Koryŏ, Korea’s middle kingdom in that it is lodged between Silla and Chosŏn, is the least studied era of Korea’s history. And yet it offers intriguing insights into Korea’s long tradition as the Koryŏ state participated actively in international events while at the same time building internal institutions in response to its own unique experiences. The collection of papers that follows introduces both these international and domestic themes, providing a nuanced understanding of both Koryŏ and Korea.

Son Chŏngmok. Ilche Kangjŏmgi tosi sahoesang yŏn’gu [A study of urban society under Japanese colonial rule]. Sŏul: Ilchisa, 1996. U Tongsŏn, et al. Kunggwŏl ŭi nunmul, paegnyŏn ui c’himmuk [The tears of the palace, one hundred years of silence]. Sŏul: Hyohyŏng Ch’ulp’ansa, 2009. Yi Kakkyu. Han’guk ŭi kŭndae pangnamhoe [Expositions in modern Korea]. Sŏul: Kŏmyunik’eisyŏn Buksŭ, 2010. HYUNG IL PAI UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA–SANTA BARBARA

Korea's oldest extant historical source is the Samguk sagi, which was compiled by Kim Pusik (1075–1151) and others during Injong's reign (1122–1146) in the Koryŏ kingdom. This history and its compilers have been at the center of controversy as critics have challenged the work's accuracy and its omissions. Despite its failings, this history is a reaffirmation of Koryŏ's identity, which had been seriously challenged by events of the early twelfth century and is an excellent expression of that society's values and historical understanding.

In symbolizing a nation, national flags often reveal history. The Korean flag—with the red and blue circle at its center—does this and more: it also makes a statement about the cultural belief system of the Korean people. The divided circle connotes the dynamically opposed forces of um and yang (yin and yang in Chinese) and symbolizes an ideal of unity or harmony that emerges as these opposites—light and dark, negative and positive—commingle. The harmonizing of opposing forces has been a theme in Korea's history and cultural heritage. For centuries, Koreans have sought to live in a peaceful balance among themselves and with their powerful neighbors. The nation's search for unity through opposites continues today, as North and South Korea struggle toward reunification.

Reviewed by: Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary Edward J. Shultz (bio) Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary, by Keith Pratt and Richard Rutt with additional material by James Hoare. Richmond, Surrey, United Kingdom: Curzon, 1999. 568 pp., bibliography, indexes. £60.00 cloth; £16.99 paper. Before Korean studies can reach maturity, it must first have rendered into English a body of primary source material and a collection of supplementary guides and indexes. The publication of Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary in 1999 is one more sign that Korean studies has in fact achieved such status. The Dictionary compiled by Keith Pratt and Richard Rutt with additional material by James Hoare—professor, priest, and diplomat, respectively—draws on the rich and diverse backgrounds of these three men to provide a bounty of information on Korea's history and culture. In fewer than 600 pages, the Dictionary provides short descriptions of key events, personages, works of literature and music, and historical terms. Maps, charts, and illustrations supplement the text. A short introduction launches the book by establishing the basic rules of presentation followed by a detailed explanation of the McCune-Reischauer system for the romanization of Korean terms. Citations of key works follow some ?? descriptions, and a short bibliography appears at the end. Reflective of the new age of the Internet, the Dictionary also cites two web pages that provide additional bibliographic entries. [End Page 175] The descriptions are brief yet informative. The reader can use the Dictionary as a sound resource to clarify terms or can sit and discover at leisure nuggets of new information. Particularly well represented are the authors' individual areas of interest: music, religion, and twentieth-century political events. The Dictionary provides a delightful exploration of the history and culture of Korea. The writers hope that the Dictionary will be useful to teachers and students, and undoubtedly it will. Nevertheless, there are a few pitfalls. Although forewarned in the introduction that the Dictionary does not adhere to strict alphabetization (so that people with the same surname can be kept together), this convention does lead to some slow starts and prolonged searches. The authors wisely chose not to differentiate between vowels shortened with a breve and those without, but they do treat aspirated consonants separately from unaspirated. This makes the Dictionary cumbersome. Individuals who are familiar with the nuances of the Korean language will have little difficulty, of course, but the new student in the field may be overwhelmed trying to remember which consonants are or are not aspirated and then to discover their location in the Dictionary. Although there are other minor faults, none seriously detracts from the value of the work. They do, however, point to the need for more rigorous editorial scrutiny. The following is just a sample of such infelicities. On several occasions a term is rendered in its Chinese form rather than Korean. Lelang for Nangnang is a good case. Given that this dictionary may be used primarily by scholars and students of Korea, rendering it first in Korean as Nangnang would seem preferable. On page 332 the character for one hundred is used for Paektu-san instead of the character for white. The relative of Empress Ki (p. 206), listed here as Ki Chao, actually should be rendered into Korean as Ki Ch'ŏ l and correctly identified as the older brother, not the father, of the empress. The omission of a separate entry for Kim Pusik appears to be an oversight. He is mentioned in three places, however, once in bold print (p. 301). This exclusion is even more glaring given some material that is included, such as the alleged Miss Emily Brown. At times individuals are identified by their family name, at other times by their personal names; more consistency and, in fact, presenting the full name and not an abbreviated form would be the wisest course (see, for example, the Kim Ch'unch'u entry on p. 211). The early tenth-century Later Paekche leader Yi Kyŏnhwŏn is also mislabeled within the same entry as Kyŏn (p. 256-57). There are other minor quibbles, but they do not detract from the overall usefulness of the work...

