Dear Friends and Family,

What do we in the States know, really know about Korea?

This is a hard question to answer while living in Korea but I think it is safe to say that we don’t know much. And I suspect that a lot of what we think we know is either inaccurate or stereotypes. So please indulge me in a review of the basics:

• The Korean Peninsula (South + North Korea) is here (tellingly sandwiched between China and Japan):

• Legend has it that Korea was founded by a bear that ate herbs until it turned into a human that gave birth to Korea’s first King. But even if you do not believe that legend (and what’s not to believe?), Korea has been around for scads of time. Although modern Koreans are prone to hyperbole when describing their history, I’m willing to concede that Korea has a long and proud history. Koreans were printing books almost 200 years before Guttenberg and sailing armored ships 260 years before the French began iron-plating their ships in the West. Koreans invented the unique ondol floor heating system, were quite clued in on medicinal herbs (i.e. ginseng), and have one of the most scientific written languages in the world.
  
  Historically, the people of the peninsula have become very fond of all things Korean and not so fond of anything or anybody not Korean. Although to be fair, this lack of fondness for “foreigners” can be explained with the number of military invasions that the peninsula has had to endure from the Mongolians, Chinese and Japanese. Also worth noting was the negative impact of being a protectorate of China for hundreds of years, the even more negative impact of being annexed by Japan for 35 years, and that the peninsula was wretched apart by the warring political philosophies of the US and USSR/China. Koreans fight amongst themselves too; but their history has been dominated by on-going threats to their well-being and culture from non-Koreans and in great result, are highly protective of their culture.
  
  

• It is too bad that I cannot talk about Korea without immediately dividing it into:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea
-Approximate population: 23 million
-Approximate land size: 46,000 square miles
-Large cities: Pyongyang & Kaesong
-Approximate average income: $1,900
-Economy: agriculture, factories, & the military
-Approximate military size: 1.2 million
-Government: Socialist (although effectively an Oligarchy)
-Current leader: Kim, Jong-Il
-Modern history: North Korea signed the 1953 Armistice the stronger country: with more natural resources, more industry, and less destruction from the war – although the North possessed less farmable land. The country developed a strong cult of personality around its leader, Kim, Il-Seong, but managed to exist fairly stably until relations with its political and pragmatic supporters, the USSR and China, began to decay. Then the 1990s brought devastating floods followed by severe drought, rendering the country unable support its industry nor able to adequately feed its people. These days, North Korea is deforested, its industries increasingly fallow, and its food production unrecovered, while the government props itself up by spending approximately 25% of its GDP on the military.
-Issues to watch: Missile launches (and how both South Korea & Japan react to them), famine in 2008, flooding, nuclear disarmament, and general inscrutable behavior (which, for the record, is rarely “crazy” as the press prefers to characterize it).

The Republic of Korea aka South Korea
-Approximate population: 49 million
-Approximate size: 38,000 square miles
-Large cities: Seoul/Incheon, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejong & Ulsan
-Approximate average income: $24,600
-Economy: manufacturing (ship building, steel, cars, consumer electronics)
-Approximate military size: 650,000
-Government: Republic/democracy. But still rather fledgling: the old boys network is deeply and “basic rights” such as free press and trials by jury as still up-and-coming. The Economist labeled it a “Flawed Democracy” (I like).
-Modern history: South Korea signed the 1953 Armistice as an utterly devastated country. It languished until a military dictator by the name of Park Chung-hee took over and decided to build up the country’s infrastructure and industry. Park was brutal but made way for amazing economic growth. Dubbed “The Miracle on the Han River,” South Korea's wasted economy was transformed into prosperity although Park himself was gunned down by his own director of intelligence. After Park, Korea managed to better live up to its official “republic” title – now it elects presidents – although cronyism remains very much intact, endangering the economic system so badly that the IMF had to bail the country out in 1997. Personally, I have faith in the Korean people (who work hard) but feel that South Korea’s future is dependent on it improving education, eliminating at least some corruption and growing its economy beyond manufacturing. Korea is and will be working hard to be an important player on the world stage.
-Current President: Lee, Myung-bak
-Issues to watch: Free Trade Agreement (with the US) as well as unpopular US beef imports, unpopular president (inaugurated Feb 2008), new hard-line stance in regards to North Korea, and if you get bored, you can read up on the fall out from the December 7, 2007 oil spill or the scandalous trials and tribulations of the richest man in Korea (Lee Kun Hee) and the little company he ran/runs/owns, which is known as called Samsung.

• Koreans are culturally Confucian (an ethical and philosophical system that focuses on morality). One can see Confucianism in the rituals that Koreans perform to honor their ancestors and in the way that Koreans focus a lot on status + relationships. Religion-wise, Koreans are predominantly Buddhist but Christianity is very strong here and raising in numbers very fast.
  
  
• The biggest holidays of the year are Seolnal (the Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Other holidays celebrated include Independence Day, Buddha’s birthday, Christmas, Memorial Day and Children’s Day.
  
  
• Korea produces much of its own television, movies, pop songs, and literature. I don’t know that much about these because I cannot understand them. But I’m told that Korean movies are getting a reputation for quality and that Korean pop culture is spreading to Japan and China. Koreans call this “The Korean wave.”
  
  
• Middle class and even more well-to-do Koreans live in apartments situated in ubiquitous apartment blocks. The apartment buildings have elevators – but are often moved into by using lifts that lift belongs through the windows into the apartment (I still find this amazing to watch). Apartments have an entryway for shoes and then usually open to a large living room which is surrounded by ~4 bedrooms, a large kitchen, a bathroom and a partitioned off balcony (usually used for drying clothes).
  
  Middle class Korean families own one, usually two cars. By far, white is the favorite car color here because it apparently symbolizes good fortune. Cars are almost always Hyundai (pronounced Hy-on-day) because Hyundai is a Korean company (national pride) and because import taxes on foreign-made cars are very high. A friend once told me that Hyundai cars manufactured in the United States are considered better quality than the ones made in Korea and that some Koreans will import Korean cars from the United States to Korea; I’ve never confirmed this story.
  
  And Middle Class Koreans have a variety of shopping available to them: local street produce markets (with veggies, fruit, & Korean street foods), small trinket shops, other street stalls that sell socks or clothing, small grocery stores, large big-box stores known as E-Mart & HomePlus, and some department stores – including one that reminds me of Norstrom’s called Lotte Department Store.

Well, I’m probably missing other vital stats but that gives us a start on Korea.

Laura

Conveyor belts and pipes at POSCO
(formerly known as the Pohang Iron and Steel Company)
- the world's third largest producer of steel (and an amazing site to behold).



The bust of Admirable Yi, Sun-shin with a model of
his armor-plated Turtle ship in the background.




Kimchi pots in the Seoul Kimchi Museum.
Because, despite eschewing stereotypes, you cannot talk about Korea
without mentioning kimchi.



A remarkable Hyundai building in Seoul.



Seoul's Han River on a cold, cold winter day.
It doesn't look particularly miraculous, does it?

As this sign near the DMZ says, "Thank you and good-bye"
(although it only says good-bye in Korean).