Modern Korean History 1876-1953

1. Modern Korean History1876-1953

2. 1876-1953 Arguably the most chaotic period in Korean history Forced open by imperialism and fought over by other powers Lost her national sovereignty Suffered a 36-year colonial rule Witnessed the division of one ancient country into two modern nations Survived a destructive civil war with international intervention

3. 1876-1953 Number of ways to divide into sub-periods 1876-1910: Korea faces internal conflicts over how to confront imperialist demands 1910-1945: Korea confronts colonial rule 1945-1953: post-colonial failure to achieve sovereignty and painful national division Not past, dead history but alive today

4. Maps

5. Some of the People Who Helped Make Korean History

6. Enlightenment and Reform inthe 19th Century Forces of �enlightenment� refers to small body of advocates of reform of the Choson dynasty: saw value of �westernization� (e.g., Yu Kil-chun) But largely overwhelmed by forces of tradition that despised foreign technology and ideas (e.g., Yi Hangno) Forces for isolation ascendant under Taewon�gun (1864-1873), father of King Kojong

7. Treaty of Kanghwa 2/22/1876 Japanese version of Commodore�s Perry�s opening of Japan Unequal treaty Open 3 ports Extraterritoriality Residential rights Commercial privileges Open Korea to Japanese ambitions

8. Enlightenment Efforts after Kanghwa Enlightenment forces advocate modernization AND �self strengthening� Li Hung-chang�s advice 1880s foreign relations 1882 Treaty with United States led to relations with other Western powers 1883 first Korean mission to U.S.

11. Conservatives and Reformers Kojong and reformers make headway Growth of anti-foreignism:opponents of �heterodoxy� Plot of Taewon�gun to replace Kojong Royal family torn between conservatives and reformers Conservative Min clique

12. Soldiers� Revolt of 1882 Emblematic of problems Clash between �forces� modernity and tradition Resulted in murder of Min Kyomho and Lt. Horimoto, burning of Japanese legation Taewon�gun taken off to China Chinese forces to Korea to keep order;Y�an Shih-k�ai soon became resident Minister Chinese and foreigners as �advisors�: Paul Georg von Mollendorff

13. Progressives and Coup of 1884 Even reformers divided: gradualists of the �Eastern values, Western science� type Others wanted greater changes: progressives, for whom model was Japan December 4, 1884 banquet for Postal Administration Kim Ok-kyun and followers captured Kojong, killed several ministers and engineered a 14 point reform program Assistance of Japanese Chinese troops put down coup: Kim, 8 others escape to Japan

15. 1884-1894 Japanese influence down, now contested Chinese influence ascendant: Y�an Shih-k�ai as �Director-General Resident� Remove reformists Stifle nationalism Limit foreign contacts Even as China crumbling under foreign pressure, trying to hold on to influence in Korea �Japan between Empires� Russia and England clash over interests in Korea, China settled issue over Komun-do Korea no longer �arbiter of its own destiny�

16. Tonghak Uprising and the Sino-Japanese War, 1894-95 Example: Tonghak Uprising Background of maladministration, high taxes, rural economic chaos, spiritual decay Growing hostility of peasantry towards domestic and foreign exploitation Ch�oe Che-u(1824-1864) and founding of Tonghak (�Eastern Learning�), preaching equality of men regardless of class Religious AND social movement

17. Tonghak Uprising II Execution of Ch�oe: followers want to clear name April 1893 in Poun launch �crusade� against ills By spring1894 a full-scale peasant uprising under Chon Pong-jun to topple corrupt leaders and drive out Japanese Defeat government troops, seize Chonju

18. Quelling the Tonghaks Worried gov�t. calls for Chinese troops, Japanese also dispatch Tonghaks quelled, but Japan attacks Chinese forces: Sino-Japanese War Japanese victory results in Treaty of Shimonoseki Korean �independence Taiwan Liaotung peninsula

