Evolution Korea
South Korea's democratic system is vulnerable to populist impulses. It's still more stable than we had hoped for.
The country is searching for a new way of developing. The Confucian culture, which emphasizes respect for ancestors as and gender-specific family relationships, continues to be influential in the society. There are signs of a secularist cultural trend emerging.
Origins
In the prehistoric era the ancestors of the modern Koreans were capable of survival through hunting and gathering wild food. Around 10,000 years ago, they began to cultivate millet, beans and other crops. They also raised livestock and also made furs. They established tribal states in Manchuria and later on the Korean peninsula. They also created an industry of metallurgy, which produced iron tools and bronze. They traded with other states and introduced Celadon paper making block printing, art styles and writing to Japan.
Gojoseon was established in 2333 BCE on the southern peninsula. This state adopted Chinese culture which included Confucian Philosophy and Buddhism. At this time, the people of Buyeo were part of Gojoseon. Gojoseon was a hierarchical society that included a monarch as well as high-ranking officials were drawn from the landed aristocracy whereas the rest of the population were peasants. The state imposed taxes on these citizens, and often required them to serve in the army or take part in projects for the government like building fortifications.
Onjo the prince of Goguryeo who was also the son of Jumong who was the founder of Goguryeo and the state of Baekje at the close of the period. This new kingdom expanded its territory to the southwest of the peninsula and fought with Goguryeo and China's commanderies in the region. Baekje incorporated aspects of Confucian thinking into its state belief system and made the male-centric filiopiety concept as a law in 1390 CE. Under the guise of filiopiety fathers were accountable to their families and they must be obeyed and respected by everyone, even their grandchildren and children.
Goryeo, a country that ruled from 918 until 1392 CE, gave the world the Hangul Alphabet based on the shapes that were created by the mouth while pronouncing. This greatly improved communication and led to a boom in the writing of Buddhist text. Additionally, movable metal type printing was introduced and woodblock printing was refined. In 1145 CE, the Samguk Sagi, or "History of the Three Kingdoms" was the first to be recorded.
Evolution in Korea
The Korean peninsula has been continuously inhabited since Neolithic times. Early evidence for human settlements is evident in the form graves lined with stones, with precious goods such as amazonite jewellery being buried with the dead. Megalithic structures, known as dolmens and built of single large stones, are common in the country.
Gojoseon was the first state to be recognized in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. The peninsula was then controlled by a variety of states during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC-635 CE) which included Baekje and Goguryeo. The northern region of the peninsula was occupied for a period by the Balhae Kingdom, which historians do not consider to be a genuine Korean state.
Following the Three Kingdoms, several smaller states emerged during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period, or Several States Period (yeolgugsidae). Among them, Baekje was the most powerful of them all however, its dynasty ended with the fall of Goguryeo in 676 CE and left Baekje with its southern territories of Manchuria and the western region surrounding the Hwanghae Bay, while eastern Buyeo and the Gaya confederacy prospered for a period of time.
The Unified Silla Kingdom then emerged and the three kingdoms began to cooperate to expand their territories. In the final phase, Silla, with significant Chinese aid, conquered the other states and unified the peninsula in 935 CE.
As Korea is entering the post-crisis phase, its development paradigm appears to be changing. The people who are affronted by the immense cost of the old system would prefer a thorough program of liberalization of capital as well as labor and product markets. On the other hand supporters of the old system are seeking to keep it in place by leveraging nationalist sentiments and inflating fears of job loss.
Analysts and academics are divided over the extent to which Korea's growth is being driven by these two trends. This article reviews the latest developments by analyzing five phases of the country's political evolution including democratic illiberalism (1945-60) democratic authoritarianism (1961-72) and authoritarian exceptionalism (1972-87) democratic paternalism (1987-2001) and participatory democracy (2002 to the present). This article also identifies significant factors that may be shaping these processes.
에볼루션 in Korea
In South Korea, 26 percent of the population is Christian. Creationists have made progress in promoting their beliefs to this segment. A survey from 2009 showed that nearly a third of respondents were against evolution. Of the respondents, 41% believed there was not enough scientific evidence to support the theory 39% claimed that it did not align with their religious beliefs, and 17 percent said they didn't comprehend it. This level of disbelief is similar to the United States where a similar percentage do not believe humans evolved from less advanced species of life.
In the past, the anti-evolutionist campaign in Korea was focused on the education of students and the introduction of Christ to them. An increase in interest in creation science came in 1980, with a four-day seminar held during the World Evangelization Crusade in Seoul that featured Drs. Henry Morris and Duane Gish of ICR as the keynote speakers. The event was attended by a large number of pastors, professors, church leaders and scientists.
The event's success led to the formation of the Korea Association of Creation Research on January 31st in 1980. The inauguration meeting was widely reported in national newspapers, including The Korea Times and Chosun Ilbo and received wide attention.
KACR started publishing a newsletter titled CREATION. In it, the group reported on its own activities and published articles on the scientific evidence supporting creationism. It also translated several slides and film strips from ICR as well as some books on creationism that were already published outside of Korea. KACR members also gave talks at universities and churches throughout the country.
A KACR success was observed at the KAIST University in Seoul. Students at the KAIST university in Seoul were so fascinated by creationism that they raised money and got funding to construct a small museum dedicated to creation on campus.
In addition to its public activities, KACR publishes a bimonthly news magazine called CREATION, which covers topics in creation science. It also sponsored a series of talks by ICR staff. It has also established branches in local offices that host talks and seminars to children and other community groups.
The evolution of South Korea
In the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early 20th century, Korea began to adopt a more Westernized style of life. The traditional Korean dress, the hanbok, was replaced by miniskirts and other fashion elements from abroad. The traditional Korean music was also replaced by jazz and rock & roll. In this time the samulnori, or the masked dance-dramas were very popular. These dramatic pieces were performed to the accompaniment of shaman drummers and other musical instruments.
The economic crisis has formed Korea's new paradigm of development. The primary challenge for the new regime is to find a balance between market-oriented and state-led economic policies. It also involves rethinking the incentives monitoring and discipline strategies that have been a part of the system prior to the crisis. These issues are addressed in Chapters 3 & 4.
Baekje was founded by Onjo, prince and third son of Jumong of Goguryeo was established by people from the Hangang River area, Buyeo and other regions and also by a migrant from northern China. In the 4th century, in the early part of, Baekje was a major regional power and expanded its territory to Mahan in the north and Jeollanam-do in the south. It was therefore in constant conflict with Goguryeo and the Chinese commanders at the border.
The decline of Silla between the 8th and 9th centuries resulted in the development of powerful local factions. Gungye, a noble from Later Baekje, established a kingdom with Songak as its capital. It also held control over a portion of the present-day Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces. Later, he moved the capital to Wansanju and became a rival of Goguryeo.
His rule was however short-lived. Wang Geon, a powerful local leader who defeated Gungye in 935 and united Goryeo, Baekje, and Silla and later joined Baekje into Goryeo and acted as a peaceful successor. In addition, Wang Geon introduced fundamental reforms and strengthened a centralized rule system. This marked the closing of the Three Kingdoms period. From then on the Korean peninsula was ruled by the Goryeo Dynasty. In the Three Kingdoms Period, Goguryeo Baekje Silla gradually grew into powerful states on the peninsula and in Manchuria.