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MINISERIES ON MODERN KOREAN HISTORY
Moo-Young Han, Editor-in-Chief
A history of modern Korea covers a period little over a hundred years from the end of the
19th century to present day. It is perhaps the most tumultuous time in the Korean
peninsula.
It covers some of the most momentous events – downfall of Joseon dynasty (in parallel
with the downfall of Qing dynasty of China), colonial domination by the militarily
modernized Japan, arbitrary division of the peninsula into North and South, outbreak of
the Korean War, Seoul Spring that toppled the autocratic rule of Syngman Rhee, military
coup and three decades of military dictatorship, followed by dazzling outburst of
democracy and economic development and finally achieving the status of OECD member
nation.
In this miniseries, we will explore some of the highlights of these events during this
fateful period in contemporary Korea.
Series 1. Northeast Asia in the 19th century
Three interrelated major events define the geopolitical landscape of Northeast Asia of the
19th century. One is the phenomenal rise of Japan from the age-old rule of its Samurai
strongmen, called Shogun, to modern nation with ultra militaristic build-up with arrogant
imperialistic ambition. The other two are the almost simultaneous decline and eventual
collapse of the long rule of dynasties in both China and Korea.
Until the middle of the 19th century, China, Korea and Japan remained virtually closed to the
outside world, totally isolated from and oblivious to the rising imperial powers of Europe and the
United States. Each country stayed on the same course as they have been for hundreds of years
and more or less minding their own business, totally unaware of the great age of imperialism in
the West. All this would soon come crashing down with a rude awakening.
During the 19th century China was in the waning years of Qing dynasty (1644-1912). China did
have some earlier contact with the traders of Europe; as early as the middle of the 16th century,
Ming dynasty of China (1368-1644) did allow a small group of Portuguese traders to conduct
business at the southern coastal city of Macau. And at the end of the Opium War (1839-1842)
Qing dynasty ceded the island of Hong Kong to Britain. Other than Macau and Hong Kong that
are located at the southernmost shores of China, the central government of Qing dynasty based far
north in Beijing continued its policy of isolation from the outside world not paying too much
attention to the Western “barbarians.”
As the last imperial dynasty of China, Qing established the territory of the modern China. The
year 1842 when it ceded the island of Hong Kong to Britain is generally considered to be the
beginning of modern Chinese history. Defeat at the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)
accelerated downfall of Qing dynasty and coming into the 20th century it would eventually
collapse in 1911 by the Chinese revolution that established the Republic of China.
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The 19th century Korea was even more closed to the outside world than China during almost the
entire century. In some instances, Western ships, American and French, sailing into Korean
rivers were burned and their crews persecuted. A handful of Christian missionaries that managed
to enter Korea through China were also prosecuted. The Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) adopted
such an extreme anti-foreigners policy and kept the country so totally closed to outside contact
and trade that it earned the Western nickname the “Hermit Kingdom.”
King Gojong of Joseon, its last king, maintained the strict policy of isolation against many
attempts to open Korea by Britain, France and the United States, but in an ironic twist, the main
assault to open Korea came not from the Western imperial powers but from the newly
modernized imperialistic Japan, just across the Korea Strait. During the second half of the 19th
century, due to internal strife, rebellions at home, and the Japanese aggression, Joseon dynasty
would decline very rapidly, eventually being annexed by Japan in 1910.
The Gate of Seoul in the 19th century
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Japan’s history during the 19th century is dramatically different from those of China and Korea.
During the first half of the century until the last years of Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867),Japan
was also like China and Korea, almost totally closed to the outside world, except small trade by
Portuguese sailors in the city of Nagasaki at the western tip of Japan. Shoguns refer to the
strongman Samurai heads that ruled Japan for some 680 years from 1192 to 1867, the Tokugawa
Shogunate being the last of three different shogunates.
The isolation of Japan came to a sudden involuntary end in 1854 when it was forced to open to
trade by the gunboat diplomacy of Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States navy. Sailing
into the Tokyo Bay in a warship, Perry ignored Japanese request to move to the southwestern city
of Nagasaki, dropped anchor in the bay and after demonstrating the power of naval guns
delivered message from the U.S. President to Tokugawa Shogun demanding Japan open to West.
Commodore Perry landing in Japan in 1854
Awakened and subdued, Japan obliged. It was a rude awakening. For the first time, Japan
realized how much backward they were compared to the military powers of the West, Europe and
the United States. Thoroughly impressed and felt inferior by the West, Japan embarked on an
epochal modernization process, especially in heavy industries and built up its imperial military.
Leaning from Britain, France and Germany, it modernized in about three decades its largely
agrarian economy into one with heavy industries to underwrite the modern armaments.
Modernization was also carried out in several critical areas such as telephone and telegraph,
railroad, iron and steel production.
Severely lacking in natural resources, Japan have eyed throughout its history the natural resourcerich Northeast China, the Manchuria, and the rest of China. Of course to reach Manchuria Japan
had to get through Korea first. The picture of new militaristic Japan salivating over Korea and
China and the simultaneous weakening of both Korea and China foretold the fate of Northeast
Asia for the 20th century.