Korean Job Discussion Forums

[in_seoul_2003]

True, here on Dave's many among us have been saying much the same for ages, but still a relatively welcome insertion despite a few problems here and there.

By Jon Huer
Korea Times Columnist

This may come as a surprise to many people: Korea is not as old (some 5,000 years) as Koreans claim. The United States of America, to get a comparative framework for Korea, is not as young as most of us the world over believe.

Of all the nations that make up the membership at the United Nations, Korea is relatively new and the U.S., quite surprisingly, has the oldest history as a nation. All the nations in the U.N., including Korea, have been made into the nations they are today only after the United States.

The explanation here is in the word ``nation.''

A ``nation'' is defined by its essentially "modern" structure, if not always its substance ― a democratic, constitutional nationhood that identifies the sources and distribution of citizenship, power, and rights, among other things.

This ``nationhood'' concept is different from ``culture'' which could include certain subconscious habits and traditional manners derived from collective history, religion or class.

Such cultural legacies are present in every society, regardless of whether it is modern or not.
A society can be a young nation but a very old culture, and vice versa.

By this definition, separating nation and culture, the United States stands as the oldest nation in the world and, naturally, as the model of all the nations that have followed.

Undoubtedly, the constitutional structure, the political system, even in the copying of the phrase, ``life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,'' Korea is a baby born of the American parentage.

Of all the nations, including Europe, practically all those that have emerged after 1776 bear the stamp of having imitated the United States as a model.

This is somewhat shocking.

Koreans are almost pathologically proud of their 5,000-plus-year history, about as long as anything that exists in the world.

Virtually all Koreans, men and women, old or young, rich or poor, can recite the main dynasties that have existed on this peninsula. Today, Korea's existence is thought to have stretched through Manchuria in a bygone era. Koreans' main national pride is surely based on its claim to old age.

On the other hand, most of us, including most Americans, tend to think of America as a ``young'' nation. This idea of young nationhood is used in so many ways in America; sometimes to justify its adolescent national character, sometimes to explain why its behavior is so ``American,'' whatever that means, sometimes to gauge its place in the world as the ``new nation'' among the older cultures, sometimes to express its envy of them, sometimes to show its pride in how far this new nation has come in such a short time.

Korea's concept of its tribe-hood, the very existence of Korean-ness, is as strongly imprinted in its antiquity as America's self-image is in its youthfulness.

Both are wrong, and we need to rethink about both Korea and the U.S.

Consider this: Russia, which we tend to think is very old, is only about 15 years old, born after the collapse of the Berlin Wall. It is so young, in fact so infantile that we can hardly predict what kind of adulthood it will grow into.

Korea is only somewhat older than Russia. Korea was born as a nation in 1948, with no reference to its past dynasties or kingdoms which had no bearings on the new Nation of Korea, called the Republic of Korea. By that reckoning, Korea is barely 60 years old. As a nation, using the American yardstick of 233-years of nationhood, the oldest in the world, Korea is in its youth. In every possible way, Korea is a new kid on the block.

If more convincing proof is necessary, consider some of the ``oldest'' cultures that tend to make America pale by comparison. As nations, China, indeed the crowned king of world cultures in age, is 171 years younger than America, having been inaugurated only in 1947. Egypt, the cradle of human civilization, is 184 years younger than America, its modern version emerging only with Nasser's overthrow of the last pharaoh, King Farouk, in 1960.

India, the most mysterious and impregnable among cultures, is 170 years younger than America. Japan, born as a modern nation after its own revolutionary act began the Meiji Restoration in 1868, is 92 years younger than America. Even France, the crown jewel of Old World civilization, is 13 years younger, having become a republic in its own revolution of 1789.

Some may argue that their ``cultures'' precede America by many thousands of years, pointing out how old the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, or the Coliseum of Rome, and so on, are. True, they are much older than America's birth by their ancient origins. But they are cultural relics, having little or no relationship to their respective modern ``nationhood.''

The pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, or the Coliseum of Rome contribute to their modern owners primarily as tourist attractions and famous landmark symbols, and nothing else. Just try to imagine what connection there is between ancient Romans and modern Italians. Likewise, the builders of the pyramids have no more to do with modern Egyptians, or of the Great Wall with modern Chinese, than the Romans with their modern Italian counterparts.

By the same token, what transpired on the ``Korean peninsula'' in the past (say, for 5,000 years) has nothing to do with what Korea is today. Korea did not invent the first moveable type; nor did Korea build Namdaemun.

These are all pre-Korea as the world knows of them. Korea is judged by what it has done in the last 60 years of existence. Its pride is in Samsung cellphones, LG computer chips, Hyundai cars, not its rule of Manchuria centuries before. It is what Korea has done as a modern nation that gets praise or criticism.

Just consider Mongolia's claim to Genghis Kahn's legacy or Egyptians' to the pyramids. Mongols and Egyptians today are primarily known as basket-case poor.

Surprising to itself, the Korean Nation has barely taken the first few steps in its history.

[email protected]


http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/03/272_40499.html

[Ya-ta Boy]

[jkelly80]

The modern liberal nation-state is predicated upon the development of a stable and relatively prosperous middle class, which is the vanguard of facilitating a tolerant and pluralistic society. Korea has lacked this until the late 70's, and it shows.

[in_seoul_2003]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[bluelake]

If one is to base statehood on the modern Western standard, I suppose the writer has a point. However, if you look at a country by when it coalesced as a people with many similarities, then the picture changes.

He was seemingly writing this in response to the oft-mentioned 5,000 year history of Korea. You have to look at that number and ask what it really means. It is based upon the mythological foundation of Korea by Dangun in 2333 B.C. (not exactly 5,000 years, but who's counting?). What many people don't realize is that the story of Dangun, as a national foundation myth, only dates back a few hundred years. It was pushed on Koreans as a way of giving disparate people on the peninsula a commonality.

During the Three Kingdoms period (ending in 668 A.D.), The peninsula was composed of three individual countries (Silla, Baekje, Goguryeo), which evolved from four distinct areas (Mahan, Byeonhan, Jinhan, and all of what was left of Old Joseon in the North), which in turn was a mix of nomadic peoples from all over Asia. We cannot say that Korea truly became Korea until 935/936 A.D. when the people of Balhae (the inheritors of Goguryeo) joined with the Goryeo dynasty.

It's Korean history in a nutshell, but I would go with the last part and say Korea became a more unified nation (as a people) in the early 10th century A.D. So, it's a bit more than a thousand years.

[itaewonguy]

please don't try and go around and say " Korea is only 50 years old!!!"

you can define how old korea is by the united nations text book! doesn't really mean shite!

tell a korean that korea is only 50 years old and see what happens!

[ryoga013]

[samcheokguy]

this article is stupid. No like really stupid. At a certain point, a 'country' exists even if it doesn't exist as a nation state. This is a bizarre attempt to feel good about something which makes no sense.
-Korea 5000 years of history, but everything we're proud of happened in the last 50 years! (and its made in CHINA!)

[ernie]

i guess it's just a matter of semantics. yes, 'the republic of korea' might be only 50 years old, but koreans don't call this place 'the republic of korea' (or even 'korea' for that matter) so we're talking apples and oranges.

but i understand what he's trying to say: culture and nationhood are different things, so saying 'korea is older than the USA' is technically wrong and depends upon the international definition of nationhood. also the idea of saying 'my culture is older than yours' makes no sense because all of our cultures stretch back into prehistory and from a common ancestor.

[in_seoul_2003]

[in_seoul_2003]

[Scotticus]