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Living Dangerously in Korea: The Western Experience, 1900-1950 (The Missionary Enterprise in Asia) Paperback – March 1, 2003
by Donald N. Clark (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
Korea was "discovered" by the West after World War II when it became a flashpoint in the Cold War. Before the war, however, it was home to many hundreds of Westerners who experienced life there under Japanese colonial rule. These included missionaries who opened Korea as a field for evangelism, education, and medicine; speculators who risked much and reaped riches from mining concessions; and diplomats who tried to keep them neutral, even as the Japanese forced them out of business on the eve of the Pacific War.
In the first part of the book, the author reconstructs the foreign community and highlights the role of Americans in particular as participants in Korean history, bringing vividly to life the lives and suffering and triumphs of the expatriate community in Korea, especially the missionaries. In the second part of the book, the author presents the altered circumstances of American military occupation after 1945 and the consequences of the Americans’ assuming a role not unlike the one that had been played earlier by the colonial Japanese.
By telling the lives and experiences of Westerners, the author highlights the major historical events of modern Korean history. Accounts of foreigners in the Independence Movement and during the period of militarization in the 1930s shed new light on what Japanese colonial rule meant to the Korean people. Similarly, Western experiences in Korea in the 1940s amount to a commentary on the way Korea was divided and the events that led inexorably to the ordeal of the Korean War.
The stories recounted in this extraordinary book, highlighted by more than sixty photographs, are a valuable commentary on Korea’s early modernization and the consequences of the Korean War as it set the stage for Korea’s relations with the world in the late twentieth century.
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Editorial Reviews
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"...a fascinating account of a small but very diversified community...and now, in this readable and enjoyable book, we have a good reconstruction of that lost world." -- "Asian Affairs" Jul 2004 (J.E. Hoare, Royal Society for Asian Affairs)<br \><br \>"Clark thouroughly excavates a wealth of primary sources to provide an extraordinary monograph about Westerners and their arduous experience in Korea from the turn of the 20th century 'til the eve of the Korean War in 1950.
"Clark illuminates major historical events of modern Korea as seen through foreign eyes, and narrates Western resident's tacit assistance to the underground Korean nationalist movement. He explains the influence of colonial rule on the Korean people, Western experience in a divided Korea after WWII, and the dynamics of the Korean War's eruption. With original in-depth analysis, this book offers an unusual addition to the Western litereature of modern Korea.
"Summing up: Highly recommended. All libraries and readers."
In 2005 Choice named Living Dangerously in Korea an Outstanding Academic Title. -- "Choice" April 2004 V41.08 (G. Zheng, Angelo State University)<br \><br \>"Donald Clark has written an engaging account of the small number of Westerners who lived and worked in Korea during the turbulent first half of the twentieth century.
"A previous knowledge of Korean history...is not necessary to appreciate this book. The book's wealth of anecdotes and vignettes will enrich anyone's understanding of Kkorea.
"Clark's vast knowledge and familiarity with modern Korea and with the Western community is apparent. We are reading the distillation of a lifetime of study informed by his upbringing as a "Korea Kid".
"This book should be accessible to most undergraduate students and should be on the reading list of anyone with an interest in modern Korean history or the story of Westerners and Asia. --Education about ASIA, Winter 2003 V8.3 (Michael J. Selth, James Madison University)
"Dr. Clark has written a most valuable book that all those interested in modern Korean history and in Korea's international relations will find rewarding for its insights into the nature of Korea during a tumultuous half-century." --"Pacific Affairs" V77.2 (A. Hamish Ion, Royal Military College of Canada)
"It is a captivating account made more so by Clark's superb use of primary source material in the form of letter, journals, and interviews by and of the missionaries themselves. The reader is privy to the fascinating (and often humourous) lesser details of missionary work.
"No one who studies modern Korean history can afford to neglect this valuable study of the Protestant missionary experience in Korea." --Korean Studies V28 (Daniel C. Kane, University of Hawaii)
About the Author
Donald N. Clark is Professor of History at Trinity University in Texas. He grew up in Seoul, earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University, and has often returned to Korea. His publications include Christianity in Modern Korea, Culture and Customs in Korea, and a section in the Cambridge University History of China.
