Koreaās history is that of a small nation
maneuvering between the larger and more powerful countries that surround it. Historically it
has had to deal with China, Russia, Soviet Union, Japan, and the USA. Korea has never
been the centre of the world, but it has often been the centre of conflict between larger
more powerful nations. And in this video we will talk about modern-day North and South
Korea and how these two countries, which are very similar, developed differently all the
way up to today. We will talk about politics and economics, propaganda and social issues,
war and geopoliticsā¦ But most importantly: K-pop.
This video will mostly cover the history of North Korea and South Korea. But before we
can talk about these countries themselves, we need to talk about how they were created.
And for that, we need to start in 1895. And there is a good reason for this specific date:
Because for thousands of years, East Asia was dominated by China. China had a large
population and military, the best products and technology, the most efficient education
and bureaucracy. But whereas most other superpowers used their dominance to colonize and conquer
other peoples, China decided on a system of tributary states: Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tibet, RyÅ«kyÅ«ā¦ And of course, Korea. All and more paid tribute to
China. A country so powerful that for hundreds of years in its history, no other country
on Earth could even come close to the industrial, economic, and political power of Chinaā¦
But unlike most other vassals, Korea wasnāt just a tributary state: it had adopted the
Chinese form of governance, the Chinese religion of Confucianism, and closed itself off from
the outside world just like China had. Korea had adopted the Chinese way of doing things
to such an extent that they were often better at it than the Chinese themselves.
But what many did not realize at the time was that China was in decline. A slow decline.
So slow in fact, that nobody realized it for hundreds of years. Because around 1500 the
first Europeans sailed around Africa and established contact with Chinese tributary states. This
doesnāt seem like a problem at firstā¦ But the Portugese established colonies, taking
power away from China. This was soon followed by other Europeans such as the Dutch, the
Spanish, the British, and the French. Each establishing colonies in Chinese tributary
states. And with every new colony, China lost a tributary state. Until in the year 1839
when the First Opium War began and China itself was attacked by European powers. But there
was one tributary state which remained safe throughout all of this: Korea. While Sri Lanka
was taken by the British, Vietnam by the French, and Chinese ports by various European powers...
Korea only had to deal with minor skirmishes from France, the United States, and Japan.
But other than that, Korea remained a Chinese puppet.
[JAPAN INVASION] But then, everything changed when the empire upon which the fire nation
is based, attacked. {PLAY JAPANESE IMPERIAL MARCH} The First Sino-Japanese War was a war
between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan in 1894 and 1895. Just 40
years earlier Japan was like China and Korea in that it shut itself off from the rest of
the world until the United States forced Japan to open up. Japan had been modernising its
country: modern industry, modern government, and a modern army. This modern Japanese army
was victorious and as a result the dominant power in East Asia shifted from China to Japan.
And Korea was forcefully shifted with it. For over 1000 years of being a vassal state
of China, Korea was now an independent country. Not because it sought independence, but because
independence was thrust upon them by the Japanese. And this is why 1895 is such an important
year in Korean history, because this is the year that Korea stopped being a Chinese tributary
state isolated from the rest of the world, and became an independent Korea. And this
independent Korea was surrounded by countries which were far more powerful than itself.
And so Korea had to learn to maneuver between the various powers to secure its own survival.
And this position of being surrounded by more powerful countries remains true today: the
Soviet Union, the Peopleās Republic of China, Japan, the United Statesā¦ These are or were
the most powerful countries in the world and all of them have a stake in the Korean nations.
This newly independent Korea faced many difficulties: to the west was a declining China, to the
North was an emboldened Russia which sought greater influence in East Asia, and to the
east was the Empire of Japan, an empire which itself was surrounded by more powerful and
more advanced European empires and was desperately seeking ways to secure its independence from
European powers which were creating colonies closer and closer to Japan. Each of these
nations was far larger, far more advanced, and far more powerful than Korea. So what
did Korea do? [SHORT INDEPENDENCE] Well, Korea decided to
modernise and westernise, using Japan as a model on how to do so: Korea reorganized its
military to be more western, receiving modern training and weapons from Russia; it improved
its education system by opening public schools, colleges and universities. In fact, many of
the universities in Korea today were founded in the time of this Korean Empire; the government
promoted industrialisation by investing in new types of machines, such as low-cost silk
spinning and weaving machines with which it could outcompete high-cost manufacturing abroad
and make a lot of profit by exporting cheap silk to rich nations; it built new infrastructure
such as eclectic streetcars, water companies, telephone lines, and a powergrid; and its
government was to become more western, with even royalty donning the clothes of western
monarchs in order to emulate them. In 1897 it even changed its name. For centuries the
nation inhabiting the Korean peninsula was actually called Joseonā¦ But was renamed
the Korean Empire. Korea had moved away from China and was now
moving towards closer ties with Russia. {PLAY FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE} Hoping that Russia
could not only help Korea to industrialise, but also to help secure Korean independenceā¦
But why did Korea seek close ties with Russia when it had just gained independence from
China? Well, the reason for this is that Japan had been discussing invading Korea for decades.
In fact, Japan had already decided THAT it would invade Korea, it just hadnāt decided
on WHEN it would invade Korea. Japan argued that Korea was an inferior nation which failed
to modernise and therefore ought to be conquered by the superior Japanese nation... This point
of view is comparable to how European nations viewed African and Asian nations at the time.
And so with both Russia and Japan wanting control over Korea in order to gain more influence
in East Asia, the two sides fought a war in 1904, which Japan won. {ABRUPTLY STOP FROM
RUSSIA WITH LOVE} As a result, Korea was forced to become a protectorate of Japan in 1905.
