Nationalism In South Korea

Throughout the history of mankind, nationalism has played a significant role and had major impact on society. Nationalism, especially in South Korea where having a nationalistic attitude is of social norm with deep history, has a substantial influence on the culture and way of life. We have seen nationalism work in favor of the country, however we fail to take into account the devastating drawbacks of possessing this nationalistic attitude. Historical references and current situations shows that nationalism could lead to into major conflict, war. In such a globalized world such as today, certain problems are bound arise possessing this nationalistic attitude. While the majority of South Koreans are and assume that being nationalistic promotes

However, there were two wars that happened not too long ago, namely the Korea-Japan war and the 6.25 South-North Korean war that forced a need to be more nationalistic. Starting with the Korea-Japan war, Japan invaded Korea from 1910 to 1945 and left Korea war wrecked. The Japanese empire tried to instill colonial policies, attempting to destroy the boundaries between a Korean and Japanese. Korea resisted by asserting their uniqueness. Stating that Koreans are unified by 3 elements with blood included as one of the list. (Shin, 2006, p2) Nationalism played a key role in the fight for freedom. Koreans were united under the name of nationalism and that helped create martyrs who were willing to sacrifice their life for the country. In the end, South Korea was able to attain freedom from Japan with the help of foreign nations. Unfortunately, not so long after earning freedom, war broke out again as North Korea attempted and almost succeeded in invading South Korea. Nationalism played a even more vital role in the South-North Korea war. A huge number of the military forces were composed of young students who volunteered in joining the forces thanks to their nationalism. These two recent wars rendered Korea’s sense of identity to be Blood-based and make nationalism an important asset in politics (Shin, 2006, p2). Meaning, in the status quo, it takes more than having a

However, according to historical contexts there have been instances where in nationalism gave a positive impact on society. The aftermath of the 6.25 South-North Korean war was beyond overwhelming. South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world at that time. There were no policies to ensure employment or any social care to the public at the moment. Without any safety net existing, extreme poverty was seen. The estimated years to recover and bring Korea’s society out of the after effects of war was substantially long. However, in just 50 years, South Korea is one of the leaders of the world in terms of international market and technology. (Montserrat, 1996, p153) South Korea was able to see a miracle like this one thanks to the highly nationalistic attitude possessed by the Koreans. They were highly motivated in attracting foreign helpto generate more work. Furthermore, they were united under the name of nationalism and strived to developing the country. Other successful cases of nationalism can be seen in other nations as well. Using examples of Britain and Germany would be excellent. They were able to fight off foreign attacks or intrusion effectively by using nationalism to strengthen national identity. (Smith, 1998, p22) The era where in nationalism was seen as giving positive impact to the society was during times where warfare was