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SOUTH KOREA.   Term Paper ID:28692 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Changes in social & cultural values & economic structure in the 1990s. Demographics, historical background, youth pop culture, status of women.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Changes in social & cultural values & economic structure in the 1990s. Demographics, historical background, youth pop culture, status of women. Paper Introduction: Introduction Even as its culture remains in many ways rooted in the religious, ethical and familial traditions of its past, South Korea has experienced a wide number of changes over the past generation allowing new opportunities for women and members of the younger generations to gain a measure of equality in their own society and a greater degree of individual expression. This paper looks at some of ways in which social and cultural values and practices have changed over the past generation in South Korea and how these are reflected in behaviors and beliefs among South Koreans today. Most Americans probably still derive most of their knowledge about Korea only from the war (1950-53) or because of the communist North’s nuclear potential and noisy aggressiveness, but of course this ancient countr Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Because of the mixed racial character of the present-day Korean population, it is believed that the ancestors of the Koreansincluded immigrants from the northern part of the Asian mainland (Cumings,1998, p. 54). Also important is the Korea-based Unification Church. Introduction Even as its culture remains in many ways rooted in the religious,ethical and familial traditions of its past, South Korea has experienced awide number of changes over the past generation allowing new opportunitiesfor women and members of the younger generations to gain a measure ofequality in their own society and a greater degree of individualexpression. However, within months after South Korea lifted its ban onJapanese music and movies, Japanese pop culture (which has swept acrossmuch of East Asia) had taken South Korea by storm, perhaps partly becauseit represents to Koreans the economic might and world political position ofJapan, perhaps because of their parents' disapproval, which lends toJapanese culture a sort of James Deansian outlaw image(http://europe.cnn.com/2 /ASIANOW/entertainment/ 1/1 /japan.korea). In 1997,this powerhouse of a nation reeled and almost collapsed as a result of aweak financial system and heavily indebted conglomerates. Early history showsthat they had a huge influence on ancient Japan, and their historicachievements include being the first culture to use metal moveable type forprinting books. Korean history ismarred with political violence, poverty, and war, aspects that would soonerbe forgotten by the Koreans, who are trying to focus on their promisingfuture. Primary education is free and compulsory for all children between theages of 6 and 15. Korea's place in the sun: A modern history. (1997). Korea belongshistorically to the Chinese cultural realm. South Korea rose from devastation in the 195 s - the resultof war with North Korea - to become one of the world's largest economies inthe 199 s. Othersignificant influences include Ch'?ndogyo, a religion founded in the mid-19th century that fuses elements of Confucianism and Taoism (Keating, 1997,pp. Despite this, the rise of South Korea is one of the most unexpectedand inspirational developments of the latter part of our century. However, although the rate of women's economic activitiesparticipation is increasing, it is difficult to find a fundamental changein the structure of the supply of women's labor. Thedecrease in the birth rate was caused chiefly by a national campaign forfamily planning conducted since 1965. 31). 171). Private schools play an important role,especially above the primary level. 51-3). (1998). 41). 174). Conclusion South Korea in the 195 s had a classically underdeveloped, agrarianeconomy that was highly dependent on foreign aid. At the same time, factors such as past employment history,human capital such as licenses, and employment in professional occupationtend to be related to tendency to stay in the labor pool after marriage andnot to suffer a decrease in professional status after marriage, suggestingthat if South Korean women achieve a level of autonomy and skill beforemarriage then they will be able to reshape their marriages along lesstraditional lines (Breen, 1999, p. These museums are seen byboth the government and by older South Koreans as providing a bulkheadagainst foreign and modernizing elements (Keating, 1997, p. The annual rate of increase has dropped steadily from more than 3percent in the late 195 s to 1. Studies have shown that half of the employed women in Korea leavethe labor market immediately before or after marriage and reenter againwithin the next 2 years after marriage. New York: Graphics Arts Center.http://europe.cnn.com/2 /ASIANOW/entertainment/ 1/1 /japan.korea/Keating, K. Large numbers of Koreans emigrated before World War II: those fromnorthern Korea to Manchuria, and those from southern Korea to Japan. Asia for women on business. (1998). For older South Koreans, this fondness for all-things Japanese is alittle unsettling. ReferencesBreen, M. South Korea's population more than doubled in the period 195 -9 . In 1995 nearly one-half of the people in South Korea did not profess areligions. Historical Background Shamanism, Buddhism, and Confucianism constitute the background ofmodern Korean culture. Martins.Cumings, B. Land-reform policies carried out in theearly 195 s, together with the spread of modern education and the expansionof the economy, caused the disappearance of the once-privileged yangban(landlord) class, and a new elite emerged from the ranks of the formercommoners. 