The 1st civilisation
in Korea was centred upon the state of Choson
which evolved in the northwest part of the peninsula during
the 2nd century BC. Choson had strongly expanded
until it came up against the more advanced Yen,
a feudal empire which ruled much of northern China. In the beginning
of the 1st century BC, China, now governed by the Han dynasty,
attacked and demolished Choson and governed the northern part of
the peninsula for the next four hundred years. To the south, a lot
of independent rival kingdoms gradually developed, of which the most important
was the Silla in the southeast. In alliance with
the Chinese Tang dynasty, which had
taken control
in northern China in AD 618, the Silla beat
their competitors and created a single political entity in Korea
in AD 668 for the 1st time.
Around AD 870, a wave of revolts started to happen across Silla-controlled
land and this triggered the gradual disintegration of the Silla
empire and a period of chaos in which rival forces struggled for
control. In the beginning of the 10th century, the eventual victor was the
Koryo dynasty, once vanquished by the Silla, who joined the Song dynasty in China.
The Koryo imitated the Song in setting up an
advanced cultural and technological society (including the invention
of printing during 1234, 2 centuries before its discovery in the
West).
More importantly for the fate of the Koryo, the
1230s also saw the Mongol attack which quickly
put down the Koryo forces and took control over the
peninsula. It took until the early 14th century, and the assistance
of the Chinese Ming dynasty, to recover Korean
independence. In the late 14th century, the Koryo dynasty was then followed
by the Choson who ruled Korea until
the early 20th century.
The early years of the Choson saw Korea enter a period of unusual
cultural and intellectual accomplishment, most importantly under the Buddhist
King Sejong (1418-50). After Sejong; however, the country
went into a period of decline that ended with attacks by the Japanese
and then the Chinese Manchu dynasty, which brought Korea under the
Chinese control.
In spite of
the Choson were still formally in control,
Korea was effectively a dependent state of China for the next two
hundred years.
During the 19th century, Korea became a geopolitical pawn in the
rapid growing regional competition between China, Japan and the intruding
European powers (and the USA). After the 1895 Treaty of
Shimonoseki, which ended the First Sino-Japanese
war, Japan established a firm
domination
over Korea. Over
the next fifteen years, Korea
consecutively
became a protectorate
and finally, in 1910, a colony of the Japanese Empire.
Korea was now in 1 of the darkest periods of its history. The
deep suspicion which continues to affect the relationship between Japan and Korea this day dates from this period.
The Soviets and Americans agreed to
divide Korea along latitude 38°N (the 38th parallel) at the end of World War II, when Japan was stripped
off its colonial lands. When the
Cold War broke out, the Korean border which was 1
of the few direct meeting points between the Soviet and American
spheres of influence, became a key flashpoint. Cross-border
attacks increased until full-scale war started between the
2 sides in 1950. The 3-year war which followed engaged all the
main powers and came closer than, is often realised to provoking
a nuclear conflagration. By 1953, a stalemate had been reached and
a
truce
was signed. For the next 3 decades, locked into opposing
Cold War blocs, the 2 Koreas went their separate ways.
Korea South evolved a successful capitalist economy; however, it
failed to evolve a political system of comparable sophistication.
In the early 1980s, Korea South was ruled by a series of dictatorships,
both civilian and military. However, at this point, the country’s
political leaders, with their powerbase in the monopolistic Democratic
Justice Party, realised that some relaxation of the existing
tight political control was
obligatory. The question, as ever, was
how far to go and how at what speed. The martial law was lifted in 1981. 5 years after that, a powerful parliamentary opposition had emerged
in the form of the New Korea Democratic Party (NKDP),
led by the veteran dissident Kim Dae-Jung.
The newly formed party complemented the existing extra-parliamentary
opposition, which was rooted in the student and trade union movements.
It is different from the West where student movement is normally dismissed or
disregarded by the wider population, Korea South’s student protest,
the Chondaehyop, has been widely supported by common
people who felt it could articulate their complaints and desires
(they had also attracted much public sympathy following the 1980
Kwangju massacre in which 200 protesting students were massacred
by the army). The burgeoning labour protest, which had emerged
with the country’s rapid industrialisation was also making
its presence felt and the 2 have frequently co-ordinated their
campaigns.
The Government conceded multiparty elections during 1988. Against
expectations, the Democratic Justice Party managed
to hang on to power. Actually, it remained in office for the next
9 years. It was not until December 1997 that Kim Dae-Jung,
the perennial opposition leader, won the presidential poll (the
Democratic Justice Party has changed its name twice – firstly
to the Democratic Liberal Party and then to its
recent title of the Grand National Party. The
NKDP also changed its name and is now known as
the Millennium Democratic Party).
Kim Dae-Jung’s most serious immediate problem upon taking
office was the fall-out from the Asian crisis. This caused a sharp
recession and finally required a substantial and humiliating
bail-out by the IMF. The Government was compelled
to promise to reform Korea South’s creaking financial system
and end the relationship between the Government and the chaebol industrial
giants who control much of the economy. Whether Kim Dae-Jung
can deliver on this remains to be seen, but the electorate was undoubtedly
not too unhappy: parliamentary elections during April 2000 delivered
a mild endorsement in the form of a small increase in the Millennium
Democratic Party’s National Assembly representation.
The opposition Grand National Party remains the
single largest bloc but, in coalition with the small conservative
United Democratic Party and an assortment of independents, the MDP
controls the government.
The very importance of Kim Dae-Jung’s political
programme was a firm commitment to improving relations with the
North after years of painfully gradual diplomatic movement. The historic
Pyongyang summit between the leaders of the 2 countries in June
2000 vindicated his approach and opened a new chapter in relations.
However, expectations of imminent reunification are definitely very
premature. Having watched the German unification
process very closely, the Korea Southn Government
is aware that reunification would be costly – estimates run
as high as US$50 billion yearly in the 1st few years –
and difficult given the vast political and psychological gulf between
the 2 Koreas. There are also numbers of strategic and regional problems
in which the main regional powers – as well as the United
States – will demand to be involved. During the last few years,
every improvement in relations, such as the reuniting of families
separated by the 1950s civil war, seems to have been matched by
a negative development, such as the July 2002 naval gun battle between
vessels from North and South. Kim Dae-Jung is still determined;
however, to make sure that this part of his programme achieves some
possible success.
During 2002, Korea South’s international profile, including national morale, received a boost from co-hosting the World
Cup football competition. President Kim Dae-Jung was; however,
unable to capitalise upon it as many members of his family became
embroiled in a corruption scandal around the same time. The president
resigned from the Millennium Democratic Party in
order to try and distance it from the scandal, but the move seems
to have made little difference to the declining popularity of both
party and president. Also in 2002, a new premier, Kim Suk
Soo, took office. |
