Korean Nationalism Research Articles

The Nationalist Critique of Female Double Suicide in Colonial Korea

During the colonial period, the double love suicides of young “new women” were sensationalized by media outlets and became the object of discussion at a national level, triggering discourse over the role and value of women in Colonial Korea. This sense of involvement in the life and death of women was even more prominent when these suicides involved young women of child-bearing age, whose deaths could be collectively perceived as a loss of an important human resource for the country. This article will examine why the media focus was on young, educated upper-class women and how the discourse about their suicides expanded beyond a moral cautionary tale and was coopted by the Korean nationalist movement. We analyze the discourse that followed two representative female double suicides, the Yun/Kim suicide of 1926, and the Hong/Kim homosexual double suicide of 1931, focusing on the critique published mainly in the Tonga Ilbo newspaper. We also examine the response of the feminist movements, or lack thereof, and the development of the ideological conflict between feminist and nationalist movements. Female suicide was one of the many battlefields between the nationalist and the feminist movements during the colonial period. As an issue involving women at every level of society, it had the potential to challenge the Confucian patriarchal system and bring to light the new needs of Korean women. However, as this analysis has shown, it was dismissed as a personal and trivial matter compared with the urgent public issue of national liberation. The rise of women's movements in Korea, fueled by a small clique of educated women, was ultimately subsumed by the nationalist movement and relegated to the realm of the private and inconsequential.

The white-clad people: The white hanbok and Korean nationalism

The paper diachronically examines the white hanbok as the material and symbolic site of interaction between the hegemonising and the hegemonised in Korea. It traces the changing status of the white hanbok from the end of the 19th century to the present—from being part of unconscious material culture, to the synecdoche of the colonised nation, to the symbol of resistance, to the membrane of a ‘homogeneous nation’, to the symbol of democracy. It analyses the white hanbok as a paradoxical skin—at once inclusive and exclusive—of Korean ethnonationalism, as well as a permeable membrane between the self and other of national identity. By exploring the white hanbok in relation to the ongoing movement towards a decolonised democratic nation, the paper reveals the entwined relations between material objects, practices, and nationalism in Korea.

Confucianism norms in the establishment of the miniskirt policy in South Korea in 1973

After the Korean War ended in 1953, Western culture rooted in the United States dominated South Korean society. This study analyses the influence of Confucianism norms on the miniskirt policy in South Korea in 1973. The Miniskirt policy is one of the policies contained in the Minor Offences Act or Gyeongbeomjoecheobeolbeop which was passed in 1973. In this law, one of the violations is overexposure, which refers to women wearing miniskirts. At that time, the police usually carried a ruler on patrol and often stopped women who wore skirts to measure the length. If the skirt worn has a hemline of 17 cm above the knee, the woman will be penalized. This policy was made because the view of the miniskirt does not fit the norms and traditions of the Korean women clothing, which creates controversy. Therefore, the research question in this study is how Confucianism norms justify the miniskirt policy for Korean women. This study uses a descriptive analysis method with the help of literature study. This study aims to explain Confucianism norms as the influence of the establishment of the South Korean miniskirt policy in 1973. The results show that the establishment of the miniskirt policy in 1973 was triggered by Confucianism norms, especially dress etiquette for Korean women which were regulated by Confucian officials. This norm was re-emphasized during the Park Chung-hee era through this policy, where Confucianism was a value that was applied to his government to strengthen the identity of the Korean nation.

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean Literature

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean Literature

A genealogy of tiger nationalism in Korea: post-colonial discourse, Ch'oe Namsŏn and the Seoul Olympics

AbstractThis study applies a genealogical mode of enquiry to the history of tigers as a symbol of Korea and the Korean people. The zoomorphic idea of Korea as a tiger is conventionally traced to the writings of the intellectual, Ch'oe Namsŏn (1890–1957). However, we argue that while Ch'oe was the first to link tigers with modern Korean nationalism, low levels of literacy and Ch'oe's later ambiguous status as a Japanese “collaborator” meant his promotion of the tiger symbol failed to gain traction. Instead, we locate the making of the modern Korean tiger metaphor in multiple post-colonial sites of cultural inscription, including national newspapers, zoos and museums, which generate and diffuse narratives about the ancient and continuous origins of the Korean people. In particular, it was during the 1980s that the successful Seoul Olympic bid and the Chŏn dictatorship's cultural policy converged to facilitate the “rediscovery” of the tiger as a national symbol with a supposedly ancient heritage, and with Ch'oe and his problematic legacy effaced. We also observe a continuing resistance to Japanese hegemony and a post-colonial construction of Korean identity through the recasting of the tiger – originally a Japanese symbol of Korea – in a new light.

