Korean Women Today

57 B.C. - 668 A.D.: The Three Kingdoms of Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje had similar ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. Koguryo occupied the northern part of the peninsula from the Chinese border to the Han River, while Silla and Baekche dominated the southern regions. All three kingdoms were heavily influenced by China, and Buddhism was introduced to Koguryo in 372. Various alliances were formed either with or against the Chinese until 660 when Silla allied with China to overthrow Baekje. Goguryeo fell shortly afterwards in 668.

668 - 935: The Silla Kingdom period marked the start of Korea's cultural development. Buddhism expanded and furled the construction of numerous temples and art works. However, despite Chinese influences, Silla remained largely tribal in culture. Society divided into distinct classes with a large semi-slave population supporting an aristocratic minority. Warlords began amassing power bases to the north and eventually took over Silla and founded a new kingdom- Goryeo.

918 - 1392: Korea's English name was derived during the Goryeo period. At this time the government codified the laws and introduced a civil service system. During this time Buddhism flourished and spread throughout the peninsula. Like other kingdoms before it, Koryo was also subject to internal strife and external threats, most notably from the Mongols who had taken over China. In 1231 the Mongols invaded Korea, forcing the royal family to flee to Kanghwa Island near Seoul. After 25 years of struggle, the royal family finally surrendered. The following 150 years saw continued Goryeo rule, but under the control of the Mongols. As the Mongols declined in power, so too did Goryeo. In 1392 a Korean general, Yi, Song-gye, was sent to China to campaign against the Ming rulers. Instead, he allied himself with the Chinese, returned to overthrow the Korean king, and setup his own dynasty. During this time, Korea also perfected the art of celadon pottery.

1392 - 1910 The ruler of the Yi Dynasty moved the capital to Hanyang-gun (Seoul) in 1394 and adopted Confucianism as the country's official religion. As a result, Buddhists lost much of their wealth and power. It was during this period that the Korean alphabet, Hangul, was invented by King Sejong the Great in 1446. This period also had its share of external problems, suffering invasions by the Japanese and the Manchus. With the arrival of Japanese and Western traders in the 19th century, the Korean rulers tried to prevent the opening of the country to foreign trade by closing the borders, earning Korea its nickname of the Hermit Kingdom. Beginning in 1876, the Japanese forced a series of Western-style trade agreements on Korea, leading to Japan's eventual annexation of the country in 1910. Due to growing anti-Japanese sentiment, in 1897 King Kojong declared himself to be emperor of the Taehan Empire, an independent Korea. However, during the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese forces moved onto the peninsula, despite Korean declarations of neutrality. The signing of the Japan-Korea Protection Treaty in 1905 gave Japan virtual control over Korea, and in 1910 a Korean royal proclamation announced the annexation by Japan.

20th Century

1910 - 45: During its occupation, Japan built up Korea's infrastructure, especially the street and railroad systems. However, the Japanese ruled with an iron fist and attempted to root out all elements of Korean culture from society. People were forced to adopt Japanese names, convert to the Shinto religion, and were forbidden to use Korean language in schools and business. The Independence Movement on March 1, 1919, was brutally repressed, resulting in the killing of thousands, the maiming and imprisoning of tens of thousands, and destroying of hundreds of churches, temples, schools, and private homes. During World War II, Japan siphoned off more and more of Korea's resources, including its people, to feed its Imperial war machine. Many of the forced laborers were never repatriated to Korea.

1945 - 60: The Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, cause the peninsula to came under divided rule: the USSR occupied Korea north of the 38th parallel, while the U.S. occupied the southern section. Under UN auspices, a democratic government established the Republic of Korea in 1948 with its capital in Seoul. The Communists established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with its capital in P'yongyang. On June 25, 1950, the North Korean Army invaded the South, starting the Korean War. UN forces helped the South while Communist Chinese volunteers sided with the North, resulting in a three year war which left millions dead on both sides.  Student protests against the corrupt government caused Syngman Rhee to step down as president in 1960.

