Modern Korean History and Society

* Professor : Tae Gyun Park.

tel: 880-8519,	e-mail: tgpark@snu.ac.kr  office: 140-1 dong 618

* Purpose of this class :

1. To improve student's capability to introduce Korean history, society, and culture into foreigners.

2. To understand and criticize foreign scholars' perspective on Korean history.

3. To examine modern Korean history in order to illuminate historical background of division of the Korean Peninsula, Korea's economic growth since the 1960s and the financial crisis in 1997.

4. To analyze the Korea's position in Far East as well as in the world.

5. To approach understanding of North Korea.

* Class Time : Tuesday 2:30 - 5:00

* Schedule

Week 1. Class Introduction 3/6

Week 2: Korea's Place in the World 3/13

Charles A. Fisher, The Role of Korea in the Far East

1. Why has the great power been interested in the Korean Peninsula?

Week 3: Joseon Society and Opening the door 3/20

Palais, Uniqueness

Park, International Law

1. How do you think about the secret of Joseon's longevity? Do you agree with Palais' interpretation?

2. Why do you think that Korea was colonized by Japan? Is it because Joseon was not ready to modernize itself?

Week 4: Korean People during the Colonial Period 3/27

Kohli and HKM

1. Who do you think more reasonable ?

2. What is the core point between them?

Week 5: Liberation and Division of Korean Peninsula 4/3

Cumings, Korea's Place in the Sun

McCune, Korea under USAMGIK

Park, Ally and Empire Chapter 1.

1. Which is more responsible for the division of the Korean Peninsula between the external and the internal factor?

2. If you compare the Korean case to the Vietnamese one, what would be the differences between them?

Week 6: Korean War, from a civil war to international War 1 4/10

Park, Tae Gyun, Korean War.

1. Who won the war?

2. Do you believe that US and China involvements in the war were beneficial for both countries?

Week 7: Korean War, Common people and POW issue. 4/17

Park, Tae Gyun, Korean War.

1. Why did the POW issue become a key issue during the truce talk?

2. What happened to common people during the war?

Week 8: Mid-exam and movie Blue Swallow 4/24

Week 9: Unfinished War: Armistice system. 5/1

Park, Translation (unpublished)

Nan Kim, JAS

1. Why has the Korean War not been finished?

2. What should be the suitable process based on the Armistice Agreement if there is any clashes between South and North in the West Sea?

Week 10: Intellectual history of modern Korea Korea 5/8

Park, Different Roads, Same Destination, Modern Asian Studies

Park, Compositional Changes in 1970s, Seoul Journal of Korean Studies

1. Why were there so diverse ideas on the economic growth in 1950s South Korea?

2. What happened during the 1970s among intellectuals?

Week 11: 1960s in the Korean Peninsula 5/15

Park, Beyond the Myth, Pacific Affairs

Wilson Center, Crisis and Confrontation on the Korean Peninsula

1. What is the myth which Park pointed out?

2. What triggered the crisis on the Korean Peninsula according to book written by the Wilson Center? Is it different from Park's position?

Week 12: Detente and Changes in the Park Chung Hee Era, 1970s 5/22

Park, 1970

Wilson Center, The Rise and Fall of Detente on the Korean Peninsula

1. What triggered the Yusin system in South Korea ?

2. What were the crises in the 1970s not only to Korea but to the world?

Week 13: Democratization and Changes in Korean society 5/29

Gwangju,

Bruce Cumings,

1. Was the US responsible for the Gwangju massacre?

2. What is the main power of the democratization in South Korea?

Week 14: Economic Growth and Crisis in South Korea 6/5

Week 15: Final paper

* Course Requirements / Grading :

Presentation 20%,  Discussion 20%, Paper 40%, Attendance 20%,