BOOK REVIEWS191 South Korea, concluding with an adroit discussion of indoctrination efforts in the South. In the North there was less dissent, not because of superior policies, but rather because most of the dissenters had fled south before and during the Korean War. Predictably Henderson is critical, but he also suggests that the future for the South is bright, since at the time of his writing there was a trend toward liberalization. One suspects that recent events in South Korea would not substantially revise his overall assessment. Ilpyong Kim's chapter on the role of the major powers begins with the assumption, somewhat overdrawn, that it is the four major powers (China, Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union) which will largely determine the success or failure of inter-Korea dialogue. His contribution is a relatively straightforward account organized around the "Northern Triangle" (North Korea, China, and the USSR) and the "Southern Triangle" (South Korea, the U.S., and Japan). The only real "revisionism" comes in his conclusion that the U.S. hard-line policy toward North Korea must change before peace and stability can be assured on the peninsula. The final chapter by Kyungmo Chung is subtitled "A Korean Perspective." This contribution stands out from the others not because it is not revisionist (it suggests a plot by Japan to keep Korea divided), but rather because problems of sources, misspellings, and various other infelicities reduce the utility of his writing. In sum, with the exception of the last chapter, this volume consists of wellcrafted and controversial perspectives on contemporary Korea that will furnish those who read it with a different and often refreshing alternative view of events and processes in Korea. Wayne Patterson St. Norbert College The Republic ofKorea: Economic Transformation and Social Change, by David I. Steinberg. Westview Profiles/Nations of Contemporary Asia. Boulder: Westview Press, 1989. xvi + 218 pp. Maps, photos, glossary, bibliography, index. Hardcover $34.50. Korea has attracted considerable attention in the 1980s. Newspaper articles, journals , and books have focused on Korea and its amazing economic performance over the last twenty-five years. David I. Steinberg, in The Republic of Korea: Economic Transformation and Social Change, offers another evaluation. Steinberg qualifies as an old Korea hand. He has lived off and on in Korea since the early 60s and has been an eyewitness to many of the dramatic events that have gripped that country. His personal insight into events has been nourished by those of his family and friends. The results is an up-to-date analysis of Korea's economic development which examines both U.S. and Korean roles on the peninsula . 192BOOK REVIEWS Edwin Reischauer, in his two widely read classics 77te U.S. and Japan and The Japanese, provided Americans with a highly readable introduction to Japanese society. Steinberg's The Republic of Korea tries to duplicate Reischauer's work for Korea. The book begins with a brief geographical description of the Korean peninsula. Three chapters (20 percent of the book) follow that provide a survey of Korea's nearly two thousand years of recorded history. These chapters constitute the background for the book's focus: contemporary South Korea, its economic growth, and the resulting social change. In looking at Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953, Steinberg has provided a sensible, objective analysis. He has carefully and concisely analyzed contemporary South Korea in terms of societal development, the role of the military , politics, and economic growth. Behind much of his inquiry is the goal of explaining the "economic miracle" and determining to what degree Korea's experience is applicable to other nations. He leaves the reader with the sense that Korea's case is special and probably cannot be repeated elsewhere; he claims, "the unique mix at the right international moment was Korea's special genius" (P- 157). Steinberg argues that Japanese investment and capital funds from involvement in the Vietnam War also prove insufficient to explain Korea's success. He further rejects the ever popular dependency theory, asserting that Korea's growth was accomplished by Korean conditions: homogeneity of the people, Confucian tradition, land reform, and a "new military government not beholden to any traditional elite...

