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Home › Forums › Core Seminars › East Asia since 1800, Fall 2022 › session 9 Korea before division (Jennifer Jung-Kim)
Ramabadran Sudarshan.
Crystal HsiaJOIN US FOR THE DISCUSSION SESSION ON MONDAY, 10/24 AT 5PM PT
☞ Step3: Join us for the discussion session on Monday, 10/24 at 5pm PT
Denis VovchenkoSeth reading question – On p. 219, Seth mentioned that since 1860 Russia and Korea shared a border. Clay mentioned earlier that the Russians were perceived and treated by the Chinese differently than the Europeans who arrived by sea. Does the same apply for Koreans? On their diplomatic visits, they must have seen not just the Jesuit mission in Beijing but also the Russian Orthodox mission (est. 1685).
Denis VovchenkoThe lecture includes great details, nicely complementing the reading by Seth! In 1644, the Korean elites saw themselves as the last beacon of Chinese Ming civilization. Then, rather suddenly, we hear about Korea’s reforms shedding its tributary dependence on Qing China and Chinese culture including topknots in the 1890s. How long did it take for Korea to embrace the Qing as a legitimate Chinese dynasty? Were topknots considered part of Ming Chinese culture? Did the Manchu queue become popular at any point?
Denis VovchenkoIt seems that “My Name was Keoko” exaggerated the degree of Japanese repression of Korean culture, does it? P. 4 talks about the need to speak Japanese in public for fear of military patrols etc. Based on the lecture, I was surprised that the Japanese did not systematically seek to wipe out Korean culture, at least between 1919 and the Pacific War. The lecture mentioned that 75% of Koreans complied with the 1940 name change law even though the punishment for not doing so was not harsh (“discrimination” was mentioned). Does it mean that most Koreans were prepared to assimilate and become Japanese? Did the Japanese live up to the brotherhood rhetoric and promote Koreans to important positions? The 1936 Olympic winner was probably a poster child of that policy.
Was Kim-Il Sung and other resistance leaders popular or even known in the 1930s Korea?
Denis VovchenkoTeaching Resources
The Korean 1936 champion reminds me of a recent S. Korean film titled “My Way” (2012) about two runners – one Japanese and one Korean who both competed for Japan. They were then drafted into the Japanese army to invade Mongolia in 1939 where they were captured by the Soviets. To survive captivity, they volunteered into the Red Army when Nazi Germany invaded Russia in 1941 only to defect to the Nazis and to be fighting the Allies landing in Normandy. The description says that it is based on a true story https://www.amazon.com/My-Way-Jang-Dong-Gun/dp/B007S0DCUU
Some battle scenes are not very convincing but there is a lot of drama and action.
Speaking of how the comfort women were portrayed in film, there is an Australian movie “Paradise Road” (1997) set in Japanese-occupied Indonesia. Interestingly, while it focuses on interned European and American women, it doesn’t portray the Japanese as brutal. Instead of forcible recruitment, we see their attempts to attract women into an officer brothel with promises of better food, clean clothes etc.
The lecture mentioned that the Russians were “less heavy handed” in the immediate post-Japanese period. There is a great article about how the Soviets were more successful in encouraging Korean national culture, which attracted many artists, writers, and performers disappointed by the pro-American regime in the South.
Ramabadran SudarshanWas good to learn about ancient Korean dynasties. May not be directly of concern but since its Korea, India is one of those countries where South Korea does not have any geopolitical rivalries as reflected in their official, New Southern policy. In India, the Karak dynasty is famous for its ties with India. The South Korean government accords importance to it. Here is an article I wrote sometime ago on princess suriratna's (also known as Heo Hwang-ok) significance to India: https://www.dailyo.in/politics/kim-jung-sook-south-korea-suriratna-narendra-modi-ayodhya-27692. I was also amazed to see a lot of youngsters in Korea(through videos) tracing ties to India through this particular dynasty.
Ramabadran SudarshanWhen Korea was stifled under Japanese occupation, one of India's foremost thinkers Rabindranath Tagore, called it "Lamp of the East". Reference was that may Korea be lighted once again for the illumination of the east. In 1929 if I am not mistaken.
His exact words were, "In the golden age of Asia, Korea was one of its lamp bearers, And that lamp is waiting to be lit once again, For the illumination of the East."
Molly Cowan JohnsonI always find learning about Korea to be fascinating! I love Professor Jung-Kim’s lectures and how Professor Jung-Kim addresses the roles of women in history and how women are impacted. I find it interesting that Korea is referred to as a “bastion of civilization” and the “hermit kingdom” in another source. I think many people know way less about Korea than either China or Japan. If I ask my students what they know about Korea…they might know about the Korean war in the 1950s or ….”the Interview”… It many general knowledge conversations about Korea is batted around as a tributary state to China and then a colony of Japan and little else.
Thinking about how I could use this in my own classroom, in AP World history, we teach about resistance movements to colonization. The Korean focus on strengthening their culture is an interesting and unique form of resistance that is different from some of the other examples we use.
Molly Cowan JohnsonIt is interesting to me that Korea seems more open to accepting Catholicism. When Catholicism is introduced into Japan and China, the Japanese eventually don’t like it and try to eradicate it, and the Chinese, although not accepting really, it doesn’t really take off. Professor Jung-Kim discussed what made it an attractive alternative but I’m just curious as to why Catholic missionaries seem to have had more success despite the cultural similarities to their neighbors?
Ramabadran SudarshanI have read Seoul had been capital of Korea sometime ago. Can Prof. Jung illustrate how it sort of moulded itself throw the different monarchies as well as withstood colonialism?