We ... and South Koreans
MBy Ahmad Al-Sarraf
any years ago when I visited Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, I was filled with admiration and amazement. I saw a modern culture with vivid people in a fast-developing country. Despite the major differences between Arabs and Koreans, both share a history filled with series of invasions, which even lasted for centuries in some cases, in their countries.
However, such invasions did not leave obvious traces on the people of countries like South Korea, India and Singapore. On the other hand, in the last 50 years, we have only been blaming the invasions for all our crises, backwardness and humiliation.
Due to the civil war, the Korean Peninsula was divided into two countries in 1948 – North Korea and South Korea. South Korea, with an area of 100,000 square kilometers and a higher population, received the support of the United States of America, while the Soviet Union supported North Korea which is of smaller area and population.
The gap between the two countries became wider and more obvious over the passing years. South Korea went on to become an advanced country that is self-reliant and produces almost everything, while North Korea suffers from backwardness and lacks everything.
South Korea was ruled by dictatorial regimes but the political troubles did not hinder the development of the country. Of course, America played a major role in the South Korean achievements. That period of dictatorship ended, thanks to the active South Koreans who insisted on adoption of democracy as the only way.
The Korean history starts with the unification of the three kingdoms 1,500 years ago after the Buddhist culture spread and flourished. The development process never stopped because of the Mongolian invasion in the 13th century which lasted until the fall of the Mongolian Emperor at the end of the 14th century. The Japanese also invaded Korea but the Koreans confronted the invasion with the help of China. During the period of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea enjoyed stability for about 200 years, and witnessed peace and progress.
Despite the Korean policy of isolation in the 19th century which Korea adopted against the imperial Western countries, it was eventually obligated to open its markets for free trade. In 1910, after the end of the ChineseJapanese and Russian-Japanese wars, Japan invaded Korea and ruled until the end of World War II after which Japan surrendered in 1945.
After that, South Korea gradually changed from a marginal backward country into an advanced country under presidential regime and where people enjoy high standard of living.
South Korea was recently ranked as the fourth top Asian economy. It is regarded as one among the most advanced countries in the world especially in fields of ship manufacturing, high technology, car manufacturing and petrochemicals.
This wonderful progress was achieved in South Korea despite its tragic history and experiences of hard times and invasions. South Korea broke records in various aspects including the lowest mortality rate among women such that South Korean women, on an average, live up to 90 years of age.
Is there anything we can learn from this small group of active people? I do not think we are ready to get rid of the factors of backwardness even though we are well aware that these factors are the reasons behind our crises in almost every field.
habibi.enta1@gmail.com