21. Kabo Reforms, 1894-96 Japan �reforms� government Appoint reformers, pro-Japanese people appointed Many studied in Japan and U.S. Hundreds of reform bills passed by Deliberative Assembly over 16 month period Massive social, political reform designed to totally reform nation Queen Min assassinated by Japanese in October 1895 Reforms unpopular with conservatives, others because of Japanese backing

22. Incipient Nationalism: The Independence Club, 1896-98 Triple Intervention after Sino-Japanese War Russian position in Korea increases, multi-power struggle for advantage in Korea Japan now considers firmer control Philip Jaisohn forms the Independence Club to champion independence and reforms Ran afoul of government, leaders jailed (Syngman Rhee) and Jaisohn deported to U.S. Last real chance for Koreans to effect reform

23. Japanese Imperialism and the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05 Increasing tension between Japan and Russia over Manchuria and Korea Japan attacks Russia, stuns everyone by defeating Western power Victory led to Japanese decision to seize Korea Theodore Roosevelt wins Nobel Prize for peace at Portsmouth

28. Korea Under Japanese Rule: 1910-1945 Japan still not totally committed to colonization: �protectorate� with Ito Hirobumi as Resident General Valiant Korean struggle against Japanese forces Assassination of Ito in Harbin by An Chung-gun leads to final seizure Japan forces Korean cabinet to sign document of annexation 36 years of colonial rule result

29. Japanese Colonialism Japan mixes carrot and stick 1910-1919 military control 1919 March First Movement leads to change 1920-1937 �cultural rule�: co-opt Koreans forced industrialization

30. Japanese Occupation, 1937-1945 Forced mobilization Slave labor Japanese language Shinto worship Comfort women �Lost Names� This is the occupation that Koreans remember today

31. Koreans Struggle for Liberation Difficulties at home Korean Provisional Government, Shanghai 1919 Syngman Rhee An Ch�ang-ho�s work at home and abroad Guerrillas like Kim Il Sung

32. Liberation, Disillusionment and Division: 1945-1950 Jubilation at liberation short-lived USSR and US accept Japanese surrender 38th parallel as temporary expedient soon becomes permanent US and USSR to work towards �trusteeship� before Koreans �ready� for self-rule Both occupations attract Koreans with similar ideological bent: Korean nationalism already developed left-right split under Japanese Soviets encourage revolution, Americans provide bulwark for conservatives

33. Two Countries in One Nation US-USSR unable to make trusteeship work Fall1948 ROK and DPRK established Rhee and Kim want a single country under their rule Both regard the other as illegitimate

34. From Civil War to International Conflict: 1950-53 Understanding Korean �Conflict� embedded in Cold War history Koreans knew it was a civil war But in U.S. that term unused until Vietnam Always regarded from U.S. perspective Example: Who is this man?

35. Remembering the Korean War Korean �Conflict,� �Police Action� �The Forgotten War� �The Unfinished War� USSR and Stalin as instigators �Red� Chinese �hordes� as main enemy North Korea as role player: but they claim victory

36. The Korean War in Maps

37. Summing Up the Korean War Exercise in futility Situation after the war little different from before: South lost Kaesong, gained more territory BUT Countries remained divided Hostility greater than ever Destruction of the two nations enormous Perhaps 4 million people died

39. Important To Remember The Korean War is not over There is only an armistice, a �cessation of hostilities� The war is a fundamental reason behind the current �North Korean Crisis� In America it is �the Forgotten War�-BUT NOT IN NORTH KOREA

40. Conclusions U.S. seems quite ahistorical: not bound by history but beyond it In Korea, �History� strongly influences the present (not yet PAST, just not yet finished) Several contentious periods, not forgotten Colonial period in current politics: Internationally, continuing issue with the Japanese Internally, Truth Commission and �collaborators� Korean War and the continuing problems of US-ROK-DPRK relations

41. Even Ancient History is Alive

42. So teaching modern Korean history to your students is not irrelevant, but intimately tied to