Post by Lucy on Feb 19, 2007 15:12:50 GMT -5
This is a pretty ignorant question, I’m sure, but can anyone explain how Korea divided, seemingly so obviously, between north and south both geographically and in terms of political philosophy? I have often wondered about this, and I was looking for answers in this drama, but I never got any.
What I’m saying is, it seems like everyone took for granted that the North was more Communist than the South, and for a long time. Obviously, I haven’t investigated the history deeply (I’ve only read some encyclopedia articles), so it seems odd to me that the partition along the 38th parallel was foreshadowed so early and almost tacitly accepted much earlier than it actually occurred. Is it because the North is closer to the Soviet Union and the PRC, and so the Communist organizers and politicians tended to congregate in the North, while still working toward building the party in the South? It all just seemed to happen so naturally in this drama. It was strange to hear the characters referencing the 38th parallel from quite early on—right after World War II was over, in fact. So by 1945, it must have been accepted that the 38th parallel was not just a geographic but a symbolic dividing line of some kind. Could someone give me a clue how that came about? Thanks!
BTW, now that this drama is nearing its conclusion in the next month or so, I could have done with more portrayal of the northern part of the country at the time period we’re currently seeing. Everything now takes place in Seoul and environs, with the occasional scene in some boardroom in northern Korea. Too bad we couldn’t have left some of our characters in Hamheung and checked in on what their lives were like and what they were doing occasionally. It would have been interesting to learn more about conditions in the north at that time. How Communist were the people of the north? Were they generally glad when a Communist government was established, or what? Did their lives get better for a while after the Japanese were ousted, or was it immediate repression and crackdown like what we saw happening in Seoul? You know, stuff like that.
What I’m saying is, it seems like everyone took for granted that the North was more Communist than the South, and for a long time. Obviously, I haven’t investigated the history deeply (I’ve only read some encyclopedia articles), so it seems odd to me that the partition along the 38th parallel was foreshadowed so early and almost tacitly accepted much earlier than it actually occurred. Is it because the North is closer to the Soviet Union and the PRC, and so the Communist organizers and politicians tended to congregate in the North, while still working toward building the party in the South? It all just seemed to happen so naturally in this drama. It was strange to hear the characters referencing the 38th parallel from quite early on—right after World War II was over, in fact. So by 1945, it must have been accepted that the 38th parallel was not just a geographic but a symbolic dividing line of some kind. Could someone give me a clue how that came about? Thanks!
BTW, now that this drama is nearing its conclusion in the next month or so, I could have done with more portrayal of the northern part of the country at the time period we’re currently seeing. Everything now takes place in Seoul and environs, with the occasional scene in some boardroom in northern Korea. Too bad we couldn’t have left some of our characters in Hamheung and checked in on what their lives were like and what they were doing occasionally. It would have been interesting to learn more about conditions in the north at that time. How Communist were the people of the north? Were they generally glad when a Communist government was established, or what? Did their lives get better for a while after the Japanese were ousted, or was it immediate repression and crackdown like what we saw happening in Seoul? You know, stuff like that.