CIVILIZATIONS OF EASTERN ASIA

Silla Dynasty: Around 106 BC, the mighty Han dynasty of China had conquered much of the land known as Korea, a peninsula off of the coast of southeast Asia, and formed a military government there. Eventually, the conquered tribal peoples arranged themselves into federations, which then developed into three rival kingdoms, who fought amongst each other until one emerged as victor. This kingdom became known as the Silla Dynasty.

The Silla Dynasty was able to fend off the Chinese occupying Korea around the mid-600s. This gave them control over the entire Korean peninsula. The Silla developed early Korea by building magnificent Buddhist temples, and made bronze and stone sculptures. A large contribution the Silla Dynasty made to Korea was the development of a phonetic alphabet that still used Chinese characters. This made it possible for the Chinese-speaking Koreans to better adapt to this new language.

Koryu Dynasty: Around 935, as the Silla rule was weakening, a rebel officer by the name of Wang Kon managed to gain control of Korea. He appointed himself as king, and established a new dynasty that would last more than four centuries, the Koryu Dynasty. The dynasties government structure was based heavily on the one of China, including establishing a civil service system. Though this was a good plan in theory, it did not achieve the same level of social mobility as it did for the Chinese dynasties. The economy of Korea had a sharp division between the wealthy aristocrats and the rest of the population, consisting of the military, the commoners, and slaves. Though Korea did use an examination system similar to China, this did not succeed as planned, and sons of nobles still received the most powerful positions, and this became hereditary, passed down through the family.

Around 1231, the Koryu Dynasty became threatened by the infamous Mongols, as they reached Korea on their wild rampage of conquering in Asia. They demanded a huge tribute of 20,000 horses, clothing for 1 million soldiers, and children and artisans that would be taken away as slaves. Korea was occupied by the Mongols until 1360s, as the Mongol Empire fell.

Choson: As the Koryu dynasty weakened, a group of Scholar-officials and military leaders overthrew them and established the Choson Dynasty. Not much is known of this dynasty, thought it lasted for an extremely long time, from 1392 to 1910. They instituted a number of land reforms that continued their success.

Modern-Day Korea: Korea became divided into two very distinct regions after World War II ended with the defeat of the Japanese, and the Cold War between Soviet Russia and the United States began. The previously joined country of Korea was split into North Korea, controlled by Communist Russia, and South Korea, controlled by the Americans. This split lasted beyond the Cold War, and is still present today. As a result of this, the two countries have developed very separately from each other.

     South Korea’s farms produce the basic foods of rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs and fish (Korea, South", CIA). Its main exports are very centered around electronics, and include semiconductors, petrochemicals, automobile/auto parts, ships, wireless communication equipment, flat display displays, steel, electronics, plastics and computers (Korea, South", CIA).

      North Korea has developed into a very closed country, ruled by a strict communist dictatorship. Though North Korea is very closed, they do export to their communist neighbor, China, whom they are very dependent on for finances and economy. They export minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, and agricultural and fishery products. From China they receive petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, and grain ("Korea, North", CIA). One quite interesting fact about North Korea is their local country name is actually Choson. This is also the name of the last Korean Dynasty that lasted until 1910. Coincidence? In fact, Korea is still in a dynasty, known as the Kim Dynasty, named after the dictator, or Supreme Ruler. In recent months, Korea has claimed it is  testing military equipment, including firing two missiles, and testing a hydrogen bomb ("North Korea Claims Miniature Nuclear Warheads.", CNN). Though this is not confirmed, it has led the UN Security panel to raise sanctions around the country that limit trade, banking, and more, in an effort to lower the risk of North Korea becoming stronger ("North Korea.", Sanctions Wiki.).

The Korean Dynasties