BOOK REVIEWS203 action was inhibited to an impressive extent by a wide variety of institutional and ideological constraints. Even if one were to argue that there was a relative increase in royal prerogative toward the end of the Yi dynasty (an argument that I do not make), the reality of the situation was certainly far different from that presented by Sands, and by extension, by Patterson. To regard Kojong as "the law personified" is highly inaccurate. It seems to me that Patterson is confusing classical Chinese theories about the rise and fall of dynasties with the political and economic realities of late Yi Korea. Patterson's reliance on theoretical ideals of Chinese and Korean institutions is clear when he states at the end of Chapter 10: "At the end of a long dynastic cycle, late Yi Korea seemed enervated by corruption, high taxes, and general mismanagement, which added to the discontent of the people." In any case, his arguments about decline and corruption are not very credible when supported only by Western observers, of questionable authority. Even with these reservations, I found The Korean Frontier in America to be a highly readable and interesting look at the dynamics of a particularly important period of time. This book provides a worthwhile and unique perspective on the fall of the Yi dynasty and the tangled relationships among Korea, Hawaii, Japan, and the U.S. It will be useful even for those readers who might not have any specialized interest in Korean or Hawaiian immigration studies. ScottS. Burnett Brigham Young University The Dreams of Two Yi-min, by Margaret K. Pai. A Kolowalu Book. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989. iii + 200 pp. Photographs, glossary, index. $22.95. Nearly everyone born during Hawaii's territorial period has a story about growing up in the multiethnic cultural mix of the Islands. The Dreams of Two Yi-min, by Margaret K. Pai, is a combination of the typical and unique. It is a typical tale in that it traces the hard work that often led to success for the Asian immigrant, or "yi-min" as they are known in Korean. It is unique in that it is a story about Koreans, who constituted only 6 percent of the Islands' population from 1920 to the 1950s. This is decidedly an American story about two immigrants to the United States, who through hard work, intelligence, and ingenuity surmount language and cultural barriers and become very successful. For these immigrants, the author's parents Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee, life was a constant struggle. If hard work helped the immigrant become successful, schools helped their children become Americans. Mrs. Pai details the esteem her family held for education and recounts vivid scenes from the school life of her childhood. There is a sense of nostalgia as she describes the sparkling sun streaming through classroom windows or the hoarding of crack seed under her house. She paints typical Island 204BOOK REVIEWS scenes that luckily can still be found in local schools. She also writes lovingly of life among a variety of ethnic families in Honolulu. Each family—Japanese, Korean, or Portuguese—was bound by its own cultural norms, but all shared a respect for others. This is an American tale with a distinct Hawaiian flavor. As with all households in Hawaii, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor had an immediate, dramatic impact on Mrs. Pai's family. In recounting how her two brothers were swept into the army as she, her sister, and parents volunteered to help in other ways, this narrative epitomizes the lives of many Americans during World War II. It is a proud story that represents America and her people at their best. The Dreams of Two Yi-min is also a Korean story. It vividly describes the separation, tragedy, and loss that Koreans seem resigned to suffer. Yet in the midst of great adversity they refuse to be conquered, and through ongoing struggle they often succeed. The twentieth century has not been kind to Korea, and The Dreams of Two Yi-min reveals much of this travail. Japan seized Korea in 1910 and occupied the country until 1945. At first Mrs. Pai deals...

