By Dr. Ted Wachter
Principal
Rosewood
Elementary School

Houses in the yard of Kyonbokkung Palace in Seoul. This is the main palace of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910). It was built at the very beginning of the dynasty, but was completely destroyed at the end of 16th century during the 1592 Japanese invasion. It lay in ruins for centuries until the end of 19th century, when it was refurbished and used again as the main palace.

Twelve other educators and I had the good fortune to spend four weeks in South Korea this summer on a Fulbright Fellowship to study the country’s history, culture, politics, and economics. We spent two and a half weeks in Seoul as guests of Sookmyung Women’s University, and the remaining ten days traveling around much of that beautiful country.

South Korea, with a population of 42 million, is approximately the size of Virginia. Two–thirds of the country is mountainous, so most of the people actually live on one–third of the land. The population of metropolitan Seoul, the capital and largest city, is 21 million. Other major cities include Inchon, Pusan, and Mokpo.

Korea’s recent history is both tragic and remarkable. From 1910 to the end of WWII, it was a colony of Japan. Korea was then partitioned by the US and the Soviet Union, and subsequently suffered several years of a brutal war between the north and the south. By the war’s end in 1953, South Korea was one of the world’s poorest countries, yet it emerged 50 years later as the world’s 11th largest economy.

While approximately 30% of South Koreans are Christian, the country’s religious heritage is predominantly Confucian and Buddhist, a heritage that can best be observed subtly in the social aspects of everyday life. Koreans are very courteous, respectful, and sensitive in their formal and informal relationships.

Our itinerary was filled with several university lectures; visits to Samsung and Hyundai corporate headquarters, many Buddhist temples, elementary and high schools, museums, fishing villages, markets, the DMZ, and three days on a tropical resort island. Our evenings were spent attending several theater performances, and just out and about on our own.

Throughout our travels we were accompanied by Dr. Ken Shin, professor of sociology at the USC, who grew up in Korea and attended the University of Seoul before immigrating to the US for his graduate education. His presence was invaluable as he provided our group with wise insights and commentary on our experiences.