7IA8B3-Dciiib!:T;K;K;K;K the Koreans
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISBN 0-8133-2888-8 ,!7IA8B3-dciiib!:t;K;k;K;k www.routledge.com The Koreans THE KOREANS Contemporary Politics and Society THIRD EDITION DONALD STONE MACDONALD Edited and Revised by DONALD N. CLARK Trinity University ~~ ~~o~!~:~~G~oup New York London Frontispiece: Satellite view of the Koreao Peninsula (photo courtesy of Korea Overseas Information Service) First published 1996 by Westview Press Published 2018 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright© 1996 Taylor & Fraocis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in aoy form or by aoy electronic, mechanical, or other meaos, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying aod recording, or in aoy information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, aod are used only for identification aod explaoation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Macdonald, Donald Stone. The Koreaos: contemporary politics aod society I by Donald Stone Macdonald; revised and edited by Donald N. Clark.-3rd. ed. p. em. ISBN 0-8133-2888-8 (pb) l. Korea-History. 2. Korea (South)-Politics and government. 3. Korea (North)-Politics and government. 4. Koreao reunification question (1945- ) I. Clark, Donald N. II. Title. DS907.18.M33 1996 951.9'04-dc20 96-13297 CIP ISBN 13: 978-0-8133-2888-1 (pbk) Contents List of Tables and Figures ix Preface to Third Edition xi Preface to First Edition XIII Acknowledgments XV A Note on Korean Names XIX 1 Introduction: Land, People, Problems 1 Storm Center of East Asia, 2 Basic Geographic Facts, 3 Resources, 8 People, 9 History, 10 The Cultural Heritage, 12 Politics, 15 Economics, 18 International Relations and Security, 22 Notes, 24 2 Historical Background 25 Origins, 27 Three Kingdoms Period, 28 Unified Korea, 29 Medieval Korea: The Choson (Yi) Dynasty, 31 The Imperialist and Colonial Period, 36 The Western Impact, 41 Liberation and Divided Independence, 43 The Korean War, 49 Korea from the War to 1970, 53 Developments Since 1970,56 Conclusion, 61 Notes, 63 v vi Contents 3 Korean Society and Culture 67 Introduction, 68 Family, 69 Community Life, 73 The Individual and Interpersonal Relations, 78 Attitudes and World View, 80 Education and Students, 83 Art and Literature, 91 Religion, 98 Social Welfare, 103 Environment, 105 Sports and Recreation, 107 Notes, 111 4 Politics and Government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) 115 Introduction, 116 Political Culture, 117 The Sixth Republic, 120 The Political Process in South Korea, 127 Politically Important Groups, 139 Constitution and Formal Government Structure, 152 Performance of the Political System, 158 Notes, 162 5 Politics and Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) 165 Introduction, 166 Political Culture, 167 Political Process, 171 The Legacy of Kim 11-sung, 17 4 The Korean Workers' Party, 176 Constitution and Formal Government Organization, 178 North Korean System Performance, 182 North Korea's Foreign Relations in the Early 1990s, 184 North Korea Under Kim Jong-il, 185 Prospects, 188 Notes, 189 6 Economics 193 Introduction, 194 The Traditional Korean Economy, 194 Contents vii The Economy Under the Japanese, 195 The Korean Economy, 1945-1960, 196 South Korean Economic Development, 1961-1995,200 South Korea's Current Economic Situation, 203 The International Component in South Korea's Economy, 216 South Korean Economic Prospects: The Seventh Five-Year Plan and Beyond, 219 Evolution of the North Korean Economy, 221 Present State of the North Korean Economy, 226 Prospects, 228 Notes, 228 7 Korean National Security and Foreign Relations 233 Introduction, 234 Foreign Relations of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), 237 Foreign Relations of the Democratic People's Republic ofKorea(North Korea), 255 Overseas Korean Residents as a Foreign-Policy Factor, 266 Notes, 268 8 The Problem of Korean Reunification 271 Introduction, 272 Why Korea Was Divided, 272 The Case for Korean Unification, 276 Unification Policies and Initiatives, 278 The Record on Unification in the 1990s, 286 Unification Prospects, 288 Notes, 289 Appendix A: Glossary 291 Appendix B: The Korean Language and Its Romanization 301 Appendix C: Korean Studies Reading List 307 About the Book, the Author, and the Editor 315 Index 317 Tables and Figures Tables 2.1 A chronological summary of Korean history 62 6.1 South Korean economic indicators 204 6.2 Targets of the seventh five-year plan 220 7.1 Comparative military strength and equipment of north and south Korea, 1990 241 B.1 Romanization of Korean 304 Figures 1.1 Korea in its East Asian setting 4 1.2 