Download or read book A History of the Korean People in Modern Times written by Robert Tarbell Oliver and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An objectively balanced history of Korea during the development of its modernization - from about 1800 to the present - this book emphasizes the character, beliefs, and sentiments of the people and the personalities and careers of their pivotal leaders. The history narrates the struggles of Koreans to resist imperialistic pressures exerted against the "strategic heart of northeast Asia" by Japan, China, Russia, and England. It also examines, in particular detail, the sometimes helpful and sometimes hurtful role of the United States - Korea's most influential and most reluctant ally. What is Korea, who are Koreans, and what are they really like? South Korea has set the pattern for emergence from poverty to prosperity, from endemic disease to healthfulness, and from general illiteracy to universal education. A 1992 study by a U.S. testing service found that elementary students of South Korea ranked first in both science and mathematics among the ten most "advanced nations" of the world. These achievements, not accidental, account for the success of Korea, which may be called a modern miracle. During the past two hundred years of Korea's modernization period, the Korean people have displayed strength and courage by preserving their nationalism and special culture in the face of surrounding and stronger nations. For instance, when Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945 and attempted to "Japanize" its conquest, the Korean people held fast to their own traditions. Indeed, against all imperialistic enemies, Korea sought to protect itself by becoming a tightly isolated Hermit Kingdom. In the years of Japanese rule of Korea, the Indian poet Tagore wrote, "Korea, once a bright light in thegolden age of Asia, if it is to be relit, will be again the light of the East". His words were prophetic. Not only has Korea distinguished itself in the area of social reform; it has emerged as a fountainhead of Asian culture. The inspirational leadership of ethical philosophers and the village Silhak movement have met the modernizing influence of Christian missionaries and Western commercialization to guide the Korean people toward informed, self-reliant democracy. In A History of the Korean People in Modern Times, Robert T. Oliver vividly chronicles the full scope and progress of Korea - from its near-primitive beginnings to present-day prosperity. The pages of the volume are alive with accounts of individuals, ranging from political and intellectual leaders to peasants and workers, whose combined efforts reflect and illustrate the nature of the Korean people.
Download or read book A New History of Korea written by Ki-baik Lee and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1988-03-15 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first English-language history of Korea to appear in more than a decade, this translation offers Western readers a distillation of the latest and best scholarship on Korean history and culture from the earliest times to the student revolution of 1960. The most widely read and respected general history, A New History of Korea (Han’guksa sillon) was first published in 1961 and has undergone two major revisions and updatings. Translated twice into Japanese and currently being translated into Chinese as well, Ki-baik Lee’s work presents a new periodization of his country’s history, based on a fresh analysis of the changing composition of the leadership elite. The book is noteworthy, too, for its full and integrated discussion of major currents in Korea’s cultural history. The translation, three years in preparation, has been done by specialists in the field.
Download or read book Korea s Place in the Sun A Modern History Updated Edition written by Bruce Cumings and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2005-09-17 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Passionate, cantankerous, and fascinating. Rather like Korea itself."--Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times Book Review Korea has endured a "fractured, shattered twentieth century," and this updated edition brings Bruce Cumings's leading history of the modern era into the present. The small country, overshadowed in the imperial era, crammed against great powers during the Cold War, and divided and decimated by the Korean War, has recently seen the first real hints of reunification. But positive movements forward are tempered by frustrating steps backward. In the late 1990s South Korea survived its most severe economic crisis since the Korean War, forcing a successful restructuring of its political economy. Suffering through floods, droughts, and a famine that cost the lives of millions of people, North Korea has been labeled part of an "axis of evil" by the George W. Bush administration and has renewed its nuclear threats. On both sides Korea seems poised to continue its fractured existence on into the new century, with potential ramifications for the rest of the world.
Download or read book Korea written by Andrew C. Nahm and published by Elizabeth, N.J., U.S.A. : Hollym International Corporation. This book was released on 1988 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of the Korean People: Tradition and Transformation
Download or read book The History of Korea written by Djun Kil Kim and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2005-01-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Koreas are two of the few countries in the East Asian world to successfully maintain political and cultural independence from China. Originated by the Han-Ye-Maek people who had migrated from North China to Manchuria and the Korean peninsula since 2000 BCE, three Korean dynasties—Great Silla, Koryo, and Choson—kept peace and prosperity in the country since the 7th century, nurturing a civilization based on Buddhism, Confucianism and the East Asian world-system. Korea, despite experiencing Japanese dominion and the nation's division, now looks forward to enjoying its prosperity as a member of the global community and to seeing a unified Korea. This volume provides a comprehensive review of Korea's history, from its roots in Neolithic civilization, and the tradition and evolution of nation-building in the traditional East Asian world system, through Korea's global setting in modern times. Also included are a biographical section highlighting famous figures in Korean history, a timeline of important historical events, a glossary of Korean terms, and a bibliographical essay with suggestions for further reading. The historical origin of Korean identity in the East Asian world, Korea's failure to adapt to a changing East Asian world-system, as well as the political division Korea suffered in the second half of the 20th century are discussed. Readers will benefit from the inclusion of direct translations from original classical Chinese and Korean sources by the author. Excellent as a reference tool for students and general readers interested in the history of this unique nation.
