| Historians refer to
this earliest era of Korean history as the Gojoseon (Ancient Joseon)
period.
Ancient Korea was characterized by clan communities
that combined to form small town-states.
The town-states gradually united into tribal
leagues with complex political structures, which eventually grew into
kingdoms. Among various tribal leagues, Goguryeo (37 B.C.- A.D. 668),
situated along the middle course of the Amnokgang River (Yalu), was the
first to mature into a kingdom.
Goguryeo’s aggressive troops conquered
neighboring tribes one after another, and in 313, they even occupied
China’s Lolang outposts.
Baekje (18 B.C.- A.D. 660), which grew out of a
town-state located south of the Hangang River in the vicinity of
present-day Seoul, was another confederated kingdom similar to Goguryeo.
During the reign of King Geunchogo (r. 346-375), Baekje developed into a
centralized and aristocratic state.
The Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) was located
the furthest south on the peninsula, and was initially the weakest and
most underdeveloped of the Three Kingdoms. However, because it was
geographically removed from Chinese influence, it was more open to
non-Chinese practices and ideas. Its society was markedly class-oriented
and later developed the unique Hwarang Corps (elite youth group)
as well as an advanced Buddhist practice.
Unified Silla and Balhae
By the mid-sixth century, the Silla Kingdom had
brought under its control all of the neighboring Gaya Kingdoms, a group
of fortified town-states that had developed in the southeastern region
of the peninsula from the mid-first century to the mid-sixth century.
Silla also effected a military alliance with Tang Kingdoms.
Subsequently, Silla fought against Tang China when the latter exposed
its ambition to incorporate the territories of Goguryeo and Baekje.
Silla repelled the Chinese in 676. Then in 698, the
former people of Goguryeo who resided in south-central Manchuria
established the Kingdom of Balhae. Balhae included not only people of
Goguryeo, but also a large Malgal population.
Balhae established a government system centered
around five regional capitals, which was modeled after the Goguryeo
Kingdom’s administrative structure. Balhae possessed an advanced
culture which was rooted in that of Goguryeo.
Balhae prosperity reached its height in the first
half of the ninth century with the occupation of a vast territory
reaching to the Amur river in the north and Kaiyuan in south-central
Manchuria to the west. It also established diplomatic ties with Turkey
and Japan. Balhae existed until 926, when it was overthrown by the
Khitan. Then many of the ruling class, who were mostly Korens, moved
south and joined the newly founded Goryeo Dynasty.
Silla unified the Korean Peninsula in 668 and saw
the zenith of their power and prosperity in the mid-eighth century. The
Bulguksa temple was constructed during the Unified Silla period.
However, the state cult of Buddhism began to deteriorate as the nobility
indulged in luxury. Also there was conflict among regional leaders who
claimed authority over the occupied kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje. In
935, the king of Silla formally surrendered to the court of the newly
founded Goryeo Dynasty.
Goryeo
Despite frequent foreign invasions, the Korean
Peninsula has been ruled by a single government since the Silla
unification in 668 while maintaining its political independence and
cultural and ethnic heritage. Both the Goryeo (918-1392) and the Joseon
(1392-1910) Dynasties consolidated their authority and flourished
culturally, while repelling such intruders as the Khitans, Mongols and
Japanese. The Goryeo Dynasty was founded by Wang Geon, a general who has
served under Gungye, a rebel prince of the Silla Kingdom. Choosing his
native town of Songak (the present-day Gaeseong in North Korea) as the
capital, Wang Geon proclaimed the goal of recovering the lost territory
of the Goguryeo Kingdom in northeast China.
He named his dynasty Goryeo, from which the modern
name Korea is derived. Although the Goryeo Dynasty could not reclaim
lost lands, it achieved a sophisticated culture represented by cheongja
or blue-green celadon and flourishing Buddhist tradition. No less
significant was the invention of the world’s first movable metal type
in 1234, which preceded Gutenberg of Germany by two centuries. About
that time, Korean skilled artisans also completed the Herculean task of
carving the entire Buddhist canon on large woodblocks.
