Korea+Chapter+1

Read Chapter 1 on the ning and post 4 things from the following categories.

1. An image that reflects some topic covered in the chapter. 2. A statistic from the chapter that you have updated with the latest data. 3. A piece of information that you predict will be critical to our understanding of China and why you think its important.

Additionally, comment on what you see as the author's point of view or bias towards Korea and briefly explain why.

10 Points

Adam Grey 1. I think this cartoon might be some comment on the communist dominoe effect of the Vietnam war. Or maybe it's just stereotypical humor. Anyway, the point is that the dominoes are obviously sorted in terms of relevance and significance. The first flag being in the immediate foreground and therefore most significant. Notice that Korea is third in this list. Out of all the east asian countries, and it looks like there's hundreds of dominoes, Korea ranks third. That's pretty good. It supports the author's view that Korea's self-deprecating culture is inaccurate.

2. The chapter says that South Korea has the 11th-largest GDP in the world. The International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and CIA World Factbook say that it currently ranks 15th. That's not too bad, though; North Korea checks in at 88th.

3.Korea's philosophy that they are but a small country among east asian giants has effects on other countries as well. We might find that since Korea sees itself as an underdog, it might behave differently in interactions with other countries such as China. One example would be that it might behave more recklessly in wars as it feels it has less to lose. Conversely, China's interactions with Korea will depend on a difference between what China thinks Korea is and what Korea thinks Korea is.

4. The author of the chapter is definitely biased in favor of Korea. He(?) spends a good 3 pages complimenting it as a nation and explaining to the reader why it's really a lot better than it thinks it is. He may be right, but he does spend a large amount of time emphasizing the quality of Korea.

Jason Purnell This image is depicting the the two sides of Korea. south(white) north(black) the north is depicted more as a military power with a man in uniform, and the south is more casual with someone in just a suit and tie. 2. The reading said Korea has the 16th largest population in the world. however it currently has the 18th largest population in the world.

3. The history of Korea's relationship with Japan I believe is important because it may provide insight to how Korea interacts with other nations. Koreans feeling like they are the little country being broken by the bigger countries. This has historical backing in the fact that at multiple different points in its history it was considered a colony or protectorate of Japan.

The author seems to be extremely proud of how Korea has stayed unchanged for so long. even as it had to reform itself to keep up with new paradigms, and the growth of the countries around it.

Derek Crowley:

1.

Mt. Chiri(Mt. Jiri in revised romanization), the southern-most mountain of the Great Range Paektu.



Mt. Paektu, The northern-most mountain of the Great Range Paektu.

2. The Korean language is now spoken by about 78 million people which is up from 75 million in the book.

3. I think it will be important to know that there are many different answers to the question of when Korean history started from 10,000 years ago to the year 2333 B.C. to just 350 years ago. It will be important for us to realize that there is not one set date to when Korean history started and we should not be close minded to the idea that there are valid reasons for each date given no matter how far apart they might be.

The author seems to be very proud of Korea's history and Korea's ability to remain unique in its own way despite many influences from other countries. The author seems very patriotic towards Korea and wants to share all of the reasons why it is important to study Korean history and not just dismiss it as insignificant when compared to China and Japan. The author wants to show us that Korean history is just as interesting(if not more interesting)than the history of China and Japan.

Sebastian Bellisario 2. The number of internet users in Korea has more than doubled since the book was written. There are now 34.8 million users in South Korea accounting for 70.7% of the population. This is up from the books statistic of 15.5 million users.

3. An important fact is that Korea has a very independent identity from the world around it. The author stressed that Korea has been its own powerful nation despite seeing themselves as shrimp compared to whales. There independence from the rest of east Asia as well as their desire to once again unite will have a profound effect on how they have interacted with the world as well as their future actions. An attest to this is that of the wars mentioned, most of them have made Korea the defender.

Sam Wickham:

1) A rice paddy in South Korea. Rice is one of Korea's main crops, and its growth is bolstered by the monsoon rains.

2) According to the International Monetary Fund, South Korea is the 32nd richest country in the world as of 2009. This differs from the 38th richest reported in the book.

3) It think it will be important to remember how Korea was a geographical and ideological liaison between the Chinese and Japanese powers. Such outside influence is important when examining Korea's growth, and the author emphasizes this. His tone seems to be one of support for the uniqueness of Korea's history. Surrounded by powers like China, Japan, and Russia (U.S. too, to some extent), it is easy to lose track of what has made Korea's history distinct. The author seems to defend this individuality, and wants to shed light on Korea's overshadowed past. He seems to wish to diminish the conception of Korea as a manipulated state, and instead aims to prove how this manipulation made Korea special.

Jeffrey G. Rosenberg:

1.) "Koreans see themselves as a small, sometimes oppressed country... There is a saying in Korean, 'When whales fight, shrimps get their backs broken.' They see themselves as shrimps when compared to China, Japan, Russia, and the United States" (3).

2.) Korean is the 18th most-spoken language in the world. This statistic differs from Korean's original ranking at 13th, as reported in the book.

3.)