But Korea was too weak to hold off the Japanese and in 1910 Korea officially became a colony
of the Empire of Japan. {FADE OUT. HAVE A PAUSE FOR A BIT AND THEN
START THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE MUSIC TRACK FROM YOUR PLAYLIST}
[KOREA AS A COLONY] The period of history where China lost its position as the dominant
power in East Asia is called āthe Century of Humiliationā in Chinaā¦ but while China
was humiliated, Korea was used, abused, and subdued: Japan treated Korea as its colony.
This meant that Japan sought to ācivilizeā the Koreans by banning the Korean language,
customs, and traditions in favour of the Japanese language, customs, and traditions. For example,
Koreans were forced to change their Korean names to Japanese names. Korean labour was
exploited to harvest resources, Korean infrastructure built to transport those resources to Japan,
and those resources were turned into products used for Japanese consumption and expanding
Japanese control over Korea and other areas of East Asia. While various aspects improved
for the Koreans: the literacy rate went up, factories were built, and infrastructure improvedā¦
These improvements were combined with a regime so brutal they would eventually be considered
war crimes at the Tokyo Trial. A prominent example of the brutality was the establishment
of various agencies that lured women and girls to their offices with the promise of better
work and educationā¦ only for them to be turned into slaves and sent across the Japanese
empire to perform intimate services and be used by Japanese men as they pleasedā¦ {HAVE
A FEW SECONDS OF SILENCE} The effect the Japanese occupation on Korea
had was so severe, that when Japan lost WW2 and had to end its occupation of Korea, that
the Koreans lacked almost all administrative and technical expertise to run their own country.
This is because the Japanese Empire almost exclusively used Japanese citizens to administer
its Korean colony, meaning there were almost no Koreans left anymore who had experience
in running a country. [INDEPENDENT KOREA] And so now itās 1945
and the Japanese were leaving... But while they were leaving, the Soviet army was arriving.
And so, once again, Korea was fought over by larger, more powerful nations: This time
the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Because the cold war was beginning
and in this cold war the main weapons used were ideology and proxy wars, with the Soviet
Union and its allies turning towards Soviet-Style communism and the USA and its allies turning
towards capitalism. And each side wanted control over Korea for its strategic position in East
Asia. And the USA became afraid that the Soviets would occupy all of Korea. So the USA tasked
two young officers to come up with a proposal on how to split Korea between the Soviets
and the US. Without much knowledge of Korea and without consulting experts on Korea, they
took a National Geographic map and decided that a line on that map, called the 38th parallel,
would be a good way to divide Korea so that each side would have approximately half the
Korean territory. To the surprise of the USA, the Soviets immediately accepted the division,
unaware that the Russian Empire discussed sharing Korea along the exact same line with
Japan and they were giving the Soviets exactly what they wanted all along. And so, after
more than a 1000 years of a unified Korean peninsula, the country was torn apart between
the Soviets and the USAā¦ This split was meant to last 5 years, after which Korea would
be turned back to the Koreans in a united Korean state, similar to how Austria was split
and reunified after WW2ā¦ Most Koreans demanded immediate independence, but their voices were
ignored. The USSR and USA met several times to discuss
how Korea. Will. Be. United: the Soviets proposed Lyuh Woon-hyung as the leader of a unified
Korea, but this was rejected by the USA; the Soviets proposed both sides withdraw and let
the Korean people form their own united government, this too was rejected by the USA. So the US
brought the problem to the United Nations which declared that both sides should withdraw
and free elections be held. But the Soviets boycotted this resolution, arguing that the
UN couldnāt guarantee fair elections. As time went on the two nations diverged and
over time the Soviet Union and USA each established a different national government in the Korean
territory they controlled. [NK - USSR OCCUPATION] In the North, a provisional
government was created by the USSR in 1946, under the leadership of Kim Il-Sung. He was
chosen by the Soviets to lead North Korea for his close ties with the Soviet government.
When talking about North Korea it is important to note that there is very little information
about this country. The closer we are to the present, the less information we have. I will
try to be as accurate as possible. But if there are any North Koreans in the audience
who have better access to this information, then please correct meā¦ Or add information
to me. North Korea faced many of the same issues
previous Korean entities faced: it was surrounded by the powerful Soviet Union to the north
and a powerful United States to its south. North Korea therefore needed to become a useful
client state of the Soviet Union and quickly adopted Soviet-style governance: it instituted
land reforms where land owned by Japanese citizens, Korean collaborators, and landlords
were redistributed among poor farmers, the government took control over many businesses,
and gave women more equality compared to men. As a result of these reforms, the elites lost
most of their power. Many of these collaborators, Japanese, and elites fled south.
And just like the Soviet Union, North Korea removed domestic opposition and implemented
a one-party state. Where the government only has a single political party; the Workersā
Party of Korea. Over time Kim Il-Sung became the nationās absolute ruler. And to keep
the people from rebelling, a cult of personality was formed around him and his dynasty.
[SK - USA OCCUPATION] In Southern Korea the United States took over the governance of
the region. {PLAY US ANATION ANTHEM} There actually was a Korea government-in-exile living
in China and they did send a delegation to meet with the US occupation forceā¦ but the
US general in charge refused to meet them, refused to recognize them, and on December
12th 1945 outlawed this Korean government. The US occupation was met with resistance
when, in 1946, Koreans started rebelling against the US presence in their country. But the
power of the people could not stand up to the power of the US military, resulting in
30k-100k extinguished lives. Over time an anti-communist man named Syngman
Rhee became a popular leader in South Korea, being the first president of the now-outlawed
Provisional Government and having worked as a pro-Korean lobbyist in the USA, making him
popular with the Koreans and the United States. After it became clear that Korean Unification
would not happen, the USA called for general elections in South Korea to be held in 1948.