1961 - 79: On May 16, 1961, General Park, Chung Hee organized a military coup and toppled the civilian government. He then established martial law and later had himself elected president. Though his leadership was oppressive, President Park instigated many economic and social changes which helped elevate Korea into and industrializing nation. Major infrastructure enhancements, including the Seoul-Pusan expressway and the Seoul subway system, began under his regime. The Korean CIA chief assassinated President Park on October 26, 1979.

1980 - 87: In the power vacuum left by President Park's death, General Chun, Doo Hwan staged a military coup and seized power on May 17, 1980. After re-establishing martial law, he had himself elected President and banned several hundred former politicians from campaigning. A military crackdown against student protests in the southern city of Kwangju resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries. Although his rule was more lenient than General Park's, and he adopted many reforms, the Korean people became tired of military rule. Violent student demonstrations in 1987 forced President Chun to implement more social reforms and hold presidential elections in 1988.

1988 - 92: General Noh, Tae-woo, Chun's chosen political successor, won the presidential election. The opposition party failed to field a single candidate, splitting the opposition vote and giving Noh a comfortable win. During his term, President Noh's government established diplomatic relations with many non-capitalist countries, including the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, both long-term allies of communist North Korea. The successful hosting of the 1988 Olympic Games brought Korea to the center stage of world recognition.

1992 - 1996: The election of President Kim, Young-sam ushered in a new era of civilian rule. Since taking office he worked hard to reform the widely criticized regulatory system through his "New Economy" and "Globalization" programs. The implementation of the real-name financial transaction act put an end to the easy hiding of hot money. Another 2,000 rules and regulations were abolished or amended during Presdient Kim's term. Despite the many contibutions he made, Kim, Young-sam will probably be remembered most for the dismal economic situation the country was in when he left office.

1997 - present: The election of President Kim, Dae-jung marked the first time an opposition leader has been elected as president in Korea. After failing in four other attempts to win the popular vote, his party joined with the party of Kim, Jong-pil, and riding the population's growing resentment towards the ruling party, gained the narrow majority needed to gain the presidency. His term immediately got off to the rocky start when the former ruling party boycotted the National Assembly session which was to have confirmed President Kim's choice of cabinet and prime minister candidates.

For Koreans, who had long been denied their independence in all walks of life, the Japanese surrender in 1945 brought many challenges. One of the challenges included ideological conflicts between various groups, conflicts which were not uncommon to the experiences of many postcolonial people. This was due in large part to the fact that Koreans were suddenly faced with the difficulty of overcoming and liquidating colonial conditions accumulated during the four decades of Japanese domination. Liberation did not bring independence for which the Koreans had fought so hard, but the inception of ideological conflict in a partitioned country.

The occupation of a divided Korea by the United States and the Soviet Union frustrated the efforts of Koreans to establish an independent government. The transplantation of two conflicting political ideologies south and north of the 38th parallel further intensified the national split. Among the Allies, the foreign ministers of the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain met in Moscow on December 15, 1945, and decided to put Korea under the trusteeship of the four powers - the United States, the USSR, Britain and China - as a provisional step to unite the divided country. Korea protested against the international decision, imposed only four months after liberation from colonial rule, since it cast a shadow over Korean hopes for establishment of an independent government. The determination to resist and defy foreign domination, no matter what form it might take, is shared by all formerly colonized peoples.

Although the Communists changed their initial opposition to support, probably due to instructions from Moscow, the vast majority of the people determinedly opposed trusteeship as another form of colonial rule. This problem, together with conflict of ideologies, further accelerated the national division. In the Soviet-occupied area, the opposition to the trusteeship was suppressed, and Jo Mansik, the prominent national leader, was put under arrest by the Soviet authorities.

Thus the partitioned occupation of Korea by the United States and the Soviet Union, together with internal conflicts, frustrated efforts for independence and unity. The series of postwar international decisions made without regard for the Korean people left them far from their goal of national independence.

