An outline, era by era

Japan and South Korea

technology and cultural influence

21st Century · 2000 – present

Japan and South Korea are two East Asian democracies, neighbours across the Korea Strait, whose economies rose from the ruins of war to the front rank of the world's technology producers. Japan rebuilt after 1945 and became a leading maker of cars, electronics and robots. South Korea, poor in the 1950s, industrialised rapidly from the 1960s and became a major producer of ships, semiconductors, phones and displays.

In the 21st century both countries have also become sources of popular culture. Japanese anime, manga, video games and food have long had global audiences, and from the late 1990s South Korea promoted music, television and film that spread across Asia and then the world, a movement known as the Korean Wave or hallyu. Their relations have been shaped by the memory of Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1910 to 1945), and their societies now face ageing populations and very low birth rates.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Japan's postwar economic recovery

    Event

    What happened

    After defeat in 1945, Japan is occupied by Allied forces under American leadership until 1952. It carries out land reform, adopts a new constitution in 1947, and rebuilds its industry, helped by procurement for the Korean War from 1950. Through the 1950s and 1960s its economy grows at very high rates, and companies such as Toyota and Sony win export markets.

    The rest is history

    By 1968 Japan had become the world's second largest market economy, and its firms set standards in quality manufacturing, consumer electronics and cars. The Tokyo Olympics of 1964 and the Shinkansen bullet train, opened that year, became symbols of the recovery. A property and stock market bubble burst around 1990 and led to the long slow growth known as the lost decades. Japan nevertheless entered the 21st century as a rich country with deep technological strength.

    Sources

    1. BookDower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999.
    2. BookVogel, Ezra F. Japan as Number One: Lessons for America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.

  2. The Korean War and the division of Korea

    Event

    What happened

    Korea, ruled by Japan from 1910, is divided at the 38th parallel in 1945 between Soviet and American occupation zones. Separate governments form in 1948, and North Korea invades the South in June 1950. The war ends with an armistice signed on 27 July 1953 along a line close to the original division, and no peace treaty is signed.

    The rest is history

    The war left the South devastated and dependent on American aid, but it fixed the division that still exists. South Korea stayed allied with the United States and later became a major trading nation. Japan, as a base for United Nations forces, gained orders that helped its own recovery. The divided peninsula remains a central security concern for both countries today.

    Sources

    1. BookCumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010.
    2. PrimaryKorean Armistice Agreement. Signed at Panmunjom, 27 July 1953.

  3. The Park Chung-hee era and the Miracle on the Han River

    Event

    What happened

    General Park Chung-hee takes power in a coup in May 1961 and rules until his assassination in 1979. His government directs credit and exports through five-year plans and favours large family-run conglomerates called chaebol, such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG. In 1965 South Korea and Japan sign a treaty restoring diplomatic relations, which brings in Japanese payments and loans.

    The rest is history

    Per capita income rose from among the poorest levels in Asia to that of a middle-income country within a generation, in a period of authoritarian rule. Heavy industry, shipbuilding and then electronics grew from this base. A broad democratization movement, which included the Gwangju uprising of 1980 and the mass protests of June 1987, won constitutional concessions and direct presidential elections in late 1987. The 1965 treaty settled claims in the government's view, but its terms remain disputed in Korean courts and politics.

    Sources

    1. BookAmsden, Alice H. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
    2. BookEckert, Carter J. Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea: The Roots of Militarism, 1866-1945. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.

  4. Japan's consumer electronics and the Walkman

    Event

    What happened

    In July 1979 Sony releases the Walkman, a small portable cassette player. Along with Japanese firms such as Nintendo, which launched its Famicom console in 1983, it helps make Japan the leading source of consumer electronics and games. Japanese cars and machine tools also win large export markets in the 1970s and 1980s.

    The rest is history

    These products made Japan a model of design and miniaturisation, and Japanese brands became household names worldwide. In the 2000s competition from Korean and later Chinese makers cut into Japan's lead in televisions and phones. Japan kept strong positions in robotics, materials, camera sensors, hybrid cars and video games. Sony alone sold well over 200 million Walkman units across its product lines.

    Sources

    1. Bookdu Gay, Paul, et al. Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. London: Sage, 1997.
    2. BookSheff, David. Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry. New York: Random House, 1993.

  5. The Asian financial crisis and Korea's cultural turn

    Event

    What happened

    In late 1997 South Korea runs short of foreign currency during the Asian financial crisis and in December accepts an international rescue package of about 58 billion US dollars, of which roughly 21 billion came from the International Monetary Fund and the rest from other international and bilateral lenders. The government of Kim Dae-jung, elected that month, reforms the banks and the chaebol. It also lifts the ban on Japanese cultural imports in stages from 1998 and expands state support for the cultural industries.

