When World War II ended and Japan lost control over Korea, the country split politically. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, now occupied the area north of the 38th parallel, while the United States occupied the area south. This split led to the founding of the Republic of Korea in the South, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the North. With unresolved strains of being a divided nation and global tensions present because of the Cold War, the Korean War broke out between the North and the South. The border was never meant to be permanent because both governments considered themselves to be the legitimate government of Korea, with hopes of one day unifying Korea into one again. The fight spiraled into open fire when …show more content…
This lens focuses on two diverse cultures that are geographically and historically separated, coming together to form contact zones. These contact zones are the physical space in which the two cultures, in this case South Korea and America, meet and interact with one another.3 The interesting aspect of these contact zones is that they create connections with not only people directly in the contact zones, but also with people from distant lands. During this time democracy was unstable in the United States as well. There was a strain that resided between the republican idea of the common good and the liberal concept of individual freedom. Because there was no one definition of democracy that existed, there was no one definition of democracy to promote. Jooyoung Lee explains in this article, “Forming a Democratic Society: South Korean Responses to U.S. Democracy …show more content…
Pratt defines transculturation as a phenomena in the contact zone where the less dominate culture picks and chooses what aspects of the dominate culture they wish to take on in their own culture.9 Although Koreans predominantly agreed with the American Democracy ideal, there were aspects they did not concur with. For example, Koreans were not keen on the American democracies “materialistic” and “individualistic” nature. Instead, they ignored American individualism and created their own definition and approaches to achieving individualism.10 Disagreeing with some aspects of American democracy was not the only reason South Korean democracy differed from American. South Koreans also recalled their nations past opposition with Japan to form their own version of democracy. “The student protestors not only used democratic ideas, but also drew from post-colonial nationalist discourses, their patriotic fervor, and general ideas about justice”.11 This version of democracy that was created, built the foundation upon which South Korea would build its new
The Korean War , although successful in preventing the spread of communism, was one of the first tests of communism in Asia. North Korea was strictly communist while South Korea was democratic. As usual, the United States supported democratic South Korea and the Truman Doctrine was applied to the Korean situation. The North Korean forces crossed the dividing line (38th parallel) and invaded South Korea. Thus, they provoked a war over communism. With the possibility of democratic South Korea falling to the communistic North, the U.S. stepped in and supplied aid mostly through troops. The U.S. then urged the United Nations to support South Korea and fight against the communist North. Once the North Korean forces were defeated at Inchon, they eventually got pushed back to the 38th parallel. However, against President Truman’s word, American General MacArthur decided to keep pushing back the North Korean forces by crossing the dividing line. This caused more trouble because the People’s Republic of China (Communist China) now sent troops to aid the communists against the pro...
The 38th Parallel is a border between North and South Korea that splits the peninsula in half. It was officially created after the Korean War in 1953, and was crossed over
This response will focus on the key issue of fragmentation. In his book Korea’s Twentieth-Century Odyssey, Michael E. Robinson wrote “Multiple interest groups resided within the bureaucracy and even divided the royal house” (p. 16). Arguably, Korea’s sovereignty was lost in large part, due to the lack of unity among different groups and faction. It was clear from the readings that some Korean individuals and groups prioritized their self-interests above their own country’s benefit. Nowhere was this most evident then the issue of national security.
Later North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and entered South Korea. The United States responded by telling the United Nations to help South Korea. The United Nations did and they pushed North Korea so far back they hit the northern tip of China. China went into the war to protect its borders. At the end of the war, they went back to where they were in the beginning.
Most people know that the Korean War was started when, in 1950, the North Koreans (N.K) crossed over the 38th parallel and opened fire on the South Koreans (S.K). North Koreans wanted the land,,because of the resources on the land. What most people don't understand are the other hidden conflicts that contributed to the tension.The Cold War was going strong between the Soviet Union /China and the United States.
Korea had been united as one country for many years. Japan took control of Korea and made it part of its empire. After World War II, Japan was defeated and its empire fell. Korea was left without a leader or a system of government. This provoked the United States troops to occupy the southern half and Soviet troops to occupy the northern half. The United States and its allies favored democratic government, while the Soviet Union and China favored a communist system of government.