Download or read book A Brief History of Korea written by Michael J. Seth and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exploring Korean history from its ancient roots to the present day, A Brief History of Korea is the story of a people with a rich and united culture that has become two Koreas in modern times--one isolated and secretive and the other among the world's most successful economies. Korean culture developed on a 600-mile-long peninsula, bordered on the north by mountains and three sides by the sea, set apart from the Asian mainland. Korea was one of the last countries in Asia to be visited by Westerners and its borders have remained largely unchanged since it was unified in the seventh century. Though it is one of the world's oldest and most ethnically homogeneous states, Korea was not born in a vacuum. Geographically isolated, the country was heavily influenced by powerful China and was often used as a bridge to the mainland by Japan. Calling themselves as "a shrimp among whales," Koreans borrowed elements of government, culture and religion all the while fiercely fighting to maintain independence from powerful neighbors. This fascinating book tells the story of Korean domestic dynasties, empires and states, as well as foreign conquest, occupation and division. Today, the two Koreas are starkly different--North Korea a nation closed to the world and South Korea an economic powerhouse and center of Asian democracy. Chronicling significant events right up through 2018's Singapore Summit, author Michael J. Seth presents a relevant, interesting and important history of Korea within a larger global context. Korea's history is a turbulent one, but ultimately the story of a resistant and resourceful people in search of lasting peace.
Download or read book The Hidden History of the Korean War 1950 1951 written by I. F. Stone and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-09-16 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A great journalist” raises troubling questions about the forgotten war in this courageous, controversial book—with a new introduction by Bruce Cumings (The Baltimore Sun). “Much about the Korean War is still hidden, and much will long remain hidden. I believe I have succeeded in throwing new light on its origins.” —From the author’s preface In 1945 US troops arrived in Korea for what would become America’s longest-lasting conflict. While history books claim without equivocation that the war lasted from 1950 to 1953, those who have actually served there know better. By closely analyzing US intelligence before June 25, 1950 (the war’s official start), and the actions of key players like John Foster Dulles, General Douglas MacArthur, and Chiang Kai-shek, the great investigative reporter I. F. Stone demolishes the official story of America’s “forgotten war” by shedding new light on the tangled sequence of events that led to it. The Hidden History of the Korean War was first published in 1952—during the Korean War—and then republished during the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, documents from the former Soviet archives became available, further illuminating this controversial period in history.
Download or read book Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea written by Carter J. Eckert and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-11-07 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For South Koreans, the early 1960s to late 1970s were the best and worst of times—a period of unprecedented economic growth and deepening political oppression. Carter J. Eckert finds the roots of this dramatic socioeconomic transformation in the country’s long history of militarization, personified in South Korea’s paramount leader, Park Chung Hee.
Download or read book Korea and the World written by Gregg A. Brazinsky and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-04-08 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume brings together a set of essays exploring the global dimensions of Korea’s recent history and politics by a group of the most talented young scholars. Essays in the volume seek to answer two interrelated questions: How have international developments impacted Korea? And how has Korea in turn influenced world events and trends? The volume demonstrates that the most important issues in Korea’s post World War II history—division, war, economic development, and inter-Korean rivalry—cannot be understood without reference to the country’s global interactions. Essays in the volume cover a range of topics including: U.S.-South Korean relations, North Korean foreign policy, immigration, and democratization. The essays included in the volume push the boundaries of several different subfields. Historical essays break new ground by introducing new archival materials and revealing important details about the past diplomacy of the two Korea’s. Others consider aspects of American influence on Korea that have previously been ignored such as the U.S. impact on urban development and food consumption. Essays on contemporary Korean politics and society make sense of most recent developments in North and South Korea while presenting intriguing new interpretive frameworks. By bringing new voices in Korean Studies to the forefront, this volume changes how we understand and reconceptualize Korea’s role in the world.
Download or read book The Korean War written by Bruce Cumings and published by Modern Library. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A BRACING ACCOUNT OF A WAR THAT IS EITHER MISUNDERSTOOD, FORGOTTEN, OR WILLFULLY IGNORED For Americans, it was a discrete conflict lasting from 1950 to 1953. But for the Asian world the Korean War was a generations-long struggle that still haunts contemporary events. With access to new evidence and secret materials from both here and abroad, including an archive of captured North Korean documents, Bruce Cumings reveals the war as it was actually fought. He describes its origin as a civil war, preordained long before the first shots were fired in June 1950 by lingering fury over Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Cumings then shares the neglected history of America’s post–World War II occupation of Korea, reveals untold stories of bloody insurgencies and rebellions, and tells of the United States officially entering the action on the side of the South, exposing as never before the appalling massacres and atrocities committed on all sides. Elegantly written and blisteringly honest, The Korean War is, like the war it illuminates, brief, devastating, and essential.