After the Soviet Union and the United States occupied Korea, each imposing its own system on the area under its jurisdiction, political conflict and social disorder became rampant. The internal disorder south of the 38th parallel worsened in proportion to the rigid regimentation of society under the Communist system in the North until 1948, when two ideologically opposed governments were established.

On the basis of the realities of the Korean Peninsula, the government of the Republic of Korea was proclaimed on August 15, 1948, inheriting the legitimacy of the Provisional Government in Shanghai. Without being able to eliminate the vestiges of colonial rule, the new government of Korea faced the pressing task of reconstructing the bankrupt economy left by the Japanese, and the chaos of the three years of the post-liberation period. These, together with various other problems, were too demanding a task for a new and inexperienced government.

The ideological confrontation between the South and the North inevitably gave rise to a tense military confrontation, another major burden placed on the government. In 1948, the U.S. Military Government handed over to the ROK Government its administrative authority. This was followed by the conclusion between the Republic of Korea and the United States of a provisional military pact and the establishment of the Economic Cooperation Administration.

In 1948, the United States withdrew its occupation forces from Korea, leaving only a small group of military advisers. The Soviet Union had already done the same in the northern half of Korea, where the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established. A number of agreements were concluded for the Soviet Union to provide North Korea with military, economic, technological, and cultural assistance. China also established diplomatic relations with North Korea. In 1949, the Communist army in North Korea provoked sporadic skirmishes along the 38th parallel.

The Korean War

Under such circumstances early on the Sunday morning of June 25, 1950, without any warning or declaration of war, North Korean troops invaded the unprepared South across 38th parallel. It was a well-prepared, all-out attack. South Korea's troops fought bravely, but proved no match for the heavily armed Communists and the Russian T-3 tanks, who were not checked until they reached the Nakdonggang river near Daegu.

The Republic of Korea appealed to the United Nations. In response, the Security Council passed a resolution ordering the Communists to withdraw to the 38th parallel and encouraged all member countries to give military support to the Republic. U.S. troops soon began to arrive, and were subsequently joined by those from 15 other nations: Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, Canada, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Greece, the Netherlands, Ethiopia, Colombia, the Philippines, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The three Scandinavian countries sent hospitals along with medical personnel.

Under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the Allied forces began to take the initiative, and after a surprise landing at Incheon, pushed the Communists out of South Korea and advanced into the North.

But in October the Communist Chinese intervened, throwing such large numbers of troops into battle that the U.N. forces were forced to retreat. Seoul once again fell into Communist hands on January 4, 1951. The U.N. forces regrouped and mounted a counterattack, retaking Seoul on March 12. A stalemate was reached roughly in the area along the 38th parallel, where the conflict had begun.

At this point the Soviet Union called for truce negotiations, which finally began at Gaeseong in July of 1951, and were transferred to Panmunjeom in November that year. The talks dragged on for two years before an armistice agreement was reached on July 27, 1953.

Democratic Revolution

In the aftermath of the Korean War, the country was beset with many problems - economic, social and political. The old patriot, Syngman Rhee, unable to see that he had outlived his usefulness, clung tenaciously to power. This refusal on the part of Rhee and his associates to let democratic processes take their normal course was at least partly responsible for the social and political unrest that followed the war.

Social disorder and hostility to the government complicated the already staggering problems created by the war. There were many thousands of war widows, more than 100,000 orphans, and tens of thousands of unemployed, whose ranks were swelled by farmers leaving their land to seek work in the cities. Exact statistics are not available, but in 1961 it was estimated that there were about 279,000 unemployed, of whom 72,000 were university graduates, and 51,000 discharged soldiers and laid-off workers. This provided a powderkeg of anger and resentment that waited only for a spark to set it off.

The spark was provided by President Rhee and the Liberal Party in the course of the elections of 1960. Realizing its own unpopularity, the ruling regime used every means, legal or illegal, to rig the elections in its favor. Demonstrations broke out almost at once, especially among students. Protesting against government interference in schools, students rose up in Daegu on February 28, 1960. On March 15, election day, students demonstrated against the election, and police subsequently fired into the crowds. In early April, the discovery at Masan of the body of a student who had been killed by police was followed by a riot.