This came as a shock to the Koreans who now realized that their US occupiers had abandoned
the Korean call for unification and once again protests and rebellions rose up across South
Koreaā¦ But they too were no match for the South Korean and US militaries. And again,
10ks of Koreans were murdered over the dream of a unified Korea. But eventually South Koreans
elections were held on May 10th and Sugman Rhee won the election. 3 Months later on August
15th, the United States handed over power to the South Korean government, which officially
declared itself as the Republic of Korea. 3 Weeks later North Korea did the same and
officially proclaimed itself as the āDemocratic Peopleās Republic of Koreaā. And so, in
1948, both the Soviet and US armies withdrew from the Korean peninsula and for the first
time in 38 years Koreans were ruling Korea. [KOREAN WAR - PRELUDE] But North Korea faced
two very important issues. Two issues which it hasnāt resolved to this very day: the
first issue of food. You see, North Korean soil is not very suitable for agriculture.
When the Japanese were in control, they placed most farms in the south where the soil was
more arable, while placing most factories in the North where there were more natural
resources. The second issue is that of a competitor backed
by one of the most powerful countries in the world. You see, if South Korea were to prosper
then it would be a clear sign to its people that South Korean capitalism was far more
effective than North Korea communism. This could result in civil unrest and possible
annexation of North Korea by South Korea. And they werenāt wrong to think that, because
something similar would happen between East and West Germany in the 1990s.
And so how did North Korea try to solve this issue? Well, North Korea did what previous
Korean entities had done: allying itself with more powerful countriesā¦ In North Koreaās
case, it stayed a close ally of the USSRā¦ and not long afterwards, mainland China became
communists, meaning that North Korea now had 2 communist nations it could rely on for help.
And North Korea requested help from its allies to invade South Korea. This would remove their
capitalist rival, remove US influence, and gain them the fertile land they needed to
reliably feed their people. [KOREAN WAR] And so, on June 25th 1950, the
Korean War began. I wonāt go into details about the Korean War because I am a History
Scope, not a Tactical Scope. So in short, North Korea was at first successful, then
South Korean allies such as the USA, sent troops to defend the south, they were so successful
that they conquered all the way up to the Chinese border, at which point China sent
about half a million troops to support North Korea, after which the borders became similar
to what they were before the war. From 1951 until 1953 the two sides kept fighting, but
no major territorial change would occur. By 1953, the Soviet government changed leadership
and was open to a ceasefire. And so after 3 years, the Korean War came to an end with
an armisticeā¦ Once again, both Koreas had to rely on their allies for survival. And
by now it was clear to both sides that Korea. Wonāt. Be. United.
As part of the peace treaty, a Demilitarized Zone was established. And to prevent anyone
from getting too depressed from watching this video, the DMZās ecosystem is a fascinating
one. While itās one of the most dangerous places for humans to be, this has basically
turned it into the best-defended nature preserve in history. This zone includes many ecosystems
from forests to estuaries to wetlands, with many migratory birds resting here. In fact,
itās a sanctuary for hundreds of bird species such as the endangered white-naped crane and
the red-crowned crane. As well as dozens of species of fish, Asiatic Black Bears, lynxes,
and many other mammals. Alright, {small sigh} back to depression.
[NK - GEOPOLITICS] At first North Korea relied on other communist nations for support, such
as food, technical aid, and military assistance in order to rebuild North Korea after the
war. But it soon embraced an ideology called ājucheā. And if you donāt know what
that means, thatās okay... I also had a Euro-centric education. āJucheā is an
ideology based on self-determination and self-reliance. So, for example, instead of importing food
from other countries, they would try to produce it themselvesā¦ along with as many goods
and services as possible so North Korea wouldnāt be dependent on other nations for its economy.
And the Soviet-style communism North Korea adopted fit well with this policy. Because
Soviet-style communism is that of a command economy. So instead of āthe people owning
the means of productionā, it was the government who owned āthe means of productionā from
factories to farms to shops. With this important position in the economy, the North Korean
government could try to implement this policy of ājucheā. But this type of economic
policy is generally quite a bad economic policy. While you could try to make everything you
need yourself, itās a lot more efficient to focus on a few things you are really good
at and then trade THOSE goods and services for things you need or want. For example,
North Korea had a lot of mineral resources which it could trade for food, something which
North Korea lacked enough of. But this is where we need to remember Korean
history: Korea had been reliant on China for a thousand years, but when China was defeated
Korea was dragged with it. Then it relied on the Russian Empire, who was defeated in
war and led to the colonization of Korea. North Korea learned that relying on other
nations made Korea vulnerable in the modern world. With this historical context, it is
logical why North Korea isolated itself from the outside world and began the process of
self-reliance with the āJucheā ideology. [SK - GEOPOLITICS] And this policy of adopting
the ideology of whichever larger country the Korean government had aligned itself with,
was nothing new. As we saw, when Korea was under the Chinese sphere of influence, it
was more Confucian than the Chinese. And now that North Korea aligned itself with the Soviet
Union, they were more communist than the Sovietsā¦ {PLAY SOVIET UNION ANTHEM DURING THIS PREVIOUS
SENTENCE FOR FUN} But what about South Korea? What many people
donāt know about South Korea is that it used to be a lot like North Korea: itās
people could not travel abroad without government permission; rampant poverty; large-scale corruption;
massacres; relying on other countries for financial aid; and while officially there
were elections it was effectively a dictatorship. And in the years following the Korean War,
the government was primarily focussed on securing its own power by suppressing opposition. But
in 1960 South Korea erupted in protests due to rigged elections and corruption. After
protestors were injured by the police, the president resigned, and a military coup took
control of the country in 1962. This government was headed by a man named Park Guen-Hye. But
this government faced two major issues: on one side the country was very corrupt while
on the other side the people were protesting. These issues were made worse by North Korea.
Because if a communist North Korea was the best Korea, then the people might demand a
unified Korea under that communist North Korean leadership. And so, South Korea needed to
show the people that living under the South Korean government was better than living under
the North Korean government. And the way this new government wanted to show this to the
people was by making South Korea a much richer country than North Korea.
