South Korea
Population 48.3M
GDP 407 billion $US 1999
History
For the history of the Korea Peninsula before it was partitioned into North and South Korea, see Korea at the bottom of this page.
The Republic of Korea was proclaimed on August 15, 1948. Its first president was Syngman Rhee, who was elected by a legislature formed by popular elections conducted in May of that year by the U.S. occupation authorities and officially observed by United Nations (UN) representatives. Left-wing groups had boycotted these elections, and virtually all the legislators were firm anti-Communists, as was their chosen president.
Syngman Rhee and the Second Republic
From the republic's beginning, the main business of the government was the suppression of leftist groups, some of them independent but many supported by North Korea.
The North Korean leader, Kim Il Sung, sought to unify the entire Korea Peninsula under Communist rule. To this end, Kim launched a full-scale military attack in June 1950, which began the Korean War. The war totally disrupted South Korean life and politics, and Rhee began to lose the support of the legislature. Rhee used troops to force the legislature to provide for popular election of the president, and he was then elected to a second term in 1952. Recovery from the war was slow. Rhee was unable to produce any significant economic development despite much U.S. aid. He won reelection handily in 1956 and 1960, but blatant manipulation of the 1960 elections led to a nationwide protest that culminated in Rhee's forced resignation on April 27, 1960. The moderate government of John M. Chang followed with liberalizing reforms in many areas, but economic development still lagged. Military elements, fearing growing instability and wary of student agitation for talks with the north, staged a coup on May 16, 1961, ending the Second Republic.
Park Chung Hee's Third Republic
The military ruling group, led by Park Chung Hee, governed by decree until October 1963, when Park was narrowly elected president. He launched energetic economic reforms and, despite widespread opposition from students and others, concluded a treaty with Japan in 1965, dropping Korean demands for war reparations in return for economic aid. Japanese capital soon began to flow into Korea. The country also earned foreign exchange by sending troops and contract workers to aid the United States during the Vietnam War (1959-1975). The consequence was a dramatic spurt of industrialization and export growth.
Little was left to chance in Park's government. Politics were dominated by his Democratic Republican Party, which by its control of funds and patronage easily overwhelmed all opposition groups. In addition, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), responsible for intelligence and anti-North operations, carried out surveillance and intimidation of domestic dissidents. In 1972 Park declared martial law and introduced the new yushin (“revitalizing”) constitution, allowing him to stay in office indefinitely. In the following months, numerous emergency measures restricted civil liberties and removed political opponents. Under these controls the economy achieved spectacular growth, and South Korea's exports flooded Western markets. Nevertheless, dissatisfaction with Park's rule increased.
Chun Doo Hwan
In 1979 demonstrations in the cities of Pusan and Masan were met with violent suppression.
In the midst of this tense situation, Kim Jae Kyu, director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (now known as the Agency for National Security Planning), assassinated Park on October 27, 1979, and plunged the country once more into traumatic political change. Premier Choi Kyu Hah succeeded Park as president, but General Chun Doo Hwan, head of the martial law investigating unit, emerged in a position of dominance. In December 1979 he ousted senior military officers, took control of the army, and subsequently thwarted efforts toward constitutional liberalization. In May 1980 leading opposition politicians were arrested and opposition demonstrations were suppressed with great violence. Chun then eased President Choi aside and secured his own election as president. A new constitution, providing for a single seven-year presidential term but also retaining many of the yushin-type control mechanisms, went into effect in April 1981, creating the Fourth Republic. President Chun's regime scored a diplomatic coup when the International Olympic Committee designated Seoul as the site for the 1988 Summer Games.
Democratic Reforms
Following a series of mass protest demonstrations in 1987, President Chun promised democratic reforms, including direct presidential elections. Voters adopted a new, democratic constitution in a referendum in October, and Roh Tae Woo, the candidate of Chun's party, was elected president in December. The new constitution took effect in February 1988. In elections held in April, opposition parties captured a majority of the National Assembly. Later that year, South Korea hosted the Summer Olympics. In March 1991 the first local elections in 30 years were held. Candidates of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (DLP) won a majority of posts even as antigovernment demonstrations by students intensified. In September 1991 North and South Korea were admitted to the UN as separate countries and three months later the two countries signed a nonaggression pact.
In 1992 Roh stepped down as leader of the Democratic Liberal Party amid allegations that his party had bought votes in the March elections. In the national elections of December 1992, South Korea elected Kim Young Sam, a former dissident who had joined forces with the DLP in 1990. Soon after taking office, Kim launched an anticorruption reform program that included publicizing the assets of politicians, senior civil servants, and some judiciary and military members. Resignations followed from many people whose publicized wealth was clearly disproportionate to their income levels. In December 1993 the government agreed to open the heavily protected Korean rice market to imports. The resulting public outcry, which included violent demonstrations in Seoul, led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hwang In Sung and his cabinet, although the decision to allow rice imports was not reversed.