Soh, C. S. (2001). South Korea. In C. R. Ember & M. Ember (Eds.), Countries and Their Cultures (
5 years later, as a result of unsolved ideology, the Korean War erupted, and Korean history of democratic law begins with the end of the war. There has been many challenges, usually fighting against dictators, some of whom even tried to amend the constitution. At that time, Korean law was sometimes argued as “nothing but an instrument or formality for the bourgeoisie to exercise its power and control the working class, all the while indoctrinating the working class with the illusion that all people are equal before the law”, and in his paper, even after 1980s, “the role of law and lawyers in the Korea was negligible in economic development as well as democratization of the Korean society”. (Chang-hee Lee, p.
This book is pieced together in two different efforts, one which is to understand the latter history of the post-1945 era with its political liberalization and rapid industrialization period, while at the same time centering its entire text on the question of Korean nationalism and the struggle against the countless foreign invasions Korea had to face. The purpose of this book was composed to provide detailed treatment of how modern Korea has developed with the converged efforts of top eastern and western scholars who wanted to construct a fair overview of Korea's complicated history. Also, the writers wanted to create an updated version of Korea's history by covering the contemporary arena up to the 1990's. The ...
North and South Korea were not very different politically or culturally from one another before mid 1940’s (White, Bradshaw, Dymond, Chacko, Scheidt, 2014, p. 125). However, North Korea started the Korean War when they invaded South Korea in 1950. These two countries, which were once the same, are vastly different in the areas of politics and culture The Koreas’ continue to disagree and not be at peace with each other since the Korean War despite small steps toward progress over the
Steinberg, David I., and Donald N. Clark. "Review of The Kwangju Uprising: Shadows over the Regime in South Korea." The Journal of Asian Studies 47.3 (1988): 662-63. Print.
While individuals from other cultures may be able to rely on neighbors, allies, friends, and family, Myung-hee suggests that Koreans may be geographically, politically, and even culturally situated in a manner that makes it difficult for them to do so. This may be hard to imagine for many people, and even impossible to relate to. While the author offers no "solution," to this problem, this question presents an opportunity for future research regarding geographic opportunities in infrastructure development, political opportunities in strengthening relationships with international allies and neighbors, and cultural studies to further examine the factors that may socially divide and isolate Koreans from even their closest neighbors. Meanwhile, "The Farmers"
Events that took before the war were what had initially sparked the rancor between both nations of Korea. Despite the fact that World War 2 just ended, tension between North and South Korea remained heated. Causes of the Korean War can mainly be broken down into two different categories; ideological and political reasoning. The Soviet Union, China and North Korea, the communist side, ideologically wanted to secure the Korean peninsula and incorporate it in a communist bloc. This “domino effect” feared individuals such as Harriet Truman due to the fact that the potential danger of other countries such as Japan and Korea becoming a communist bloc was definitely not something Truman had hoped for. Politically, the Soviet Union considered the Korean peninsula as a springboard to attack Russia and asserted that the Korean government should be “loyal” to the Soviet Union, this was where the United States stepped in, realizing that they were in a competition for world...
South Korea, once a broken country filled with broken families, has transformed itself into a fine example of perseverance in a tough situation. South Korea and its neighbor to the north have developed past where they were before the Korean War, but in different ways. The two countries, while certainly dependent on each other, are vastly different. Their conflicting styles of government and their differing cultures speak for themselves in this case. South Korea has, over the years, changed dramatically from the crippled country of the Korean War into a blossoming beacon of Asian cultural and economic changes. The combination of its recent economic importance, its heavy cultural influence, and its constant danger of participating in a war makes South Korea one of the most influential countries in the world.
Since the late twentieth century, the world has experienced a vast transformation with regards to world economies, culture, and politics. The great advancements in technology and communication since the late twentieth century has served a catalysts for what is known today as globalization. The ambition to develop a single global economy along with a universal culture are the promises of globalization. Perhaps the clearest evidence that demonstrates globalization is a reality is the fact that at this point in time very diverse cultures form around the world closer to each other than ever before. That being said, when it comes to the spreading of democracy and human rights, having world cultures closer to each other can prove to be beneficial