[SK - ECONOMY EARLY] The early South Korean economy relied a lot on exporting resources
and labour-intensive manufactured goods such as tungsten, fish, and cheap garments. But
they didnāt bring in a lot of profit. So what policies could South Korea implement
to become a rich nation? In todayās world one can find plenty of examples of poor countries
which rapidly developed into rich countries in just a few decades. One could look at Vietnam,
Singapore, China, Taiwan, Greece, or even South Korea itselfā¦ all countries which
have or had rapidly developing economies . But in 1960, there was only a single country which
had ever been able to go from a poor country to a rich country in just a few decades: Japan.
Because Japanās economy around 1960 was growing at around 10% per year and even before
WW2 went from a feudal economy to a developed economy in just a few decades. And so South
Korea once again decided to adopt the policies of its larger and more powerful neighbour:
Japanese-style state capitalism. And just as North Korea would become more communist
than the Soviets, so too would South Korea become more state capitalist than the Japanese.
But what is state capitalism? Well, in the case of Korea, it used something called āindicative
planningā. This is a system where a government sets broad targets for a capitalist economy
to reach, such as, for example, investments in certain industries, export, infrastructure
development, etc. It then works together with private businesses to achieve this goal. South
Korea began by promoting various businesses which would become the mascots of the South
Korean economy. In particular, the government promoted family-owned businesses. This is
because family-owned businesses have one major advantage: longevity. Because if your business
is owned by shareholders then those shareholders donāt care if the business still exists
in 100 years, they only care about short-term profit. But if you know your children and
grandchildren will inherit that business after you retire, then you want to make sure that
this business will be successful for a long time. In fact, this system of promoting family-owned
businesses in South Korea is called āChaebolā, which literally means ārich familyā.
But how would the government make sure that these mascot companies would succeed? Well,
the South Korean government would make it easier to get permits, ban foreign competitors
from entering the South Korean market, and provide them with VAST amounts of money to
make them succeed. At the time, all banks in South Korea were owned by the government
and so the government had access to all the savings in the country. It then used these
savings to invest in these mascot companies. But in exchange for practically endless investments,
the South Korean government would tell these mascot companies in which industries they
had to do business. And Korea was quite forceful in its approach:
In the 1960s the South Korean government banned the LG Group from going into the textile industry
and forced them to start producing electric cables. Eventually resulting in LGās world-famous
electronics we know today; In 1970 the Korean government pressured Hyundai Group to start
a shipbuilding company. When Hyundai refused, the president threatened them with bankruptcy.
Today, Hyunday shipbuilding company is one of the biggest in the world; And in the 60s
the government wanted to build a steel mill, but South Korea didnāt produce iron ore
or coking coal, two key ingredients in modern steel-making. Being capitalist, it couldnāt
import these from Communist China or USSR and had to import these materials all the
way from Australia and North America. Investors therefore thought that this was a silly idea
and South Korea couldnāt find any investorsā¦ except for 1. After WW2, Japan had to pay
war reparations to South Korea as repayment for 35 years of colonization. South Korea
used this money to build a steel mill, which began production in 1973. It became so successful
that today it is one of the largest steel producers in the world.
And these were not isolated incidents. The government would often threaten to cut off
government finance or even to send in the secret police to uhhhā¦ āconvinceā the
bosses to do as they were told. Over time these Chaebol family companies would
do business in many different fields. To give a famous example, the South Korean company
Samsung is involved in smartphones, ovens, televisions, biotechnology, batteries and
even produces ultrasound machinesā¦ So perhaps your very first picture was taken with a Samsung
ultrasound. But making family companies wealthy wouldnāt
necessarily translate into making the average South Korean citizen wealthy. And so the government
implemented a wide range of policies to make sure that the profits earned by large corporations
would be reinvested into the average people. For example, it subsidised fertilizer to improve
crop yields and thus boosted the profits of rural farmers, large-scale public housing
programs, wealth-sharing programs, building new schools and universities, emphasising
vocational training, and much more. This was not done to help the average South Korean
citizen. Not at all. The reason was that improved living conditions for the people would legitimize
the governmentās rule over the country in the eyes of those people whose lives it improved,
fearing that high income inequality might bring about a communist revolution in South
Korea. Throughout South Koreaās history the government
was the leading driver in economic growth, but a lot of its plans were seen as impractical,
inefficient, or just plain stupid. But the South Korean government did it anyway and
achieved successes greater than most outsiders would have ever considered possible. This
method of economic management was so successful that the average income per person grew around
6-7% per year between the 60s and 90s. To put this into perspective, at the same time
in WEstern Europe, this rate was around 3.5-4% per year on average. This extraordinary economic
growth for that time was called the Miracle on the Han River or the South Korean Miracle.
In todayās world, South Korea is seen as the preferred Korea to live in. But back in
the 1960s, North Korea was a serious contender for Korean hegemonyā¦ But why was this the
case? [NK - ECONOMY] The North Korean economy after
the Korean War performed better than that of its southern counterpart. This is in large
part because North Korea had almost everything it needed within its own borders to create
industry: it is rich in magnesit, zinc, iron, tungsten, anthracite, and gold; it had a large
amount of factories to turn those raw materials into goods; and it had plenty of coal and
forests to generate electricity for those factories and its people.
Over time the North Korean economy became more and more intertwined with the military,
where many industries were under army control such as infrastructure, construction, and
logistics. North Koreans are allowed to join the military at 17 and almost all men join
the army out of tradition, to gain opportunities in life, or out of a sense of duty to the
country. The army and the economy are nearly synonymous in North Korean society, where
the government promotes āunity of soldiers and the peopleā. This is in large part because
of Koreaās history: it had been used by Japan to invade China twice, it had been used
by the Mongols to invade Japan twice, and it was occupied by foreign powers twice. And
so North Korea built a strong defensive military, where nearly all men received military training
and where the country has a large arsenal of weapons it could use for offense and defence.
