A Korean worker carries supplies under the watchful eyes of Japanese soldiers in the early 1900s Koreans changed some of the things they learned from China For example the Chinese made a beautiful green pottery called celadon Korean potters made celadon too but they cut designs into the pots and sometimes made them blue or tan instead of green 6
Struggles with Neighbors Korea struggled with its larger neighbors Sometimes the Koreans fought the Chinese and Japanese to stop them taking their land In the early 1900s Japan gained control over Korea and ruled the land from 1910 to 1945 The Japanese ruled harshly They took away Koreans land shut down Korean schools and banned the teaching of Korean history and language A Divided Land In 1945 Japan lost World War II and its troops were forced to leave Korea The land became divided into two countries A communist leader Kim Il Sung led North Korea Syngman Rhee became the ruler in South Korea He was backed by the United States In 1950 North Korea’s army invaded South Korea The United States and other countries sent many soldiers to help the South Koreans In 1953 the two sides agreed to stop fighting but they still have not signed a peace treaty Today soldiers from the two Koreas patrol each side of the long fence that divides the North from the South Since the war North Korea has had many problems The government is a communist dictatorship that gives its people very THE KING AND THE ALPHABET A system of writing based on Chinese characters was used in Korea for many hundreds of years To write people had to learn thousands of characters In 1440 King Sejong of Korea told teachers to develop a new way of writing They invented an alphabet of just 24 characters that was easier to learn This alphabet is still used in Korea today 7
A South Korean soldier stands alert alongside the border between South Korea and North Korea Thousands of soldiers patrol both sides of the border little freedom The economy is poor and the country cannot produce enough food to feed everyone At the same time large sums of money are spent on the military Recently the government has boasted that it has powerful nuclear weapons and this has raised tension in the area Meanwhile life in South Korea has improved greatly The people there have built a strong capitalist economy The government has become more democratic and people enjoy more freedoms 8
Korean Culture Confucianism influenced the culture of Korea Following its philosophy fathers made all the important family decisions and wives and children did as they were told When the oldest son in the Seoul has been the capital of Korea since 1394 Today more than 10 million people live there 9