The most serious demonstrations were in Seoul. Responding to the Masan affair, practically all of the students in the capital poured into the streets. Again police fired on them as they neared the presidential residence and there was bloodshed. Martial law was imposed and troops dispersed the crowds.

Rhee had no choice but to step down. His desire for power had overcome his patriotism in the end. The students had led the people into the first successful democratic revolution in Korea's history, showing that Korean democracy was alive and healthy.

On July 15, 1960, an amendment to the Constitution was adopted by the incumbent Assembly providing for a cabinet system of government with a bicameral legislature. At the same time, the two houses of the newly elected Assembly in a joint session elected Yun Po-sun President of the Second Republic, and he was sworn in on August 15. President Yun nominated Dr. Chang Myon (John M. Chang) as Prime Minister, whose nomination was promptly confirmed by the House of Representatives. At this time, the Liberal Party was replaced by the Democratic Party as the majority party, and it immediately split into the New Democrats and the (Old) Democrats. The Prime Minister belonged to the former while the President belonged to the latter. Neither was strong enough constitutionally or personally to fill the gap created by the sudden ouster of the 12-year-old autocratic rule of President Syngman Rhee.

The new government was unable to cope with the situation in which it found itself. For one thing, most members of the new cabinet, while without question honest people, had little experience in government. The leaders, tasting the long-denied fruits of political power, began to wallow in its corrupting effect. The national economy had been brought to the brink of bankruptcy due to unfair tax collection practices coupled with waste and mismanagement of foreign aid and domestic resources under the Rhee administration. Prime Minister Chang's cabinet not only failed to muster the united support of the populace to cope with such problems, but helplessly stood by and watched daily demonstrations by students who thought they could sway national affairs by parading in the streets.

The North Korean Communists, having recovered from their disastrous adventure of 1950-1953, seized the opportunity of internal disorder in the South to subvert whatever effort the Chang administration could put forth. Elements of doubtful allegiance began urging "Peaceful Unification," a familiar line of propaganda emanating from Radio Pyeongyang daily at that time.

The Military Revolution and the Third and Fourth Republics

Before daybreak on May 16, 1961, in Korea, the sound of sporadic rifle fire announced an uprising of military men. Battalions of soldiers, marines, and paratroopers marched into Seoul, occupying the capital city in a lightning coup led by Maj. Gen. Park Chung Hee.

Later that morning, the Military Revolutionary Committee, headed by Army Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Jang Doyeong, announced over the radio that it had taken over all three branches of the government and proclaimed a six-point pledge: strong anticommunism, respect for the U.N. Charter, closer relations with the United States and other free nations, eradication of corruption, establishment of a self-supporting economy, and efforts for national reunification. He also pledged transfer of the government to civilian rule as soon as the revolutionary missions were accomplished.

The Revolutionary Committee, later renamed the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, set out implement its aims. A new constitution was approved in a national referendum and promulgated in December 1963, thus inaugurating the Third Republic. In the presidential election held in October the following year, Park Chung Hee, who had resigned from the army, ran for office, despite his original promise of retiring from politics, and was elected President. In the National Assembly elections held in November, candidates from Park's Democratic Republican Party won an impressive victory, forming a stable majority force. With the stage thus set, Park formally took office in December.

In the 1967 presidential election, President Park, with 51.4 percent of the total votes, was re-elected to a second four-year term over his chief opponent Yun Po-sun. In 1971, he won a third term by defeating Kim Dae-jung.

Under President Park's leadership, the human and natural resources of the nation were effectively organized for the first time in modern history. The economy began to grow at an annual rate of 9.2 percent. Per capita GNP increased from a mere US$87 in 1962 to US$1,503 in 1980, and exports rose by 32.8 percent a year from US$56.7 million in 1962 to US$17.5 billion in 1980.

