The KOREAN Civilization: Things Every Civ Player Should Know

[yin26]

My goal in posting this (something that took me nearly 3 hours, by the way ) is NOT to argue that the Korean civilization should be a priority for Civ3. In my thinking, Civ3 is primarily a game for a euro-centric audience. As such, the small limit of civs Firaxis has chosen to put in the game means that the chosen civs should reflect both the target market and the West's 'understanding' of history, even if that history is flawed or horribly uninformed.

What this post HOPES to do, however, is to make it clear that Korea has long had an amazing culture MORE than worthy of a place, say, in a Civ3 expansion pack. Anybody interested in trying to decide what those civs should be ought to carefully read what follows before dismissing Korea in a fit of ignorance. I, for one, would play the Korean civ with great pride.

Thank you, and I hope this proves helpful to people.

Modern Points of Interest

• Currently the world’s 13th largest economy. Was 11th prior to the IMF Crisis. (Consider: As recently as the 1960’s, Korea was ranked as one of the world’s poorest agrarian nations due to ruin after the Japanese occupation and Korean War…thus the famous phrase: “Miracle of the Han River”).
• Seoul is the world's 4th most populous city. Statistics for 2001: 1 Tokyo, Japan 29.9 million. 2 Mexico City, Mexico 27.8 million. 3 São Paulo, Brazil 25.3 million. 4 Seoul, South Korea 21.9 million. 5 New York, USA 14.6 million. 6 Osaka, Japan 14.2 million. 7 Bombay, India 15.3 million 8 Calcutta, India 14.1 million. 9 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14.1 million. 10 Buenos Aires, Argentina 12.9 million.
• South Korea is the world's 3rd most densely populated country measured by humans per km² (now at 476): Rank / country area (km²) / Population / July 1999 est. humans per km²: (1) Bangladesh 144,000 127,117,967 883 (2) Taiwan 35,980 22,113,250 615 (3) Korea, South 98,480 46,884,800 476 (4) Palestine (West Bank + Gaza Strip) 6,220 2,723,763 438 (5) Puerto Rico 9,104 3,887,652 427
• Over the past three decades, Korea has enjoyed an annual average economic growth of 8.6 percent.
• The nation's foreign currency reserves that totaled a mere US$3.8 billion as of the end of 1997 rose to US$76.8 billion at the end of January 2000, and the nation has been able to repay all the US$13.5 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). To date, Korea has made the fastest recovery EVER from an IMF bailout.
• As one of the largest import markets in the world, the volume of Korea's imports exceeded those of China in 1995, and was comparable to the imports of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines combined.
• World's largest shipbuilder and second biggest steel producer.
• Incheon Airport-World's Largest by 2020?: Four hours' flight time from 43 cities of more than one million people, Incheon airport (opened in March 2001) is becoming the transport hub of northern Asia. That means big facilities. The passenger terminal floor space is equivalent to 60 soccer fields and houses prayer and "nap" rooms along with the obligatory brand-name boutiques. When second-stage construction is completed in 2020, Incheon is expected to handle 100 million passengers and seven million tonnes of cargo a year, making it the world's biggest airport.
• Hyundai and Samsung are two of the world's major DRAM (memory microchips) producers.
• Korea currently has the highest rate of broadband Internet use. At last count, Korean subscribers to high-speed Internet exceeded 4 million, a whopping 77 times the number two years earlier, according to government statistics.
• Koreans lead online gaming in Asia and the world: Online gaming is rapidly gaining in popularity in Asia, particularly in Korea, where 65 percent of all Internet users visited a games website in January 2001. “Professional Gaming” is a viable profession in South Korea with some 30 professional gamers earning $30,000+ / year.
• Largest (in terms of membership totaling over 1,000,000) Christian church in the world.
• Koreans have great concern for education, and illiteracy is almost non-existent. Compare with the United Nations findings about the United States: “The last nationwide studies of the literacy rate were in 1982 and 1986. According to the 1982 study, adults in the United States over the age of 20 had a 13 per cent illiteracy rate. The 1986 study concerned young adults between the ages of 20 and 24, measured by standards of fourth, eighth, and eleventh grade reading levels. The results showed that 6 per cent were illiterate at a fourth grade level, 20.2 per cent were illiterate at an eighth grade level, and 38.5 per cent were illiterate at an eleventh grade level.”
• In 1999-2000, Korean students participated in educational programs in 71 countries. They sent more than 41,000 students to the United States, according to the Open Doors Report, making them the nation’s fourth largest group of international students. Realizing that international education forms a substantial part of the U.S.’s income, Korea likewise represents a substantial partner.
• Many shows like the Simpsons are actually produced in Korea and shipped back to the U.S. for broadcasting.
• Prior to Sydney, staged the “most successful Olympic games in history.”
• The martial art of Taekwondo is one of the world's most widely-recognized and will soon be an Olympic event.
• Will Co-host the 2002 World Cup with Japan.
• In the past 2,000 years, Korea has been attacked or invaded nearly 1,000 times. And yet, it has never lost its cultural identity.

