The South Gate of Seoul, Sungnyemun (Namdaemun)

The south gate of Seoul, Sungnyemun (or Namdaemun), is the number one national treasure of Korea. The name of this gate represents that respecting politeness which is a peculiarity of Korean people. Sungnyemun was a meaningful traditional structure as it was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul. During the past 600 years, although Sungnyemun has damaged several times, it braced itself against the wind of time in the middle of Seoul, Korea.

Nothing is permanent

Korea’s number one national treasure, Sungnyemun, was swallowed by fire in February 2nd, 2008. A man who lost his temper set it on fire. Every Korean people were just looking at the burning symbolic representation of Korea. They got angry, choked with rage, and cried, but there was nothing they could do.
I am pretty sure that the reason why this disaster happened was due to the fact that Korea did not give careful attention to our proud treasure and to our history. Korea, that dare forgot its priceless history and its value, should take time for self-examination. Now, we must see the beautifully reconstructed Sungnyemun as a motive, and take care of our nation’s historical values with keen interests so that we can turn those things over to our descendants.



I recommand you to watch below video clip and to feel something from it.

The Korean War

In June 25th, 1950, North Korea suddenly and illegally invaded South Korea. After the Korean peninsula was divided into two parts - North and South -, it seems that Korean peninsula was just peaceful. However, Il-sung Kim who was a powerful leader of the North Korea was carefully preparing a war. As the Soviet Union and china promised to help North Korea, North Korea could determine more easily to attack South Korea. Korea did not even imagine that a war can be happened right after the World War Two (WW2), but it really happened. When UN heard that North Korea’s illegal invasion had happened, many countries including U.S. and U.K. agreed to help South Korea in order to beat communist forces and to protect Korea.


In the early days of the war, Korean people could do nothing except fleeing from the cruel enemy. People had to leave their home and family in their hometown to survive. Although lots of Korean soldiers bravely fought against North Korea, we could not stop them and continuously moved back to the final defense line; Nakdong River defense line. At that time, Korean people were in a state of panic that they could lose their nation. At the Nakdong River defense line, the ROK-UN combined forces decided to concentrate all its energy finally.
(The last defense line of Nakdong River →)


One of the famous events during the Korean War was General MacArthur’s Incheon landing operation. Because of this operation, the war situation turned in our favor. Korean allied forces began to counterattack. Korea regained its territories one by one, and once, Korea could occupy most of today’s North Korea. However, since North Korea’s powerful supporter China worried about the strong power of ROK-UN combined forces and the possibility of North Korea’s disappearance, they started to intervene in the Korean War. Because of the countless Chinese forces, Korean allied forces had to take a step back to the today’s demarcation line and it descended up to this day.


The Korean War was the tragedy of a fratricidal war. During the three-year of infernal war, not only Korean people but also many other foreign people passed away in the Korean peninsula. We Korean should remember those people’s noble sacrifices forever, and do our best to protect national security of Korea so that terrible misery like the Korean War never happens again.

The 1919[Samil] Independence Movement

In 1910, Japan invaded Korea. Since Korea was in vulnerable condition at that time, Korea became a colony of Japan as it has no power to reject Japan’s pressure. Many people were tortured and died by cruel Japanese colonial government. During that period, Korean people made endless efforts to retrieve their own country and sovereign power. The 1919 Independence Movement was a sort of those efforts.

In 1919, some educated people were influenced by the idea of Self-determination which was suggested by the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. (Self-determination means that a country should be able to determine its own fate.). In those days, King of Korea Gojong was dead, and many Korean believed that the king’s death was an intentional murder by Japan. These thoughts made many Korean angry more and more. And naturally, highly stimulated people started to resist against Japan. These people were strongly prepared for death.

Starting with the declaration of Independence which was declared by 33 ethnic leaders, not only students, but also many patriots joined in the independence movement against Japanese imperialism. It caused huge amount of human death, but Korean undauntedly moved forward. This movement rapidly developed into a nationwide movement.

Among the people, there was a girl Kwan-soon Yoo who sacrificed her life for her country. Despite she was just a young and weak girl, she stand at the head of movement and cried for the independence. During the days, she lost her house, parents, brother, everything, but she did not give up. Eventually, she was arrested and killed brutally by Japan, but her patriotic spirit is still remained in our mind. Modern people evaluate this movement as a valuable resistance against strong nation’s unfair pressure. Although Korea could not retrieve its national sovereignty right away with the 1919 Independence Movement, this movement and the honorable sacrifices of people like Kwan-soon Yoo became the foundation of the independence of Korea.






I think below video clip can help your understanding more.

Greeting

Hello, there. I am a student at the Catholic University of Korea and majoring in English Language and Culture.

As you know, since English is one of the most strongest and influential language in the world, numerous people not only in Korea but also in many other countries are making an effort to learn English so that they can stand on the worldwide stage.

I made this blog in order to help those students who want to improve their English, especially in reading. Through this blog, I am going to tell you some historical moments in Korea so that students can learn not only English, but also Korean history. I know that there are still too many Korean students who do not know what was exactly happened in the past Korean history. Visitors may be able to learn English and Korean history from my writings. Plus, all of them can communicate and share each other's thoughts by using comment section.

I hope many people who visit my blog can get incredible helps from my blog.

Thank you and have a nice day :)