Evolution Korea
South Korea's democracy is prone to populist impulses. It's still more stable than we had hoped for.
The country is in search of a new development paradigm. A Confucian culture that emphasizes respect for ancestors and gendered family relations continues to influence the way we live. There are signs that a secularist culture is gaining ground.
Origins
During prehistoric times the ancestors of modern Koreans lived by hunting and gathering wild food. Around 10,000 years ago they began to cultivate millet, beans and other crops. They also raised livestock and created furs. They also established tribal states in succession in Manchuria and on the Korean peninsula. They also established an industry for metalworking, which produced bronze tools, and later iron tools. They traded with other states and introduced cedon, paper making, block printing art styles, as well as written language to Japan.
Gojoseon was established in 2333 BCE on the southern peninsula. This state embraced Buddhism and adopted Chinese culture including Confucian philosophy. During this time, the people of Buyeo were part of Gojoseon. Gojoseon had a hierarchical structure in which a monarch and high-ranking officials were drawn from the landed aristocracy whereas the majority of the population were peasants. The state extracted taxes from the citizens and sometimes required them to serve in the army or work on government projects such as building fortifications.
At the end of the period the state of Baekje was founded by Onjo who was a prince of Goguryeo and the son of Jumong who was the founder of Goguryeo. The new kingdom expanded to the southwest of the peninsula, and was at war against the Goguryeo commanderies and China's in the area. Baekje included elements of Confucian beliefs into its official beliefs and made the male centered filiopiety concept as a law in 1390 CE. Under the guise filiopiety, fathers were responsible to their families. They had to be obeyed by all and respected by their children and grandchildren.
Goryeo, a country which ruled from 918 until 1392 CE in the year 1392 CE, introduced to the world the Hangul Alphabet based on the shapes that were created by the mouth when pronouncing. This greatly improved communication and led to a boom in the writing of Buddhist text. Additionally, movable metallic type printing was introduced, and woodblock printing was improved. It was during this period that the Samguk sagi or 'History of the Three Kingdoms' was first written in 1145 CE.
Development in Korea
The Korean peninsula was inhabited from Neolithic times to. Early evidence of human settlements can be found in the form of graves that were lined with stones, and adorned with precious objects like amazonite jewelry buried with the dead. Megalithic structures known as dolmens, constructed from huge single stones, are also common throughout the country.
In the first second half of the 1st millennium BCE, Gojoseon established itself as the first recognized political state. The peninsula was later controlled by a variety of states during the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BC-635 CE) including Baekje and Goguryeo. In addition, the northern region of the peninsula was occupied by the Balhae kingdom, which most historians don't consider to be a legitimate Korean state.
After the Three Kingdoms, several smaller states emerged during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period, or Several States Period (yeolgugsidae). Baekje, the most powerful of these states, was diminished by the fall of Goguryeo (676 CE) and was left with only its southern territories in Manchuria and the its western region around Hwanghae Bay. Eastern Buyeo, and the Gaya confederacy, flourished for a time.
The Unified Silla kingdom then emerged, and the three kingdoms began to cooperate to expand their territorial holdings. In the final, Silla, with significant Chinese assistance, defeated all other states and unified the peninsula in 935 CE.
As Korea enters the post-crisis era the development paradigm of the country appears to be changing. People who are shocked by the huge cost of the old system would prefer the need for a comprehensive program of liberalization of capital as well as labor markets. On the other hand the people who support the old system try to protect it by promoting nationalist sentiments and by stoking fears of job loss.
Policy and academic analysts are in a tense debate about the extent to these two trends are driving Koreas evolution towards an entirely new model of economic governance. This article examines the five phases of Korea's development in terms of its political development including democratic democracies that are not liberal (1945-60), democratic autoritarianism (1961-72) authoritarian exceptionalism (1972-1877) democratic paternalism (2001-2002) and democratic participation (2002). This article also identifies important factors that appear to influence these processes.
Creationism in Korea
In South Korea, 26% of the population is Christian. Creationists have made strides in promoting their beliefs to this segment. A survey conducted in 2009 revealed that almost one-third of respondents were against evolution. Of those who voted, 41% said that there wasn't enough evidence from science to support the theory 39% of respondents said that the theory was in contradiction to their religious beliefs; and 17% said it was difficult to understand. This level of disbelief is comparable to that of the United States, where a similar percentage of people do not believe that humans evolved from less advanced species of life.
In the past, the anti-evolution campaign in Korea focused primarily on teaching students and the introduction of Christ to them. In 1980 an all-day creation science seminar was held in Seoul during the World Evangelization Crusade. Drs. Henry Morris and Duane Gish of ICR as the main speakers. The event attracted an audience of scientists, professors and church leaders.
The success of the event resulted in the formation of the Korea Association of Creation Research on January 31 of 1980. The event was widely covered in the national media, including The Korea Times, Chosun Ilbo and The Korea Times.
KACR began publishing a newsletter called CREATION. In it, the group reported on its own activities and published articles on scientific evidence for the existence of God. It also translated several film strips and slides from ICR as well as some books on creationism that were already published outside of Korea. 무료 에볼루션 www.evolutionkr.kr gave talks in churches and universities throughout the country.
One instance of a KACR success story was at the KAIST university in Seoul. Students at KAIST in Seoul were so keen on the concept of creationism that they raised money and got support to build a small museum dedicated to creation on campus.
In addition to its activities, KACR has published a bimonthly publication called CREATION. The magazine covers subjects in the field of creation science. It also hosted a series of lectures by ICR staff. It also has branches in local offices that offer talks and seminars to children and other community groups.
Changes in South Korea
In the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early 20th century, Korea began to adopt a more Westernized lifestyle. The traditional Korean dress, the hanbok, was replaced by miniskirts and other fashion elements from abroad. In the same way, traditional Korean music styles were replaced by modern rock and roll and jazz. At this time the famous samulnori or masked dance-dramas, were popular with the general public. These dramatic pieces were performed with the accompaniment of shaman drums as well as different musical instruments.
The economic crisis has shaped Korea's new model of development. The main challenge for the new regime is to find the right balance between market-oriented and state-led policies. It also involves changing the incentives and monitoring policies that shaped the pre-crisis system. These issues are addressed in Chapters 3 & 4.
Baekje, founded by Onjo Prince and third son of Jumong of Goguryeo, was founded by people from the Hangang River area, Buyeo and other areas 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 as far as Mahan in the north and Jeollanam-do in the south. This meant that it was constantly in conflict with Goguryeo, and the Chinese commanderies on the border.
The decline of Silla in the late 8th and early 9th centuries allowed strong local factions to emerge. Gungye was a noble from Later Baekje, established a kingdom with Songak as its capital. It also exerted control over part of the present-day Jeolla and Chungcheong provinces. Then, he moved the capital to Wansanju and became a rival to Goguryeo.
However his rule was not long-lasting. After Gungye's defeat, he was overthrown by a powerful local leader Wang Geon, who united Goryeo with Baekje and Silla in 935, Later Baekje was peacefully integrated into Goryeo as an alternative state. Additionally, Wang Geon introduced fundamental reforms and strengthened a central rule system. This marked the end to the Three Kingdoms Period. The Korean peninsula was then under the control of the Goryeo Dynasty. During the Three Kingdoms period, Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla gradually grew to become powerful states in Manchuria and on the peninsula.