Academic literature on the topic 'History of Korea'

This dissertation examines the interrelationships between the foreign Missions and the Korean Church in colonial Korea. In contrast to previous scholarship that assumes a necessary link between the Korean Church and Korean nationalism, this study focuses on the foreign Mission's predominance over the Korean Church as a major obstacle in the Korean Church's adoption of nationalism as part of its Christian vision.<br>East Asian Languages and Civilizations

An assessment of the conservation of historic gardens in Korea reveals that this is still in a rather rudimentary state; there appears to be a general lack of understanding about historic gardens, about what is important within them and how their value may best be preserved. The official understanding of historic gardens is as tangible artefacts, yet art historical aspects of gardens are rarely a consideration even though there is a basic understanding of significance of these issues. More importantly there appears to be a lack understanding of the importance of the social and cultural context of gardens. This thesis offers seeks to explore this context in order to review modem attitudes to historic gardens and their value, in terms of international and local, cultural and political ethics. The legal framework for garden conservation is subjected to critical review, with suggestions being made as to the way ahead. Korea has a rich garden heritage, yet modem historical writing fails to explain the economic, social, cultural and political contexts of gardens, or how they were created, improved and maintained. As a result only a few gardens have been officially recognized as heritage; there are only fourteen gardens amongst a total of some 9806 sites designated as tangible cultural heritage. Moreover, in these fourteen cases protection is reliant primarily on the fact that they form the curtilage of a protected building, rather than because of their own value. Thus those historic gardens that have been well preserved owe their state of conservation to the fact that they are included in cultural heritage sites which have been designated on the basis of other elements' perceived value. Another consequence of the value of gardens not being recognized is that their full potential as tourist destinations has not been realized. Without concerted efforts to promote gardens it is unlikely that they will be properly protected. With the majority of people in Korea living high above the ground in apartment buildings, it requires considerable thought as to how they might become interested in historic garden culture. Yet with issues of global warming and sustainability causing increasing concern, energy consuming apartment living is perhaps an outmoded way of life that should be reconsidered. The historic courtyard typology, adapted to local climate conditions, should once again be considered as aú model for development. This would also enable a more sustained revival of local garden culture. This research identifies five ways of developing the conservation of historic gardens in Korea: first, historic gardens must be identified; conservation ethics must be reconsidered so that they take better account of garden heritage, particularly taking account of the proposed Global Landscape Charter; education and academic research is an essential basis for the understanding of historic gardens' conservation, and must be promoted; and the contribution a revival of garden culture can make to a sustainable future should be recognized. It will be a consequence of the shift in perspective that a greater understanding of the contribution gardens have made, that the high-rise building typology which has dominated Korea's development in the past halfcentury can be reassessed. Instead of seeing it as a reactive solution, we can gain much from incorporating conservation and its values as part of process which is integral to a sustainable future.

This senior thesis studies the character and influence of a young American naval officer and diplomat. George Clayton Foulk, the 1st Naval Attaché to the United States Legation and the 2nd U.S. Minister to Korea, brought his intellectual ability and passion to this East Asian country. He hoped for Korea to become an independent, modernized state. Due to the strong Chinese opposition and lack of assistance from the U.S. government, Foulk failed to realize his dream and left Korea in disgrace. However, his service instilled a positive image of America in the minds of many Koreans. By closely examining his letters and journals, this thesis brings an image of a cosmopolitan who expressed genuine understanding of and sympathy for Korea. More importantly, this thesis introduces his vision that America must become an exceptional country which spreads its values across the world through peaceful means. Even today, the clash between Foulk’s idealism and the realpolitik of Washington policymakers raises a question on the future of American diplomacy.

