Also by Georgie D. M. Hyde

Transcription

1 SOUTH KOREA

2 Also by Georgie D. M. Hyde PIAGET AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT: with a Cross-Cultural Study of Number and Quantity EDUCATION IN MODERN EGYPT: Ideals and Realities

3 South Korea Education, Culture and Economy Georgie D. M. Hyde M MACMILLAN PRESS

4 Georgie D. M. Hyde 1988 Foreword Keith Watson 1988 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended), or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WClE 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1988 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by Wessex Typesetters (Division of The Eastern Press Ltd) Frome, Somerset British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hyde, Georgie D.M. South Korea: education, culture and economy. 1. Korea (South) I. Title 951.9'5043 DS902 ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI /

5 To my friends in South Korea

6 Contents List of Plates Acknowledgements Foreword Map of Korea x xm xvii xx 1 The Context The Importance of South Korea South Korea before the 'Miracle' Landscape and Tourism Origins and Culture Religions: 12 Shamanism 12 Buddhism 13 Confucianism 15 Christianity 17 Islam Sport: 22 Asian Games 23 The Olympics 24 2 Farms and Fisheries Farms and Fisheries Saemaul Undong: The New Community Movement 35 3 Politics The Presidency The State Council The Prime Minister's Functions The National Assembly The Judiciary The Party System Democratic Justice Party 46 4 Educational Administration and Law and Order Educational Administration 4.1 Planning and Management 4.2 Supervision and Curriculum Development 4.3 Boards of Education vii

7 Vlll Contents Law and Order Crime Illegal Assembly and Demonstration: Student Unrest Moral Rearmament: President Chun takes Action 65 5 Health and Social Affairs 73 Health The National Institute of Health The Korean Medical Association Medical Insurance Hospitals Communicable Diseases: 82 Leprosy 82 Encephalitis Care of Children and Elderly Care of Handicapped 90 Social Affairs Population Control Environment Factors Water-borne and Air Pollution 97 6 The Role of Women Traditional Family Patterns The Quest for Equal Opportunity High School Education Vocational Training Women's Colleges and Universities The Growth of Women's Organisations The Young Women's Christian Association The National Council of Women Economic Development Introduction Science and Technology Industry Business and Finance Trade and Commerce Strategies: Joint Ventures Relationships with Neighbours and Friends North Korea Japan 179

8 Contents ix 8.3 China The Soviet Union The United States of America Peace or War: Strategies for Survival 215 Postscript: South Korea Appendix 1: Farms, Fisheries and Saemaul Undong 226 Appendix 2: Politics, and Law and Order 228 Appendix 3: Health and Social Affairs 234 Appendix 4: Women 239 Appendix 5: Economic Development 245 Appendix 6: Relationships with Neighbours and Friends 258 Bibliography 278 Index 281

9 List of Plates 1 Woman dancing with Changgo (an hourglass drum) 2 Changgo (double-barrelled drums) dance 3 Ko-ssaum, or 'loop fight', is a two-team contest especially popular in Chollanam-do Province 4 Shilla cultural festival, contest between villages at the annual Shilla festival in K yongju 5 Little Angels Troupe, formed in 1962, mostly with talented teenagers 6 A scene from the Story of Mr Huh performed by students of Soodo Women Teachers' College, Seoul 7 Felt dance 8 A girl plays a traditional musical instrument, a long zither with 12 strings, a Kaya-ko or Kaya-Keum 9 Traditional ladies' choir 10 Hundai Theatre Company 11 Masked dance. Many regions of Korea have their own unique mask dances, which reveal local customs, costumes and beliefs. These dances express an often humorous portrayal of class conflicts between the common people and nobility 12 Performance of Korean fan dances, one of the traditional court dances of Korea 13 Korean Broadcasting System state-run television. The KBS TV, the largest TV network in Korea, now has its key station in Seoul, and 21 local stations 14 Sejong Cultural Centre Theatre 15 Seesawing has traditionally been a girls' activity in Korea- some say to peer over the protecting house walls. The Korean name for this game is Nolttwigi 16 Seesaw, a girls' game, played on the Lunar New Year's day. The game may have originated in the days when women were never permitted to leave home 17 Elementary school children in an audio-visual language class. English language has been a favourite subject for people in all walks of life in Korea as the country rapidly becomes more international 18 A school Biology Laboratory. More than 90% of all children who X