UNESCO Cultural Heritage Listings: UNESCO has recognized the value of Korean culture by including several (7) Korean treasures on its World Heritage List (Egypt, in contrast, only has 5). See: http://www.korea.net/2k/data/d/11/02/Content.htm for better pictures/explanations.

• Seokguram Grotto: "This Buddha embodies a rarefied aesthetic which is, indeed, rare."
  
• Janggyeongpanjeon: The canon, the oldest and most comprehensive compilation of Buddhist scripture in existence today, was carved on 81,340 woodblocks between 1236 and 1251, during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), and is estimated to contain no fewer than 52 million Chinese characters in the Ou Yang-hsiu style of calligraphy. An invaluable resource for Buddhist studies throughout the world, the canon served as the standard for the newly-revised edition of Japan's canon and was also reintroduced into China. In addition, it has been sent to England, America, France, Germany and other Western nations where it plays an important role in international Buddhist research."
  
• Jongmyo Shrine: "When built, Jongmyo's main hall had the longest floor space of any contemporary wooden building in the world."
  
• Changdeokgung Palace: "Changdeokgung makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of traditional architecture, landscaping and history."
  
• Hwaseong Fortress: "Bricks, a new building material, were used in the construction, in addition to the more common wood and stone, and a crane-like pulley devise was devised to hoist materials. The fortress was thus a test of modern architectural, engineering and construction techniques."
  
• Hunminjeongeum (later renamed 'Hangeul'): "The alphabet is generally recognized as being both unique and scientific-unique in that it is the only alphabet originally created by a single person at a specific time without being based on a previously known script and scientific because it is based on a knowledge of phonology and phonetics."
  
• Joseonwangjosillok: "A daily, chronological record of events spanning 472 years (1392-1863) it is the longest, continuous historical record in the world and the preservation of the entire work is unprecedented."
  
• Poseokjeong: "Cheomseongdae is the most exquisite example of an astronomical observatory in the Orient."
  
• Dolmen: "Dolmens are megalithic funerary monuments, which are numerous in Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Korea has the greatest number of any country. These are of great archaeological value for the information that they provide about the prehistoric peoples who built them and their social and political systems, beliefs and rituals, arts and ceremonies, etc."
  

Major Early Inventions

• The UNESCO in 1972 made an international announcement that the “Chikchisimgyong” is the oldest metal typed printed book in the world and made the fact acceptable by exhibiting a copy of the book at the exhibition in the international book festival in the same year. This invention (two centuries before Guttenberg) was a great event in the development of medieval printing and a technical achievement of the highest order Korean ancestors had contributed to the development of printing.
• Water clocks were also a standard means of keeping time in Korea as early as the "Three Kingdoms" period, and it was here that one of the first known automatic water clocks was devised in 1434. This clock was called Chagyongnu, which literally translates as "self-striking water clock." When the water reached a certain level, a trigger device released a metal ball which rolled down a chute into a metal drum to "gong the hour."
• The udometer (rain gauge) in 1441.
• The Korean character system, “Hangul,” is completely different from and independent of Chinese and Japanese. ‘Hangul’ was developed by a group of scholars under the patronage of King Sejong in 1443 and is considered by many linguistic scholars to be the most scientific and phonetic alphabet ever created.
• The Korean Turtle Ship is the first ironclad warship in the world shaped like a turtle that was invented and built by Admiral YI, SOON SHIN in 1592 (16C). During the IM JIN WAR (Korean and Japanese; 1592-1598), under Admiral YI's command, the turtle ships were engaged as the vanguard and brought the seas under their control to lead the country to victory.
  
