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5. Mark Peterson

Gwangju after 40 years

On Saturday I was asked to serve as a judge for the May 18th commemoration student speech contest in English, for middle and high school students of Gwangju. As a judge I was not prepared for the power of the speeches that I heard.

2020-05-21 17:14

Korean names as measure of peace (part 1)

This is No. 10 or the last in my series of articles advocating that Korea was a remarkably peaceful and stable place historically. And perhaps this is the most compelling one.

2020-05-17 18:10

I can't write everything I would like to write about Korean slavery in one article, but here my purpose is to refer to Korean slavery as the ninth item on my list of top ten arguments showing Korea's history as a peaceful and stable country. When I read studies of slavery from an international perspective, and discovered that Korea has the longest, unbroken chain of slave-holding in the world, it was a real eye-opener. Because if there was never a break in the chain of slave-holding in Korea, it meant that there was never sufficient chaos to disrupt the ruling class who were the slave owners.

2020-05-10 16:42

Royal control of court

Today, I want to go into more detail on point number 8 in my series of ten evidences for Korea having a peaceful and stable history.

2020-05-01 17:35

Civilian control of government

This is No. 8 in my series on the “Top Ten” evidences that Korea has a peaceful and stable history. For most of Korean history the civilians have been in control of the government.

2020-04-24 17:11

Seonbi, not samurai

This is No. 7 in my top 10 list of what I call “Peaceful and Stable Korean History.” Here I want to feature what in Korean can be called “seonbi culture.”

2020-04-19 18:45

Royal tombs untouched by grave robbers

The sixth item on my top 10 list of evidence for advocating that Korea has had a peaceful and stable history is the fact that the royal tombs have not been robbed. Royal tombs? There are the tombs of Silla kings surrounding Gyeongju and there are the tombs of the Joseon kings on the outskirts of Seoul. None have been robbed.

2020-04-10 17:39

Oldest border in the world

The fifth point on my top 10 list of evidence for calling Korean history peaceful and stable is the nature of the border with China. The Amnok River (perhaps better known by the Chinese term, Yalu River) has been the border with China for over 1,000 years.

2020-04-05 18:24

Korea never invaded another country

Last week I looked at the number of invasions Korea has suffered, and I explained my point of view, that there were really very few invasions in spite of the popular opinion that Korea has been invaded numerous times. Today's entry (#4) in this series I call, “Peaceful and Stable Korea,” looks at the fact that Korea has never invaded another country.

2020-03-27 17:52

Misconception about invasions

I realize that I am about to contradict the summary of Korean history told by 95 percent of my friends in Korea, but I am of the opinion, based on my studies, that my contrarian view is more accurate. Most of my Korean friends are of the opinion that Korea has been invaded numerous times. I don't buy it. I see relatively few invasions in Korean history, and long periods of peace and stability.

2020-03-22 17:26

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