[Hilda Dixon]

Certainly, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, North Korea’s retraction was not officially recognized. Still throughout the years, there have been a lot of sanctions against North Korea, but these sanctions have not stopped North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.  The typical sanctions include actions such as limiting imports from North Korea. Perhaps these restrictions have not been detrimental enough for many countries’ perspectives. The reality is that we don’t know because North Korea has closed its boundaries for so many decades.

[Hilda Dixon]

Through pictures, people can make educated guesses and take note of the struggles that North Korea have faced by being isolated from the world for so many decades. Still, pictures do not tell the complete history of what is going on in North Korea. Lankov stated that between 1996-1999 there are some guesses that around 3 million people died while the government have state that around 250,000 people have died due to famine. I wonder about these North Korean children that seem to have blondish hair, how long they have experienced malnutrition in order to reflect the lack of essential vitamins , minerals or protein in their hair through the lack of pigment production in their hair. The underground economy might be the way that North Koreans must use in order to cope with adversity.

[Hilda Dixon]

I think Yeonpyeong Island is a relatively small island that have like 2,000 residents. Although there have been some confrontations from the North Korea in which some people died and there was some destruction, China is mediating negotiations regarding these types of  military confrontations in the island  because  Japan, and USA are also watching how everything unfolds. As learned the Six Party Talks can applied to this island conflict, too

[Hilda Dixon]

WOW, It was very interesting to note that as result of this kind of unofficial economy average monthly salaries have risen from $2 and $3 between 1995-2010 to more recently, salary increases of $25-40 per family

[Hilda Dixon]

How did Kim Jong Il ensure regime survival?

 

Kim Jong Il transformed his government system into a military regime by gradually giving more importance to the military than the Korean Workers’ party. For instance, on October 20, 1998 he applied “songunchongchi” policy which means military first.  Certainly, through a Constitutional amendment, Kim Jong Il positioned the National Defense Commission (NDC) above the KWP (Korean Workers' Party). In fact, he stated that the military had better qualities such as more organization, patriotism, discipline, and dedication than the Korean Workers' Party that is more bureaucratic. Not to mention, the military people are willing to sacrifice their lives for the defense of the state. He substituted the military positions of all the older military people with younger North Koreans that were loyal to him. To demonstrate his attention to the military, Kim Jong IL presented a wristwatch to all military personnel on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the North Korean People’s Army. As a result, most military leaders have now experienced more status. Additionally, he continually visited  the military unit to show his attention.

 

How did South Korea’s Sunshine Policy change international relations?

 

As professor Jennifer Jung-Kim stated in her video, one of south Korea’s milestone in 2000 was the Sunshine Policy Kim Dae Jung.  As we learned in our first session that after the Korean War, there has always been the longing for unification between the two Koreas. At the beginning it was not easy to establish amicable relationships between the two Koreas. As we learned in our first session both Korean governments claimed to be the legitimate one.  Diplomacy was finally enhanced between the two Koreas on February 11, 1998 under the leadership of the President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung.  This policy tried that both leaders engage in a continual dialogue between the two Koreas with the purpose to expand economic exchanges and the inclusion of humanitarian assistance. This policy made President Kim Dae-jung to have been awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. After the first Summit there have been two more Inter-Korea summits, one in 2000 and other in October 2007. Important Korean figures such as Chung Ju-yung, the founder of Hyundai who was from the north has made humanitarian efforts to unify the two Koreas by giving 1001 cows to the north because he sold one of his father's cows when he lived in the north to help him with his business.

 

 

[Hilda Dixon]

Heather Butler, I totally agree with you. I think he took advantage of the fact that many people were mostly farmers and had not been introduced to democracy yet.  For the most part, although this authoritarian system might be excessive for us as westerners, perhaps for the north Korean people is a good system since they have experienced a long lasting collective trauma. Prior to this regime, their ancestors lived through a traditional absolute monarchy, and then the Japanese colonial regime. This system provides them with their basic needs, and the Kim family has been doing a remarkable job to let its citizens know about it. Another key point is that Kim Il Sung witnessed when in China, Mao designated his Chairman, Lin Bio, as his successor.  Lin Bio before Mao’s death was planning to do a coup. Therefore, when Kim Il Sung was getting ill, he needed a trustable man that could continue his legacy. The best candidate was his son.

 

 

[Hilda Dixon]

Julie Wakefield, I totally agree with you. This  that has hammered every aspect of the North Korean people has definitely shaped the perception of the North Korean people. From a westerner’s point of view this government might seem at times a kind of a dystopian society, for there is a societal control and the government gives the illusion of a perfect society.

[Hilda Dixon]

I think it is important to revisit what was the historical framework before the Korean War. The Soviet Union was exporting and educating Marxism ideas to all over the world including China. The Soviet Union was training and educating many Chinese. On the other hand, USA was taking an active role in the second World War after the Pearl Harbor Japanese attack. Korea was a colony of Japan who mainly used Korean people for cheap labor in the factories. Korean people were in constant movement through Korea and other parts such as Manchuria under the National General Mobilization Law.  Japan also tried to impose the naisen ittai policy which means Korean people needed to assimilate Japanese politics, spiritualism and become one with Japan while Japan exploited and was racist towards Korean people.  All of these historical ingredients played important roles that led Korea with no option but to rush into a new uncertain era.

How did Kim Il Sung establish a communist monarchy?  

First of all, Kim II Sung was for two decades a guerilla commander who spoke fluent Russian.  He was inspired by Mao’s, and Stalin’s ideals, yet he wanted to create a constitution where he could outline Korean Identity. He also was a charismatic man who throughout his life was in contact with the people from all parts of North Korea. He gained the respect and the trust of the simple people. He redistributed the land through the Land Reform Law and Nationalized the industry. With these actions social class conflicts lessened significantly or almost disappeared.  In 1956, he got rid of his opponents and equipped his government with people who were loyal to him such as former Manchurian guerrillas or family members. He implemented a massive constant doctrinal system. For instance, he mandated a system of portraits of himself in every house, entrance of a factory or railroad station. The government intertwined  in their education system a propaganda of ideas where everything that is good comes from the Kim’s family and everything bad comes from USA through the children’s books and even math problems, where American soldiers are referred to as the “bastards.” North Korean citizens are expected to pay a visit to a local statue of the Kim family and, after a respectful bow, leave flowers honoring the generalissimo which helps to continue to keep the history of government alive.  North Korean people have been kept from having any type of contact with the outside word, so they have never been exposed to democracy. He is seemed kind like the north Korean “messiah” because he is the one who has led the North Koreans to achieve final victory and became self-reliant amidst extreme hardships. Everything good comes from the Kim’s family, so accepting a communist government was expected because this family is the one who is leading and will continue to lead the way against all odds.

How did the Korean War and Cold War shape the two Koreas through 1994?

To start, Korean people were already facing hardships during Japan’s ruling of Korea. As I said Japan imposed the naisen ittai policy. This policy created in my opinion a sort of unconscious ardent nationalism where Korea did not want to be ruled or stripped of the national identity by any other country. Without asking Koreans, USA led the partitioning process of the two Koreas by the 38th parallel at the end of World War II in 1945. The beginning of the Cold War of the two Koreans started in 1945 through the joint occupation of Korea by USA and USSR. Due to the fact that the two countries had different governments and saw each other as rivals, it was hard to agree on one single type of government for Korea. These disagreements were reflected by the support of groups of people who wanted to align to either USSR or USA. The Korean war was inevitable. Since the end of the Korean war the two Koreans have recognized each other’s state, although each state claimed to be the legitimate one. USA and the USSR played an important role to continue with the division while trying to maintain peace at the same time of the two Koreas by assisting each other’s state. One example is the Armistice Treaty. Then through the years, North Korea made attempts to create chaos or to destabilize the South Korean government with the intention to later on unify the two Koreas. These attempts created fear and concerns on the South Korean people who for the most part wanted to remain anti-Communist. Throughout the decades South Korea has become one of the four Asian tiger economies that in terms of education, economic growth, and technology are of these two Korea’s significantly apart. Although there is still a longing to become one Korea again, the historical vicissitudes, multicultural and economic differences make of this longing more a utopian dream than a reality. The two Koreas have followed different government paths which for the most part each state is comfortable with their new identities and with who they are now. Even today, USA still supports South Korea, while China still supports North Korea.   

[Hilda Dixon]

I remember when I was an ESL student, my classmates and I talked about our cultures. During our friendly conversations, a Korean male classmate told us that Korean women take many of the financial jobs because there is an assumption that women are better with numbers.  He also told us about the strong devotion towards education, and that education is very competitive there. Lastly, he said that Korean people mostly drive Korean brands. As an ESL student I was interested in Korean culture, I learned to admire the bravery of the comfort women during the Japanese occupation.  I also learned that Korean people usually don’t like the tv series M*A*S*H while many Americans enjoy this tv show. What I truly like about Korean culture is that their beliefs are still intertwined to some degree to the spirits that live in the nature world, and as a result, there are beautiful detailed stories that give truth to these beliefs.

[Hilda Dixon]

Hi everybody, my name is Hilda Dixon. I teach at Murchison Street Elementary in East Los Angeles. I am also a special education teacher who currently teaches students with intelligence disabilities. I teach all subjects. This is my second time that I have participated in the USC China Institute forums. I really enjoyed listening to all the well versed professors and the readings that were assigned to us. I genuinely get pleasure from learning history and connecting bits of history into other times and spaces and into other areas as well.Hi everybody, my name is Hilda Dixon. I teach at Murchison Street Elementary in East Los Angeles. I am also a special education teacher who currently teaches students with intelligence disabilities. I teach all subjects. This is my second time that I have participated in the USC China Institute forums. I really enjoyed listening to all the well versed professors and the readings that were assigned to us. I genuinely get pleasure from learning history and connecting bits of history into other times and spaces and into other areas as well.

[Hilda Dixon]

Our USC China forum started with the plan of having face-to-face learning interactions. One of the things that stuck for me is that in our first day, we learned about how a pernicious contagious bug was impacting China’s economy and social life. At that time, “the bug” seems foreign and far away. This bug seemed remote for me. I remembered that professor, Clay Dube commented on the fact that we are nowadays more interconnected than ever. Part of our current connectedness is that we now get to share the same bug. We changed profusely. I mentioned this contingency because this incident is perhaps a good example to show connectedness among countries from different continents. Our instructional exchanges now are literally through video conferences.  However, we continued with the same enthusiasm. In part because all the professors seem to have a genuine devotion to share what they know. For the most part, when I listened to their lectures, I wanted to capture every word that was spoken. Religion, architecture, culture, and history were delicately intertwined to describe holistically each of these three countries through our lectures. In my own simplistic way and within a humble perspective, I enjoy sharing the little that I know with my students with disabilities, too. For me sharing what one is and what one knows are some of the most important aspects of what it means to be human. Through sharing experiences, visions, knowledge especially history we keep events, historical episodes alive. When we learned about other’s cultures, we respectfully acknowledge them and understand them better.

I think what I gained from this forum is that I can now search for bits of history such as tales like Peach Blossom Spring , descriptions of how the two Song capitals, Kaifeng and Hangzhou  looked like in 1235 c.e., so my students and I can recreate the ancient Chinese markets.  We can engage in instructional virtual tours and travel to Japan to see all the different castles and temples. My students and I can also recreate some of the famous Chinese, Korean or Japanese paintings too. My classroom can see how people over the years have built different dwellings such as the Yaodong sunken caves, Fujian Tulou circular homes, and the houses around Suzhou Grand Canal. These topics can definitely be part of my alternate curriculum. Through this forum I now see possibilities in how I can bring China, Korean and Japan cultures into my classroom.

All in all, what resonates with me is that through reading, listening, and having conversational discussions, I know I have more appreciation for these three cultures. When I watched the Korean movie, I was able to understand the symbolism behind the plot. As a result, I now believe that ancient China is to East Asia what ancient Rome is to Europe. Finally, I am especially thankful with Professor Clay Dube because he was patient enough to listen to my numerous comments. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to participate.