Download or read book A Cultural History of Modern Korea written by Wanne J. Joe and published by Weatherhill. This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding modern Korean culture requires more than just a cursory glance. For a country steeped in such a long history, it is important to go back and look carefully at older times to reach a complete picture of the modern cultural paradigm. Wanne J. Joe has done just that in this extensive book that details how Korean culture grew and flourished from the Joseon Dynasty through to the March 1 Independence Movement in 1919.
Download or read book A History of Contemporary Korea written by Man-gil Kang and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in English, this important new contribution from a distinguished Korean historian on the history of twentieth-century Korea covers: first, the Japanese colonial period, including detailed accounts of the anti Japanese independence movements, followed by the liberation of Korea, the Korean War and political developments up to the late 1980s.
Download or read book The Birth of Korean Cool written by Euny Hong and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-08-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did a really unhip country suddenly become cool? How could a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men and rock 'n' roll come to mass produce pop music and a K-pop star that would break the world record for the most YouTube hits? Who would have predicted that a South Korean company that used to sell fish and fruit (Samsung) would one day give Apple a run for its money? And just how does South Korea plan to use pop culture to beat America at its own game. Welcome to South Korea: The Brand. In The Birth of Korean Cooljournalist Euny Hong uncovers the roots of the 'Korean Wave': a fanaticism for South Korean pop culture that has enabled them to make the rest of the world a captive market for their products by first becoming the world's number one pop culture manufacturer. South Korea's economic development has been nothing short of staggering - leapfrogging from third-world to first-world in just a few years and continuing to grow at a rapid and unprecedented rate - and for the first time The Birth of Korean Coolwill give readers exclusive insight into the inner workings of this extraordinary country; it's past, present and future.
Download or read book A Korean History for International Readers written by Chŏn'guk Yŏksa Kyosa Moim (Korea) and published by Seoul Selection USA, Incorporated. This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a historical text that covers Korean history from its foundation to the modern era. It especially deals with pre-modern societies of Korea in detail. Despite its long history, life in its society and its culture are rarely spoken of outsides the peninsula. Rather than arranging the historical events chronologically, this book focuses more on the details of the historical events by questioning how the diverse experiences that Koreans had affected their life and culture and what influences that culture had on constructing Korean history. This is the reason why we publish this book, although there are already numerous books that introduced Korean history. Readers could realize what Koreans have endured and how it lead to their position in the world today. It also mentions their moral values and what they believe is right or wrong.
Download or read book Korea A History written by Bong-youn Choy and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2012-09-04 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This detailed, scholarly history of Korea is a comprehensive political and socioeconomic history from 57 B.C. to modern times, including North and South Korea. Specializing in Korean industrial structure, economic planning, and administration, the author presents a concise yet readable historical approach to a greater understanding of Korea's position in East Asia. The author, a political scholar and experienced linguist, bases his text on primary Korean and Japanese sources, thus providing much information previously unavailable to English–speaking people. Ancient Korea is covered in the first chapter, "The Three Kingdoms," and also in the six subsequent chapters dealing with feudalism, land reform, and early Korean social structure. The thirteen succeeding chapters bring the history to modern times. They include a valuable account of Japanese colonial policy and the struggle for independence of the Korean people; the Korean War, its development, offensives, and counteroffensives; factionalism; the politics of Syngman Rhee and his twelve years of one–man rule; the background of the student revolutions; foreign relations; nationalism and neutrality; and the important comparative studies concerning Communism and the governments of North and South Korea. The concluding chapter deals with the future of Korea and its role in rapidly changing East Asia.
Download or read book Korea written by Eugene Y. Park and published by . This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive account of Korean history from early times to December 2020.
Download or read book Korea s Twentieth Century Odyssey written by Michael E. Robinson and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2007-04-30 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than half of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two hostile and competitive nation-states, each claiming to be the sole legitimate expression of the Korean nation. The division remains an unsolved problem dating to the beginnings of the Cold War and now projects the politics of that period into the twenty-first century. Korea’s Twentieth-Century Odyssey is designed to provide readers with the historical essentials upon which to unravel the complex politics and contemporary crises that currently exist in the East Asian region. Beginning with a description of late-nineteenth-century imperialism, Michael Robinson shows how traditional Korean political culture shaped the response of Koreans to multiple threats to their sovereignty after being opened to the world economy by Japan in the 1870s. He locates the origins of both modern nationalism and the economic and cultural modernization of Korea in the twenty years preceding the fall of the traditional state to Japanese colonialism in 1910. Robinson breaks new ground with his analysis of the colonial period, tracing the ideological division of contemporary Korea to the struggle of different actors to mobilize a national independence movement at the time. More importantly, he locates the reason for successful Japanese hegemony in policies that included—and thus implicated—Koreans within the colonial system. He concludes with a discussion of the political and economic evolution of South and North Korea after 1948 that accounts for the valid legitimacy claims of both nation-states on the peninsula.
