Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MIRACLE ON THE HAN
Immediately following the war, as Seoul's population slowly re-
turned to pick up the pieces, they found little to give them hope.
Widespread hunger, disease, crime and misery comprised daily
life for hundreds of thousands. On the slopes of Namsan a
wretched village called Haebang-chon (Liberation Town) housed
tens of thousands of war refugees, widows and beggars. Prostitu-
tes lined up at the gates of the US military bases in Yongsan in a
desperate effort to earn a few dollars. Even a decade after the
war, average male life expectancy hovered barely above 50.
History
Books
The Dawn of Modern Korea
(Andrei Lankov)
Korea's Place in the Sun
(Bruce Cumings)
The Korean War
(Max Hastings)
When General Park Chung-hee forcibly took the reins of the
government in 1961, he quickly went to work defining national
economic goals. He often followed patterns set by Imperial Japan, such as fostering big
businesses (
zaibatsu
in Japanese,
jaebeol
in Korean) as engines of growth. Conglomerates
such as Hyundai and Samsung achieved - and still retain - incredible economic influence.
Under Park, fear and brutal efficiency combined to deliver results. Wages were kept arti-
ficially low to drive exports, and by the mid-1970s Seoul was well on its way to becoming
a major world city. Slums were bulldozed, and the city spread in all directions. Express-
ways, ring roads and a subway network connected these new districts. Modernity had ar-
rived in Seoul, but at an undeniable cost.
Seoul, meaning 'capital' in Korean, has only been the oicial name of the city since 1945. Be-
fore the Joseon dynasty it was known as Hanyang, afterwards Hanseong. During Japanese
rule it was called Keijo in Japanese, Gyeongseong in Korean.
