Next year will be the year of “Gabo,” according to East Asia’s traditional 60-year lunar calendar. The previous Gabo years, 60 and 120 years ago, saw many turbulent events and became turning points for Korea

2013-12-26 17:02

‘Gabo’ years have many historic moments

By Lee Chang-sup
Next year will be the year of “Gabo,” according to East Asia’s traditional 60-year lunar calendar. The previous Gabo years, 60 and 120 years ago, saw many turbulent events and became turning points for the country. Reviewing what happened in these previous Gabo years will help us learn from our mistakes and help us move forward.During the year of Gabo in 1894, three unprecedented events shook the then declining Joseon Dynasty. In April of that year, the country’s largest and most aggressive civilian rebellion, the “Donghak” (Eastern Learning) Revolution, occurred as a protest against the kingdom’s widespread corruption and heavy taxation on farmers. The revolution later triggered East Asia’s largest war between Japan and China, the so-called Sino-Japan rivalry, as they fought for control over Korea. Finally, the country’s biggest reforms, the Gabo Reforms, were implemented, representing an important step toward Korea’s modernization. The reforms marked the end of Korea’s old sociopolitical order by abolishing the legal status of the aristocrats and other social classes, ending slavery, allowing widows to remarry, outlawing child marriage, establishing a legal foundation for the society, and ending torture of suspects, guilt by association and punishment of family members of criminals.
For the first time in thousands of years, the country broke with the old Chinese tributary system, used the Korean alphabet, “hangeul,” taught Korean history at school and adopted the Western-style education system.
“Indeed the Gabo reforms were a step in the transformation of the Korean society, brought on by the new international environment,” according to Michael J. Seth in his book, “A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present.”
Although the reforms were an important start, they were so radical and sweeping that they did not get public consensus. They were initiated by pro-Japanese Korean leaders, and thus, initially had limited impact. However, Lew Young-ick, chairman of the National Institute of Korean History, denied that only Japan was responsible for adopting the Western-style social and government systems. He says Korean leaders started the Gabo Reforms on the back of Japan’s coercion.
These three events — the Donghak Rebellion, the Sino-Japan war on the Korean Peninsula and the sweeping reforms — took place in 1894 because the Joseon Dynasty was declining at the time. The king could not control factional struggles and widespread corruption. Instead, the king responded to people’s complaints by hiking taxes. China and Japan took advantage of the Joseon Dynasty’s internal weakness and battled for hegemony over the Korean Peninsula. Thus, sweeping reforms were necessary to address the social and political chaos.
The disturbing events in 1894 were, in retrospect, the harbingers of Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910, the division of the Korean Peninsula and the 1950–1953 Korean War.
The other year of Gabo in 1954 was also dismal for Korea. One year after the Korean War, South Korea was in dire poverty and relied heavily on U.S. aid. North Korea was ahead of South Korea economically because it had most of the manufacturing factories and natural resources.
In 1954, three big events occurred. The United States signed a mutual defense treaty, which stationed American soldiers in the South. President Syngman Rhee revised the Constitution for a third term even though the proposed amendment fell short of the required two-thirds vote. Domestic politics became divided because of ideological conflict and factionalism. The Jeju Uprising, a six-year civilian revolt, which began in April 13, 1948, ended with huge causalities. The uprising occurred in response to the government’s search for communists and their sympathizers.
The years 1894 and 1954 have disturbing similarities. Widespread factionalism, corruption and rising civilian discontent weakened the government, triggering civilian revolts. Foreign powers used domestic weakness to expand their influence on the Korean Peninsula.
It may not be an exaggeration to say that the Korea today also has many likenesses with the Korea 60 and 120 years ago.
Today, the Korean Peninsula remains unstable. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War ideology still prevails on the peninsula. The South and the North are ideologically and technically at war. North Korea, under the leadership of the 30-year-old Kim Jong-un, is very unpredictable.
Likewise, East Asia is full of tension. China and Japan are in serious disagreement, especially over the Senkaku Island (or the Dioyu Island in Chinese). In addition, China, the world’s second largest economic power, is not amicable with the United States.
In the South, conservatives and liberals are locked in an escalating ideological battle. The economy is stagnant, growing slower than the United States. In addition, South Korea faces three chronic problems: the costly and inefficient education system, the growing income inequality and the low birth rate.
Korean can shape its own destiny by learning from its mistakes in the Gabo years of 1894 and 1954. 2014 will be a turning point for Korea, for better or for worse.
Lee Chang-sup is the executive managing director of The Korea Times. Contact him at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr