KOREA FOCUS

Navigation

SEARCH

search title

SEARCH Search

PREVIOUS ISSUE

koreafocus e-mail service title

PREVIOUS ISSUE

Book Review Content

Book Review HOME > BOOK REVIEWS

E-MAIL THIS PRINT PDF TEXT SAVE FONT SIZE + FONT SIZE -

Unraveling the ‘History of Miracles’ of the Republic of Korea


zoom

Chung Yoon-jae

Professor of Politics
Academy of Korean Studies

“Reunderstanding the Founding of the Republic of Korea”
Compiled by Lee In-ho, Kim Yeong-ho and Kang Gyu-hyeong; Giparang Publishing Co., 888 pages, 39,000 won
 
A nation state is created when leaders achieve solid internal unity and properly compete with external forces in compliance with the ardent desire of people to form an independent community. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was established in the wake of the March First Independence Movement of 1919, was implanted in the hearts of Koreans aspiring for independence as a seed and hope for Korean national movement throughout the colonial period. With their burning passion and intellectual power, leaders of the Korean nation strived to build a united democratic state through negotiations with foreign powers during the three-year post-liberation period after the end of World War II. However, the government of the Republic of Korea founded in 1948 failed to meet popular aspirations. It fell short of a “united revolution through state building,” which had so fervently been craved by the Korean public, due to failure in attaining internal unity. The launch of the Republic of Korea was accepted as a second-best choice to Korean nationalism. The Republic of Korea, thus setting sail, has nevertheless written “a history of miracles” by accomplishing free democracy and economic development, among other remarkable achievements.
 
“Reunderstanding the Founding of the Republic of Korea” aims at an impartial look into the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Republic as the political foundation of such miracles, free from prejudice or distortion. The 888-page book consists of five parts.
 
Part I, titled “International Political Background of the Birth of the Republic of Korea,” examines the process leading to the founding of the ROK government through international politics among superpowers, exchanges between the United States and Korean leaders involved with the founding of the Republic, and the Soviet Union`s strategy toward the Korean peninsula. Particularly, through analysis of Soviet diplomatic documents recently made public, it thoroughly denies the view that South Korea was solely responsible for establishing a separate government for the southern half of the peninsula. Part II, titled “Ideas and Intentions Surrounding the Founding of the Republic of Korea,” analyzes diverse plans and intentions of active political factions and major values defining the life of Koreans during the post-liberation period. Part III, titled “Birth of a Democratic Republic: Rhee Syngman`s State Building Line,” reexamines plans and achievements of Rhee Syngman (Yi Seung-man), the first president of the Republic, and makes an in-depth analysis of the background of his view on conducting general elections to build a separate government in the southern half of the peninsula.
 
Under the title “Groundwork for a Democratic Republic and Its Evaluation,” Part IV discusses the process of writing the Republic`s Constitution and its significance, the modern concept of “people” as defined by the ROK Constitution, the role of America and the U.S. military government in Korea, the founding procedures of the ROK Armed Forces, and the Republic of Korea as viewed through the theory of the state. Part V, titled “Significance of the Founding of the Republic of Korea,” studies state building cases of other Asian nations, Japan`s response to the founding of the Republic of Korea and changes in the U.S. defense strategy for South Korea.
 
The book is a comprehensive compilation of recent researches in the founding history of the Republic of Korea. Especially, it is the fruit of joint efforts by political scientists and historians, who agreed on the need to rectify distorted views on the “state building forces,” to portray Korea in the 21st century with the wisdom to “create new based on the knowledge of the old.” Through these efforts it will be possible to further stimulate endeavors to supplement and overcome the research and description of contemporary Korean history, which has so far been criticized as “a history without roots,” neglecting the actual achievements of the Republic. Research papers contained in this book will contribute to overcoming such extreme condemnations of Rhee Syngman and political forces surrounding him as that Rhee was a “power-hungry” dictator. By stressing the context of international politics during the post-liberation period, the book also intends to bring equilibrium to academic study, which has focused on domestic viewpoints
 
Highly evaluating such attempts, this writer likes to point out two critical points that should be remembered when modern Korean history is studied in the future. First, following liberation from the Japanese rule in 1945, the nation experienced extreme chaos in values and behavior regarding “liberation” and “state building” while searching for visions and strategies for the future – a period of so-called “one hundred flowers in bloom.” Therefore, multi-dimensional approaches and researches aiming at macroscopic integration should take root, instead of defining those chaotic years merely as a period of hostile conflict between “left” and “right.” Second, these attempts should be supplemented by an endeavor to shed light on the historical roots of the “state building forces.” Particularly, earnest research has to be made on the intellectual, personal and political connection between national movements during the last years of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) and the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945). It is because “the founding of the Republic of Korea would be explained in terms of accidental factors or trapped in deterministic pessimism if Korea`s modern and contemporary history is superficially viewed without understanding its innate capability.” (p. 169)
[ Chosun Ilbo, August 1, 2009 ]

GO LIST E-MAIL THIS PRINT PDF TEXT SAVE FONT SIZE + FONT SIZE -

TOP