• Celadon (pottery): Korea produced the most beautiful celadon as Chinese said “The Koryo’ s celadon is wonderful.” The celadon of Koryo dynasty was splendid and elegant because it has affected by Buddhism of nobles centered. This characteristic PunChong stone ware went to Japan during Korea and Japan war in 16th century and it became a staring point of developing of pottery in Japan. At that time of Japan, they have used earthenware, because they could not produced pottery. When Japan invaded Korea in the 1590s, Japanese called the " Pottery war "and they took many Korean potters back to Japan. Among these potters, there was one potter who named "Yi SamPyong." And Japanese called him the father of pottery in Japan.

The Korean War (1950-1953)

• Often called ‘The Forgotten War’ and yet many scholars would refer to it as World War 3 since the East and West were engaged in armed conflict on a massive scale.
• Top-secret documents recently made public show that nuclear weapons were moved onto the peninsula. MacArthur had prepared more than a dozen locations in China for nuclear bombing. Only one man, the President of the United States, had the power to stop him.
• The first jet-to-jet dogfights took place during this war. “MiG Alley” was coined.
• North and South Korea are still technically at war as the Armistice Agreement has yet to be upgraded to a Peace Agreement, making the Korean War one of the longest wars in modern history.
• The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is the world’s most heavily fortified border comprising over 1,000,000 landmines and nearly that same number of troops on both sides of the border on the highest alert. Bill Clinton when visiting there called it “The Scariest Place on Earth.”
• The United States still has stationed nearly 50,000 troops in South Korea and considers that area to be the geo-political flashpoint for all of the Asia-Pacific...as history has proven again and again.

Historical Outline

• Korea has one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations.
• 600,000 years ago: Archeological findings have indicated beginnings of settlement in the Korea peninsula.
• 2333 B.C. : The legendary figure Tangun founded Ko-Chosun, the first Korean kingdom, at Pyungyang in the northern part of the peninsula.
• 57 B.C ~ A.D. 668 : Three Kingdoms Period
• Koguryo Kingdom (37 B.C. ~ A.D. 668 )
• Paeche Kingdom (18 B.C. ~ A.D. 660 )
• Shilla Kingdom( 57 B.C. ~ A.D. 676 )
• A.D. 676 ~ 935 : United Shilla Kingdom( Capital : Kyungju)
• A.D. 918 ~ 1392 : Koryo Dynasty (Capital: Kaesong located in North Korea),
• Buddhism became the state religion and greatly influenced politics and administration.
• 13th century : Mongolian invasions.
• 1392 ~ 1910 : Choson Dynasty (Capital Seoul). Complete organization of the state on Neo-Confucianist principles.
• 1418 ~ 1450 : Reign of King Sejong during his reign the native alphabet, Hangul, was invented.
• 1592 ~ 1598 : Japanese invasions, defeated by such national heroes as Admiral Yi-Sun-shin.
• 1876: The so-called "Hermit Kingdom" opened its ports to foreigners.
• 1910 ~ 1945: Japanese colonial rule.
• 1945: Division of Korea into north and south
• 1948: Proclamation of the Republic of Korea(south) on August 15, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(north) on September 9.
• 1950 ~ 1953 : Korean War, armistice signed
• 1972 to present : Negotiations between South and North Korea for peace and reunification
• 1988: Hosting of the 24th Olympiad, which marked the beginning of relations with Central and Eastern Europe
• Sep. 1991: South and North Korea were simultaneously admitted to the United Nations.

[BeBMan]

Wow, a lot of work, and many good points, but a link would be enough I think

[yin26]

That info was put together from over 20 web sites. In fact, from my research, I have just posted the most comprehensive "at-a-glance" look at Korea ANYWHERE. LOL!

[Saint Marcus]

Korea's influence in world history is rather limited I'm afraid, compared to many of the left-out civs like Spain, Holland and the Arabs.

