Korea’s Culture and Politics
Seth Martin
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Abstract
Korea was divided into North Korea and South Korea after the Korean War (1950-1953).
Communist North Korea continues to be an underdeveloped country while South Korea continues to prosper in all areas such as technology, and agriculture. These two countries have vast differences with their political and government views. North Korea at one point was influenced by the Soviet Union but no longer. However, North Korea continues to be influenced by and receive aid from China. South Korea continues to be influenced by the United States of America. North Korea is governed and controlled by a dictatorship, which has complete control over media and social
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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 …show more content…
Through the years the countries continue to take steps forward toward peace by allowing families to unite from the North and South. Then North Korea will make a decision with their threat of nuclear weapons that will separate the countries from one another and they are pulled away from each other again. The only solution to the political differences and to eliminate the threat of weapons of mass destruction not only to kill and injury the people of North and South Korea, but also of neighboring countries due to chemical and nuclear fallout that will have years of lasting negative health impact to the world. Not only on land, but our valuable resources in the ocean. If we reflect on our history with this type of nuclear destruction such as in Japan or in Russia we see how this impacts the immediate areas, people and for generations. The world needs to agree that the political leadership in North Korea should be moved. The options for removal are limited and pose significant risks for not only the Koreas’, but for the
Throughout the early 1950’s the Korean Peninsula was a location with much civil unrest and violence. For this reason, it is a miracle that the Korean Armistice Agreement was actually mutually agreed upon by North and South Korea. Even with the constant complications, and early opposition surrounding the Korean Armistice Agreement, the aid of Dwight D Eisenhower made this unrealistic attempt of peace a reality.
While reading this short story by Hwang Sunwon, it really opened my eyes to the reality of the conflict between North and South Korea. Being that I live in the US, a lot of my initial view on the separation of the Koreas was fairly oriented to see the way that the US did. A lot of the opinions I was surrounded by growing up favored the US as the “heroes” of the Korean War. But from the perspective presented in this short story, the US was not the hero but rather the instigator of the conflict along with the Soviet Union. As time keeps going and the separation of Korea continues to be unresolved, a question that is often times asked is whether or not there is hope for future reconciliation between these two sides of the 38th parallel at all. In the short story, Cranes by Hwang Sunwon, he illustrates the situation between two childhood friends who are put on opposite sides of the Korean War and meet in a confrontation. His story carries the underlying message that reconciliation will only occur under the circumstances in which the two Koreas will come to reject outside forces that played roles in their conflict, understand each other, and come to the conclusion that they are the same race the same people.
North Korea and South Korea are complete opposites but both need security reforms to make the country better. North Korea is known...
This conflict began developing in 1994 when North Korea announced its intentions to withdraw from the NPT. This led to the US and North Korea signing the Agreed Framework. Under this agreement, North Korea agreed to stop its illicit plutonium production in exchange for increased aid from the United States. While this agreement broke down in 2002, the Six-Party Talks restarted the efforts to stop North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons, involving the aforementioned North Korean, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and the United States. This le...
China is the most populated country today, but is also considered to be country with the fasted growing economy. It is one of the few countries that follows communism, and the only country that does so successfully. Its communist party retains its power monopoly as well as a strict control over the people. China is the highest exporter and has billions invested all over the world. China has a very strong culture in place that dates back over 4000 years. One of the major issues faced by China is that of disparity between the urban and rural population. They also face issues like corruption, increasing number of HIV cases as well as environmental degradation. Its demographics are also giving rise to problems.
...The only way for the U.S to get any type of peaceful outcome from North Korea is to push for a regime change. However, these tactics would definitely lead to war and in this case I believe that the cost of war definitely outweigh the benefits. Also you have to be mindful of the other actors involved who would have something to lose besides the two involved in war, such as China and South Korea. China would lose a trade partner and would have a large flow of refugees trying to enter their country (as well as the neighboring countries) and South Korea (a U.S ally) would lose lives (soldier and possibly civilians) and as well as the damage to property. The best choice the U.S has at the moment to avoid total destruction, losing lives, and the monetary cost would be to continue to peacefully bargain with North Korea and use as little force as possible to achieve peace.
