Han, Un-suk: Japanese Colonial Domination and the Second World War Politics of Remembrance in South Korea, 1945-2011

The article examines the impact of history problems on Japan’s long-lasting efforts to gain permanent membership in the United Nations (UN) Security Council. It analyzes both the domestic stimuli behind Tokyo’s stance on the UN reform and the external constraints on the UN Security Council enlargement. It is argued that while problems with Japan’s bid for permanent membership in the UN Security Council stemmed mainly from divergent interests of member states, history issues constituted an additional obstacle that weakened Tokyo’s position in negotiations on the UN reform. The discourse on lack of repentance by Japan for the atrocities committed during the Second World War was instrumentally used by the country’s rivals, mainly China and South Korea, all in the effort to hinder Tokyo’s efforts on the international arena.

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Education through Art after the Second World War: A Critical Review of Art Education in South Korea

International Journal of Art & Design Education ◽

10.1111/j.1476-8070.2014.12011.x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 88-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hyungsook Kim

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Art Education ◽

Critical Review ◽

Second World War ◽

World War ◽

Second World

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Rethinking Empire

The Oxford Handbook of the Ends of Empire ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198713197.013.13 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 248-230

Author(s):

Louise Young

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Second World War ◽

World War ◽

Japanese Imperialism ◽

Colonial Studies ◽

Regional Dynamics ◽

Imperial Power ◽

New Imperialism ◽

Japanese Colonial ◽

Second World

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the world’s territory was carved into a handful of colonial empires. With few exceptions, the so-called ‘new imperialism’ of these years incorporated states into the world system either as colonizers or colonized. Japan’s case was unusual: the country started out as a victim of imperialism in the nineteenth century, but became an aggressor in the twentieth. Accounts of Japan’s empire have often fixated on the peculiarities of a non-Western, late-developing imperial power—what one of the architects of the field of Japanese colonial studies called ‘an anomaly of modern history’. The inter-connections between Japanese imperialism in mainland East Asia, the conclusion of the Chinese civil war, and heightened Cold War friction in the immediate post-Second World War period are re-examined here as distinct regional dynamics for the end of one empire and the rise of others in the 1940s and beyond.

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South Korea

10.1093/oso/9780198801665.003.0017 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Detlef Pollack ◽

Gergely Rosta

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Role Model ◽

Second World War ◽

Support Networks ◽

Religious Communities ◽

World War ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

Protestant Christianity ◽

Religious Growth ◽

Second World

In South Korea, the processes of rapid modernization after the Second World War were accompanied by an upturn in the religion that has suffered the heaviest losses in Europe: Protestant Christianity. The analysis shows that the rise of Protestantism in South Korea can be attributed to a number of factors. The provision of support networks of solidarity for individuals exposed to the rapid processes of modernization, industrialization, and urbanization played just as much a role as the productive acceptance of widespread expectations of advancement and prosperity, the link to the traditions of Korean folk religion, the capacity to mobilize resources, and the role-model effect of successful Protestant elites. What may have been most significant, though, is that Protestantism was able to fulfil non-religious functions, too. However, religious growth has clearly reached a limit, since connecting with religious communities to achieve non-religious goals seems to be becoming less necessary.

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Democratization and civil society development through the perspectives of Gramsci and Tocqueville in South Korea and Japan

Asian Journal of Comparative Politics ◽

10.1177/2057891119867401 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 371-384

Author(s):

Charmaine N Willis

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

World War I ◽

South Korea ◽

20Th Century ◽

Case Analysis ◽

Second World War ◽

The State ◽

World War ◽

Top Down ◽

Second World

The development of a country’s civil society has typically been tied to the development of democracy: a vibrant civil society is indicative of a vibrant democracy. Why, then, has civil society emerged differently in South Korea, a country that democratized fairly recently, and Japan, a country that has been democratic since the end of the Second World War? I argue the origins of democracy in both states significantly contributed to the contrasting characters of civil society. In Japan, top-down democratization facilitated the development of a civil society with a strong link to the state for the majority of the 20th century, best viewed from the perspective of Gramsci. By contrast, the bottom-up democratization process in South Korea fostered a civil society where organizations monitor the state, best understood from the Tocquevillian perspective. Through comparative case analysis, this study endeavors to contribute to the literature on civil society by highlighting the ways in which democratization influences the trajectory of civil society.

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