    The rest is history

    Korea recovered quickly and put new emphasis on exports of culture and information technology, and the country built one of the world's most widespread broadband networks. The Korean Wave was already growing in Asia in the late 1990s, and television dramas such as Winter Sonata (2002) greatly accelerated its spread, winning large audiences in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Government support helped, though most of the success came from private studios and entertainment companies.

    Sources

    1. BookKim, Eun Mee. Big Business, Strong State: Collusion and Conflict in South Korean Development, 1960-1990. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.
    2. ArticleShim, Doobo. "Hybridity and the Rise of Korean Popular Culture in Asia." Media, Culture & Society 28, no. 1 (2006): 25-44.

  6. The 2002 World Cup and the Japan-Korea relationship

    Event

    What happened

    In 2002 Japan and South Korea jointly host the FIFA World Cup, the first held in Asia and the first with two hosts. The tournament runs from 31 May to 30 June, and South Korea reaches the semi-finals. The two countries had agreed in 1998 on a joint declaration of partnership, in which Japan expressed remorse for the colonial period.

    The rest is history

    The event marked a high point of cooperation, and it came as Japanese and Korean pop culture began to cross the strait in both directions. Tension returned over history and territory, including the disputed Dokdo or Takeshima islets and the question of wartime forced labour and the wartime sexual exploitation of women, often called the comfort women issue. A 2015 agreement on the comfort women was later contested in South Korea. Relations improved again after 2023 with renewed leader-level meetings.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryJapan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration: A New Japan-Republic of Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century. Tokyo, 8 October 1998.
    2. BookCha, Victor D. Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.

  7. Samsung, Apple and the smartphone age

    Event

    What happened

    Apple introduces the iPhone in 2007, and Samsung launches its Galaxy line from 2009 using the Android system. Samsung also supplies memory chips and screens, and SK Hynix is another leading memory maker. Samsung became the world's largest smartphone seller by units around 2012. Apple sued Samsung in 2011 over patents, and the dispute went on for years.

    The rest is history

    South Korea became central to the global chip supply chain, as did Japan in specialised materials and equipment. In 2019 Japan tightened export controls on key chemicals used in chip making to South Korea, amid the forced labour dispute, and Korea responded with complaints at the World Trade Organization. The episode showed how closely the two economies are tied. Both governments have since put large public funds into semiconductor industries.

    Sources

    1. BookLee, Keun. Schumpeterian Analysis of Economic Catch-up. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
    2. BookMiller, Chris. Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. New York: Scribner, 2022.

  8. Parasite and the global reach of Korean culture

    Event

    What happened

    In 2012 the singer Psy's video Gangnam Style becomes the first on YouTube to pass a billion views. The group BTS later reaches the top of US charts. In February 2020 Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite wins four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the first non-English-language film to do so. Netflix's Squid Game (2021) became a global hit.

    The rest is history

    These successes turned the Korean Wave from a regional trend into a worldwide one, helped by streaming and social media. Japan's own soft power, in anime, manga and games, continued to grow, with Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away winning an Oscar in 2003 and Japan's government promoting its 'Cool Japan' strategy. Both countries now rank among the most recognisable sources of popular culture in the world.

    Sources

    1. BookKim, Youna, ed. The Korean Wave: Korean Media Go Global. London: Routledge, 2013.
    2. BookIwabuchi, Koichi. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Durham: Duke University Press, 2002.

  9. Japan's robots and the dream of Astro Boy

    Popular belief

    The legend

    It is often said that Japan loves robots because of its culture, with some claiming the Shinto belief that objects have spirits makes the Japanese uniquely at ease with machines. Astro Boy, the robot hero created by Osamu Tezuka and first published as the manga Tetsuwan Atomu in 1951, is often credited with inspiring this attitude.

    The rest is history

    The cultural explanation is popular but weakly supported. Historians and robotics researchers point to practical causes: a shrinking workforce, strong manufacturing firms and government research funding, especially for industrial robots from the 1970s. Japan did become a leading maker and user of industrial robots, and Honda's ASIMO, first shown in 2000, became a famous humanoid. Surveys do not show that Japanese people are consistently warmer toward robots than people elsewhere. The animated Astro Boy series began on television in 1963.

    Sources

    1. BookRobertson, Jennifer. Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017.
    2. BookSchodt, Frederik L. Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming Robotopia. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1988.

  10. Korean beauty and the myth of the identical look

    Popular belief

    The legend

    A common belief abroad is that South Koreans share a single standard look and that nearly everyone has cosmetic surgery, an idea repeated in articles about K-pop and Korean beauty trends.

    The rest is history

    Cosmetic procedures are common in South Korea and the country has among the highest rates per person in surveys, but the claim that most people have had surgery rests on loose figures and poorly designed polls. Training systems for pop idols do stress image, and the beauty industry exports skin-care products worldwide. Still, appearance standards are debated within Korea itself, where campaigns such as the 'escape the corset' movement from about 2018 pushed back against them. The facts are about market size and social pressure, not a uniform look.

    Sources

    1. BookJung, Sun. Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011.

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