Should North Korea ever get invaded, it would have millions of soldiers able to fight a
guerilla war until the occupation of North Korea became too costly and their enemy would
have to retreat. North Koreaās actions are in many ways shaped by its history of foreign
invasion and the fear that that history will repeat itself.
From the beginning, the government implemented a vast propaganda program which permeates
nearly all parts of North Korean society to keep its people in line and promote national
unity. For example, it communicates to the people that no matter how mundane your job
may be, that you are an important part of the country and that therefore the country
will take care of you. This is not only a way to prevent the people from rebelling by
giving them a sense of belonging, but also to motivate workers to be as productive as
they can be to support the greater good. And while North Korea lacks the soil to produce
enough food and refuses to import sufficient food from abroad, often leading to famine,
that this struggle is shared amongst all the people of North Korea.
And this propaganda is omnipresent in the nation. Letās turn on the North Korean Anthem
for this {START PLAYING NK NATIONAL ANTHEM} ahhhh. Beautiful. Propaganda vans equipped
with large speakers playing music, news, and propaganda are present at construction sites,
coal mines, and other large working sites. While I would like to give a more chronological
event of North Korean propaganda, there really isnāt that much information on it. In fact,
I only found a single book which goes in depth on the subject of North Korean artistic expressions,
which you are looking at right now. Common slogans are āMy Country is the Bestā,
which is also the name of a popular NK song, and āBeautiful Land of Koreaā. You can
find these slogans on the busses of North Korea and many forms of North Korean art,
film, and literature are focused on the youth. Focusing on the heroism of young people and
their contribution towards the future of their nation. If you want to see more modern forms
of North Korean propaganda, you can do so right here on YouTube. There is a channel
called āEcho of Truthā. Now, I canāt say for sure that itās a 100% propaganda
channel, so judge for yourselfā¦ There will be a playlist with various North Korean culture
and propaganda at the end of this video. Such as Morabong, a popular North Korean band,
with themes such as loyalty, patriotism, the military, science, and technology. Now, it
is important to state that North Koreans arenāt any different from anybody else. Afterall,
they go to work, play sports, and care for their childrenā¦ just like everywhere else
in the world. A baker will worry whether his bread will rise in North Korea just as a baker
in South Korea, South Africa, or South America would. and outdoor barbeques in parks, singing,
dancing, and group saunas are all popular pastime activities in North Korea.
By the 1970s North Korean technology started lacking behind that of the rest of the worldā¦
and it was acutely aware of this. In the 60s and 70s North Korea refurbished its energy
grid with the help of the Soviets, it modernized its military, and tried mechanizing its agricultural
sector but that mostly failed. However, North Korea didnāt have the money
to pay for all of this and so it borrowed the money. So much in fact that by 1975 it
couldnāt repay its loans and simply decided to never repay their loansā¦ Afterall, itās
not like somebody could force North Korea to repay its debt. But this left the country
with a major problem: nobody trusted North Korea anymore to lend them any money. And
so it needed to look for a new source of finance. And North Koreaās isolation gave it one
very important advantage which most other countries didnāt have at the time: secrecy.
And while we donāt know exactly when, it is thought that around the 1980s North Korea
started exporting missiles and over the years their customers included Iran, Syria, Iraq,
Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Egypt. [NK - POST-SOVIET] Throughout this time North
Korea had been a close ally of the Soviet Union. But in 1991 the USSR collapsed. As
a result, North Korea lost a large amount of foreign aid which it used to get from the
Soviets and it lost its largest trading partner. Furthermore, China no longer had to worry
about North Korea becoming a Soviet puppet state and also reduced the amount of funding
it was giving North Korea. As a result, North Korea once again ran out of money. Not only
that, in 1994 the leader of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, died and was replaced by his son,
Kim Jong-Il. As a result, the 90s was a major shift for North Korea: When Kim Jong-Il ascended
to power in North Korea, he took over a nation with a struggling economy and facing a famine.
In order to solve these problems, the new leadership adopted a new policy, the Songun
Policy in which the economy and military are of equal priority. In fact, Songun literally
means āmilitary firstā {PLAY āAK 47s FOR EVERYONEā E SOUND EFFECT}. In it the
military would lead the recovery of the North Korean nation. To secure national independence,
the military began developing nuclear weapons. And when North Korea had problems generating
enough electricity in the 90s, the military helped build dozens of new dams along the
many rivers, so many in fact that today hydroelectric power accounts for ā
of North Koreaās
energy. North Korea even started to replace the āJucheā policy of self-determination
and self-reliance. Because North Korean soil isnāt well-suited
to agriculture, the government sought to change the countryās policy of isolationism by
attempting to improve diplomatic ties with other countries. For example, North Korea
agreed to pause its own nuclear weapon program in return for arranging the construction of
two nuclear reactors by mainly South Korean contractors in 1994, halted testing of a long-range
missile in 1999, decreased the amount of violent rhetoric, stopped incursions into the DMZ,
and the leaders of North and South Korea met in 2000 to discuss taking steps towards unification.
Relations between North Korea and countries in Europe and Asia were improvingā¦ But even
though North Korea had improved relationships, it did not receive the financial and economic
aid North Korea likely hoped for: companies were unwilling to invest in a nation whose
laws were arbitraty, countries were unwilling to provide more than food aid, and businesses
didnāt see North Korea as a stable country to do businesses in. This was probably far
too little for North Korea and relations worsened shortly after, when North Korea became more
reluctant to dismantle its nuclear program and the USA's president called North Korea
an āaxis of evilā. In 2003 North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty and continued developing nuclear weapons for self defence. Afterall, if you have a
nuke that can destroy entire citiesā¦ people tend to be a lot less willing to invade you.
