The Heritage of Arirang

By Philip Kim

This book contains the cultural heritage and stories of suffering of Korean people throughout history. Furthermore, this book describes the national ordeal that the Korean people have endured over the past hundred years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781698709345

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© Copyright 2021 Philip Kim.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN:

978-1-6987-0933-8 (sc)

ISBN:

978-1-6987-0935-2 (hc)

ISBN:

978-1-6987-0934-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021917907

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expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

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Trafford rev. 08/31/2021

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To a myriad of people who were martyred during the tragic era of recent Korean history and around eight million Korean diasporas who are dispersing in many countries.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Chapter 1   A Short Note of the Korean History

Chapter 2   The Native Spirit

Chapter 3   The Sorrow of Arirang

Epilogue

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to the writers upon whose work I have drawn directly and indirectly from Hwan-Dan Old Chronicle by Kae Yeun-Soo, translation and annotation by Lim Seung-Guk; Choseon Ancient Cultural History by Shin Chae-Ho; Life by Kim Ji-Ha; Donghak (I-II) by Pyo Young-Sam; Dong Kyeung Dae Jeon by Su-Un, Choi Jae-Woo, translation and annotation by Doh-ol, Yong-oak Kim; The Grass Roof by Kang Young-hill; The Living Reed by Pearl S. Buck; Song of Arirang by Nym Wales and Kim San; Red Star over China by Edgar Snow; The Korean History of Six Thousand Years by An Ho-Sang; Korea by Horace Bristol; Korea: The Unknown War by Jon Halliday and Bruce Cumings; Choseon War I Experienced by Chu Young-Bok.

The analyses and conclusions found in this book have been made from my own musings and deliberations. The writers that I have drawn inspiration from are not responsible for my conclusions.

Preface

I have been a part of the Korean diaspora dwelling in America for almost half a century. I was born under Japanese rule at the close of World War 2. My end can no longer be remote.

I came to realize that I need to round off my life one by one. Then a thought dawned on me, that I should write a work-related to Korea that includes the traditional spirit, a short history, and some of the tragic events that had happened in the recent turbulent history. I have had deep compassion for the fatalities of history, those who had been sacrificed during the chaotic era. Instantly, a title for the work popped into my head: The Heritage of Arirang.

Arirang is a symbolic name of Koreans who had suffered through a long history. I have considered the memory of the victims to be the survivors’ moral sense because they were people of importance. I would like to invoke the spirit of all the deceased, particularly those of the past century. The Korean people, for all the good natural environment they have, with high mountains and clear rivers, had an endless struggle for survival.

The Korean Peninsula is only a small segment of this world’s surface. Yet this peninsula is of great importance in the geopolitical arena of international tension. During the past two thousand years, this little nation was invaded 931 times by its neighboring countries.

The Korean Peninsula is now under ceasefire, but there is no moment of ease, for this strain is continuing with no pledge. The total number of people who had been killed during the past century is estimated at around ten million. It seems to me that life is like a battlefield. Looking back on my personal history, my life is full of hardships: exodus, refuge, the Korean War, starvation, student revolution, draft to the Vietnam War, etc. Most Koreans must have suffered the same destiny.

As I indicated above, this book describes in detail the unique ideology of Korea: Hongik Ingan. This national spirit means a lot to every Korean, just like how the Indian and Israeli peoples hold fast to their identity for thousands of years. It is very fortunate that the Korean people also have a native spirit from ancient times.

However, since the national land was shrunk to the current peninsula, the original true character began to disappear because of the influx of foreign ideologies. Although for a time the imported dogmas flourished, they also withered.

The current situation the Korean Peninsula is staging is the same inclination as before. But first of all, we should recover the original Korean spirit for the unification of the Korean Peninsula. Otherwise, the conflict between the south and the north might go on for longer. There is no way but to seek the road to unification by ourselves because we cannot expect any help from outside. The Hongik Ingan thought is highly valued by a professor of Harvard University, Mr. Besta; French writer Georg, and others.

Where is the Korean Peninsula standing now? And where is she going? Regardless of period or nation, there is an absolute proposition in history that since Korea became a Japanese colony on August 22, 1910, the biggest national thesis was the recovery of national sovereignty. But after the Korean Peninsula was divided on August 15, 1945, the imperative mission was the unification of the peninsula.

Therefore, all the deeds that Koreans perform should be placed primarily on the subjugation of the tragic division. The future of Korea depends on how devotedly the Koreans contribute to the task of unification. The division has already elapsed more than three score years and fifteen, but still, the road to unification looks remote.

Under the current situation, for peaceful unification, the South and North Koreans should find a way in their cultural homogeneity rather than depend on power, on political