Editor's Introduction

Editor's Introduction

Queer Korea

Queer Korea

Perceptions of Juche ideology by expats in North Korea: A qualitative study

The central research question of this qualitative study was: What are expatriate perceptions of North Korean (Juche) ideology? Other studies on Juche have examined Juche from religious, political, or missiological lenses. However, few qualitative studies have been done on this subject. While it is nearly impossible to conduct research with North Koreans living in North Korea, this study collected data from nine expatriates who had lived in North Korea around the time of the interviews. From the data, two major categories emerged: the foundational influences and function of Juche. The results indicate that the participants perceive Juche to be influenced by Korean culture, nationalism, and humanism, while the participants understand the function of Juche as a system of control, a religion, and an ideology.

Imperial run-off: Korean golf in the Clark Special Economic Zone in the Philippines

ABSTRACT Korean golf in the Clark Special Economic Zone (Clark SEZ) in the Philippines demonstrates how new inter-Asian imperial relations are taking place within the lingering effects of a colonial past. As the largest United States military outpost in Asia for most of the twentieth century, Clark SEZ is now controlled by the Philippine central government under the Office of the President which brokers the lease of land to foreign investors, including South Korean entities. Following Hannah Arendt who defines imperialism as international business interests disguised as national interests, we understand Korean imperialism in the area as capitalist investments that take nationalist forms. Korean golf—defined as Korean people, culture, and property related to the sport of golf—reterritorializes the South Korean nation onto Clark and operates within historically produced inequalities of the area characterized by environmental, class, gender, racial, and economic asymmetries. Korean golf plays a central role in bringing Korean people to Clark and anchoring Korean investment in manufacturing, hospitality industries, and real estate. Exclusive developments like Korean golf courses function to deny the claims to land made by indigenous peoples and small-scale farmers who assert their ancestral rights to these lands and their rights to farm for their survival. This study weaves together the subjective pleasures of Korean golf with the critical stakes for those who are erased from the landscapes they call home.

ВРЕМЕННОЕ ПРАВИТЕЛЬСТВО РЕСПУБЛИКИ КОРЕЯ В ПОИСКАХ СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВА С СОВЕТСКОЙ РОССИЕЙ: 1920–1922 ГОДЫ

As a result of the March 1st uprising, which swept colonial Korea in the spring of 1919, Korean nationalists established the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. One of the main tasks of the Provisional Government was to achieve international recognition and receive financial assistance for the implementation of anti-Japanese resistance. To this end, it tried to establish contacts with the Soviet government, which expressed support for the national liberation movement of Koreans against Japanese imperialism. Based on the documents from the Archive of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and published sources of the Russian Archive of Socio-Political History, the article analyzes diplomatic correspondence between the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and the government of the RSFSR, and identifies the key stages and problems of bilateral relations in 1920–1922. Initially, the relations between two sides were developing on a friendly basis. The Soviet government was interested in deepening cooperation with all groups of the Korean anti-Japanese resistance. But, as the situation on the Far Eastern Front changed and contradictions between different groups within the Korean left movement in Russia and abroad intensified, the Soviet position towards the Korean nationalists was rethought. However, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was still interested in recognition and financial assistance from the Bolsheviks. The dispatch of two emissaries of the Provisional Government to Russia over only two years testifies to serious contradictions within the national liberation movement, which directly affected the government’s image in the international arena. Finally, the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs decided that the power of the Provisional Government was not legitimate and that it could not be fully considered a representative of the Korean people.