10 List of Plates Xl complete primary school proceed to middle school, then to high school. Competition to enter the many fine universities is keen 19 Korean elementary school children examine a satellite photograph of their country in one of the Science Museums of Seoul 20 Physical training is an important part of every child's education 21 School children visit the ancient tombs of Chonmachong 22 A class of South Korean schoolboys visit the United Nations Cemetery in Pusan. Visits to histoi-ical sites are an integral part of every young South Korean's education 23 South Korean schoolboys in the traditional school uniform that became standard after 1910, when Korea was formally annexed by Japan 24 Typical university library 25 Students at one of Korea's more than 12 universities enjoy a break from classes. Korea had only one university in A commencement ceremony at Korea University in Seoul. It is one of the largest private universities in Korea 27 A commencement ceremony at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, the largest women's university in the Orient 28 The grounds of Kyongbokkung Palace. Schoolchildren can often be seen here, learning to paint and draw in the spring or autumn seasons 29 Wives of prominent citizens are seen in a Saemaul (New Community) Movement class at one of the training institutes. Saemaul Undong is a universal campaign in Korea participated in by everyone regardless of differences in age, sex and social status 30 Housewives serve at one of the many parties for village elders. Respect for age is one of the traditional virtues of the Korean people 31 Students from Seoul National University Dental College attending people in a remote farm village. The SNU and other medical college students provide free service during school vacations 32 Nurses at Seoul National University Medical College Hospital in southern Seoul. Nurses in Korea are required to undergo a full 4-year course in Nursing in order to qualify for a licence 33 Saemaul Undong or New Community Movement, part of a National Development Programme: building a road 34 Women in white at a pharmaceutical factory, South Korea 35 The obedient machine, tended by one girl at the Keun Sung Textile Company in South Korea, where the export of cotton yarn is one of the main sources of foreign currency

11 Xll List of Plates 36 A woman at work on the assembly line at the Hyundai automobile plant at Ulsan. Cars made here are made entirely of Korean components 37 South Korean women at work at the Morado Company's knitwear factory in Seoul 38 An old lady works a plot of land whose natural beauty contrasts sharply with the thermal power plant in the background at Yeosu. Every available bit of land is utilised agriculturally or industrially 39 The hulls of ships nearly finished and ready for launching in the dry docks at Hyundai shipyards at Ulsan in south-eastern Korea 40 On the shop floor in the Hankuk machine tool factory, South Korea 41 Completed 'Pony' automobiles await delivery outside the Hyundai Motor Works at Ulsan in south-east Korea 42 The Nam Hae chemical plant at Yeosu 43 Korean cuisine is a visual riot of colours and shape, a feast of many flavours 44 Supermarket shopping 45 Silk shop in Tongdaemun Market: It is the largest, most colourful market place in Korea 46 Ginseng shopping: throughout the centuries Korea has boasted the best gingseng since the Koryo Dynasty (AD ) 47 Typical city railway station 48 Shoppers throng Myondong, Seoul's busiest shopping district 49 The swimming pool at Walker Hill's Hotel, Seoul 50 Downtown Seoul, southern Korea

12 Acknowledgements So many people have been involved directly or indirectly with this book that I seek pardon from anybody inadvertently omitted. RESEARCH VISITS This began in 1982 when I gave a paper at the International Conference of Comparative Education in Seoul. I was invited by the Vice-minister of Education, Dr Tae-su, to prolong my visit to gather information about the education system at all levels, and, as I was interested in the relationship between industry, business and education, to make other appropriate investigations. Throughout I was accompanied by Professor Joon Hee Park, Director of the East-West Education Research Institute of Ewha Women's University and President of the Korean Society for the Study of Comparative Education. He is responsible for added chances to lecture, for the inspiration to write this book and exchanges of appropriate literature. He also made sure that I sampled other aspects of Korean life: leisure pursuits, shops, music, and traditional dancing. Transliteration of English letters is not yet standardised in Korea so names of places sometimes have two or more spellings, the main double letters being p and b, d, t, k and g. I have tried to group visits correctly from the cards received. My sincere thanks are offered to the following who gave me many books and pamphlets listed in the bibliography. Seoul: Ok Yul Kim, PhD, President, Sookmyung Women's University. Dr Han Young Rim, Professor of Philosophy of Education. Park Eui Ho, Director, Chung-soo Vocational Training Institute. Ki Un Hahn, PhD, Professor of Education, College of Education, Seoul National University. Jung Hee Sub, PhD, Department of Mineral and Petrol, College of Engineering, Seoul National University. xiii