[yin26]

If you mean in the sense that Koreans didn't conquer other nations or force their own culture on others, you have a point. Sad, though, we would tend to use that measure for a "real civ" in Civ 3. Then again, it is a game about warmongers, right?

[Saint Marcus]

In general, the Koreans didn't have as much influence in world history as the Dutch, Spanish and Arabs. Not just in warfare (since the Chinese and Egyptians aren't exactly know for their military achievements either)

[monkspider]

Awesome, awesome stuff Yin. I hope you create a web site with all this info on it, this is great resource for information. Please keep the Apolyton community updated if you do. I have tried many times to rally support for the Korean civilization in the expansion pack civs thread.

[Saint Marcus]

MarkL: First, things like inventing the moveable type printing press TWO HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE it happened in the West is significant, especially considering that the printing press is often considered THE major invention of the millenium. And in modern times, Korea is not too far off from becoming one of the world's TOP 10 economies. So anybody who dismisses Korea as some insignificant civ is just ignorant. I am not accusing YOU of being ignorant, however.

There are dozens of inventions made by ancient civs who are not included in Civ3 for good reasons. Second, being among the top 10 world economies should have little to do with a placing in civ3. I don't see an Italian civ in there (the Romans are not the Italians), nor a Dutch civ, a Spanish Civ, a Brazilian civ, a Arabian civ, etc. There are tonnes of civs who should be put in the game before even considering the Koreans. Examples? Easy. Arabs, Spanish, Dutch, Vikings, Mongols, Incas, Mayas, Portugal, Carthegans/Phoenicians, etc. The Korean civ simply doesn't have or had enough influence to be included in a game like Civ3, or any official updates. Feel free to make your own modpack though, but if you insist that the Koreans are significant civ in world history, you would have to increase the number of civs in the game from 16 to 64, because their are many civs which can make similar claims to Korea's, if not better.

[yin26]

monkspider: Thank you. In fact, I have just such a project underway!

MarkL: First, things like inventing the moveable type printing press TWO HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE it happened in the West is significant, especially considering that the printing press is often considered THE major invention of the millenium. And in modern times, Korea is not too far off from becoming one of the world's TOP 10 economies. So anybody who dismisses Korea as some insignificant civ is just ignorant. I am not accusing YOU of being ignorant, however.

Now, the point for Civ3 is: How would they be fun to play?

I'd make them HARD to play. A kind of underdog civ:

• Reduced ability to expand but increased defensive ability.
• Increased research ability until modern age.
• Added diplomatic bonuses reflecting its non-aggressive stance.
• Near immunity to opposing civ cultural influence (borders CANNOT creep into Korean territory) but conversely much slower influence over OTHER civs' borders.
• Special Unit: Turtle Boat (most effective from 15-17th centuries): Nearly impossible to sink but has slow and rather poor offense.
• Special Tech: Printing Press: From time of discovery (usually early 13th century), adds for 20 turns a Golden Age of Learning (science bonuses) and major cultural influence over surrounding areas...one of Korea's best chances to expand its borders. Yes, Korea's Golden Age should be triggered by this PEACEFUL discovery.
• Special Trade Item: Celadon Pottery, which can only be produced in small quantities but is highly sought after by ALL civs.
• Major bonuses to worker productivity in the Modern Age but also increased chance for worker strikes unless full Democracy is implemented.

So, you'd have a unique civ that defends itself extremely well but has an awfully hard time to expand. Thus, even with its good research abilities, it has problems funding any major expansion efforts and would really need to promote peaceful trade in order to make its money. Its increased worker productivity would only come into effect under a full democracy, limiting further its ability to go on the offensive.

Wow. That would be a fun civ to play IMO. And really this should be about FUN!

[YefeiPi]

Hey, if the ancient Chinese were war mad, I doubt many of us would be speaking English today. China was once thousands(!) of years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of economy, military, science technology and living standards for many centuries or even longer. However, they didn't really conquer any lands not because they can't, but because they didn't bother to. Does that make them a weak civ? If brutal conquering is the standard of measure for a civilization, the Chinese certainly won't win awards.