Physical-political map of Korea 5 1.3 The Battle of Pyongyang, 1592 12 2.1 Statue of Sejong, fourth king of the Choson Dynasty 33 3.1 Chart of family relationships 70 3.2 Statue of the Buddha at the Kyongju stone grotto 93 4.1 Kim Young-sam 125 4.2 Organization of the government of the Republic of Korea 137 4.3 Antigovernment demonstrators in Inch' on, May 1986 147 5.1 Kim 11-sung 175 5.2 Organization of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 181 6.1 A modern south Korean factory 206 6.2 A Hyundai factory in Ulsan 207 6.3 A Korean electronics factory 208 ix X Tables and Figures 7.1 A typical scene at the Demilitarized Zone 235 8.1 Meeting of representatives of north and south Korea 285 B.1 A page of Korean phonetic script from the fifteenth-century document Hunmin Chongum 303 Preface to Third Edition Donald Stone Macdonald's survey of modern Korea has been a mainstay of Ko- rean studies courses in the West since it was first published in 1988. Written from the point of view of a senior American scholar-official, it reflects both his experi- ence as a Foreign Service officer and government Korea specialist and his discipli- nary training as a political scientist. The book is based on a truly distinguished ca- reer. Macdonald first saw Korea as a young army officer with the U.S. military occupation forces in 1946. He was on the scene as a third secretary in the Ameri- can Embassy when the Korean War broke out in 1950. As Korea desk officer in the State Department in 1960-1961 he had a front-row seat for the transition from the Rhee regime to Park Chung-hee's military rule. Later he contributed to U.S. Korea policy in positions in Washington and Seoul. After retirement from govern- ment service he earned his Ph.D. in political science at George Washington Uni- versity with a dissertation on the military government period. He taught at East Stroudsburg State College in Pennsylvania and then at Georgetown University, where he was Research Professor of Korean Studies and one of the founders of Georgetown's Korean studies program. Throughout all those years he dedicated his energies and leadership to fostering better relations between the United States and Korea and won the respect and affection of fellow officials, academic col- leagues, and students alike. When Macdonald died in 1993 he was contemplating a third edition of The Ko- reans but had not yet begun work on it. He was familiar with the phenomenon of rapid change in Korea and recognized that there would have to be considerable revision of the manuscript to reflect the changes since the second edition in 1990. The preceding December, south Korea had elected its first civilian president since 1963. A year before that, north and south Korea had signed a series of agreements that seemed to promise progress on the perennial problem of reunification but were clouded by north Korea's apparent determination to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea and the international community barely averted a major confrontation in June 1993. At the time of his death a few weeks later Macdonald was persuaded more than ever that the West needed to take Korea seriously and study it systematically. Donald Macdonald was an optimist about Korea. He was quick to praise the performance of the south Korean economy-and he was tolerant of the stern mil- itary regimes that directed it. His career in Korean affairs had been shaped during the most violent phase of modern Korean history, and his experience with the xi xii Preface to Third Edition devastation of the Korean War and the Herculean efforts that were required to re- construct the country persuaded him that the ultimate foe was the danger of re- newed warfare on the peninsula. Like most Korea specialists of his time, he never had a chance to visit north Korea and saw the Kim 11-sung government mainly as a threat. Yet he tried hard to understand north Korea on its own terms and not merely in terms of the Cold War. Had he lived, he surely would have played the role of senior adviser in the unfolding drama of gradual U.S. engagement with the north. In taking charge of the project of revising Macdonald's third edition, I wanted to preserve Macdonald's voice and viewpoint on Korean affairs. However, I knew him well enough to believe that he would have seen the changes taking place in the early 1990s as an opportunity to adjust some of his earlier views. Like the Ko- rean people themselves, he would have been shocked at the scale of corruption in the regimes of Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo that was uncovered over the winter of 1995 and brought to light in the trials of 1996.