In late 1995 Kim's anticorruption campaign resulted in the arrest of his predecessors, Chun and Roh. Both former presidents were subsequently indicted and put on trial for their alleged roles in the 1979 military coup that brought Chun to power and the May 1980 military crackdown in the city of Kwangju, in which several hundred pro-democracy demonstrators were killed. In addition, they were separately put on trial on charges they had each accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes from business interests while they were in office. Dozens of South Korea's most prominent business leaders also were implicated in the scandal. Chun and Roh were eventually convicted in 1996 of mutiny, sedition, and corruption. Chun received the death sentence while Roh received 22½ years in prison. In December, their sentences were reduced to life imprisonment and 17 years, respectively, and in December 1997 they were both pardoned. Meanwhile, Kim denied allegations from the opposition that he had personally received money for his 1992 presidential campaign from Roh's stash of illegal funds. In December 1995 Kim renamed the DLP the New Korea Party (NKP) in an effort to distance the party from its association with the military regimes of Chun and Roh.
In January 1996 Kim admitted in a televised address to the nation that before he became president he had accepted political donations from business interests; however, he denied the funds were bribes for political favors. In late March 1996 Kim's former aide of 20 years, Chang Hak Ro, was arrested on bribery charges, casting doubt on Kim's anticorruption campaign just weeks before the April parliamentary elections. The NKP lost control of the National Assembly in the elections; shortly thereafter, however, it was able to recruit 11 independent legislators to regain its 150-seat majority.
Economic Crisis
In 1997 the South Korean government was rocked by further scandals, this time involving fraudulent loans, which resulted in a cabinet reshuffle. An economic crisis developed in December when investors lost confidence in the debt-laden Korean economy and the South Korean currency rapidly depreciated. The plummeting currency quickly depleted South Korea's foreign currency reserves, threatening the capacity of the government, banks, and industries to repay foreign debt. Furthermore, the unemployment rate soared as unstable businesses declared bankruptcy. The government accepted one of the largest aid packages ever arranged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The agreement required South Korea to implement tough austerity measures, such as reductions in public spending, and tax and interest rate hikes. The economic crisis occurred in the midst of presidential elections in December. Voters turned out the political alliance that had ruled the nation for decades and elected Kim Dae Jung, a longtime opposition leader and pro-democracy advocate. Elections to the National Assembly in 2000 brought Kim's Millennium Democratic Party into a ruling coalition with the conservative United Liberal Democrats.
Relations with North Korea
Relations between North and South Korea, which were tense during the late 1960s and at times during the 1970s and 1980s, continued to be troubled until the late 1990s. Allegations about North Korea's possible nuclear weapons development program strained relations in 1994. In December 1995 a U.S.-led consortium that included South Korea reached an agreement with North Korea over the suspension of its suspected nuclear weapons program. Under this agreement, South Korea agreed to help finance the replacement of two of North Korea's nuclear reactors with modern versions designed to produce less weapons-grade plutonium.
Announcing it no longer would abide by the armistice that ended the Korean War, North Korea in early April 1996 sent heavily armed troops into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two countries. In response to the incursions, which lasted for three consecutive days, South Korea and the United States jointly proposed four-party peace negotiations, with China and the United States acting as mediators. In a further bid to open dialogue with a reluctant North Korea, South Korea approved a $19.2-million investment package involving three joint-venture projects in North Korea. South Korea also extended emergency food aid, which was desperately needed in the north after massive summer floods destroyed many of the country's agricultural crops.
In 1998 Kim Dae Jung encouraged economic contact with North Korea and offered unconditional economic and humanitarian aid in the hope of improving political relations. His approach, known as the Sunshine Policy, thawed relations between the two countries. In June 2000 Kim and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il held talks in P'yongyang, the North Korean capital, and agreed in principle to promote reconciliation and economic cooperation between the two countries. The landmark event was the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea since the division of Korea in 1945. As a result of his efforts to promote reconciliation, Kim Dae Jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2000. The improved relations between the two governments led to the first sanctioned family reunifications since the Korean War, the start of mail service between the two countries, and agreement by both sides to reconnect road and rail links long severed by the DMZ border.
"Korea, South," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Korea
Introduction
Korea, peninsula in Asia, divided since 1948 into two political entities: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The following article discusses the history of Korea until its division. For information on Korea's physical geography, climate, people, economy, government, and subsequent history, see Korea, North and Korea, South.
The earliest known Korean state was Old Choson, in what is now northwestern Korea and southern Northeast China; it was conquered by the Han Chinese in 108 BC.