13 xiv Acknowledgements Kim Yun Shik, PhD, Department of Biology, Seoul National University. Professor Myun W. Lee, PhD, Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University. Pusan/Busan: Kyungpook/ Gyong Bug Daegu/Taegu: Chungnam: Noh Jaechan, PhD, Dean, College of Education. Chung Jung Han, PhD, Dean of Engineering College, Pusan National University. Lee Byung Lun, Principal, Pusan Mechanical Technical High School. Young-Gil Hwang, President, Pusan Librarians' Research Association. Hong Ahn Kim, Board of Education, Kyongsangnamdo Pusan. Huh Box, Professor, Dean of Teachers' College, Kyungpook National University. Seion-Hwan Cheong, Kum-oh Institute of Technology, Director of Planning. Ook Hyun Park, President Kyungpook Junior College of Technology, Taegu. Jong T. Kim, PhD, Dean, Professor, College of Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Taegu. Lee Jong Ryul, Superintendent, Board of Education, Kyungpook Province, Taegu. Lee Jeong-Min, Dean, College of Industrial Education, Chungnam National University, Daeduk Science Town Kim Yong Dae, Superintendent, Board of Education, Taegu. Ki-Wan Kim, Associate Professor, Department of Electronics, College of Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Taegu. Lee Yong Ko, Supervisor, Secondary Education, Kyungpook Board of Education, Taegu. Dong Ho Lee, President, Kum-oh Institute of Technology, Gumi, Kyungpook. Jae-Won Lee, Director, Industrial Education Research Centre, National University.

14 Acknowledgements XV Sangchol Kang, PhD, Professor of Education, Associate Dean, Graduate School, Daejeon National University. Masan: Ulsan: Others: Jong Kim Lee, Director, Local Board of Education. Dong Chul Kang, Deputy Mayor. Nam-Hong Cho, Director-General, The Masan Free Export Zone, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. T. I. Kim, Protocol Chief, Hyundai Heavy Industries Company Ltd. Hai Won Choil, Executive Director, Gumi Export Industrial Corporation, Kyeongsangbuk-Do. Kim Zae-Zung, Professor, Dean, Changwon Industrial Masters College, Industrial Complex, Kyongnam. Bong Mok Park, Dean, Graduate School of Education, College of Education, Kyongnam University, Kyongsan. Hyun Sup Choe, Professor of Botany, College of Liberal Arts and Science, Kyung Hee University. Young Ho Choi, Deputy Headmaster, Oh-Wun Girls Industrial High School, attached KOLON Company. Other South Koreans who have encouraged and helped me include Dr Hong Sah Myung, Director of the Korea Institute for Educational Exchange, who paid me an unexpected visit in between appointments in the United States and Scotland. Looking back, I am amazed at the amount of good advice that he managed to give me when he found me sorting cut-outs from the Korea Herald, agreeing that one of the themes in my book should be the link between educational provision and technological advance and another the moral rearmament movement developed from Saemaul. He also presented me with a book, US-Korean Relations , published by the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University. I wrote to him about the problem of getting permission to use information contained in such books, as nobody replies yea or nay. I have to assume that my Korean friends would not encourage me to write, give me the Korean-based material and then not expect me to use it. More recently I am indebted to Mr Yang, currently Press and Cultural Attache at the London Embassy, who so kindly made it possible for

15 xvi Acknowledgements me to update my typescript by arranging for me to receive 1987 copies of the Korea Herald. THE KOREA HERALD This brings me to my gratitude to the editor and contributors of what must be one of the best of the world's newspapers in terms of coverage, impartiality, accuracy and honesty. I have tried in this book to indicate sources of information, from the editor, Reuter, Yonhap News Agency, Associated Press and individually named writers. The Korea Herald announced my arrival in the country and the fact that, with the blessing of the Ministry of Education and official co-operation, I intended to collect material to write a book. In fact this, with memories of the courtesy with which I was received everywhere, make me feel confident that I was intended to use the literature listed in my bibliography. Only one embarrassment occurred, now amusing to recall. Whenever I was invited to make a speech or introduced to a group, the announcement always gave my age! When I asked about this, I was told that although I would be respected for my qualifications, the fact that I was elderly was equally important in Eastern countries. Finally, I am also very grateful to Dr Keith Watson, Reader in Comparative Education at Reading University School of Education, who not only encouraged me to write the book but helped me to find the right publisher. His excellent foreword has provided a fitting context for what follows. GEORGIE D. M. HYDE