Product details
Publisher : EastBridge, a nonprofit corporation (March 1, 2003)
Language : English
Paperback : 455 pages
ISBN-10 : 1891936115
ISBN-13 : 978-1891936111
Item Weight : 1.4 pounds
Best Sellers Rank: #3,230,067 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
#110,391 in World History (Books)
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Haesu Maek
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Story of Westerners in KoreaReviewed in the United States on May 21, 2020
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Donald N. Clark has written a remarkable book on Westerners living in Korea roughly from 1900 to 1950. Based on papers and recollections of his family, original documents in Japanese, Korean and English, and extensive interviews with key persons over decades of research, the book provides the grounds for deepening the reader's understanding of current Korean-American relations. Despite the volume of facts presented, Clark manages to make the stories both personal and exciting. Illustrated with many historic photographs, the only lack is detailed maps of Korea with the current and historic names of the cities and locations. An excellent book for anyone interested in Korean history.
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Richard F. Underwood
5.0 out of 5 stars A great accountReviewed in the United States on October 18, 2011
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"Living Dangerously in Korea" by Donald Clark is a well researched and very readable account of a number of outstanding non-Koreans who have lived in that abused nation in the last one hundred plus years under a fading Monarchy and Japanese colonialism and then a struggling re-birth and growth as a painfully severed victim of global jealousies. This transformation from a feudal pre-industrial society to a leading 21st century world figure, virtually in the lifetimes of two generations, was the scene of action of the remarkable characters portrayed. As one who witnessed almost 80 of those years I found this account both informative and enjoyable. For those less knowledgeable, it should provide a real insight to the lives of these self-sacrificing missionaries and the land and people they came to serve and love under changing political, financial and social conditions through the years.
9 people found this helpful
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GraceRose
5.0 out of 5 stars Living DangerouslyReviewed in the United States on December 2, 2004
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This book is by far one of the best, if not THE best, I've read about Korea during the first half of the 1900's. Very interesting, intriguing, and well-documented.
3 people found this helpful
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Betty L. Unger
5.0 out of 5 stars Living Dangerously in KoreaReviewed in the United States on January 13, 2011
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I was very satisfied with this transaction. The book arrived promptly and was in even better condition than the shipper's description.
2 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Look at Western LIfe in Korea before the Korean WarReviewed in the United States on May 31, 2019
I was excited to read this book. I grew up in Korea as a missionary kid in the 60's and 70's. I remember meeting the author's parents and Lillian Ross etc. Many of these people were inspiring and should be remembered!
I had never heard of the infamous goldmine with the slave labor. I learned a lot.
This is a great look at another era!
Alice
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Sergey Radchenko
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful account of Korea from a different perspectiveReviewed in the United States on August 5, 2007
The book is an in-depth study of life and times of Westerners in Korea - mainly Christian missionaries, but also diplomats, refugees, military men. Eloquently written, it makes for a great read. I could not put it down until getting to the last page.
The book begins with a description of adventures of early Christian missionaries, among whom Clark lists his grandfather. It is indeed a moving story of hardship and suffering, of remarkable achievement and loss. The author accounts for miserable conditions of Korea back in the early 1900s, and shows why so many Western missionaries chose to brave the difficulties and make Korea their home.
The book dwells at length on the Japanese occupation of Korea, brutality and suppression. He notes that whilst many missionaries supported the cause of Korean independence, most chose to keep on good terms with the authorities. At the same time, as the militarist regime grew more oppressive in Korea, many Christian missionaries had to choose between accepting increasing state control of religion and giving up their work by leaving Korea. Clark gives an interesting example of this dilemma in his discussion of the Japanese efforts to force Shinto worship on Koreans.