Thereafter the Chinese set up military outposts in Korea that helped spread Chinese culture and civilization. The first of the three main Korean kingdoms to come in contact with the spreading Chinese influence was Koguryo, which emerged in the 1st century BC in the north. Paekche in the southwest and Silla in the southeast, which emerged in the 3rd and the 4th century AD, respectively, had contact with China as well. To a degree these kingdoms accepted Buddhism, Confucianism, and most importantly, Chinese characters as a means of communication and education. Paekche and Silla also had contact with Japan, along with a fourth, smaller kingdom called Kaya, located on the central southern coast. Paekche and Kaya had political and military alliances with Japan; Paekche would later call upon Japan during a war with Silla, but the aid came too late for Paekche to survive. Kaya and Japan had particularly close ties, and for many years Japanese historians depicted Kaya as a Japanese-dominated kingdom. Korean scholars have long rejected that view, and most modern historians are divided as to which kingdom, if either, dominated the other. At the time, both the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese islands were divided among several kingdoms and fiefdoms.
Koguryo was initially the most powerful kingdom, controlling most of the peninsula and Manchuria by the 5th century. In the mid-6th century, Silla conquered Kaya and seized the area around what is now Seoul in the Han River valley, while inflicting steady territorial losses on Koguryo and Paekche. By 688 Silla, in alliance with the Chinese Tang (T'ang) dynasty, had conquered first Paekche and then Koguryô, creating the first unified Korean state.
Buddhism, which appeared on the peninsula during the 4th century and grew to a powerful force by the 6th century, inspired much of Silla's intellectual and artistic life. Chinese culture, written language, and political institutions were also extremely influential. Silla's native culture, however, was the basis for Korean development in this period. By the 10th century a distinctively Korean state was firmly rooted, and despite many later changes and vicissitudes, this Korean polity has endured until modern times.
KORYO PERIOD (918-1392)
During the 9th century Silla's monarchy and governing institutions declined, and regional leaders gained strength at the expense of the central government.
From 890 to 935 the three main kingdoms reemerged on the peninsula. This time the northern state, Koryo (the name, which is derived from Koguryo, is reflected in the modern Western name, Korea), accomplished unification. Founded in 918 by an astute warrior and statesman named Wang Kon, Koryo brought Korea's regional leaders under a single central authority and extended the frontiers of the country north to the Yalu River. Here Koryo came into conflict with the Liao dynasty of the Khitans, fighting wars from 993 to 1018. Peace was achieved in 1022, with Koryo regaining all the territory contested by the Liao dynasty.
The full flowering of Koryo culture took place in the 1100s. It was marked by a stable central government, influenced by Chinese political institutions and methods; a vigorous Buddhist faith that inspired many achievements in scholarship and art; and a particularly distinctive ceramics industry that produced exquisite celadons—stoneware with a gray-green, iron-pigmented glaze—which are still appreciated today. In the early 12th century, however, stability began to give way. Powerful aristocratic families contended with the throne for political control, and the Manchurian Jin (Chin) dynasty added pressure from outside, provoking divisive responses from a now uncertain leadership. In 1170 a group of military officers, who felt civilian officials had too much power, threw out the officials and turned the kings into figureheads controlled by the officers, thus beginning a period of internal strife. The Mongols invaded Korea in 1231, launching a series of wars that ended with their conquest of Koryo in 1259. Under the Mongols the Korean kings recovered their power from the military. Koryo was able to drive out the Mongols in 1356, but in the long run it was unable to restore its institutions or contain the new political forces it encountered. In 1392, after nearly 500 years, the state came to an end.
THE CHOSON (Choson) DYNASTY (1392-1910)
During the 14th century Korea came under the influence of Neo-Confucianism, a system of Confucian thought influenced by Buddhism and Daoism (Taoism). The principles of Neo-Confucianism, including emphases on good conduct, wisdom, and appropriate social interaction, became part of Korean culture during this period. This value system energized the middle ranks of Koryo's officials, and their movement for social and political reform inspired the founding of the Choson dynasty by Yi Songgye.
The Early Period
Choson's early kings and its elite class of Confucianists established a social and political structure that withstood all challenges until 1910, achieving one of the longest periods of domination by a single dynasty in world history. Although heavily influenced by Chinese culture, Choson maintained a distinctive identity, as illustrated by its own unique alphabet, invented in 1446 by King Sejong. Choson's first 200 years were marked by peace and generally good government, although disruptive divisions within the elite class began in the 16th century. While distracted by these struggles, Choson was invaded in 1592 by the Japanese, who wanted to use Korea as a transit route for the conquest of China. By 1598, however, Choson, with the aid of China's Ming dynasty and the efforts of its own naval hero, Yi Sunsin, had repulsed the Japanese. Still recovering from the Japanese invasion, Korea was again invaded, this time by the Manchus (first in 1627 and again in 1636). The Manchu conquest of China in 1644 brought new problems for Choson, but it also had the effect of stimulating the Koreans, temporarily cut off from Chinese influence, to more creatively develop their own culture.