By 2006 the country conducted underground tests and it is widely thought that as of
this moment North Korea had access to nuclear bombs. And so North Korea returned back to
its policy of isolation. From their perspective, there was little to gain from the outside
world while the outside world could incite civil unrest similar to what happened in the
Soviet Union. North Korea might look like a nation which
arbitrarily opens up, only to then break all ties again. But the North Korean perspective
is one of fear and suspicion. It knows that South Korea, Japan, Europe, or the United
States would like nothing more for North Korea to become part of a unified Korea led by the
southern government, similar to how a united Germany was dominated by West Germany. North
Koreaās leaders know they are balancing a starving population with the few resources
available to them and does not want to end up like the Soviet Union, who liberalised
its economy, broke apart, and where Russia is now a shell of its former self: With the
European Union and United States turning former Soviet territories towards the west, while
a resurgent China maneuvers itself into the politics of Central Asia which had been in
the Russian sphere of influence for centuries. In a world where nuclear weapons deter invasion,
where liberalism invites rebellion, and where power is exercised from a strong economy,
North Korea is deeply distrustful of anyone who might upset the delicate balance its leaders
have built. North Korea is not some irrational actor on the world stage like it is often
depicted. Not at all. North Koreaās government is consumed by fear. Fear of its own people
who might rebel, fear of its allies who might install a new government, and fear of its
enemies who might reunify Korea under the Southās rule. A south that was becoming
more and more powerful. [SK - POST-SOVIET] But while North Korea was
dealing with the fallout of the Soviet Unionās collapse, South Korea was facing issues of
democracy. Because even though South Korea held elections, these were often not fair
elections. As the popularity of President Park Chung-hee decreased, his methods became
more dictatorial: in 1972 the government declared martial law, modified the constitution to
give the president rule by decree, and made it nearly impossible for anybody else to run
for president. In 1978 President Park was re-elected, as nobody else was allowed to
run against him, eventually resulting in protests. When the president wanted to use ever more
violent methods to put down the protests, he was assassinated by his own security forces
in 79. A military dictatorship once again took over the South Korean government and
used ever-increasing authoritarian methods to secure its own power: Universities were
closed, political activities banned, and freedom of the press further curtailed. But this led
to a student demonstration in southern South Korea that was supported by the workers. This
uprising was brutally suppressed as paratroopers were sent in to take over from the policeā¦
So now the army was being used to suppress their own citizens. With support from political
opposition, this protest did help to bring about a new constitution for the country and
eventually led to resignation of the dictator. With this new constitution the national assembly
gained more power, the president lost power, and the supreme court could appoint its own
justices instead of the government. But this wasnāt enough for most people and protesters
demanding more democracy kept returning to the streets periodically. These protests were
so successful, that when, in 1987, a new man was selected to become president, he was so
afraid of the protestors that he allowed elections and ran on a platform promising more freedoms
to the South Korean people. When he won, his government adopted a new constitution, giving
more rights to its citizens and letting people vote directly for the president instead of
using an electoral college. By the 90s South Korean democracy had become so successful
that two former presidents were indicted for corruption, thousands of political prisoners
were released, and criminal convictions of pro-democracy protesters were removed.
Should you be someone who wants to live in a democracy, yet you live in a country ruled
by a dictator, a country whose democracy is being eroded, or a country still struggling
to get that democracy then there is almost no better example to follow than South Korea.
Dictator after dictator, protest after protest, death after death the South Korean people
serve as an example to every person seeking democracy. The process from dictatorship to
democracy took decades and even today South Koreans still protest to preserve the democracy
they have created for themselves. Yet they never stopped protesting, never stopped demanding
an end to the corruption, and never stopped fighting for their right to vote. If you need
inspiration for how to democratise your nation, then I highly recommend you look at South
Korea. Throughout the 90s South Korean citizens gained
more liberties as various methods of oppression were lifted. In addition, women campaigned
for complete legal equality and won enhanced property ownership rights, the right to register
as a head of family in a new family register system that took effect in 2008, equal divorse
rights, and improved their legal standing in child-custody cases.
But the 90s also saw a major economic shift. Because in 1997 the Asian Financial Crisis
hit South Korea. Banks had been investing in the large family-owned corporations in
order to create large corporations able to compete on the world stageā¦ but by 1997
a lot of money was being lent out, while most of those loans werenāt turning a profit
and the massive debt resulted in major business failures across South Korea. As a result,
the fast growth of the South Korean economy had come to an end. South Korea had become
a developed country and as a result, it was no longer able to use advanced technology
to rapidly improve its economy because it already had implemented all of the most advanced
technology available. At the same time, a large corruption scandal
in South Korea resulted in a bad reputation for doing business in the country. And so
the South Korean government started the process of restructuring its economy: South Korea
transitioned away from state-capitalism, based on the Japanese model, to neo-liberal capitalism,
based on the US modelā¦ and once again, South Korea became more capitalist than the USA
to the point where South Korea now lectures the USA on the virtues of free trade and shames
them for deregulating financial and labour markets.
It was to become easier to do business. For example, before if you wanted to open a factory
in South Korea you would need 299 different permits or bribe officials to get permission.
But such bureaucracy was cut down and starting a business was made easier. Corporations had
to be more transparent in financial reporting, corporate governance, and debt stabilization
in order to avoid further corruption. But the South Korean government also reduced its
influence in businesses, in particular, the chaebols, the family-run corporations. But
while the government was involving itself less with corporations, corporations started
involving themselves more in the government. In 1988 president of Hyundai Heavy Industries,
part of a Chaebol, successfully ran for the national assembly of South Korea. This was
soon followed by various other business leaders joining the national assembly with an ever
decreasing separation of business and state. And over time the corporations have gained
more and more power in South Korean politics. Part of this has to do with the fact that
the neo-liberal economic system allows rich and powerful individuals to join national
politics. But another part is the sheer size and wealth the chaebols have in South Korea.
