Opinion - The Korea Times

Civilian control of government

By Mark PetersonThis is No. 8 in my series on the “Top Ten” evidences that Korea has a peaceful and stable history. For most of Korean history the civilians have been in control of the government. This point follows my “No. 7” that I wrote about last week, that Korea has a tradition of the “seonbi,” the scholar-official. I illustrated the contrast to Japan's “samurai” culture, that of the warrior. Today's article will build on last week's where I argued that the tradition of the seonbi contributed to the peaceful and stable history of Korea.Today's issue is the balance of political control between civilian and military officials, and by balance, I really mean the primacy of civilian over military power. I have to admit that I am breaking one of my own rules: I have said one should not impose a modern standard on a pre-modern situation, specifically one should not judge a dynasty, like the Joseon Kingdom, by the standards of a democratic republic. But in this case, the modern virtue of civilian control of the military, when used as an ev

Apr 24, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Seonbi, not samurai

By Mark PetersonThis is No. 7 in my top 10 list of what I call “Peaceful and Stable Korean History.” Here I want to feature what in Korean can be called “seonbi culture.” A “seonbi” was a scholar, or a scholar-official. At its core, seonbi culture is focused on study, not study in the abstract, but study of the Confucian classics with the aim of passing the state exams to qualify a person to be appointed to a government office. Seonbi who did not pass the exam were scholars; seonbi who passed the exam took the roles of coveted scholar-officials. The seonbi are in contrast to the warrior, the soldier, or specifically, in contrast with Japan, the samurai.Seonbi culture has two foci ― study of the classics, and service in the government. And both of these cultural factors are still very strong in Korea today. Korea has one of the highest educational standards in the world, maybe it is No. 1. Some objective studies place it as No. 1 or No. 2, or elsewhere in the top 10 internationally. And as for service in the government, I don't know how to find an o

Apr 19, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Royal tombs untouched by grave robbers

By Mark PetersonThe sixth item on my top 10 list of evidence for advocating that Korea has had a peaceful and stable history is the fact that the royal tombs have not been robbed. Royal tombs? There are the tombs of Silla kings surrounding Gyeongju and there are the tombs of the Joseon kings on the outskirts of Seoul. None have been robbed.I did not realize how unique this situation was until one day a few years ago, when I was leading a group of textbook writers on a fact-finding tour and seminar on Korean history and culture. The seminar lasted about 10 days and began with our host, the Academy of Korean Studies, on the south side of Seoul, before we traveled through Korea looking at major historical sites.Standing in front of the Oreung complex, the Five Tombs complex in Gyeongju, an archaeologist from the University of Utah named Bradley Parker innocently asked, “When were these tombs robbed?” The question surprised me because I knew the tombs had not been robbed. I knew this because each tomb that they have excavated, about six of them, has contained a Silla crown an

Apr 10, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Oldest border in the world

By Mark PetersonThe fifth point on my top 10 list of evidence for calling Korean history peaceful and stable is the nature of the border with China. The Amnok River (perhaps better known by the Chinese term, Yalu River) has been the border with China for over 1,000 years.I am indebted to Prof. David Kang at USC for this insight. He, as I, have been advocating for an interpretation of Korean culture that emphasizes the peaceful aspects of Korean history. In one of Kang's YouTube videos he presented the idea that the Amnok River is one of the oldest, unchanged borders in world history.Now, this statement requires a little qualification. The lower reaches of the Amnok became the border between the Korean state of Goryeo (918-1392) and the states of Song (960―1279) and Yuan (1271―1368) of China. We can't really claim that the border was recognized from the beginning of the Goryeo period, because things were somewhat unsettled. The Silla northern border was not as far north as the Amnok River, rather, it was in the Pyongyang area. But Goryeo was built of a combination of Silla, with eleme

Apr 5, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Korea never invaded another country

By Mark PetersonLast week I looked at the number of invasions Korea has suffered, and I explained my point of view, that there were really very few invasions in spite of the popular opinion that Korea has been invaded numerous times. Today's entry (#4) in this series I call, “Peaceful and Stable Korea,” looks at the fact that Korea has never invaded another country.Some years ago, I had lunch with a director-general of one of the divisions at the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I mentioned the fact that Korea had never invaded another country; something Korea should be proud of. But to my surprise, he bowed his head, and lowered his shoulders and said, “Yes, we were so weak that we never even invaded another country.”I thought it was a unique feature of Korean history, and a thing that few, if any, other country could claim. But he took it as a source of shame, of embarrassment. I told him, “Oh no, this is a thing to be proud of. Few countries can claim to have such a peaceful tradition.” But he would have none of it. He insisted on being embar

Mar 27, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Misconception about invasions