 

[Hilda Dixon]

Through our China, Korea and Japan learning we have discussed about the benefits to be an open or closed economy. Through 1603-1868, Japan chose to be an isolated society from outsiders for the most part. It is not hard to believe that acceptance of a foreign religion such as Catholicism or Christianism was not easy for the majority of people because missionaries could have seemed like propagators of ideas that might be perceived as they were against Japanese nationalism. Nationalistic pride is a core value that is definitely part of the idiosyncrasy of China, Japan and Korea. Professor Samuel Yamashita mentioned crucifixion and torture as a way to warn people who wanted to convert, interact with outsiders or engage in other types of offences.

[Hilda Dixon]

Professor Samuel Yamashita mentioned vendettas in Japan. I think this idea is a little bit tricky because although taking your own human life was not allowed in Japan, getting back at people who killed ones’ older brother or father was somehow justified according to Confucianism because this was seen as blood-revenge. Japanese people needed to apply and get permission for their officials to leave in order to go on their quest. If I would be in a forum where I could ask a question, I would have liked to ask Professor Samuel Yamashita two questions. First question, the fact that samurais followed stricter codes of conduct than people who belonged to lower social status, this could have been a valid reason why vendettas were more likely to occur among higher social classes. My second question is that vendettas were prolonged over the years because somehow Japanese literature and puppet plays have romanticized and celebrated these actions.

[Hilda Dixon]

Undoubtedly what made a difference in the development of the Eurasia ancient cultures was agriculture and a kind of metallurgic knowledge. Then, labor division became more obvious and necessary. Therefore, a political and a social organization needed to be established. Professor Samuel Yamashita said that Japan had many interchanges of all sort such as trading, relocation of settlements and interbreeding. I think that at the beginning there were more amicable opportunities between all these communities because we see that there were a lot of cultural, knowledge, and utensils-tools sharing and trading. Then, as Japan became more social and economically stratified, so do conflicts and disagreements arose. We see this with the Samirai and Japanese lords that they were having more antagonisms with the Ainu and Emishi people.  The Ainu people did not subjugate, so they moved further north. Some of the Emish people moved with the Ainu, while others subjugated to the new establishment. I am wondering that perhaps the Ainu people might nowadays be less biologically diverse than typical Japanese people.

[Hilda Dixon]

I am a strong and passionate believer that humanity has 1,000 faces. What I mean is that all human societies pursue the same existential human experiences such as the right to live dignified lives and the right to prosper, but the way we access them might vary from one culture to another. I strongly agree that as people who live in different societies with different idiosyncrasies, we might be perceived from the outside different, but at the end we have the same core. It infuriates me when a dominant group of a society makes scandalous accusations of other minority groups such as the Chinese Uyhurs in order to pursue a hidden and obscure agenda. Sometimes, I felt that we get bumped with the same nail over and over again. Placing Chinese Uyhurs children in orphanages or boarding schools in order to comply with the dominant culture, do not work. We saw and studied this same issue with the Native Americans and with the Australian aboriginals. What it causes is a long-lasting emotional pain on the children. These native American and Australian aboriginal children grew up with some sort of identity discomfort because what was taught at school did not resemble with their culture values and ethnicity, creating emotional dissonances. As a result, we witness a higher degree of suicides in Native Americans.  These Chinese Uyhur children might experience the same when the Chinese history texts do not express positively and accurately about the minorities. On the same token, President Trump is doing kind of the same thing. He is separating undocumented Central American families that want to cross the border to the USA. We as Americans, we are doing the same thing. We are complicit because we do not do enough to stop these unethical practices. We are seeing on TV how ICE officials separate children from their mothers and place them in foster homes. We are putting the undocumented Central American parents in retention centers, too.  Perhaps not as harsh as China does, but we hear about cages. The difference is that undocumented Central American people want a better life here in the USA while China is doing this against its own Chinese people who happen to belong to a minority group. All in all, within this Chinese institutionalism racism tactic to make Chinese subgroups  comply, the Chinese Uyghurs forcibly act like the government want them to act, but in their quiet hearts,  Uyghurs will ever be proud.

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