Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey Summary

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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. Despite the fact that this was the age of Western imperialism and gunboat diplomacy, Korea failed to erect a large standing military and navy. Instead of uniting under the banner of protecting Korea’s sovereignty, some officials were more concerned with protecting their own privileges. Robinson wrote “The lack of consensus in domestic politics…inhibited any program to gather …show more content…

There were some individuals that tried to meaningfully address the issue of national security. In particular, Queen Min recognized the clear need for modernization and strengthening of military (from the class lecture). Unfortunately, acting in the name of self-interest, some individuals chose to riot out of jealousy. Robinson wrote “In 1881 the military reorganization created a new Special Skills Force intended as a demonstration unit for military modernization. This force, however, created resentment within the rank of traditional units…disaffected soldiers rioted in Seoul, demanding back pay” (p. 17). Rather than heralding Korea’s step towards modernization and strengthening of military, some old guards chose to threaten Korea’s security via creating chaos (even if they had a legitimate reason for doing so). This was a clear demonstration of a group putting their own interests above their country’s

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