These woodblocks, numbering more than 80,000, were
intended to invoke the influence of Buddha for the repulsion of the
Mongol invaders. Called the Tripitaka Koreana, they are now
stored at the historic Haeinsa temple.
In its later years, the Goryeo Dynasty was weakened
by internal struggles among scholar officials and warriors, and between
Confucianists and Buddhists. The Mongol incursions that began in 1231,
left Goryeo as a Mongol vassal state for nearly a century despite the
courageous resistance from Goryeo’s people.
Joseon
In 1392, General Yi Seong-gye established a new
dynasty called Joseon. The early rulers of Joseon, in order to counter
the dominant Buddhist influence during the Goryeo period, supported
Confucianism as the guiding philosophy of the kingdom.
The Joseon rulers governed the dynasty with a
well-balanced political system. A civil service examination system was
the main channel for recruiting government officials. The examinations
served as the backbone for social mobility and intellectual activity
during the period. The Confucian-oriented society, however, highly
valued academic learning while disdaining commerce and manufacturing.
During the reign of King Sejong the Great
(1418-1450), Joseon’s fourth monarch, Korea enjoyed an unprecedented
flowering of culture and art. Under King Sejong’s patronage, scholars
at the royal academy created the Korean alphabet, called Hangeul. It was
then called Hunminjeong-eum, or “proper phonetic system to
educate the people.”
King Sejong’s interest in astronomical science
was comprehensive. Sundials, water clocks, celestial globes and
astronomical maps were produced at his request. He abdicated the throne
to his son, King Munjog (1450-1452), but his death in 1452 brought an
11- year old crown prince, Danjong, to the throne.
In 1455, Prince Suyangdaegun, uncle of King Danjong,
usurped the throne from the young ruler. Suyangdaegun became King Sejo
(1455-1468). He established the institutional framework for government
by publishing a compendium of legal codes, called “Gyeongguk
Daejeon.”
In 1592, Japan invaded the Joseon Dynasty to pave
the way for its incursion into China. At sea, Admiral Yi Sun-sin
(1545-1598), one of the most respected figures in Korean history, led a
series of brilliant naval maneuvers against the Japanese, deploying the
Geobukseon (turtle ships), which are believed to be the world’s first
iron-clad battleships.
On land, volunteer peasant fighters and contingents
of Buddhist monks gallantly engaged the enemy. The Japanese began to
withdraw from Korea following the death of the warlord Toyotomi
Hideyoshi. The war finally ended in 1598, but had a disastrous impact
upon both Korea’s Joseon Dynasty and Ming China. During the war,
numerous Korean artisans and technicians, including potters, were
forcibly taken to Japan.
Form the early 17th Century, a movement
advocating Silhak, or practical learning, gained considerable momentum
among liberal-minded scholar-officials as a means of building a modern
nation.
They strongly recommended agricultural and
industrial improvement along with sweeping reforms in land distribution.
The conservative government aristocrats, however, were not ready to
accommodate such a drastic change.
In the latter half of the Joseon era, government
administration and the upper classes came to be marked by recurring
factionalism. To rectify the undesirable political situation, King
Yeongjo (1724-1776) eventually adopted a policy of impartiality. He was
thus able to strengthen the royal authority and achieve political
stability.
King Jeongjo (1776-1800) maintained the policy of
impartiality and set up a royal library to preserve royal documents and
records. He also initiated other political and cultural reforms. This
period witnessed the blossoming of Silhak. A number of outstanding
scholars wrote progressive works recommending agricultural and
industrial reforms, but few of their ideas were adopted by the
government.
Japanese Occupation and Korea’s Independence Movement
In the 19th century, Korea remained a
“Hermit Kingdom,” adamantly opposed to Western demands for
diplomatic and trade relations. Over time, a few Asian and European
countries with imperialistic ambitions competed with each other for
influence over the Korean Peninsula. Japan, after winning wars against
China and Russia, forcibly annexed Korea and instituted colonial rule in
1910.
Colonial rule stimulated the patriotism of Koreans.
Korean intellectuals were infuriated by Japan’s official assimilation
policy, which even banned Korean language education in Korean schools.
On March 1, 1919, Koreans staged nationwide protests during which
thousands of lives were lost.
