The Fourth Korea
by fulltimestudent 6 Replies latest social current
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slimboyfat
I'm wondering where the fifth and sixth Koreas are going to turn up.
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fulltimestudent
Background to the above videos:
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Japan made a determined effort to build its own empire in emulation of European powers, Great Britain and the USA. By 1910 it took over Korea and made it a Japanese colony. Some Japanese had been assisting Fillipino freedom fighters in their war against the United State's vicious attempt to colonise the Philippines. In the Taft-Katsura agreement the USA gave tacit agreement for Japan to takeover Korea and Japan give the same understanding to the United States colonisation of the Philippines.
Out of that agreement came this fourth korea, as Japan forced Korean labourers to migrate to Japan to work at the lowest jobs in that coutnry.
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fulltimestudent
Cant promise you a sixth Korea sbf! A case could be made for a fifth, by claiming that the Korean diaspora represented another "Korea." But IMO, that's very tenuous.
The areas and the populations, that I've described, represent areas with Korean language and culture, outside the political boundaries of either N. or S. Korea, that in some way have a bearing, or provide insights on the problems of a divided Korea.
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My selected topic for the essay the study unit requires, concerns a movement and event known as, 'The March First Movement (of 1919)," a rather spontaneous protest against Japanese occupation and colonisation. It's interesting to me, because you can draw an almost straight line from that protest to the division of Korea and the formation of North Korea. It's an idea in the west, that the USSR 'established' the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). It, that is the Soviet occupation was only one of a range of complex causes behind the formation of the DPRK. While clearly the north was occupied by the Soviet Army, the formation of a socialist government represented the aspirations of many Korean fighters for Independence. Communist sympathisers in the South actually moved north, to (they hoped) to be involved in the formation of a socialist state.
As an aside, its very interesting that we can still see the residue of that East Asia interest in Communism in Japan. According to its Facebook* page, the Japanese Communist party is one of the largest non-ruling Communist parties in the world, they claim a membership of 318,000 organised into 22,000 branches. Since the 2012 election, they have eight seats in the lower house and six in the upper house. I suggest that this represents an interest that also started in 1919, kicked off at first by Woodrow Wilson's call for national autonomy and self-determination, and spurred when the western colonial powers refused to act on Wilson's call. The disappointed, turned to what seemed to be an alternative, in the form of the Russian Revolution and the emergence of the Soviet Union.
But to focus on my "fourth Korea," we find the same division among these sometimes stateless Koreans, as we find on the Peninsula itself. One of the largest groups supporting the 'Zainichi' as the Koreans in Japan are called, is the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, Chae Ilbon Chosonin Ch'ongryonhaphoe in Korean, or Zai-Nihon Chosenjin Sorengokai in Japanese. Its often referred to in abbreviated form as Soren. And, it supports North Korea. At one stage it was the largest and most active organisation representing Koreans in Japan, but with the changing political landscape and the increasing prosperity of South Korea, a group representing South Korea, known as Mindan, has become more influential. Soren however, still owns and operates, 3 Kindergartens, 19 Elementary schools, 34 Elementary schools with junior high schools, 5 Elementary schools with junior and high schools, 2 Junior high schools, 3 Junior high schools with high schools, 4 High schools, 1 University - (Korea University (Japan)), 8 Banks, The Zainichi Korean Science and Technology Association and Chugai Travel.
* http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japanese-Communist-Party/113118975364958
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RubaDub
My first thought was in addition to North and South Korea, we would have East and West Korea.
Rub a Dub
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fulltimestudent
Japan - the North Korean lifeline.
This film (made by the Australian government owned ABC) states that gambling revenues in Japan totalled (then) some $250 billion, and that much of this finishes up in NK.
This Youtube version has this preamble:
Despite its insularity, North Korea is successfully exporting its fanaticism through half a million expatriates living in capitalist Japan. Chongryun, the Workers Party of North Korea, is meeting in Tokyo. It's easy to imagine we are in the heart of North Korea as over 10,000 fiercely patriotic members come together to celebrate the dictator Kim Jong II's party leadership. Commitment to the cause starts young thanks to the Party schools run outside the jurisdiction of Japanese education authorities. This is the first time that the Northern Korean community has allowed any Western media to film inside their schools. Taught in Korean with censored North Korean text books, these children will never hear any criticism of their homeland.
We follow eighteen year old Jong Ryol and his classmates as they prepare for their graduation visit to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang: a school trip into a country still considered hostile to the outside world, but for these students, a journey "home". Jong Ryol returns from his trip with a glowing report Yet the bulk of funding from Japan does not come from patriotic ex-pats. Most of Japan's 18,000 gambling parlours are owned by Koreans with an estimated $250 billion turnover. While North Koreans overlook their leaders's autocratic ways, it seems he turns a blind eye to the origin of the money his regime receives.
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fulltimestudent
Its not quite what one would expect. Zainichi Chosenjin, that is Koreans living in Japan (left over from the time that Japan annexed Korea and turned it into a colony), but loyal to North Korea !
This Aljazeera film has a look at these people. Zainichi Chosenjin are one of the key sources of foreign currency in North Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baWvh4eYCig
and in this video, at a soccer match between a Zainichi Chosenjin team and another Japanese team, you see how enthusiastic the crowd can be, as they wave their North Korean flags around;