39). 44). In onegeneration they came out of the fields and into Silicon Valley. South Korea was transformed into anindustrial powerhouse with a highly skilled labor force. A fewdecades ago, Koreans were an impoverished, agricultural people. And South Korean teenagers are crowding game rooms to shake and shimmyto "Dance Dance Revolution" or DDR, a game imported from Japan. 31). New York: Stone Bridge Press. Chicago: University of Chicago.Hur, S.V. Despite legal gains and the participation of many women in theeconomic successes of the past generation, South Korean woman face many ofthe same problems that their grandmothers did in terms of equal acceptancecombined with the fact that they must also deal with the problems faced bywomen around the world seeking to balance work and family responsibilities. The world is nowwatching to see whether the Koreans will be able to reform and continuetheir stunning growth and how this will affect groups like women and youngpeople who have traditionally been left out of the power structure in SouthKorea (Keating, 1997, p. (1992). The country has 297 institutions ofhigher education, with a total annual enrollment of 2.2 million students.An estimated 98 percent of the adult population of South Korea is literate- 99.3 percent of the men and 96.7 percent of the women - however, thereis not as much pressure to succeed academically in Korea as there is inother Asian countries like Japan (Keating, 1997, p. From 196 , however, birth and mortality rates decreased rapidly. After the Three Kingdoms periodin particular, Korean culture was strongly influenced by the Chinese,although this influence was given a distinctive Korean stamp (Cumings,1998, p. About half of the Koreans inJapan returned to South Korea just after 1945. About two million people migrated to South Korea from the North duringthat period, settling largely in the major cities. Part of this change is due to the expansion of a modern educationalsystem in the four decades after the Korean War, which has also promptedthe emergence of a middle class. Since World War II, and especially after the KoreanWar, the modern trends have rapidly progressed. The rapid increase in the urban population and the resultantdepopulation of vast rural areas are South Korea's main demographic issues.Three-fourths of the population is classed as urban, with roughly halfliving in the country's six largest cities. The military leadershipthat emerged in the early 196 s and led the country for a quarter centurymay have been autocratic and, at times, repressive, but its pragmatic andflexible commitment to economic development resulted in what became knownas the "miracle on the Han River." During the next three decades, the SouthKorean economy grew at an average annual rate of nearly 9 percent, thegross national product more than doubled in size, and per capita incomeincreased more than a hundredfold. Inaddition, women strenuously campaigned for complete legal equality and wonenhanced property ownership rights and the right to become household heads.All of these factors have substantially improved the quality of women'slives in South Korea (Wilen, 1998, p. The Koreans: Who they are, what they want, where their future lies. Thecountry's population density of 1199 per square mile is one of the highestin the world. The rulesof DDR are simple: The player must step on the corresponding squares on thefoot panel to match those shown on the monitor(http://europe.cnn.com/2 /ASIANOW/entertainment/ 1/1 /japan.korea/). South Korea has recently been propelled into the forefront of economicgrowth by the late South Korean president Park Chung-hee, although he alsoheaded a country that was rife with pervasive bribery and corruption in theKorean business, education, medical, and legal systems. The population of South Korea (1997 estimate) is 45,948,811. The act isdesigned to foster gender equality in all the areas of Korean society andto guarantee women's development and participation in all the areas ofsociety. Younger South Koreans have made Japanese bands very popular in SouthKorea and Japanese bands now often outsell those by their South Koreancounterparts. It isestimated that in 1945 some two million Koreans lived in Manchuria andSiberia and about the same number in Japan. Culture shock: Korea. This paper looks at some of ways in which social and culturalvalues and practices have changed over the past generation in South Koreaand how these are reflected in behaviors and beliefs among South Koreanstoday. New York: World Trade.Wilen, T. These changes in its economic structure have had profound effects onits cultural and social structure as well, with women and younger peoplemoving to find a new identity in a culture that has always valued age andall things masculine. The high density of the population, the decreasing rates of emigrationand the highly homogeneous nature of the population are all essentialelements of the country's cultural dynamics. Urbanization of thecountry has proceeded rapidly since the 196 s, with substantial rural tourban migration; 83 percent of the population is now classified as urban.Following the establishment of North Korea, some 4 million immigrantscrossed the border to South Korea. Confucianism, more a moral philosophy than areligion, is a more prominent element in Korean life than its relativelysmall number of adherents ( .4 percent of the population) would suggest.Christian missionaries were first permitted in Korea in 1882; by 1995 theChristian population was 11.8 million, three quarters of whom wereProtestants. Most South Korean womenremained defined by marriage and motherhood and will no doubt to continueto be so defined until there is a substantial increase in childcarefacilities as well as changes in social and cultural factors (Breen, 1999,p. In addition to creatinglarge resident populations in China and Japan, Koreans have emigrated tomany other countries, notably the United States and Canada (Cumings 73). Changing Status of Women in South Korea Members of a culture that incorporated a centuries-old Confuciantraditional of male superiority, South Korean women have achievedtremendous advancements in their social status, both politically anddomestically in a very brief time, which is a testimony to theirintelligence and determination. 