Moreover, according to the same theory, relations among states are derived primarily by their level of power, which constitutes basically their military and economic capability, and in pursuit of the national security states strive to attain as many resources as possible. The theoretical model explains thus why the nuclear issue has eventually resulted in identifying with a security one, meaning that North Korea main concern is to assure its survivor, its efforts are in the first place finalized at meeting that target and its only means of pursuing it consists of the posing of the nuclear threat. North Korea finds itself stuck in an economic and, to some extent, diplomatic isolation; even though the financial sanctions leading to the just mentioned critical conditions have been caused by the government inflexible, aggressive and anti-democratic behavior, the regime has no other choice than restate and strengthen its strict and, apparently, definitive positions to ensure its survivor, since at the moment any concession or move toward a more liberal approach breaking the countrys isolation could easily cause a collapse of the whole system.... ... middle of paper ...
Have you ever been to South Korea? South Korea is surrounded by Asia and bordered by China and Japan. Do you know some of the differences between South Korea and America? Some of these differences include greeting, utensils for eating, daily diet, education, transportation, tipping and manners.
In 1950, the Korean War began, North Korea on one side, South Korea on the other. The result was a stalemate, but this created conflict that is still lasting to this day. The war was a major step in the battle of containing or expanding communism. The war also remembered as a war between two superpowers, the U.S.S.R. backing North Korea and the expansion of communism, the U.S. supporting South Korea and containing communism. After the war, no real peace was made, and so far isolated battles make up the foreign relations of the Koreas. But before all of this, North and South Korea weren’t even separate countries, instead they were part of another country.
Even though The Korean peninsula has been occupied for as long as time can tell we will begin to look at the historical context of North Korea in the 1900’s. By 1910, Japan’s colonial rule over Korea was a “brutal experience. [Tensions were high as] resistance groups formed in Korea and China, mostly adopting leftist politics in reaction to the right-wing Japanese administration” (libertyinnorthkorea.org). Before WWII, Korea began to modernize, and Pyongyang developed into a city influenced heavily by Western culture and Christianity. After WWII, the United States and the Soviet Union divided the Korean peninsula, which was acquired through the defeat of Japan, into a two parts divided by the 38th parallel. This started the many conflicts that
Two countries that were once united as one are now separated by the world’s most dangerous demilitarized zone. How can two countries with the same origin and the same people be so different? South of the DMZ, South Koreans live freely, whereas their neighbors to the north live under strict surveillance. North Korea and South Korea’s differences highly outweigh their similarities, which clearly shows the distinction between the two sides of the border.
For most people division occurs as a result of differences, most notably on the basis of color, race, or dialect. Very seldom does this difference occur between two people who are closely related or alike through nationality. In the Korean situation, this is the case; whereas, there is one people divided, on an arbitrary geographic line of distinction, better known as the thirty-eighth parallel. The Korean situation, and more specifically, the South Korean situation is one that had its share of burdens and battles that have shaped the identity of the Korean people. Hence, from the Korean War to today, the Republic of Korea has undergone a myriad of changes. Thus, this paper will examine the political, economic, and social structures of South
Therefore, finding a peaceful and permanent solution to the North Korean threat is crucial for the maintenance of order and stability in the Korean Peninsula and, ultimately, the world. Whether the increment of sanctions issued against the nation will be able to bring about the desired lasting effect is still ambiguous, but based on evidence regarding past use of this strategy, which shows little or no effect, it is safe to assume that it will take more than just banning the export and import of goods to and from North Korea to get it to dismantle its nuclear weapon
In this interview Ben Bagley asks Theresa Han about the difference between Korean and American culture. Theresa is a teenager who recently moved to the United States so she has an excellent perspective for understanding the differences and similarities between these countries.
The first two most major differences would be the language and the culture of South Korea compared the the United States. I plan on using my free time to study and learn as much Korean as I can before I move to South Korea for a semester. I also aim to study how the culture in South Korea is different from the culture in Raleigh, North Carolina so I can be as prepared as possible. However, I do realize that I will still have much to learn about South Korea that can only be learned by living there. Learning in Seoul for a semester about different customs, etiquette, language, and culture would be a an invaluable opportunity to be given. Aside from the two main differences, studying at Seoul National University would be different from NC State because I would have to start