Articles Twelfth-Century Koryö Politics: The Rise of Han Anin and His Partisans Edward J. Shultz 1 wo briefentries in the Koryösa delineate the contours ofan era. For the twelfth month of 1122 the Koryösa notes that the king's uncle, Prince Po, was exiled to Kyöngsan-bu, Han Anin and Yi Chungyak were killed, and Mun Kongmi and nine others were banished to the provinces.' Some forty-eight years later, in the autumn of 1 170, the Koryösa matter-of-factly states that "Kim Iyöng, Yi Chaksüng, Chöng So and others were summoned to the capital and given back their office land (chikchön)." At the same time, it indicates that Mun Kükkyöm, Ch'oe Yuch'öng, and Im Kükch'ung, became important policymakers for the dynasty.2 These two events are separated by a half century, the former occurring after the death of King Yejong and the latter coming on the heels of the 1170 military coup d'état. In between these dramatic Support in completing this research project has been generously rendered by Hanyang University, the Korean-American Educational Commission, and the International Cultural Society of Korea. 1.Koryösa (hereafter cited as KS), Yonsei ed. (Seoul, 1972) 15:3a-b. 2.KS 19:12b. Im Kükch'ung made Executive of the Royal Secretariat (chungsösirang p'yöngjangsa) immediately after the 1170 coup; KS 19:11b Koryösa chöryo (hereafter, KSC), Hösa Bunkö ed. (Tokyo, 1960) ll:57a-b. Ch'oe Yuch'öng made the same rank at the start of Myöngjong's reign, KS 99:3a. Mun Kükkyöm became Right Transmitter (usüngsön) at that time. KS 19:1 lb—12a; KSC ll:57a-b. 4 Journal of Korean Studies episodes, two other major rebellions occurred, one led by the royal in-law Yi Chagyöm and the other by the exorcist monk Myoch'öng. In this paper, focusing on the issues of Yejong (1 105-22), Injong (1 12246 ) and Üijong's reigns (1 146-70), I will examine this era in terms of domestic policy and power conflicts. Further, I will demonstrate that there was a direct connection between the purge in 1122 and the military revolt in 1 170. Mid-twelfth century Koryö has been studied by others. Several scholars have examined the Yi Chagyöm and Myoch'öng rebellions in terms of Koryö's foreign relations and the 1 126 collapse of the Northern Sung dynasty.3 While not denying the importance of these events, I contend that many of the major issues of the day can best be understood by examining the formation of a domestic political faction. This faction, initially led by Han Anin, emerged in Yejong's reign, struggled for influence during Injong and Üijong's reigns, and then joined the military rulers who seized control in the 1 170 coup. The glue that bound this group contained many ingredients: close marriage and family ties, a regional affiliation with rural Kyonggi, inexperience in Kaegyöng politics, similar educational backgrounds, active participation in the censorial agencies (Taegan), and ties with Son Buddhism that led them toward a new, Neo-Confucian inquiry. Many members of this faction were blocked from high positions at the beginning of the century. They persisted, however, and found numerous ways to enhance their power and forward their programs. In tracing the formation and activities of this Han group, this study will provide an insight into the complex politics and society of mid-Koryö. It was a dynamic period. Men challenged the aristocratic families that had monopolized society. New philosophical vigor and institutional innovation affected the tenor of the age. Han Anin was an active participant in the trials of his age. Armed with a solid education in Confucian ethics, and supported by similarly trained scholars, he set out to alter the traditional power relationships and to broaden access to the highest echelons ofauthority. He and his associates were beaten back by Yi Chagyöm, sidetracked by 3. Yi Pyöngdo in Koryö sidae yön'gu (hereafter cited as Koryö yön'gu) (Seoul: Ulyu munhwasa, 1948), pp...

Koryŏ military officers revolted in 1170. The subsequent twenty-six years were disastrous: the new military leaders, unable to create a stable political environment, resorted to coups and countercoups. Assassination became common. This uncertainty at the top fomented discontent below. Buddhist monks, disaffected civilian officials, peasants, and slaves took up arms. Newly promoted generals tried to take charge, but their efforts consistently were frustrated by widespread corruption and greed.Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn, another general, came to power through a coup d'etat in 1196. To establish his authority, and check the drift toward anarchy that had characterized Myŏngjong's reign (1170-1197), he forced the king to abdicate, purged many leading military officials, and immediately launched a far-reaching reform program. Ch'unghŏn ruled Koryŏ primarily through his position as the dominant military power, but after purging potential military rivals, he looked to civilians, and civilian institutions, to assist him in restoring order to Koryŏ. He also developed his own institutions, responsible to him alone, to streamline the administration. Ch'oe increasingly worked through this new system to manipulate the dynasty. By the time of his death in 1219, much of the discontent, rebellion, and corruption that had destabilized the dynasty had disappeared.