Although it failed, the March 1 Independence
Movement created strong bonds of national identity and patriotism among
Koreans. The movement identity and patriotism among Koreans. The
movement led to the establishment of a Provisional Government in
Shanghai, China, as well as an organized armed struggle against Japanese
colonialists in Manchuria. The Independence Movement is still
commemorated among Koreans every March 1, which is designated a national
holiday.
The lives of Koreans deteriorated under colonial
rule until Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945. During the colonial
period, Japan’s economic exploitation of Korea continued.
The Founding of the Republic of Korea
Koreans rejoiced at Japan’s World War II defeat.
However, their joy was short-lived. Liberation did not instantly bring
about the independence for which the Koreans had fought so fiercely.
Rather, it resulted in a country divided by
ideological differences caused by the emerging Cold War. Korean efforts
to establish an independent government were frustrated as U.S. forces
occupied the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet troops took
control of the north.
In November 1947, the United Nations General
Assembly adopted a resolution that called for general elections in Korea
under the supervision of a U.N. Commission.
However, the Soviet Union refused to comply with
the resolution and denied the U.N. Commission access to the northern
half of Korea. The U.N. General Assembly then adopted another resolution
calling for elections in areas accessible to the U.N. Commission. The
first elections in Korea were carried out on May 10, 1948, in the areas
south of the 38th parallel. This parallel came to divide the
Korean Peninsula into north and south.
Syngman Rhee was elected the first President of the
Republic of Korea in 1948. Meanwhile, north of the 38th
parallel, a Communist regime was set up under the leadership of Kim
II-sung.
On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched an
unprovoked full-scale invasion of the South, triggering a three-year war
which was joined by U.S., Chinese and other foreign forces. The entire
peninsula was devastated by the conflict. A cease-fire was signed in
July 1953.
The war left almost three million Koreans dead or
wounded and millions of others homeless and separated from their
families. Serious social disorder continued under the government of
President Syngman Rhee.
Korea’s democracy was not mature at the time, and
the country experienced tremendous political and economic difficulties.
President Rhee stepped down in April 1960 as a result of a student-led
uprising. The Second Republic was established as Chang Myon of the
Democratic Party formed a government in August 1960.
However, the new government was brought down by a
coup d’etat led by Major General Park Chunghee on May 16, 1961. The
Supreme Council for National Reconstruction headed by General Park took
over the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of the
government.
Park became President in an election in 1963.
Park’s government pursued rapid industrialization and achieved high
economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s, often dubbed “the Miracle
on the Hangang River,” but his rule was accompanied by severe
restriction of people’s rights and civil liberties.
The assassination of President Park in October 1979
brought a transition period under marital law. Choi Kyu-hah, who was
installed as a caretaker President, resigned in August 1980, and Chum
Doohwan, leader of a powerful officers’ group, was elected President
by the National Conference for Unification, an electoral college.
Pro-democracy movements intensified throughout the
1980s and presidential election by direct popular vote was restored in a
constitutional revision in 1987.
Roh Tae-woo, also a former general, was elected
President under the new Constitution but the democratic advances
achieved during his administration set the stage for the election of the
first civilian president in 32 years.
Kim Young-sam, a long-time pro-democracy activist,
was elected president in 1992 on the ruling party ticket.
In the 1997 presidential election, Kim Dae-jung,
leader of the major opposition National Congress for New Politics (NCNP),
was elected. His administration, called the “Government of the
people,” was created through the first-ever peaceful transfer of power
from the ruling to an opposition party in Korean constitutional history.
The Roh Moo-hyun administration, or the
“Participatory Government,” was launched on February 25, 2003. The
Roh administration, the 16th in republic’s history, set
forth three goals: “Democracy with the People,” “Society fo
Balanced Development,” and “Era of Peace and Prosperity in Northeast
Asia.”
The Roh Moo-hyun government was born by the
strength of the people’s power. The voluntary fund raising and
election campaigns by those citizens who cherish principles and
commonsense led to Roh’s victory in the presidential election.
First and foremost, the Roh government was created on the basis of the
power of popular participation. As such, popular participation will play
a pivotal role in the future operation of the government, as it did
during its birth.
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