46). Women have also benefited since the 1998 passage of the Act onthe Prohibition of Gender Discrimination and Redemption. Aside from a resident foreignpopulation of about 55, (mainly Chinese), the country has no racial orlinguistic minorities. Thus, although the country'srate of population growth is low, its overall population density is high(some two and a half times that of North Korea) with huge concentrations ofpeople in the major cities. Rise of New Youth Pop Cultures As South Korea has become an increasingly open society, the influenceson it from outside have also increase, including influences from the UnitedStates and other Western countries as well as from Japan, a surprisingsource given the long history of enmity and violence between the twonations. South Korea, like North Korea, is one of the most ethnicallyhomogeneous countries in the world. In the 1995-1996 school year some3.9 million pupils were enrolled annually in kindergarten and elementaryschools and 4.7 million in middle and high schools, including nearly 1million in vocational high schools. Although Korea has only recently found itself a part of the globalstage, it is a country with a rich and complex past. It also reflected an overall increasein living standards, considerable growth in the number of educated people,and the shift from a rural and agrarian to an urban and industrial societyBreen, 1999, p. The cities are populated by young people, whilethe median age in rural areas becomes progressively higher (Cumings 71). Several museums are located in Seoul,including the National Museum (founded in19 8), with its extensivecollection of Korean cultural and folklore relics; branches of the nationalmuseums are located in eight other major cities. Passport Korea. New York: St. Buddhism claimed more adherents (some 1 .4 million) than anyother religion in South Korea. 37). Demographics Some basic background facts about the country will be useful inhelping us to understand the ways in which it has changed in the past twogenerations. 55). However, much of it is less positive. Traditional thought,however, still plays an important role under the surface. 2 percent in 1997. (1999). Another significant social change was the decline of theextended-family system: rural-to-urban migration broke traditional familyliving arrangements as urban dwellers tended to live in apartments asnuclear families and, through family planning, have fewer children. This increase has been partly offset byemigration from South Korea, especially to Japan and the United States.However, South Korea's burgeoning economy and improved political climate inthe early and mid-199 s slowed the high emigration rates typical of thelate 198 s and compelled many South Koreans who had emigrated to return.Between 199 and 1995 the number of South Koreans receiving immigrationvisas to the United States was less than half the peak of 1987, and in 1994one South Korean returned for every two who left (Cumings, 1998, p. But only a very low percentage ofwomen return to the same kind of occupation as before, and in most caseswomen experience a downward or horizontal movement in occupation aftermarriage. 44). An analogous trend holds true in the film world in SouthKorea as well as South Korean filmmakers face severe competition from bothHollywood and Japan. The fact that Korean history has eluded much of the world isunfortunate, but as Korea becomes more of a global player, theunderstanding and appreciation for this unique nation has becomeindispensable. They remember Japan's occupation of their country whenthe Korean language and many other things Korean were banned and see thisattraction to all things Japanese as something much more alarming thaninnocent teen rebellion but rather a much more fundamental rejection ofKorean culture that mirrors the disdain for and suppression of Koreanculture by the Japanese during its 36-year colonial rule of Korea(http://europe.cnn.com/2 /ASIANOW/entertainment/ 1/1 /japan.korea/). The majority of this densely packed population lives in thesouthern and western coastal areas (Cumings, 1998, p. Secondary education consists of three years of middleschool and three years of high school. The country's strong and distinct cultural heritage is respected bythe Korean people, and efforts are made by the government to encourage andpreserve the traditional arts. The most importantmigration, however, was the north-to-south movement of people after WorldWar II, especially the movement that occurred during and after the KoreanWar. Koreans have a fierce sense of identity andhave remained a distinct people for centuries, despite domination by China,Japan, and others and often horrible acts against the Koreans - illustratedin the terrible image of a 1 , pickled Korean noses the 16th-centuryJapanese warriors took to their country to certify their body counts (Hur,1992, p. Most Americans probably still derive most of their knowledge aboutKorea only from the war (195 -53) or because of the communist North'snuclear potential and noisy aggressiveness, but of course this ancientcountry is much more than that. The state of South Korea was established in 1948 following the post-World War II partitioning of the peninsula between the occupying forces ofthe United States in the south and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republicsin the north. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.