Just to give a few examples of just how powerful these companies are: Samsung alone accounts
for 20% of all South Koreaās exports and when President Lee Myung-Bak took office,
he pardoned several business people for tax evasion such as Samsung Group chairman Lee
Kun-Hee, Choi Tae-Won of SK Group, Chung Mong-Koo of Hyundai, Kim Seung-Youn of Hanwha, and
Shin Dong-bin of Lotte. In essence, these people and their businesses had become more
powerful than the law; Or look at Hanbo Group, which bribed politicians to give them large
government contracts in favour of their competitors. The list of corruption scandals in South Korea
is almost endless. The recent corruption scandal involving the president in 2016 wasnāt uniqueā¦
In fact, South Korea has a large political scandal every few years where high-ranking
officials are involved in corruption, rigging elections, illegal surveillance, and much
more than I could do justice in this video. And even if these companies wanted to completely
distance themselves from politics, the sheer size of these organisations means that any
step they take can cause major shifts in the economy. While the modern-day United States
also has ever-increasing corporate influence, South Koreaās companies are far larger in
relation to the national economy than those of the United States and therefore wield far
more power over national politics. Once again, the Koreans are better at the system than
the country upon which they based their own system. And South Korea will have to deal
with the influences these large corporations have on their society going into the future.
Todayās Korea is a highly advanced country. One which is famous for its cutting-edge design,
superior quality, and technological prowessā¦ But it is also famous for something else:
K-pop. [K-POP] And the position K-pop holds in South
Korea is a very special one. Because K-pop is more than just music. K-pop is a weapon:
a geopolitical weapon that has been carefully cultivated by the government to promote South
Korea across the world. You see, after the Asian Financial Crisis in the 90s, the South
Korean economic growth slowed down to similar levels to that of other developed economies.
And so South Korea looked towards a new type of product it could export to the world. And
it found this product in its unique culture. Up until the 80s, censorship was common in
South Korea. For example, there were only two broadcast networks which controlled what
South Koreans could listen to. But in 1987, as part of the democratisation of the country,
these censorships were lifted and new types of music came flooding in from abroad: Rock
music, independent music, pop musicā¦ If you look up the famous South Korean media
companies you will find that many of them were founded shortly after the censorship
was lifted. By the 90s the government looked at all these new forms of Korean media and
decided that it would start selling this media to the rest of the world. And it is easy to
see why. Hollywood or Japanese anime earn billions every year. But it was about more
than just money. South Korea also wanted to improve its image to the rest of the world.
Because up until the 1990s, most people associated South Korea with the Asian Financial Crisis,
dictatorship, North Korea, violent repression, the Korean War, and poverty. But South Korea
now wanted to sell itself as a modern country, a prosperous country, a free country. A country
that was an equal of the rest of the developing world. In short, South Korea is trying to
portray itself as āBest Koreaā. And if you want to SELL to the outside world,
you need to KNOW about the outside world. Afterall, the first rule of marketing is āknow
your customerā. But South Koreans still werenāt allowed to travel abroad freelyā¦
until the early 90s, when, after decades, the government finally lifted the travel ban.
And the South Korean population, which had become richer and richer since the 1960s,
used their wealth to travel the world. In particular, they traveled to Europe and North
America. They went as tourists to go sightseeing, they went as students to study, and they went
as employees to start their careers. And after a few years many of those young South Koreans
who had been living, studying, and working in western societies came back to South Korea.
And they took with them new perspectives on doing business, new forms of innovation, and
new interpretations of the arts. And what did those young people do with their new experiences,
new expertise, and new perspectives? Well, many of them created a new type of Korean
art such as music, movies, tv series, and videogames.
And the first South Korean cultural product that became popular abroad were Korean dramasā¦
K-dramas. These were originally intended for the South Korean market but soon spread to
other East-Asian nations such as Japan, China, and Taiwan, where it gained popularity in
the early 2000s. These countries are culturally similar to South Korea and so East Asian audiences
can still enjoy Korean dramas for their recognizable traditional elements. An example of such a
common cultural element is Chun-Tze, the āsuperior gentlemanā. This is a stereotype of a man
who strives to achieve perfection and self-actualisation, blending the values of altruism and self-autonomy
to signify the ideal man. This often takes the form of rulers, husbands, and elder brothers.
And if you live in East Asia and are sick of the myriad of hollywood movies in your
life, it is refreshing to see media which is closer to your own culture, which you can
better identify with, and which has high production values.
The government then used cultural festivals to display Korean culture, conducted PR campaigns
to promote South Korean uniqueness, and supported the entertainment businesses by making it
easier to do business. This process of Korean culture spreading across the world is known
as the Korean Wave, or āhallyuā. And the Korean Wave was carefully engineered by the
Samsung Research Institute: first you create a popularity for Korean culture, then people
will purchase Korean cultural products, next people will buy other Korean products such
as cosmetics or food, and lastly this leads to a favourable impression of South Korea.
And if youāre like me and hear about this for the first time, you might recognize some
of these stages you have taken yourself. I first saw gangnam style in 2012, I started
listening to some more K-pop in 2013, I bought Korean cosmetics in 2014, and when I had a
South-Korean boss in 2016 I had such a favourable view of South Korea that I actively asked
questions about her cultureā¦ And now I am even making a video about Korea, perpetuating
the cycle. And South Korean cultural products are becoming more and more popular abroad:
more Korean restaurants, more Korean language students, and more people visiting South Korea.