In the diplomatic area, relations were normalized with Japan in June 1965, putting an end to the hiatus of formal bilateral relations due largely to antagonism stemming from Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. It was also at the initiative of President Park that the first formal inter-Korean dialogue was begun. The Red Cross societies of the two parts of Korea began meetings in September 1971, to discuss the question of locating and exchanging information about relatives separated by the South-North division. Political contacts were started in May 1972, culminating in the historic South-North Joint Communique of July 4, 1972, in which South and North Korea agreed to work for peaceful reunification.

Perceiving grave implications for Korea in the rapidly changing domestic and international situation, the Park administration introduced new constitutional amendments. These amendments were proposed in October 1972 and approved in a subsequent national referendum. With the promulgation of the revised Constitution in December, a new political order, referred to as the Yusin (Revitalizing Reforms) system was established and the Fourth Republic inaugurated.

In the ensuing years, Korea successfully weathered the oil crisis and continued to develop economically. The Saemaeul Undong (New Community Movement) brought increasing prosperity to rural and urban areas and provided experience in problem solving. Diplomatic relations continued to expand. Only the South-North dialogue floundered and then came to a standstill.

Successful as he was in developing a backward economy and in modernizing certain aspects of society, President Park relied on autocratic means in implementing his policies. The Yusin Constitution made it possible for him to remain in office indefinitely through well-controlled electoral procedures and also ensured him a kind of built-in majority in the Legislature.

People began criticizing the harshly repressive measures of the government. There was also criticism of the injustices perpetuated in the wake of policies geared to rapid economic growth, particularly to the underprivileged. Trade union movements were severely restricted. The combination of pent-up dissatisfaction with the high-handed methods of the government and frustration in popular desire for political participation and economic redistribution led to Park's demise.

On October 26, 1979, President Park was assassinated by the chief of the Korean CIA, Kim Jae-gyu, and Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah became acting President under the Constitution. Shortly thereafter he was elected President by the National Conference for Unification, an electoral college set up as part of the Yusin system.

During the next several months, Korea went through a difficult period characterized by political, social and economic instability. Hanging in balance was Korea's development toward a fuller democracy or reversion to the autocratic past. Under such circumstances, another military leader, Chun Doo Hwan, emerged. It also was in the midst of this political upheaval that the tragic Gwangju incident took place. In May 1980, civilian uprisings in that southern city protesting the new military autocracy were harshly put down by troops, causing a large number of casualties and providing an anti-government issue that was to linger on for years.

Chun was subsequently elected President in the electoral college set up under the Yusin Constitution on August 27, and in October, he promulgated a new revised constitution, which limited the presidency to a single seven-year term.

The Fifth Republic

Following the establishment of the Fifth Republic, events moved quickly. Political parties began to organize again in December 1980, and all political activities were resumed in January 1981; martial law was lifted at the same time. A presidential election was held in February along with National Assembly elections. On April 11, the opening session of the National Assembly, consisting of 276 members from eight political parties, was convened and the groundwork for the Fifth Republic was in place. On March 3, 1981, President Chun took office, promising to build a "Great Korea" in a new era.

Although it was virtually the same as the Third and the Fourth Republics in its autocratic governing-style, the Fifth Republic registered some remarkable achievements, including the first-ever surplus in the international balance of payments and a peaceful transfer of power at the end of the seven-year term of President Chun, no small feat considering Korea's past record of political upheaval at the end of every presidency. The period also was plagued by many political problems, however, that tended to overshadow the accomplishments. Questions included the legitimacy of the government itself and pressure for constitutional change for the direct election of a president. The Sixth Republic was born out of the need to find a solution to these pressing issues which had grown to crisis proportions.

The Sixth Republic

The Sixth Republic began with the inauguration of Roh Tae Woo as President for the 13th presidential term and the simultaneous implementation of the revised Constitution. These events had been preceded by the June 29, 1987 Declaration of Political Reforms in which Roh acceded to all of the opposition's demands, thereby defusing the political crisis and providing for the first direct election of the president in 16 years. The Sixth Republic, unlike the Fifth, thus began on a positive note with the most serious political issues being resolved.