The Golden Age of Confucianism
During the 17th and 18th centuries Choson enjoyed generally able kings and competent administration, although the court periodically witnessed factional struggles. Socially, the elite excelled at practicing the principles of Confucianism, as inspired by the Neo-Confucian movement of China. The examination system, a method of recruitment based on a test of the Confucian classics, was the basis for selecting most of the officials of the government. These elite scholar-officials possessed status, worth, and wealth. Confucian prejudice against business kept others from contesting the social position of the scholar-official.
External Pressure
During the second half of the 19th century, foreign powers sought to increase their influence on Korea. These advances were rejected by the Koreans, who believed the society they had achieved under the Confucian system needed little or nothing from outsiders other than China. Christianity, quietly introduced from China in 1784, was slowly and covertly propagated by underground French Roman Catholic missionaries. The Korean government, however, attempted to stop the spread of Christianity because it was not compatible with Confucianism. In 1864 the Taewon'gun (meaning “Grand Prince”), father of the boy-king Kojong, seized power, outlawed Christianity, and sought to curb foreign contact. He then faced military interventions by France (1866) and the United States (1871), which were attempting to establish trade relations with Korea. These attacks were repulsed. At the same time the Taewon'gun tried to eliminate corruption and refurbish the prestige of the state. The political reaction triggered by these reforms, however, resulted in his downfall in 1873. In 1876 the Japanese forced Korea to establish diplomatic relations in order to begin trade between the countries, thus weakening Korea's traditional ties to China. China then sought to neutralize Japan by promoting Korean ties with Western countries, beginning with the Korea-U.S. treaty of 1882. During the succeeding years, many Korean efforts were made toward modernization and reform, but these were frustrated by the continued influence of foreign powers. In 1895 Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War, and ten years later Japan was victorious over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. These victories cemented Japan's power on the Korean Peninsula, leading to the formal Japanese annexation of Korea and the end of the Choson dynasty in 1910.
Japanese Rule (1910-1945)
Japanese domination of Korea formally began with the Protectorate Treaty (1905), forced on Korea after the Russo-Japanese War. Under this treaty, Japan assumed control of Korea's foreign relations and ultimately its police and military, currency and banking, communications, and all other vital functions. These changes were tenaciously resisted by the Koreans. In 1910 Japan formally annexed Korea when it realized Korea would not accept nominal sovereignty with actual Japanese control. From 1910 to 1919 Japan solidified its rule by purging nationalists, gaining control of the land system, and enforcing rigid administrative changes. In 1919 these measures, along with the general demand for national self-determination following World War I (1914-1918), led to what is known as the March First Movement. Millions of Koreans took to the streets in nonviolent demonstrations for independence, but the movement was quickly suppressed. In the following years Japan tightened its control, suppressing other nationalist movements. As the Japanese imperialist government became more militaristic and eventually went to war in China and then the Pacific and Southeast Asia in the 1930s and 1940s, Japan imposed several measures designed to assimilate the Korean population, including outlawing Korean language and even Korean family names. Korea was liberated from the Japanese by the Allied victory that ended World War II in 1945.
Postwar Partition
Shortly before the end of the war in the Pacific in 1945, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) agreed to divide Korea at the 38th parallel for the purpose of accepting the surrender of Japanese troops. Both powers, however, used their presence to promote friendly governments. The USSR suppressed the moderate nationalists in the north and gave its support to Kim Il Sung, a Communist who led anti-Japanese guerrillas in Manchuria. In the south the leftist movement was opposed by various groups of right-wing nationalists. Unable to find a congenial moderate who could bring these forces together, the United States ended up suppressing the left and promoting Syngman Rhee, a nationalist who opposed the Japanese and lived in exile in the United States.
All Koreans looked toward unification, but in the developing Cold War atmosphere, U.S.-Soviet unification conferences (held in 1946 and 1947) broke up in mutual distrust. In 1947 both powers arranged separate governments, dividing Korea along the 38th parallel. U.S.-sponsored elections in 1948, observed by the United Nations (UN), led to the founding of the Republic of Korea in the south in August 1948. The north followed in September 1948 by establishing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The division of Korea led to the Korean War two years later. A truce ended the fighting in 1953, but a permanent peace settlement has not been reached.
"Korea," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation.
Created on ... mai 11, 2002, poligny@terra.com.ar