- Korean name
- List of mountains in Korea
- Music of Korea
- Koreans
- Provinces of Korea
- Rulers of Korea
- Special cities of Korea
- Traditional Korean thought