This thesis explores social and political identities in Choson Korea between the years 1567 and 1637, particularly during the Imjin War (1592-1598) and the Manchu Invasions (1627 and 1636-1637). During the Imjin War, the Japanese caused widespread destruction over the entire Korean peninsula and the Ming army entered the country. The Later Jin briefly invaded in 1627 and launched a large scale invasion in 1636. The Manchus overran Choson's feeble defenses and forced Choson to become a vassal state of the Qing Empire. Scholars are at odds over the form of socio-political identity during this period of foreign invasion. Some claim these wars created the 'Korean nation' for the first time, while others contend that no such socio-political concepts could have existed before the twentieth century. However, researchers often use the same philosophical approaches and merely select aspects of certain theorists' frameworks that best support their arguments. Both the theories and historian's methodologies are limited in their explanation of socio-political identity of the premodern Korean past and even more so for the time of the Imjin and Manchu Invasions. My research attempts to solve these theoretical problems by creating a 'fusion of horizons' between past and modern concepts of socio-political identity in order to explore the political and cultural environments of the Choson people before and during the wars (bildung). This is achieved firstly by relying on official government histories and individually written diaries that, together, create a more complete picture of former socio-political identity. Secondly, I propose understanding Choson by looking at the definitions of the king, state, people, culture, history, and foreign world using their own definitions from their own times.

xx, 404 p. : ill. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT DS911.72.K36 1995<br>This dissertation is concerned with the formation of the Silla Kingdom, a protohistoric state located in the southeastern portion of the Korean peninsula. Combining theoretical issues and empirical data concerning state formation, I present a case study of how one prime mover, warfare, played a role in the formation of the Silla Kingdom between the first and fifth centuries A.D. Two hypotheses associated with the significance of warfare were formulated and tested against both historical and archaeological data. To examine alternative models about the role of irrigation works and long-distance exchange in the development of the Silla Kingdom, I analyzed relevant historical documents, stelae, and selected archaeological data. Both documentary and archaeological data suggest that irrigation works and long-distance exchange were not sufficiently influential to claim critical roles in the emergence of the state in southeastern Korea. To test hypotheses formulated about the role of warfare, a number of bronze and iron weapons excavated from burials in southeastern Korea were quantified and analyzed in conjunction with data on wars mentioned in the historical documents. In particular, an analysis of empirical data on various kinds of metal weapons that probably were used in battles strongly supports the premise that warfare was a significant factor in the state formation process of the Silla Kingdom between the first and fifth centuries. Both historical and archaeological sources also reveal that there was a continuous local indigenous development from lower-level sociopolitical stages to higher-level ones in southeastern Korea, finally dominated by the Silla kingdom. Furthermore, based upon the results of mortuary analysis, I conclude that the Silla Kingdom became a state-level society sometime between the middle of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries during the reign of King Naemul (356-402 A.D.).<br>Committee in charge: Dr. C. Melvin Aikens, Chair; Dr. Vernon Dorjahn; Dr. William S. Ayres; Dr. William G. Loy

Juche ideology, created by founder Kim Il-Sung, governs all aspects of North Korean society. This thesis attempts to answer the questions of why and how Juche ideology and the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-Sung were successfully implemented in North Korea. It is a historical analysis of the formation of the North Korean state that considers developments from the late 19th century to the late 20th century, with particular attention paid to the 1950s-1970s and to Kim’s own writings and speeches. The thesis argues that Juche was successfully implemented and institutionalized in North Korea due to several factors, including the rise of Korean nationalism, the personal history of Kim Il-Sung, the Korean War and resulting domestic strife, and the influence of the international socialist movement. It provides a historical explanation of Juche and its importance within North Korea, which in turn is necessary for understanding North Korea as a whole.

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the influence and. impact of foreign direct investment inflow into the Republic of Korea. It is also an investigation of the development of the Korean economy. The research investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment and the development of the Korean economy by examining both the macro and micro aspects of the relationship between the two. This involves considering the performance of the Korean economy as a whole and then taking a more detailed approach by treating the analysis of the relationship at the level of individual industrial sectors. It also involves investigating the role played by the Korean government in the development of the economy and the control of foreign direct investment inflow. The analysis uses a two stage approach, first by taking an exploratory correlation analysis of the interaction between the inflow and a series of key variables, which allows a number of tentative conclusions to be drawn. By using these conclusions in conjunction with the literature survey we were able to analyse the nature and impact of foreign direct investment in Korea using regression analysis. The analysis revealed that except for isolated instances, the influence of the inflow of foreign direct investment at either the macro-or micro level is long-term. The positive effect of the inflow appears to be strongest on Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Product and on exports rather than imports. The results from the principal industrial sectors suggest that greatest impact was when the inflow was associated with larger firms. Furthermore the results suggest that the country of origin of the investment may well have an influence. In addition the research highlights the importance of the role played by the Korean government.