Yu+Sun+C

Discussion Question #8

Question: Write a short reflection of what you learned from these readings. With the benefit of hind sight and knowledge of China and Japan, would Korea have been better off if it had “opened up to the west?”

Though Korea was admittedly held behind in global affairs by its isolation, I think that they made a wise decision in "advocating the peace" for they were able to retain their cultural identity. By reading Korea Unmasked, I realized just how vital it was for Koreans to have a sense of orthodoxy after all of the struggles and invasions they had been through. Even if they had opened up to foreign influence earlier than they were forced to, their cultural uniqueness would have been ripped out from under them. China and Japan, though they were increasingly pressured by foreign influences to open up, still remained their core values of culture. However even with this knowledge, I think that it would also have been wise for Korea to slightly open their doors to foreign influence while closing enough to retain their identity. Their neighbors were stripped of all their power over foreigners through continually trying to resist them; they were forced to open up in the end. In order to avoid this conflict, Korea would have been better off if it just kept a balance.