By Mark PetersonI realize that I am about to contradict the summary of Korean history told by 95 percent of my friends in Korea, but I am of the opinion, based on my studies, that my contrarian view is more accurate. Most of my Korean friends are of the opinion that Korea has been invaded numerous times. I don't buy it. I see relatively few invasions in Korean history, and long periods of peace and stability.Where does the multiple invasion point-of-view come from? Unfortunately, much of the reason for thinking that Korea has been invaded often comes from the Japanese period. And it was to the Japanese administration's advantage to advocate multiple invasions, thus making the Japanese invasion less of an oddity, “why, it's just another invasion!” “You've been invaded so many times, what's one more?”When I was a student, I met a retired high school teacher in Gangneung who was an expert on invasions. He had gone through all kinds of historical sources and had tabulated an exact number. I can't remember his exact number, but it was like 983 or so. He counted eve

Mar 22, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Transitions of dynasties

By Mark PetersonAfter a diversion for two weeks to respond culturally to the “Parasite phenomenon” I want to return to the theme of “Peaceful Korea.” My point is that peace is deeply inherent to Korean culture. After all, the common greeting is “Annyeonghashimnikka (Are you at peace)?”Recent history may not speak of a peaceful tradition, but I want to look at transitions from dynasty to dynasty. One might argue that the 20th century was not marked with peaceful transitions ― and that's true. But my argument is that the long history of Korea describes the deep-seated character of Korean culture. I want to look at historic transitions from dynasty to dynasty, and here we see something unlike that seen in any other country.In my Top 10 of Peaceful Korean History, today's article is #2. Previously, I wrote about #1, the longest dynasties in the world.Let's start with the transition from Gaya (47-562) to Silla (57 B.C. ― 935). Before Silla conquered Baekje and Goguryeo and dominated the peninsula in 668, it absorbed Gaya. I use the word “absorb&rd

Mar 15, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

American culture and 'Parasite'

By Mark PetersonI've been struck by how the age ratings of the movie “Parasite” differ slightly in Korea and in the U.S. I thought I'd take a minute to look at how the ratings in each country are different, and what this might mean.The first question for many people when considering whether to watch a movie is its age rating. The rating in the U.S. for “Parasite” is “R,” meaning age 17 and above, but the rating in Korea is “15” ― age 15 and above.Some of my Korean friends have talked about the differences in how Americans and Koreans see the film ― particularly in how each culture views its potentially offensive or “mature” material.The basic definition of material that could be offensive is material that is sexual or violent in nature, or that contains nudity or violent language.The most interesting differences between the U.S. and Korea, in the interpretation of these standards, is probably related to language. In the case of “Parasite,” both cultures may perhaps agree on issues relating to sex, nudity, and vio

Mar 8, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'Parasite' vs 'Gone with the Wind'

By Mark PetersonBoth Korea and the United States have a history of slavery. They are both very different, and yet, they are both the same.One reason that Parasite “works” in both Korea and in the United States, so much so that it won the highest recognition a film can earn, is that it exposes a nerve that is buried deep in each culture. This awareness of a history of slavery, and the inhumane treatment that, by definition, goes with it, is buried deeply and denied in some, and not buried much at all and near the surface in others.In the United States, cries for reparations are still debated in the political arena each election cycle, and some respond to the cries, and some reject the cries. In Korea, the hierarchy of society and it's exaltation of some, in speech and in social regard, reminds us of a by-gone day when the hierarchy was not just marked with speech levels, but with attire, with housing, with education, with power and position, which indeed were blatant reminders that some people were slaves and some people were owners of slaves.Guilt. All of society feels so

Feb 28, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Longest dynasties

By Mark PetersonI've written about this previously, but the more I think about it, and work on it, I find new dimensions to the idea. Almost all the Korean dynasties, even the earliest ones, run five or six hundred years. There are no short-lived or failed dynasties. Even the Gaya Kingdom, although it can be argued that it lacked a centralized, fully developed state, ran 500 years.There are problems with the starting dates of all these early dynasties. Depending on when the six eggs came down from heaven for Gaya, or when the horse brought the egg for Silla ― and other myths for the other dynasties ― leaves more questions than answers. But the archaeology supports the ideas with artifacts that show an early founding of the respective dynasties. And the ruling structure of those early dynasties seems to have taken hold in about the time frame of the myths.Yes, there are some short-lived groups, the Ye, the Maek and some others, but they were probably tribal groups that never became “states” with a stable king and other factors defining a state. The states that developed, e

Feb 23, 2020By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Read more

Civilian control of government

Seonbi, not samurai

Royal tombs untouched by grave robbers

Oldest border in the world

Korea never invaded another country

Misconception about invasions

Transitions of dynasties

American culture and 'Parasite'

'Parasite' vs 'Gone with the Wind'

Longest dynasties

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