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ABSTRACT THE IMPACT OF UNITED STATES’ FOOD AID ON THE SOUTH KOREAN DIET IN THE 1960s-1970s by Min-A Park The development of South Korea’s food industries during the 1960s-1970s was directly related to food aid from the United States which began promptly after World War II in 1945. Under Public Law 480 of 1954, the introduction of U.S. surplus agricultural commodities, especially wheat flour, was one of the most influential factors that contributed to South Korea’s postwar economic recovery and the growth of its food industries. By utilizing the P.L. 480 policy, South Korean President Chung-Hee Park enforced the HCU policy in 1963 to support food industries producing instant noodles and to encourage the public to consume U.S. wheat flour. The combination of the P.L. 480 policy and President Park’s HCU policy had a direct impact on South Korea’s food industries and furthermore ordinary people’s culinary culture. This thesis argues about South Korea’s development of food industries and the change of its ordinary people’s culinary culture by examining both the P.L. 480 policy and the HCU policy together. It was the U.S. food aid, specifically wheat flour, that proved to be most beneficial towards developing South Korean food industrial economy, and ultimately created a new change in South Korean diet. THE IMPACT OF UNITED STATES’ FOOD AID ON THE SOUTH KOREAN DIET IN THE 1960s-1970s A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS by Min-A Park Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2020 Advisor: Dr. Amanda McVety Reader: Dr. Marguerite Shaffer Reader: Dr. Steven Conn ©2020 Min-A Park This Thesis titled THE IMPACT OF UNITED STATES’ FOOD AID ON THE SOUTH KOREAN DIET IN THE 1960s-1970s by Min-A Park has been approved for publication by The College of Arts and Sciences and Department of History ____________________________________________________ Dr. Amanda McVety ______________________________________________________ Dr. Marguerite Shaffer _______________________________________________________ Dr. Steven Conn Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Historiography ................................................................................................................ 6 Sources and Methodology............................................................................................. 15 Chapter One: The United States Food Aid Policy Public Law 480 .................................. 18 Chapter Two: A New Korean Culinary Tradition ............................................................ 43 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 79 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 85 iii List of Figures Figure 1 A Slogan of Punsik (left). A Pamphlet of Making Flour-Based Food (right). ... 63 Figure 2 A newspaper advertisement of Samyang-ramen ................................................ 66 Figure 3 The Notification of 1969 (left). The Statement of 1971(right). ......................... 72 Figure 4 A Promotional Material of the Saemaeul Undong in the 1970s. ........................ 74 Figure 5 Posters Promoting the HCU in the 1970 ............................................................ 76 Figure 6 A Saemauel Choir Competition for the Improvement of Dietary Lives (left). A Pamphlet of the Choir Competition (right). ...................................................................... 77 Figure 7 Cooking Class for Honsik and Punsik in 1973 ................................................... 78 iv Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my parents, Young-Su and Jeong-Soon, and my grandmother who offered their spiritual support and unconditional love for positive change in my life. Thank you so much. v Acknowledgements It was summer in 2018 when I took the first step in Oxford, Ohio to study history. I remember when I was deep in thought in a bus while appreciating the scenery of the vast cornfield over the window, which was on the way to go from the Cincinnati airport to Miami University in Ohio. I often think what I was thinking about in the bus, which was an academic desire and expectation. It was indelible when I met my advisor, Professor Amanda McVety by chance in the hallway of Upham, and she cared about me as asking how I was doing and encouraged me. I appreciate that moment because I was struggling with the new environment in Oxford. I believe that due to her encouragement and comprehensive advice I could keep working on and accomplishing my thesis. I convey my acknowledgment and sincere gratitude to Professor McVety who was waiting for me as a slow learner with her patience. Moreover, I would like to thank my committee: Professor Marguerite Shaffer and Professor Steven Conn for being their patience and leading me working on exciting researches. Also, I would like to thank my mother and father who always give me all their love, trust, and support. At last but not least, my gratitude goes to my entire family members who believed and supported me in all the situations during my entire study and also to my friends and cohort in the Department of History who boosted me to complete this thesis. I will remember all their names in my mind. Thanking You Min-A Park vi THE IMPACT OF UNITED STATES’ FOOD AID ON THE SOUTH KOREAN DIET IN THE 1960s-1970s Introduction Crisis creates chances. In 1945 when the Japanese Occupation of the Korean Empire (1910-1945) ended along with the end of World War II (WWII) (1939-1945), South Korea was in an ongoing crisis as it was struggling with famine and economic instability due to the aftermath. Despite the liberation from Japan’s occupation, the Korean Peninsula was divided into South Korea and North Korea due to the ideological tensions at the time, and in turn the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was promptly established as the official ruling body of South Korea.1 Under the rule of USAMGIK, South Korea was offered diverse aid goods for humanitarian, military, political, and economic purposes through an relief program, the Government and Relief in Occupied Area (GARIOA) in 1946. With the start of the GARIOA aid program, the U.S. food aid to South Korea became medium to maintain the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea from the long-term perspective. Even after South Korea was established as an independent sovereign state with the name of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1948, the U.S. assistance kept supporting South Korea.2 For example, the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 caused the U.S. to defend South Korea by providing military and economic aid under the Mutual Security Act (MSA 402) in 1951. Even after the end of the Korean War, the U.S. offered South Korea food assistance through grant-aid and later loan-aid under the Agricultural Trade Development of Assistance Act (Public Law 480, P.L. 480) in 1954 in order to restore the postwar economic damage and to strengthen economic capacity. A series of crisis South Korea had to face created the U.S.’ several aid programs so that South Korea could employ U.S. food aid as a potential chance to develop South Korea’s industrial economy. That is, in 1963 South Korean President Chung-Hee Park utilized U.S. food aid as a development 1 Yoo, Seong-Ok, Sang-Woo Rhee, Young-Soon Chung, Sung-Wook Nam, Yong-Sub Han, and Myong-Sob Kim, South Korea’s 70-Year Endeavor for Foreign Policy, National Defense, and Unification (London: Palgrave Macmillan), 2. 2 Yoo, South Korea’s 70-Year Endeavor for Foreign Policy, 2. 1 fund. Based on the P.L. 480 policy, he carried out the Honpunsik Changnyo Undong (HCU), a policy that encouraged South Koreans to consume more U.S. surplus agricultural commodities. It was the U.S. food aid, specifically flour, that proved to be most beneficial towards developing South Korean food industrial economy, and furthermore created a new change in ordinary Koreans’ diet beyond the U.S.’ own aid purposes. South Korea supported food industries such as milling factories and instant noodle companies by carrying out the HCU policy based on the P.L. 480. President Park encouraged ordinary people to consume domestic products and flour-related goods. For instance, in the 1960s-1980s South Korea contributed to the growth of food industries which produced instant noodles by providing low-cost flour, and ordinary people consumed them. Furthermore, by the effect of the HCU policy, housewives began cooking various kinds of Korean homemade meals made of flour. Koreans used to eat flour dishes only to satisfy their hunger due to a large quantity at a low price. However, they tried to cook varied diet by using flour. For South Koreans, flour was regarded as an economically low-cost ingredient due to its versatility to be used in a variety of dishes at low-cost. Hence, housewives cooked homemade meals made of flour such as wheat flakes noodles (sujebi), general noodle dishes (guksu), knife-cut noodles (kalguksu), stir-fried rice cakes (tteokbokki) in addition to domestic products such as instant noodles. Especially, among popular flour-based foods in South Korea, instant noodles called ramen are established itself as a global favorite food at the present day due to a lot of advantages. Ramen noodles are easy to cook, have a long shelf-life, economical, and