[yin26]

Actually, we agree. But you must keep in mind that the West PERCEIVES China to be a serious military threat. Certainly they did what they wanted to (for the most part) with the US spy plane, for instance. And nobody can look at their population and say: "Hey, let's ignore them." And the Chinese DO like to bully. A common saying heard here in Korea, for example, comes from the Chinese: "If we all took a leak on Korea, we could drown it in a yellow sea."

[yin26]

The Korean civ simply doesn't have or had enough influence to be included in a game like Civ3, or any official updates.

We can debate the "influence" issue forever about ANY civ. Even the ones included. You can choose to look at periods of time when certain civs (**ahem** the U.S.) weren't even around. Certainly the Korea of the 16th was one of the most influential of its time. And as I have stressed, the invention of the moveable type printing press was perhaps the most profound invention for humanity since the invention of writing itself.

Ignore it if you will.

However, my other point here is that Korean civ would be a blast to play if setup according to some of my suggestions. And that is the point when discussing Civ 3, because for every reason you give that Korea has NOT had any significant influence, I can give you two more why it HAS. I suppose we could start going toe-to-toe and a lot of misconceptions would get cleared up in the process, but I think my intial opening post here stands strongly on its own.

If you want to pick your favorite civ to be included, go ahead. But you haven't provided any evidence. And if you DO decide to do the work, please put it in another thread dedicated for that purpose. Thanks.

[monkspider]

I agree with Yin, If Korea isn't one of civs in the expansion pack, then who WILL make it in? Korea is right behind the obvious really big ones (Spanish, Mongols, Vikings) and I'm sure a fair arguement could be made for their rivaling even those.

[Sun Zi 36]

Originally posted by YefeiPi
China was once thousands(!) of years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of economy, military, science technology and living standards for many centuries or even longer. However, they didn't really conquer any lands not because they can't, but because they didn't bother to.

Actually I would disagree with that. The Chinese certainly was ahead of the rest of the world from the time the Roman Empire collapsed but definitely not by a thousand years. Certainly the Byzantine culture or Islamic culture are not 1000 years or even 500 years behind China in the Tang or Sung period (around AD600-AD1200). 200 years is probably a better number.

I also disagree with the point that China could conquer the world if it bothered to. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui dynasty failed to even conquer Korea with three expeditions. And the effort he put in to conquer Korea was enormous. So enormous and disturbing to the society that it caused the collapsed of the Sui dynasty. In fact it is the reverse. The Chinese failed to resist invasion by outside cultures many times (during the turbulent years of around AD200-AD600, during the Sung period, the Mongols, and the Manchus) even though it bothered to resist.

The strength of the Chinese is that their development in culture and cultural achievements is in a level that it absorbs surrounding cultures, even cultures that militarily took over the control of the Chinese. So even though the Chinese are not a thousand years ahead and are not capable of conquering the world it is still a strong civ.

[yin26]

Lung said elsewhere:

Japan and China for neighbours. Oh, joy!

Not only that, but the Korean peninsula sticks out there like some kind of juicy apple waiting for either China or Japan to pluck it to feed their own expansionist plans. The fact that Korea held them off for so long and so often is amazing to me.

As for Japan finally defeating Korea and occupying the peninsula for nearly 50 years, you might expect Koreans to blame other people for that fiasco. But they are surprisingly up front:

"While we were writing poetry and getting drunk [those were prized elements of an 'advanced culture' at the time], the Japanese were learning advanced war techniques and preparing to attack." This goes to show: NEVER stop spying on people.

Koreans freely admit that its isolationist policies of the 18th and 19th centuries rendered them eventually helpless against a Japan that had been forcibly opened to the new techs of the West. Ironically, it now seems that it is Japan's ultra-nationalistic right wing that is impeding relations with outsiders (look at its history book controversy that ignores Japan's horrid actions during WW2). Korea, however, is moving along quite quickly, for example, with economic restructuring that Japan so far refuses to do.

So this gets back to one of my earlier points. Defining the "influence of a civ" depends in great part on what slice of history you happen to be living in. As we are still in the shadows of an imperialistic 20th century, most of us were raised thinking of Korea (IF we thought about Korea at all) as a nation too weak to defend itself and only viable today thanks to intervention.

Certainly part of that is true, but to view and know ONLY that is to miss a MUCH bigger picture of what Korea was and is today.