The rise of Korean culture, from K-pop, to K-dramas, to K-cuisine was not a fluke. It
was a carefully crafted strategy to spread Korean culture across the world for the benefit
of South Korea. [K-POP] And K-pop was used as a method to
get foreigners to begin their interest in South Korean culture. It started with a band
called Seo Taiji and Boys in the 90s, with the song āI knowā where US pop music was
fused with South Korean culture. Between 1995 and 98 three large studios were founded to
cultivate what would become known as idol groups: SM Entertainment (no.. not the fun
kind), JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. The first of these custom-made idol groups
was H.O.T. in 1996, which was created by assembling five singers and dancers whom the producers
believed represented what teens wanted to see from a modern pop group. And this evolved
to a K-pop which focuses on exceptionally high-quality performance such as dancing,
an extremely polished aesthetic, and an assembly line studio production which makes regular
musical hits. And throughout the decades K-pop has remained highly segregated, where bands
are made solely of either male or female performers. Where male groups cover a wide range of topics
while female groups generally fall into 3 themes: the shy school girl singing about
their crush, a woman seeking an stronger older male figure to fulfill their fantasies, and
women who reject male validation. [NK - MODERN] And this media has even penetrated
North Korea. where the idealised South Korean life, so often portrayed in South Korean TV,
music, and movies, spurred almost all recent North Korean refugees to flee their country.
The North Korean government apparently sees South Korean media as a dangerous threat to
its stability. In fact, being caught with foreign media is a serious crime. Being caught
with South Korean media is REALLY serious crimeā¦ yet evenso, many North Koreans watch
foreign media. But always on a low volume and keeping an eye out for inspectors to not
get caught. North Korean refugees even state that some weddings have two parts: one with
songs approved by the government and a secret ceremony incorporating rituals borrowed from
South Korean media. As methods of storing digital information
have grown smaller and smaller, from VCR to DVD to USB, it has become easier to smuggle
them into North Korea. As a result, foreign media becomes increasingly more widespread.
And even though North Korea has a lot of hydroelectric power plants, power outages are still common,
making it difficult to watch such foreign media. But luckily for North Koreans, the
cost of solar panels has dropped and it is estimated that today around 55% of all North
Korean households use solar panels to generate power.
And with the death of Kim Jong-Il 2011, life for most average North Koreans has improved.
Kim Jong-Il was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-Un. And under his leadership the country has reformed
its economy to be more efficient: There had always been a prominent black market in North
Korea where people would trade goods outside of government oversight. But in the 2010s,
the government started legalizing more and more of such activities. For example, while
before farmers had to give any surplus food to the state, more recently farmers are allowed
to sell a small portion of their crops on an open market where they are allowed to set
their own prices. This generally increases productivity because if you can increase the
profit you make by producing more food, then you are incentivised to find new ways to produce
more food. And the North Korean government has also become
less isolationist and less belligerent in the 21st century. For example, In 1983, its
agents blew up a delegation of South Koreans in Myanmar, killing several cabinet members.
In 1987, it downed a South Korean airliner. But such actions have stopped. The regime
of Kim Jong-Un has had to deal with the widespread sanctions imposed against the country. Starting
with the United States in the 50s, to the European unionās in 2000s, to most countries
in the world by the 2010s. North Korea had never traded much with the outside world,
but did have some trade relations with them to sell the vast natural resources and cheap
products to foreign countriesā¦ So what did North Korea do in response to all these sanctions?
Well, North Korea did what almost every country does when they face sanctions: they avoid
them. But how? North Korea is able to exploit the fears of China. Particularly the fear
that if the North Korean government collapses that millions of North Korean refugees might
flood into China, that the nuclear weapons it has been building will fall in the hands
of local warlords who might use those weapons to hold China hostage by threatening to blow
up a few Chinese cities, and that North Korea might unify with South Korea and become a
capitalist pro-USA nation. And so China keeps trading with North Korea despite officially
putting sanctions on North Korea. But it also keeps trading with the rest of the world through
China. Because North Korean labour is so cheap, many Chinese businesses will gladly buy North
Korean goods such as clothing, add the āmade in Chinaā label, and then sell it to the
rest of the world for a large profit. Some of you watching are probably wearing clothes
made in North Korea. And through this policy, North Korea had to once again attach itself
more and more to a larger, more powerful neighbour. This time, the Peopleās Republic of China. [EDUCATION] And with all this talk about hydroelectric
dams, nuclear weapons, and heavy industry it would be prudent to look at the education
in North Korea. Interestingly, education has been an important part of North Korean society.
While it suffers from famines and is quite poor, its people are better educated than
most other developing countries. It has compulsory education for all children up to the age of
11 for most of its history and many North Koreans are trained as engineers, nuclear
physicists, and many other high-skilled jobs. It is therefore wrong for people to assume
that North Koreans are uneducated and stupid people who donāt know whatās going on
in their country or the world around them. In fact, many North Koreans often listen or
watch South Korean media, many of them live and work in China, and many North Koreans
do receive news about the outside world. So even though the country is very isolated from
the rest of the world, it is important to note that these people are no different than
us. And if we can see through the lies our politicians tell us, so can they see through
the lies of their politicians. And it would be wrong of us to assume that they are somehow
stupid. [OUTRO] And so we arrive in 2020, the year
this video was made and where history comes to an end for now. And while this video only
focussed on a part of the history of North Korea and South Korea, there are many more
parts which I did not cover in this video. So when someone comments about how I did not
cover certain parts of Korean history, such as, āre-education campsā, various presidential
scandals, or abolishing the power of the landowning elites in South Korea... Then they are probably
right. And I cannot cover everything important in a short video like this. People can spend
a lifetime studying Korea and still learn new things. So if you were thinking I skipped
something important, then please comment down below and teach us more about the Korean peninsula.
I ALWAYS look forward to learning more about the subjects of my videos.
And if you liked this video then please like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell.
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Well well made and informative video.