History of Korea - Part 2

Date: 29th May 2013

Time: 9:00 p.m.

Place: Home (as usual..) 

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Still remember my last post? We stopped on Joseon Dynasty and ended with the creation of Hangul characters, by King Sejong, the Great. We will now continue from that dynasty.

Manchu invasion

Britain invasion

A lot of wars happened during the period of Joseon Dynasty before the Japan invasions. One of them was the invasion by the Manchu in year 1592 and 1620. Due to that, Korean leadership has never returned to its earlier days of glory anymore. Although King Yeongjo came to power in year 1724 and he brought the land much stability, but the Kingdom fell into corruptions and invasions happened again, as the France, followed by the Britain invaded Korea. In 1876, Japan has invaded Korea and had forced the dynasty to have an open-door policy. With that, in 1910, Japan officially annexed Korea and there goes the starting of Japanese Colonial Period, from 1910 until the end of World War II, 1945.

World War II

The celebration on the end of World War II did not last long as the country was divided by ideological differences caused by the emerging Cold War. Korea’s fate was then decided at a meeting in the eastern United States at which no Koreans attended. In that short meeting, a line dividing North and South Korea was marked along the 38th parallel. Both regions were placed under temporary military rule by the U.S. on the South and Soviet Union on the North. In 1948, official declaration on the birth of the South Korean government has been made, and Democratic People's Republic of Korea was officially founded. Meanwhile, North Korea formed the Provisional People’s Committee for North Korea earlier in the year 1946.

Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly and Korean War started in 1950. It was when the North Korea launched a surprise attack into South Korean territory for a forcible unification of North and South Korea. The Korean War lasted for three years, which has involved another two countries, which are the United States, helping the South Korea and China, on the North. The Korean War came to an end with a cease-fire, in 1953. The war has given a great impact that has heightened the bitter feelings of both sides, resulting in the difficulties of reunification of both countries, even until today.

That is the end of a brief history in Korea.

The next thing that we will look at is the South Korea’s flag. Just like in Malaysia, the flag of South Korea has its name too, called 'Taegeukgi'. So what are the meanings of the symbols on the flag? The circle in the middle dividing into two equal sections represents the yin and yang principles in Oriental philosophy. The upper red section represents the proactive cosmic forces of the yang, while the bottom blue section is the responsive forces of the yin. With the combination of two forces, it shows the concept of continual movement, balance and harmony. Apart from that, the corners of the flag are four trigrams which symbolize the four universal elements; moving to the right from left corner: heaven, water, earth, fire.

So, what about the national flower of South Korea? It is rose of Sharon, also known as 'Mugunghwa'. The flower’s symbolic significance came from its Korean name, ‘mugung’, which means immortality, where the word reflects the enduring nature of the Korean culture, as well as the nations’ determination and perseverance. Therefore, this flower was chosen as the national flower of South Korea. As for the national anthem of South Korea, the name of the song is Aegukga, which means Love the Country. This song had gone through a lot of versions until the year 1948, where South Korea government adopted the new version and used it permanently in all states of South Korea.

This is the end of it, History of Korea - Part 2, and also the meanings and symbols of South Korea's flag, national flower and the national anthem of South Korea.

Next post will be about Hangul characters. Let's learn the basic ones together next week! Get prepared! =D 

Sources:
Korea Tourism Organization
Korean History
Korea.net