The author's main point is to argue that missionaries did much good work for Korea, notwithstanding prejudices and arrogance that was inevitably manifest in the Western community. In a very subtle way he takes an issue with the attempts in modern Korean historiography to depict early Westerners as racist exploiters. At the same time, he does not shun away from the discussion of exploitation and injustice, as in his analysis of the gold mining business in Korea. On the other hand, the author in a few places makes fairly careful references to anti-Western prejudices and bias in Korea itself - too carefully perhaps, because indeed such sentiments bordering on plain racism are often seen in many parts of Asia, not just Korea.
Korea, which Clark depicts, is long-gone. Seoul is a cosmopolitan hub, one feels here much the same as in any other modern metropolis. The frontier of expat communities moved further into Asia. For instance, when living in Mongolia and Central Asia for several years I witnessed - and was properly disgusted by - self-contained expat communities with much of the colonial mindset so present in the Korean expat community in the early part of the 20th century.
The author talks about the suffering and deprivation of Korea in war-time (1940s up to the Korean War). It is incredible what many of these Westerners went through, and even more incredible to think that they actually had a good time compared to the vast majority of Koreans. The book leaves a sad impression of modern Korean history, which is simply soaked in blood - and it is probably an accurate impression. Hard to believe this now, looking out the window of the 4th floor of Gwanghwamun Starbucks.
Good read, highly recommended!
11 people found this helpful
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Living Dangerously in Korea: The Western Experience, 1900–1950
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BY DONALD N. CLARK
NORWALK, CT: EASTBRIDGE, 2003
454 PAGES. PAPERBACK
ISBN: 1-891936-11-5
Reviewed by Michael J. Seth
Donald Clark has written an engaging account of the small number of Westerners who lived and worked in Korea during the turbulent first half of the twentieth century. This period saw the end of the five-century-old Yi dynasty, the four-decade-long occupation of Korea by Japan, the Second World War, the division and occupation of the country by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1945, and the outbreak of the Korean War. The book is essentially two intertwined tales: the unfolding of Korean history from the viewpoint of the Western community, and the story of the expatriates themselves, often as caught up and confused by the tumultuous history of the period as were most Koreans. The Westerners Clark describes include diplomats, business speculators, soldiers, and refugees from Europe and North America—but he focuses primarily on American Protestant missionaries, the largest foreign community in the country, numbering in the hundreds.
It is written in two parts. The first and longer deals with the period from the arrival in Seoul in 1902 of Charles and Mabel Clark, Presbyterian missionaries from Minnesota, to the evacuation of the Americans from Korea during the period before Pearl Harbor. While many missionaries became deeply acquainted with Korean culture, most, even the best intentioned missionaries, lived in foreign compounds separated from both the Koreans and the Japanese by language barriers. We see the Westerners’ general disgust for what they regard as the “wretched” state of Korea under the aristocratic yangban class. Although a few became champions of Korean independence, most welcomed or at least accepted the change brought by Japanese colonial rule. Yet relations between the Western expatriate community and the Japanese colonial rulers were often tense. This points to some of the anomalies of Japanese colonialism. While the Japanese were bringing the kind of “progress” to Korea that most Europeans and Americans recognized and appreciated, the Japanese officials often viewed Westerners with suspicion. The activities of missionaries in particular came into conflict with Tokyo’s imperial vision, and the autonomy of Christian churches, schools, and other institutions conflicted with the increasingly totalitarian nature of the colonial regime. Tensions between Westerners, especially missionaries, and the Japanese grew more strained in the 1930s as the later sought to force Koreans into Shinto worship, and the oppressive nature of the colonial regime became more pronounced. After 1938 the Japanese took control of mission institutions, and Christian organizations such as the YMCA had to break their international ties. Korean Christians with Western connections suffered surveillance, persecution, and sometimes arrest. Western missionaries were so carefully watched that their best assistance to Korean converts was to avoid them.
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MICHAEL J. SETH is an Assistant Professor of History at James Madison University. He has a PhD from the University of Hawaii in East Asian history. His research interests focus on Korean social history, and he is the author of Education Fever: Society, Politics and the Pursuit of Schooling in South Korea (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002).
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