South Korea's democratic system is prone to populist tendencies. It is still healthier than expected.
The country is in search of an innovative development paradigm. The Confucian culture, which stresses respect for ancestors and as and gender-specific family relationships, continues to be influential in the society. There are signs that a secular culture is gaining ground.
Origins
During prehistoric times the ancestors of the modern Koreans lived by hunting and gathering wild food. In the tens of thousands of years after they began to cultivate crops like millet and beans. They also raised livestock, and even made furs. These tribes formed tribal states in succession in Manchuria and on the Korean peninsula. They also established a metallurgy business, making iron tools, including bronze. They traded with other countries and introduced block and celadon printing to Japan, as well as styles of art, a written language, and paper making.
In 2333 BCE Gojoseon came into existence in the southern part of the peninsula. The state embraced Buddhism and adopted Chinese culture including Confucian philosophy. At this time the people of Buyeo were part of Gojoseon. Gojoseon was a hierarchical state where the monarch and senior officials were members of the aristocracy of the land, while the majority of the population were peasants. The state collected taxes from these citizens, and often required them to serve in the army or take part in government projects such as building fortifications.
By the end of this period the state of Baekje was founded by Onjo who was a prince of Goguryeo and the son of Jumong who was the founder of Goguryeo. The new kingdom grew into the southwest region of the peninsula, and fought with China's commandos and Goguryeo's in the area. Baekje included elements of Confucian thinking into its state beliefs and made the male-centric filiopiety concept as a law in 1390 CE. Under the guise filiopiety, fathers were responsible to their families. They were expected to be obeyed by all and respected by their children and grandchildren.
Goryeo, who ruled from 918 to 1392 CE gave the world the Hangul alphabet built on the patterns created by the mouth during pronunciation. This greatly improved the communication between people and led to an explosion in the writing of Buddhist texts. Woodblock printing and the movable metal type were also refined. In 1145 CE, the Samguk Sagi or "History of the Three Kingdoms" was first recorded.
Evolution in Korea
The Korean peninsula was inhabited from Neolithic times until. Early evidence of human settlements can be found in the form cist graves that were lined with stone, and decorated with precious objects like amazonite jewelry being buried alongside the dead. Megalithic structures known as dolmens, constructed from huge single stones, are common throughout the country.
In the first part of the 1st millennium BCE, Gojoseon established itself as the first recognized political state. The peninsula was ruled by various states in the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCfrom 635 CE) including Baekje Goguryeo and Silla. Additionally, the northern part of the peninsula was ruled by the Balhae kingdom, which many historians do not consider to be a proper Korean state.
After the Three Kingdoms, several smaller states emerged during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period, or Several States Period (yeolgugsidae). Baekje, the most powerful of these states, was weakened by the Goguryeo's fall (676 CE), leaving it with only its southern territories in Manchuria, and western region around Hwanghae Bay. Eastern Buyeo and the Gaya confederacy, thrived for a time.
The Unified Silla Kingdom then emerged and the three kingdoms began to cooperate to expand their territories. In the final, Silla, with significant Chinese aid, conquered all other states and united the peninsula in 935 CE.
As Korea enters the post-crisis period its development model appears to be changing. The people who are affronted by the immense cost of the old system are urging an extensive program of liberalization in capital, labor, and product markets. On the other hand supporters of the old system seek to protect it by using nationalist sentiments and inflating fears of job loss.
Analysts and academics are divided on the extent to which Korea's evolution is being driven by these two trends. This article analyzes the five phases of the Korean evolution in terms of its political development including democratically illiberal democracies (1945-60) democratic autoritarianism (1961-72) authoritarian exceptionalism (1972-1877), democratic paternalism (2001-2002) and participatory democracy (2002). This article also highlights the most important elements that are shaping these processes.
Creationism in Korea
In South Korea, 26% of the population is Christian. Creationists have made significant progress in promoting their views to this segment. A survey in 2009 revealed that nearly one third of respondents do not believe in the theory of evolution. Of those, 41% said that there was insufficient scientific evidence to support the theory 39% of respondents said it contradicted their religious beliefs. 17 percent said they did not comprehend it. This level of disbelief is comparable to that in the United States, where a similar percentage of people do not accept that humans evolved from earlier types of life.
In the past, most of the anti-evolution movement in Korea was focused on teaching college students and in bringing them to Christ. In 1980 the year 1980, a four-day creation science seminar was held in Seoul during the World Evangelization Crusade. Drs. Henry Morris and Duane Giss of ICR were the featured speakers. The event was attended by a large number of pastors, professors, church leaders and scientists.
The success of this event resulted in the creation of the Korea Association of Creation Research (KACR) on January 31, 1981. The event was widely covered in the national press, including The Korea Times, Chosun Ilbo and The Korea Times.
KACR began publishing a newsletter called CREATION. In CREATION, the organization presented its own work and published articles about scientific evidence supporting creationism. It also translated a number of films and slides from ICR and also some books on the subject that were already in print outside of Korea. KACR members gave lectures across the nation in universities and churches.
A KACR success was observed at KAIST University in Seoul. There, students were so fascinated by the concept of creationism that they raised the funds and support needed to build a small museum on campus featuring creationist fossil models and other exhibits.
In addition to its activities, KACR has published a bimonthly magazine, CREATION. This magazine covers topics in the field of creation science. It also sponsored a series of lectures by ICR staff. It also has an organization of local branch offices that offer seminars and talks to schoolchildren and community groups.
The evolution of South Korea
In the latter half of the 19th century and into the early 20th, Korea moved toward a Westernised lifestyle. The traditional Korean dress, the hanbok, was replaced by miniskirts, as well as other foreign fashion elements. Similar to the way traditional Korean music styles were replaced by contemporary rock and roll and jazz. In this time, the famous samulnori or the masked dance-dramas were very popular. These dramatic pieces were performed to the accompaniment of shaman drummers and other instruments of music.
The economic crisis has shaped Korea's new paradigm of development. The main challenge for the new regime is to find the right balance between market-oriented and state-led policies. It also involves rethinking the incentives and monitoring strategies that have shaped the system prior to the crisis. These issues are addressed in Chapters 3 and 4.
Baekje was founded by Onjo the prince and third son of Jumong of Goguryeo, was founded by people from the Hangang River area, Buyeo and other regions as well as migrant workers from northern China. In the early 4th century, Baekje was a major regional power, and expanded its territory to Mahan in the north and Jeollanam-do in the south. As a result, it was in frequent conflict with Goguryeo and the Chinese commanderies along the border.
The fall of Silla in the 8th and early 9th centuries enabled strong local factions to emerge. Gungye, a noble from Later Baekje, established a kingdom with Songak as its capital. He also exerted control over part of present-day Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces. Then, he moved the capital to Wansanju. He was a rival to Goguryeo.
His rule was however short-lived. After Gungye's defeat, he was overthrown by a powerful local leader, Wang Geon, who united Goryeo with Baekje and Silla in 935. Later, Baekje was peacefully integrated into Goryeo as a successor state. Wang Geon also introduced fundamental reforms, and strengthened the centralized ruling system. This was the end of the Three Kingdoms Period. The Korean peninsula was later ruled by the Goryeo Dynasty. In the Three Kingdoms period, Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla gradually developed into powerful states in Manchuria and on the peninsula.