BOOK REVIEWS115 by that, at least in the prospect of finding a wider audience. One must ask, however, why the typographical errors seem to have multiplied and, in particular, why no one thought to remove (end story) from the end of each and every story. There have been other changes as well. The writers collected in the anthology were for the most part something else first—college and university faculty, secondary school teachers, or formerly so. Kim observes in the Introduction that many of today's writers, those whose works were published after the postwar decade, are just that, writers first. Although this important point is garbled by the dropping of one or possibly two lines from the text (p. xxxvi), it may remind us of the parallel professionalization of so many aspects of contemporary life, including even the field ofKorean studies. A most poignant reminder ofthis is the difference between the final sentences in the prefaces of the books: the cheerful salutation of the earlier version—"There, now the book is all yours!"—stands replaced by the far more sober assertion that "I(t) goes without saying that the final responsibility for translation rests with me." Even as one welcomes the republication of this collection, one must also feel some regret at the passing from the amateur age of literary appreciation into the heavy atmosphere—though with little institutional growth to support it in the United States—of the age of the professionals. David R. McCann Cornell University Korean Studies Cassette Library, by Audio Learning. London and New York, 1983. As interest in Korean studies grows, the need for materials readily available to students and nonspecialists becomes more urgent. In recent years, scholars have produced new language texts, translations of Korean histories, and several movies on Korean art. Audio Learning of London and New York has added another dimension. They have produced five tape cassettes on various aspects of Korean art, history, music, contemporary politics, and economics. These tapes present the opinions of thirteen different scholars, only half of whom are Korean specialists. Each of the five tapes runs approximately fifty minutes. No attempt has been made to integrate all five tapes. They are rather a collection ofcomments on and interpretations on Korea. The last two tapes in the series, adapted from the 1982 Yale Symposium on Korean Culture, do form one unit. Each cassette is accompanied by a brief written synopsis of the material presented on the tape. The sound quality on all tapes is good. The first in the series, "Korea in the 1980's," is clearly the most disappointing . The title misleads, for the program, as well as dealing with contemporary Korea, offers a brief, flawed interpretation of Korean history from earliest time to the present. For example, the speakers, neither ofwhom is a historian or a Korean specialist, assert that Confucianism entered Korea before the Christian era, a statement that begs qualification. The same speakers state that Sejong, one of Korea's greatest kings, ruled from 1397 to 1450. In fact he reigned from 1418 to 116BOOK REVIEWS 1450. The authors even mangle recent events, declaring that the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950 was "spearheaded by Soviet T-34 tanks," and Soviet combat aircraft and artillery. Although the North Koreans did use Soviet equipment, the Soviets removed most of their advisers to disassociate themselves from the North Korean attack. Finally, the authors contend that Japan and South Korea normalized their relations in 1966; the actual date was 1965. Furthermore, the tape's portrait of Korea in the 1980s is incomplete. It presents a positive, but not always candid appraisal of the current Chon regime. The tone is so upbeat that one suspects the script may well have been composed by a member of Chön's ruling Democratic Justice Party. The presentation lacks spontaneity, the dialogue is wooden, and the readers follow their script haltingly. They frequently mispronounce Korean names and terms. It is a tedious tape. The second program, "South Korean Economic Affairs," is much more lively. The speakers are Dr. Kihwan Kim, formerly the president of the Korea Development Institute and now the vice minister of commerce, and Dr. Lawrence...

Studies on Korea in Transition. Edited by David R. McCann, John Middleton, and Edward J. Shultz. Honolulu: Center for Korean Studies, 1979. xii, 245 pp. Tables, Maps, Notes, Index. $8.00. - Volume 40 Issue 2

