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The Korea Times

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

The Dawn of Modern Korea

Fri, December 1, 2023 | 08:12

(480) Elevating Prospect

When in 1945 Korea regained its independence, there were merely 40 buildings in the entire country which were equipped with elevators ― and few of these elevators really functioned after the years of war and chronic shortages of everything. The first elevator was installed in the Bank of Korea in 1910, but it moved banknotes, not people, so an elevator ride became possible on...

2007-12-06 17:27

(479) Well-Served

A 1932 survey indicated that among Koreans with an education above high school level, merely 7.7% did without servants in their households. In the late 1960s, the majority of Korean middle-class families still kept a live-in servant. And then things changed, the full-time live-in servants disappeared: nobody wanted to take up this job, at least for the money employers were wi...

2007-11-29 15:42

(478) Foreign Studies

(478) Foreign Studies

Nowadays Koreans are famous for their penchant for overseas studies. In the US alone there are some 60,000 Korean students. This is the third largest foreign group in the US universities, but the first and second place are occupied by such giants as China and India, so the Korean prominence in the area is remarkable.

2007-11-22 16:19

(477) Korean Shanghai

(477) Korean Shanghai

As every reader of books on modern Korean history can testify, a surprisingly large number of pivotal events which influenced the fate of Korea in the first half of the past century took place in Shanghai. It would be just a minor overstatement to say that between 1910 and 1940 more or less "everybody who was somebody" in Korean culture, arts, and politics spent at least some...

Jong-eun2007-11-15 17:00

(476) What’s in a Name?

Every Korean has a name which, like its Western counterpart, consists of a given name (typically two Sino-Korean syllables) and a surname, inherited from one's father. This seldom raises any question for a Westerner. Indeed, the system looks 'natural' ― not least because it is quite similar to the modern Western pattern. Perhaps, the only Korean specifics is that women do not...

2007-11-08 15:39

(475) A Woman for All Seasons

One night around 1890 there was a commotion in front of the main gates of the Ewha School, the only western-type educational institution then admitting women. A lady in expensive traditional attire stood at the gates, accompanied by a servant with a lantern. She demanded to talk to the school principal. She said: "Open the light of knowledge before us!" The lady came to deman...

2007-11-01 15:55

(474) Experience To Go

(474) Experience To Go

The early 1980s witnessed a major revolution in the Korean restaurant business. The fast food industry arrived. The pioneering role belonged to Lotteria, a subsidiary of the powerful Lotte group. This group is unusual among Korean conglomerates in many regards, not least because it is closely related to Japan where an entrepreneurial Korean migrant businessman founded it in t...

2007-10-25 17:40

(473) Park’s Park

(473) Park’s Park

Seoul Grand Park is a terrific place, and it has something to offer to everyone. It includes a large zoo, a botanical garden, a theme park and many other, less significant, facilities. This is a place to spend an entire day: with kids, with a date, or just strolling around.

2007-10-18 18:24

(472) Smugglers’ Paradise

(472) Smugglers’ Paradise

When I was looking at the narrow and shallow Tumen River which delineates the eastern part of border between China and Korea, I can not help but think that this area is very conducive for smuggling.

2007-10-14 20:28

(471) Generals Were Governors

In the period 1910-1935 few posts in the Japanese government could rival that of the governor general of Korea in their significance. This post was often seen as the second most important in the empire, and a stepping stone to becoming prime minister. Within Korea, the governor general had nearly unlimited power, virtually ruling as a quasi-monarch.

Jong-eun2007-10-11 17:49

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