President Roh began his term of office promising that authoritarian rule would end and that the June 29 Declaration would continue to be faithfully implemented. Many steps were taken to change not only the appearance of the government but the substance as well. These ranged from the repeal or revision of non-democratic laws after the entire legal code had been reviewed, to the use of a round table at presidential meetings to improve interaction with his ministers. A number of people who had been detained on political charges were released and had their civil rights restored. Institutional and non-institutional interference in press activities and labor-management affairs was discontinued.

The elections for the 13th National Assembly held on April 26, 1988, ended with surprising results. Not only was the ruling Democratic Justice Party unable to win a working majority in the Assembly, but Kim Dae-jung's Party for Peace and Democracy became the largest opposition party, with Kim Young Sam's Reunification Democratic Party and Kim Jong-pil's New Democratic Republican Party placing third and fourth respectively. In their first test of strength in the Assembly after the elections, the strengthened opposition rejected President Roh's first appointee for chief justice, although they later accepted his second choice.

The Assembly's first major work was the establishment of special committees to look into various aspects of the Fifth Republic, including irregularities of the government, the Gwangju pro-democracy movement of 1980, claims of election fraud, controversial laws, and the problem of regionalism.

The political environment was shaken in January of 1990 when the ruling DJP, in an effort to overcome its mere plurality status in the Assembly, managed to bring in Kim Young Sam's RDP and Kim Jong-pil's NDRP. The three parties were merged into the Democratic Liberal Party (DLP), which now commanded a two-thirds majority in the legislative body.

The DLP won a landslide victory in local council elections on March 26 and June 20, 1991. In the 14th National Assembly elections held on March 24, 1992, however, the ruling DLP fared much worse, failing to maintain its majority by a single seat. This setback was only temporary as the DLP managed to recruit several independent lawmakers to its flag, thereby regaining its simple legislative majority.

The Kim Young Sam Administration

The election for the 14th presidential term was held on December 18, 1992. The three major candidates were the ruling DLP's Kim Young Sam, the opposition Democratic Party's Kim Dae-jung, and the newly founded United People's Party candidate Chung Ju-yung, founder of the Hyundai Group. Kim Young Sam was elected, winning 42 percent of the votes, outpacing Kim Dae-jung, his former opposition party colleague and fellow participant in the fight against authoritarian regimes. Chung Ju-yung did not do as well as some had expected. Kim's election returned Korea to the hands of a democratically elected civilian President for the first time since the military coup d'etat of 1961.

In his inaugural remarks on February 25, 1993, President Kim Young Sam vowed publicly to build a "New Korea," pledging to fight corruption in the public and private sectors and to revitalize Korea's straining economy. President Kim called on the Korean people to join him in building a New Korea by increasing national discipline, cooperating more extensively and bearing a fair share of the costs for improving economic prosperity. He urged Koreans to recapture their evaporating industriousness, to stop the erosion of their values and regain their self-confidence. One of President Kim's initial measures after taking office was to open the streets around Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office and residence complex, to ordinary citizens. Under the previous authoritarian governments, citizens had been barred access to the areas surrounding Cheong Wa Dae for security reasons.

In his first few months in office, President Kim was more active in his fight against corruption than anyone could have ever imagined, unleashing a veritable whirlwind of reform. His cabinet almost immediately published a "100-Day Plan for the New Economy," a series of short-term measures designed to boost the economy; this was later followed by the announcement of a New Five-Year Plan for the New Economy, a set of long-term economy policies. The President also announced the implementation of the real-name financial transaction system in August 1993, a major economic reform designed to eliminate corruption and irregularities in the economy.