16 Foreword During the past fifteen years there have been some dramatic changes in the political and economic groupings of the world. Indeed, it would be no exaggeration to describe the early 1970s as marking a watershed in international relations. The oil price crisis of was to lead to an industrial and economic crisis in the industrialised nations of the West, the full impact of which has yet to be realised. One of the most notable effects, however, has been that of high unemployment. The normalisation of relations between the USA and China was to open up a whole new set of relationships between the world's most populous, and potentially most powerful, nation and the rest of the world. The Chinese 'open doors' policy has gained momentum since the death of Mao Zedong and more especially since the beginning of the 1980s with the policy of the Four Modernisations- Agriculture, Industry, Science and Technology, and Education. The long-term effects of this on China and on the Asian region have yet to be felt. The US defeat in Vietnam at the hands of the Communist forces led to a reassessment by the nations of South East Asia as to their vulnerability and their strengths. In the ASEAN nations - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - there is a new assertiveness, politically and economically. In the Middle East, the resurgence of fundamentalist Islam, which led to the downfall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and to the subsequent Khomeini Revolution, continues to have an impact on the Islamic nations of the world and beyond. Surprisingly, in spite of these momentous changes, Europeans remain remarkably Eurocentric, concerned with the problems of their own backyard in a traditionally narrow sense, while in the United States there is a sense of withdrawal behind a wall of protectionism and security. On both sides of the Atlantic there is a growing awareness that Japanese economic strength poses a threat to the industrial and technological bases of society and some trade union leaders and politicians have been clamouring for a policy of economic tariffs and trade protectionism. What is often overlooked, however, is that there are other nations in East Asia that are now potentially as powerful as Japan. Economically they are growing very fast and their industrial production is also posing a threat to traditional Western industries. South Korea is one of these nations and it has xvii

17 xviii Foreword one of the fastest growing gross national products in the world. South Korea, along with Taiwan and Singapore, has for the past fifteen to twenty years consistently been among the world leaders in terms of economic growth, economic productivity and industrial output per person. That some of this has been achieved at the cost of curbing political freedoms, trade union rights and civil liberties cannot be denied; nor can the economic achievements. Inroads have already been made by these newly industrialising Asian nations into the markets and manufacturing bases hitherto regarded as the prerogatives of the United States and Europe. Shipbuilding, engineering, machine tools, steel production, the manufacture of electronic equipment, even car production, can now all be undertaken more cheaply and efficiently in South Korea than in the United States or Western Europe to such an extent that jobs in those industries have probably left Europe (and the USA) for Asia for good. Many believe that the speed and complexity of these economic changes are already having sociological implications far beyond East Asia. The potential for growth of countries like China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, have led some observers to comment that the next century will be the 'century of the Pacific peoples'. If this is true, then people in other parts of the world should begin to take note and should observe, and hopefully learn from, the changes that are taking place in that region. In the field of comparative education it has been axiomatic that part of the purpose of studying other nations' education systems is to better understand one's own and to learn from the experiences of others; it is not to 'lift' or copy models and experiences wholesale. In the context of South Korea, as Professor Hyde shows in the pages of this book, the education system has had a profound impact on every aspect of Korean society. It has helped to develop a sense of purpose and discipline in the people. It has led to experimentation in the political system. The development of vocational and technical skills within the schools has had a profound impact on the country's capacity to industrialise and develop new technologies. Those who have expressed concern in England and Wales in recent years about a core curriculum or the absence of moral education in schools could well look at the place of both within the South Korean school system. Those who are concerned about the sex bias in English education and the disproportionate number of male students in British higher education would be encouraged to

18 Foreword xix see to what extent women are catered for in universities, colleges and teacher training institutions in South Korea. During the Korean War of British troops fought alongside US and ANZAC forces to prevent the communists from taking over both North and South Korea. The end of that war was to lead to a frostiness of relations between the West and China until the mid- 1970s. Although there are still tensions in the region the fact that the International Olympics Committee chose Seoul as the venue for the 1988 Olympic Games is a testimony of how far South Korea has progressed since A country with a long and chequered history is now considered to be one of the 'giants' of East Asia. The implications of this progress for future developments in the Pacific Region during the next thirty-seven years could be profound. Any book that raises our awareness of this little-known country and sheds light on its past, present and future developments is to be welcomed. In her analysis of these developments in South Korea, Professor Hyde has done a service to us all and I warmly commend the following pages. KEITH WATSON Reader, School of Education, Reading University