To the Question of the Ideological Roots of Park Chung Hee’s Socio-political Views (1961-1979)

This article analyzes the sources of South Korean President Park Chung Hee’s ideas of 1960-1970s. Park Chung Hee guided South Korea’s modernization and tried to create a state ideology that justified his political course. The evolution of this ideology was determined not only by the situation on the Korean Peninsula but also by Park’s personal views. His political views had a great influence on important political decisions in the country. The article reveals the basic roots of Park Chung Hee’s views. We analyzed the influence of Confucianism, ideas and experience of Meiji Japan and policy of Japanese militarism, North Korean Juche ideology. Park’s worldview was not monolithic, but composed of different ideas and influences. His ideas about state and society were influenced by Confucian concepts. Park being a Japanese trained officer was deeply influenced by Japanese colonial and military legacies. He borrowed many slogans and aspects of economic policy from Japan. Comparing himself with Meiji Japan’s modernizers Park Chung Hee was a Korean nationalist. He intended to build a militarily and economically developed state led by a strong leader. Park remolded his soft authoritarian regime into a unlimited dictatorship (Yushin) in 1972. His ideal of state had a lot of similarities with regime of Kim II Sung in North Korea.

“Comfort Women” Memorials at the Crossroads of Ultranationalist, Feminist, and Decolonial Critiques: Triangulating Japan, South Korea, and the United States

This article examines the ongoing debate over “comfort women” memorials, especially one statue known as the Statue of Peace. Whereas Japanese ultranationalists and their foreign collaborators attack “comfort women” memorials for tarnishing Japan’s reputation and spreading historical falsities, progressive scholars sympathetic to “comfort women” victims criticize these memorials for reinforcing female chastity and anti-Japanese nationalism. Examining these varying responses to “comfort women” memorials across the Pacific, this article analyzes how Japanese ultranationalism, anti-Japanese Korean nationalism, US imperialism, and transnational feminism collide in the representation of “comfort women.” By pointing out the significance and limitations of “comfort women” memorials, this article concludes with a discussion of how socially engaged memorials can serve as critical sites for building transnational feminist coalitions in shared struggle against both wartime violence and postwar amnesia.

국채보상운동 과정에서 공동체의식의 심화와 유교적 에토스의 영향

Recently there have been suggestions from both U.S. and Korean academic circles, that the national identity of the Korean people may have been forged during the Goryeo or Joseon dynasty period. These studies have taken notice of an unusual sense of cultural homogeniety that we can spot from the premodern period (a rather unprecedented level of it, even considering other countries’ cases on the global stage), and they also highlighted the actions of the Confucian scholars for example, the Scholars-turned-Righteous Army leaders) who had absolutely no ties with the government yet were just as strongly devoted to the task of overcoming a dynastic crisis as the governmental officials were. However, these studies have somewhat ignored the simple fact that in order for a nation to be formed, an affection for its partners, peers and colleagues that go beyond regions, social classes and genders, should be set in place first. <BR> This article differs from previous efforts and especially the aforementioned studies, as it sees the National Debt Redemption Movement in 1907 as an event that served as a virtual platform for the Koreans to build a horizontal partnership, which could evolve beyond issues such as regions, genders and classes and eventually lead into a Nationalist stand. At the same time, this article also recognizes the possibility that the Confucian ethos -such as the concept of righteousness- could have been contributive to the promotion of this new sense of partnership, and in that regard this article does share the belief of other studies that Confucian culture may have served as a soil for the Koreans’ Nationalistic identity.<BR> In that regard, this article aims to define the relationship between Korean Nationalism and Confucian traditions, by examining the fact that more and more people came to consider the National Debt Redemption Movement as the ‘right thing to do’ after learning all kinds of people from various backgrounds-regions, genders and social classes, etc.- were joining it, and the fact that they too wanted to be recognized as people joining the righteous effort, by publicly declaring their participation in the movement.

Antyjapońskie resentymenty i nacjonalizm reakcyjny w Korei Południowej

Understanding the importance of Japan’s place in the South Korean nationalism helps to explain the causes of contemporary conflicts between Seoul and Tokyo. The power of the anti-Japanese resentments in South Korea can surprise outside observers who do not take into account the importance of nationalism. While everyday anti-Japanese resentments may go unnoticed, they are reproduced by “banal” nationalism. Due to this, they can be used for national mobilization at any time. This research examines South Korean nationalism based on anti- Japanese resentments, which can now be described as reactivist nationalism. This concept is proposed in our text to describe the change in the function of Korean nationalism based on anti-Japanese resentments while still putting Japan (or rather, a certain rhetorical vision of Japan as a colonizer) in the role of the Significant Other. Anti-Japanese resentments began to function as a means of mobilizing the nation in response not only to Japanese actions, seen as provocations, but also to express the people’s dissatisfaction with their own government (by linking authoritarian rule with the legacy of the colonial period). Understanding the role of anti-Japanese resentment is a key to assessing South Korea’s decisions, both domestically and internationally.

A Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Chi-Hun Cho’s Birth

In 2021, the 100th anniversary celebration of the birth of the Korean poet Chi-Hun Cho took place in Korea University. As a member of the Blue Deer School (Cheong-rok pa), Chi-Hun Cho left behind many poetic masterpieces. His poetry is widely recognized as expressing the spirit of Korean nationalism. Cho’s students and other literary society members commemorated his death with recitations of his works of poetry. In order to achieve such honor and respect, the literary person must live a life that is in agreement with the words and themes of their work. Cho was one of those honorable people, as he lived as a man with such a philosophy and a warm heart. As we live in an era when humanity and morality seem to be vanishing, we honor and celebrate the life of Cho, who has had such a great influence on the history of Korean literature.

Currents of Christian Internationalism: The International Missionary Council and the YMCA’s Rural Reconstruction in Colonial Korea

The trajectories of international currents surrounding the Korean peninsula in the 1920s reveal the distinction of Christian internationalism that the IMC sought to implement for the Korean YMCA’s Rural Reconstruction. Amid the deluge of international currents of colonialism and communism, the IMC in partnership with the YMCA’s Korean nationalists crafted a history of international interactions in its nation-wide enterprise for village farmers under the stringent restraint of the colonial government, which demonstrate that the IMC’s internationalism did not exactly fit in the framework of expansionist imperialism or unfettered commercialism. Western missionaries maintained the overall stance of a church-state separation, but the IMC orchestrated the international transmission of religious, intellectual, and material resources for empowering Koreans and rejuvenation of the village life that had been systematically exploited by the colonial government. Through this engagement, the IMC displayed its distinctive characteristics of Christian internationalism expressing disinterested benevolence and alliance transcending national and racial boundaries, which may not be a full-fledged alliance with Koreans, yet too significant to be negligible. The Jerusalem Meeting stimulated the native cooperation among disparate ecclesial entities, organization of the Christian Rural Research Association led by Cho Mansik, and scientific research on agricultural problems and land usage by Lee Hoonkoo under the aegis of the Institute of Pacific Relation. It further provided an opportunity and field knowledges to cultivate a key official A.C. Bunce to prepare a land reform proposal for the newly established Republic of Korea. Not the grand theory of imperialism, but the micro investigation of the detailed process reveals that Christian internationalism in the case of colonial Korea operated not to undermine, but to undergird nationalism.