200DEUCHLER Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening of Korea, 1875-1885. By Martina Deuchler. Seattle: University of Washington Press for the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, 1977. xiv, 310 pp. Appendixes, notes, bibliography, index. $20.00. Martina Deuchler's Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening ofKorea, 1875-1885 is a welcome addition to Korean studies. It is a lucid, scholarly study of a crucial decade in Korean history—ten years during which Korea was forced to begin contacts with the outside world and to prepare herself for a new century. Deuchler states her objective simply: To examine the questions "when did Korea's modernization begin, and what was the course and nature of Japanese imperialism in the Korean peninsula" (p. xii). In the process of answering these questions , she provides an insightful analysis not only of Korean politics but also of Japanese and Chinese foreign relations. Students of this period have portrayed Korea as powerless to defend herself against Japanese imperialism and Chinese ambition. Deuchler refuses to despair over the difficulties Korea endured. She matter-offactly demonstrates how a combination of Chinese encouragement, Japanese pressure, and admonitions from the monarch Kojong secured the opening of Korea in 1876. But with the Kanghwa Treaty signed, its interpretation became a lesson in selective reading. Japan used it to gain as many privileges as possible on the Korean peninsula; China reasserted her belief that Korea was still a dependent tributary state; and Korea continued to uphold the assumption that nothing had changed, certain that seclusion was still in her best interests. If 1876 was a crucial date for Korea's opening, 1880, according to Deuchler, was equally significant for Korea's modernization. Kojong, aware that policies of the past were insufficient to secure peace and security for Korea and encouraged by and fearful of his neighbors, China and Japan, launched Korea on a program of modernization. Consensus for reform, however, was not achieved until 1882 and then only after intense opposition from the literati and a revolt instigated by the Taewön'gun. Two groups, the Min clan, which was committed to the introduction of new technology, and the enlightenment party, which saw modernization as "fundamental reform of society as a whole" (p. 152), vied for control of the program. A schism developed and led to the coup d'état of 1884 and further foreign involvement in Korea. As a result of the dissension among the leaders of Korea, the Chinese secured the dominant role in Korean politics by the close of 1885. Deuchler has made a number of contributions in her study. She has given us a revisionist interpretation of Kojong's early rule. Even recent BOOK REVIEWS201 scholars of Korea such as James B. Palais in his Politics and Policy in Traditional Korea have characterized Kojong as a weak monarch. Deuchler, however, describes him as pragmatic, flexible, and decisive in asserting leadership during the late 1870s and early 1880s. Deuchler appreciates the dangers that confronted Kojong, leaving the reader convinced that in him Korea had a leader capable of dealing with both foreign intervention and modernization. Deuchler also challenges the notion of the supremacy of the Min clan. She feels that the royal in-laws did not dominate the king until 1882, when they began to accumulate offices that gave them control of the dynasty. Equally intriguing are the insights into diplomatic history presented by this study. Deuchler provides a new assessment of China's role in Korean politics. Beginning in 1879, China sought to make Korea more of a "vassal state" than Korea had ever been during the heyday of the tribute system. China's leadership molded internal Korean policy to suit China's ends. When Korea balked, China abandoned the less coercive tribute system for military force in the peninsula. Deuchler also challenges the hackneyed thesis that Japan sought to annex Korea in this period. She states emphatically, "Japanese priorities during these ten years did not and could not include the annexation of Korea. Japan was not prepared to risk defending militarily what she had won from Korea diplomatically" (p. 219). Deuchler deals with a variety of fascinating historical material and topics seldom discussed by western scholars...

One: KOREA IS NOT SMALL When looking at geographic size, one can argue that Korea is small. North and South Korea combined measure 84,747 square miles, an area slightly smaller than Great Britain, less than half the size of France, and about the size of Minnesota or Utah. But size is only one measure. According to recent figures, the populations of North and South Korea combined number in excess of 68 million people, sixteenth in overall world population. There are more Koreans in Korea than French in France or British in Great Britain. From a historical perspective, it has always been one of the most populated lands, and Korean is the twelfth most commonly used language in the world. South Korea is a highly urbanized society. Greater Seoul, with a population exceeding 20 million, is the third largest metropolitan center in the world. Five cities in South Korea have populations of more than one mil- lion people. Korea's limited geographic size makes it one of the world's most densely populated countries. Two: KOREA IS NOT NEW Home to some of the world's oldest organized societies, Korea's pre- history goes back at least to the paleolithic age (circa 35,000 BP). Organized states first emerged around the fourth century B.C.E., and tribal kingdoms occupied the Korean peninsula by the sixth century. In 675, much of the southern two-thirds of the Korean peninsula came under the control of the Silla kingdom. In the tenth centu- ry, a new state, Koryøo, controlled all of the peninsula except for the northern border area. Korea's modern bor- ders were secured with the rise of its last dynasty, the Chosøon kingdom, in 1392. In the West, empires have grown and collapsed while the Korean civilization has sustained its unity. In the tenth century the Koryø o kingdom organized an efficient, hierarchical governing structure. Like China, Koryø o's state civil service examination recruited men to be government officials. Koryøo had a rational division of power, and policy decisions made in the capital were executed in the countryside. Tax revenues flowed to the capital, paying salaries of government officials and the costs of equipping an army. The next kingdom, Chosøon, further refined this governmental structure and closely managed its territory. Living together as one people, the Koreans share a common culture and speak the same language; their homogeneity is a defining characteristic. Although there were contacts with the outside, Koreans lived together in relative isolation for over a thousand years, unifying attitudes across the peninsula.