Asserting that "no one should strive for power and money at the same time," President Kim also required the submission of financial statements by all major government, political and military figures, most of which were made public. Several of the initially appointed cabinet members were forced to resign when the public became aware of their past improprieties. A number of DLP assemblymen resigned or bolted from the party for similar reasons, and the prosecution moved to indict others. The opposition DP, after releasing its own round of public financial statements, also lost face when it could not agree on how to proceed against several of its own assemblymen caught in the same snare. A common refrain emerged in the press - "There's no stopping Y.S." - as the press had nicknamed the new President, after his English initials.

President Kim expected his reform campaign against corruption to continue throughout his five-year term, and at that point, no one doubted him. His anti-corruption efforts extended to not only the administration and party, but also to the military, universities, banks and even traffic police. Some of these sectors were known as sanctuaries in past regimes.

The Kim Dae-jung Administration

With the inauguration of Kim Dae-jung as the 15th president of Korea on February 25, 1998, the era of Government of the People began. President Kim's inauguration ushered in an era in which all the People are now able to participate as the master of the nation. In his inaugural speech, President Kim urged the nation to surmount the national crisis and make a new beginning. He furthermore announced that his inauguration marked the day that the first democratic transition of power in Korean history had been realized. He called his Administration "The Government of the People," and declared that he intended to champion both the cause of democratization and a market economy.

President Kim said his Administration would overcome the economic crisis through reform, undertake a spiritual revolution that would value the rights of the individual, pursue educational reform, and end the Cold-War style confrontational relationship with the North. He stressed his intention to create a participatory democracy, one in which all people would be able to take part and control the political direction of the nation. President Kim compared the financial crisis to the Korean War and asked the nation to shed the same sweat and tears they had shed at that time of turmoil, in order to overcome the current crisis without fail. He took the position that only through reform and by sharing pain could the crisis be overcome as soon as possible. The December 18, 1997 presidential election was deeply significant in Korean history, for President Kim's election signaled the first peaceful, democratic transition of power from a ruling party to an opposition party in Korean history. The election was a kind of social revolution, and one that could only have been achieved through the ardent desires of the Korean people, who eagerly anticipated the dawning of a new age in Korea, as a result of their new found power. News media around the world described the inauguration, as the day genuine democracy began in Korea and said President Kim was a world-class leader who could lead his nation out of crisis and rebuild it.

The people hope for democracy to develop in parallel with a free market economy. They also hope that Korea will develop into a society where upright and able men and women can succeed without fear of discrimination, as many in Korea feel that there is a kind of bond between people of a particular region, province, or even common school, that is damaging the nation as a whole. Many believe that regionalist feelings between people who share some commonality cause discrimination. They feel that this discrimination must end if some kind of national reconciliation can ever be achieved. In short, they believe that only through a truly free, democratic Korea, can Koreans hope to become a leading people on the world stage and a reliable partner in the international community. In keeping with the people's wishes, from the day after his election, President Kim began to work vigorously to help the nation overcome the economic crisis and pull together. He formed the Tripartite Committee of Representatives, made up of representatives of labor, management, and government. He got right to work on restructuring the government and reducing the number of civil servants. In this way, the government took the lead in national efforts to share the pain. He also urged foreigners to invest in Korea and is now pushing economic reform. These reforms include the restructuring of corporations, a policy that will help strengthen the business environment and make Korea more competitive in the world market.

Since his inauguration, President Kim has steadily pursued a policy of engagement toward North Korea. This policy of engagement, popularly called the "Sunshine Policy," is widely considered as a solution to the South-North question. The policy calls for the South to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, along with reconciliation and cooperation with the North. President Kim's efforts bore fruit in June of 2000, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met President Kim Dae-jung in Pyongyang for the first South-North summit talks on June 13-15, 2000. The two leaders signed the historic South-North Joint Declaration. The two Koreas have since been working together to reduce tension on the peninsula, solve humanitarian problems resulting from the Korean War, and increase economic cooperation for mutual prosperity. In recognition of President Kim's dedication to democracy and human rights in his own country and the neighboring region, and his work for peace and reconciliation with North Korea, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2000.