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The Dark Side of Korean History
Before South Korea, the country of K-Pop, Parasite, and kimchi, and North Korea, best known for its brutal dictatorship, the Korean peninsula had a series of long-reigning kingdoms without much outside contact. The direct predecessor of the current two states in the peninsula was a kingdom named Joseon, ruled by the Lee family from the city of Jeonju.
You might be familiar with Joseon from the Netflix show “Kingdom” (If you’re not, well, you are missing out). While the show depicts the kingdom as a battleground for zombies and noblemen wearing cool hats, the reality for Joseon was rather different.
What the show did not portray was the fact that the kingdom of Joseon and its monarchy were extremely oppressive to its own people (Still a great show by the way). Plus, the dominant ideology of the country being Confucianism made the ruling class shun technology, commerce, and craftsmanship, rather worshiping the teachings of Confucius and other ancient Chinese philosophers. This did not turn out great for the country, as…
