Published by the Gwangju International Center since 2001
By Julien Laheurte In South Korea, the new year is celebrated in two distinct ways. The first, less traditional method involves observing New Year’s Eve according to the Gregorian Calendar, … Read More
“Joseon Korea was repeatedly laid to waste, expos[ing] long-accepted abuses of power and privilege, gross inequities in society, and the inefficiency of established institutions.”
We often think of Korea’s neo-Confucianism of Joseon Dynasty times as a singular concept, but in actuality, it was more of an umbrella term for the differing schools of thought that existed simultaneously as well as those that developed sequentially during Joseon times. One of these schools of neo-Confucian thought was that of the Nosa School, developed in the Jeolla area by Ki Jeong-jin.
“It was not only one of the fiercest struggles by commoners for democratic reforms, but it was also the beginning of the anti-Japanese movement.”
“As a general, he eliminated Chinese pirates attacking Korea’s coast and made his country prosperous through active trade.”
Everyone on the peninsula is familiar with Jeju-do – Korea’s largest island but smallest province. But what far fewer people are aware of is the story of its founding or how great a place Jeju is to visit in the wintertime.
From the time of the Japanese invasions in the Imjin War (1592–1598) to the May 18 Democratic Movement (1980), Gwangju has taken pride in being a “righteous” city (Uihyang), growing as a city internationally renowned for its commitment to human rights.
There’s a lot to celebrate in the Republic in August: the end of the War in the Pacific (WWII), the liberation of the Korean Peninsula, and the birth of the Republic of Korea.