Cultural Anatomy of Korean Nationalism

ABSTRACT: Most foreign observers are struck by the highly palpable nature of Korean nationalist sentiment, especially during times of friction with Japan or during major international sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the World Cup. However, if these observers spend any significant time in Korea, they often become aware that South Korean society is a highly fractious landscape characterized by conflicting ideologies, regional antagonisms, segregation by class, and a number of other societal fault lines. The natural question is what role, if any, this very visible nationalism plays in uniting South Korean society in the absence of any external stimulus and, if it does not, what the reason is. This essay argues that constructing Korean nationalism based largely on a common blood lineage has rendered it ineffectual in ameliorating intra-Korean conflict. In fact, Kang Jung In and Jung Seung Hyun have proposed the concept of the “overdetermination of other theories by nationalism.” This is the idea that ethnic nationalism, by virtue of its near religious status, is used to bestow authenticity, genuineness, or authority on disparate ideologies. The radical left and right attack each other from the position of being the bastion of “real” or “ true” Korean-ness representing the minjok (ethnic nation). This is also the method used by the governments of both Koreas to demonstrate their legitimacy as the rightful representative of the Korean people. This essay, after discussing the process of the formation of Korean nationalism, first problematizes the sacred and tribal characteristics of modern Korean ethnic nationalisms and posits that the unique process of its formation has resulted in a doctrinaire-like ideology that actually contributes to division, then it poses questions as to nationalism’s current function in society.&#x0D; 논문초록: 대부분의 외국 관찰자들은 특히 일본과 마찰이 있을 때나 올림픽, 월드컵 같은 주요 국제 스포츠 행사가 있을 때 한국의 민족주의적 정서가 매우 뚜렷하게 드러나는 특성때문에 강한 인상을 받는다. 그러나 이러한 관찰자들이 한국에서 상당한 시간을 보낸다면 한국 사회가 상충되는 이념, 지역적 적대감, 계층별 분리 및 기타 여러 사회적 단층으로 특징지어지는 매우 분열적인 모습이라는 것을 종종 깨닫게 된다. 자연스러운 질문은 외부 자극이 없는 상태에서 한국 사회를 통합하는 데 있어 이러한 민족주의가 어떤 역할을 하는지, 그리고 만약 아무 역할을 못 한다면 그 이유는 무엇인지에 대한 것이다. 이 글은 대체로 공통 혈통을 기반으로 한 민족주의 구축이 남북한 갈등 개선에 효과가 없다고 주장한다. 강정인과 정승현은 ‘민족주의에 의한 여타 이념의 중층결정’이라는 개념을 제시했다. 이것은 국가주의 또는 민족주의가 종교적 지위에 가깝기 때문에 이질적인 이념에 진정성, 정통성 또는 권위를 부여하는 데 사용된다는 개념이다. 과격한 좌파와 우파는 민족을 대표하는 ‘진짜’ 혹은 ‘진정한’ 민족성의 주인공이라는 입장에서 서로를 공격한다. 이것은 또한 남북한 정부들이 국민의 정당한 대표자로서의 정당성을 입증하기 위해 사용하는 방법이기도 하다. 본 글은 한국 민족주의의 형성 과정을 살펴본 후, 현대 한국 민족주의의 신성하고 종족적인 특성에 대한 문제를 제시하고 독특한 형성 과정이 실제로 분단에 기여하는 교리적 이념으로 귀결되었음을 상정한 다음, 한국 민족주의의 현주소를 알아보자고 한다.

From the Berlin Olympics marathon to a park in Seoul: Sohn Kee-Chung and the construction of sports heritage in South Korea

Runner Sohn Kee-chung (1912–2002) was a top athlete in the mid-1930s who won the marathon in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Sohn was a Korean, yet he competed for Japan because Korea was a Japanese colony. To his contemporaries and in post-colonial Korea, Sohn became an admirable symbol of anti-colonial resistance, yet, at the turn of the 21st century anxieties have surfaced following indications that his place in national collective memory may not be stable. I identify that meaningful moment and argue that the challenge to Sohn’s iconic image sparked a major commemorative wave to memorialize him and confirm his status as a national hero through concrete representations. I demonstrate how the related sites create through Sohn a sports heritage that celebrates the Korean nation and the values of reunification and peace, yet at the same time actually anchors South Korea’s legitimacy vis-à-vie the rival sister to the north.

Paradoxical configuration of advocacy groups for multiculturalism discourse in South Korea

ABSTRACT This article demonstrates that the paradoxical configuration of groups supporting multiculturalism in South Korea stems from uniquely Korean experiences of colonialism, territorial division, and modernization. Unlike other societies, conservative political force advocates for multiculturalism and blames nationalism for its intolerance. On the other hand, its political counterparts have lingered on Korean nationalism, often presented as an antipode of multiculturalism. For exploring the antecedents of South Korean multiculturalism that contributed to shaping such configuration, I use the Foucauldian theoretical concept of governmentality and genealogy. Governmentality focuses on the conditions or circumstances under which policy problems are produced and genealogy allows us to trace back to its origin of the discourse, for de-familiarizing and dismantling the widespread perception of South Korean multiculturalism. This article explores how historical and geopolitical conditions have shaped engagement with multiculturalism discourse and how the emergence of post-nationalism laid the foundation for multiculturalism policy.

Incongruity of Nationalisms? Interactions between Korean National History and American Historians of Korea, the 1910s to 1980s

The heuristic starting point for this paper is a critical approach to the enterprise of modern historiography per se, based on the understanding of it as inherently bound by teleological epistemology. While “Korean nationalism” is the usual vantage point for the critique of modern Korean historiography, the current article attempts to reverse this analytical perspective and re-assess a number of attempts to write on Korean history by US-based historians of Korea in the 1910s–1980s as reflections of inherently self-centric picture of the world. In this Eurocentric picture, traditional Korea was locked into a historical trajectory via which “modernity” was unachievable.