The Dawn of Modern Korea: the transformation in life and cityscape

by Andrei Lankov, Sarah L. Kang (Editor)

A General Upheaval in the Land of the Morning Calm - The most intriguing tidbits about modern Korea When in 1897 the first modern Korean bank issued its first loan, the loan had to be secured against the only property the borrower had in his disposal, his donkey. The loan was repaid at time, but for few days bank managers had to take care of the animal. In the 1930s the Western restaurants were almost absent in Seoul, so if somebody wanted to eat a decent Western-style meal, the only solution would be to go to a Seoul station restaurant, The Grill. More or less all Korean industrialists or politicians, including all president of the 1948-1980 period, visited the place a number of times. When in the 1920s the taxi service began to spread in Korea, most cabs had no meters, so the fixed rate was introduced. It would cost one won to travel to any location within the city limits. In those days this roughly equaled daily earnings of an unskilled laborer. In the 1890s, some mountain pass near Seoul were considered dangerous because of frequent tiger attacks. In 1915 alone, hunters killed 11 tigers nationwide. The last tiger in South Korea was killed as recently as 1921 in Northern Kyongsang, and the last confirmed sighting occurred in 1946. In 1955 a small workshop bearing the proud name of the International Car Company began to manually assemble US Jeeps. Thus inauspiciously began the history of the Korean automobile industry, now one of the world's largest. In the 1960s the Korean government believed that excessive growth of population would undermine the economic growth. So, they waged one of the world's most successful family planning campaigns. In the 1990s, it was the low fertility rate and population aging which came to be seen as major demographic problems in Korea. These and many other facts about changes of the Korean life over the last 150 years can be found in the new book by Andrei Lankov, titled Dawn of Modern Korea. The book is based on the widely read columns Andrei Lankov writes for the Korea Times since 2002. Dawn of Modern Korea deals with those parts of history which are often seen as 'too mundane' to be taken seriously. This is the book about daily life of Korea in the 130 years which followed the 'opening' of the country to foreign exchanges. It treats changes in the food, dress, good and bad habits, it pays attention to how Korean traveled to work, what they did in their leisure time, how did they interact with their friends and relatives. There are many countries which are more successful than Korea. However in most cases their current prominence is a result of long centuries of economic growth. The list of the most wealthy nations has not changed much since the early 1900s and in most cases the word 'developing' in the expression 'developing countries' is scarcely more than a polite euphemism to describe a state of backwardness and hopeless poverty. Only a handful of developing countries have managed to break away from poverty and repression and almost none of them have made this break with anything approaching Korea's speed and efficiency. In the early 1960s Korea was a developing country and even by the unenviable standards of this group it was not doing particularly well. Its per capita GNP was equivalent to that of Papua New Guinea and Nigeria. Nowadays it can compare itself with some of the less successful members of the European Community. Automobiles are everywhere in Korea. But the mass production of the cars in Korea only began in the 1970s. Korea is the world's leader in Internet access, but as late as 1980 it had no color TV broadcasts. Korea is one of the world's most university-oriented societies, but in 1945 less than a quarter of its population had any formal schooling.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Asia, Politics

376 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2007

About the author

Andrei Lankov is a North Korea expert and professor of history at Kookmin University in Seoul. He graduated from Leningrad State University and has been an exchange student at Pyongyang Kim Il-sung University.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawn of Modern Korea is a light collection of beefed-up articles originally published at the Korea Times by North Korean expert and Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov. The collection reads smoothly cover to cover as well as in a non-contiguous manner. Curious about the establishment of the Blue House, telephones or Chilsung Cider? Turn to the chapter and have at it. This book is full of firsts and more than likely whatever you're thinking of is bound to be in here.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is the inclusion of both romanization systems. When a new term is introduced in Korean, the author provides the word in both the McCune–Reischauer and Revised Romanization. I hope other authors follow this trend in absence of printing the actual word in Korean in parathesis.

One also has to respect a man whose first language is not English to write such a good book. Having said that, there is a certain flair that is missing from this book. The articles are a bit formulaic and somewhat dry. The point gets across but there's little fun in getting from point A to point B. The occasional turn of phrase and tongue-in-cheek reference are delightfully appreciated but they are few and far between.

In addition, the photos included are a mixed blessing. They compliment the book nicely and appropriately in many cases but in several articles they just seem so out of place. In one instance the subject was about the original author of the national anthem but the included photo was of an intersection. Furthermore the cover of the book is used twice - one quite appropriately about the first automobile and the other for a section on prostitution. One can't help but get the 'working the street corner' vibe from this curious choice.

If it sounds like I'm ripping the book apart rest assure that I had a blast reading it. Although Lankov's writing style isn't my favorite, I like Lankov's approach and choice of topics. The histories more than make up for whatever writing flair may or may not be missing from this excellent collection of firsts. It's a good read and well worth reading.

[Paula Agata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrei Lankov's The Dawn of Modern Korea is a history of Korea through modern objects, services, and conveniences. Rather than a comprehensive political or cultural survey, Lankov's book offers a series of extended articles on how different aspects of modern society came to Korea. Though it reads well as a cohesive whole it is also very useful as a reference book. Whether your interest is how the first automobile came to Korea or when Islam first took root, you can easily find the appropriate chapter.

Though I agree with many of the criticisms leveraged by other reviewers, I don't think they detracted from the book much. Typos and other editing errors were annoying, and I might suggest that Lankov work with different editors and publishers in the future, but typos seem to be par for the course for many English language books published in Korea. The somewhat random placement of photos was confusing, though.

As others have mentioned, Lankov's style of writing is rather formulaic and academic, but in this book I think it works. The book is essentially a collection of extended articles, it doesn't read like a narrative but as short tidbits of information. If you don't find the writing style fascinating it's easy to extend the reading of this book over the course of several weeks or even months without losing pace, much as if you were reading an article a day in the newspaper. This may also make the wealth of information more palatable and easier to remember.

Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Korean history or even just details of how a country can modernize. We all know that the phone and the internet exist in Korea, but how exactly did they get here? Where and when did it all start? These are exactly the questions Lankov answers. Covering a wide breadth of topics with just enough cultural and political context, The Dawn of Modern Korea is a great read for any history enthusiast.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It provides another look at the history of a country the western world doesn't really know much about.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of interesting historical and cultural tidbits, but marred by embarrassing typos and grammar.