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In 1959 South Korea was mired in poverty. By 1979 it had a powerful industrial economy and a vibrant civil society in the making, which would lead to a democratic breakthrough eight years later. The transformation took place during the years of Park Chung Hee’s presidency. Park seized power in a coup in 1961 and ruled as a virtual dictator until his assassination in October 1979. He is credited with modernizing South Korea, but at a huge political and social cost.
South Korea’s political landscape under Park defies easy categorization. The state was predatory yet technocratic, reform-minded yet quick to crack down on dissidents in the name of political order. The nation was balanced uneasily between opposition forces calling for democratic reforms and the Park government’s obsession with economic growth. The chaebol (a powerfu! l conglomerate of multinationals based in South Korea) received massive government support to pioneer new growth industries, even as a nationwide campaign of economic shock therapyâ€"interest hikes, devaluation, and wage cutsâ€"met strong public resistance and caused considerable hardship.
This landmark volume examines South Korea’s era of development as a study in the complex politics of modernization. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources in both English and Korean, these essays recover and contextualize many of the ambiguities in South Korea’s trajectory from poverty to a sustainable high rate of economic growth.
In 1959 South Korea was mired in poverty. By 1979 it had a powerful industrial economy and a vibrant civil society in the making, which would lead to a democratic breakthrough eight years later. The transformation took place during the years of Park Chung Hee’s presidency. Park seized power in a coup in 1961 and ruled as a virtual dictat! or until his assassination in October 1979. He is credited wit! h modern izing South Korea, but at a huge political and social cost.
South Korea’s political landscape under Park defies easy categorization. The state was predatory yet technocratic, reform-minded yet quick to crack down on dissidents in the name of political order. The nation was balanced uneasily between opposition forces calling for democratic reforms and the Park government’s obsession with economic growth. The chaebol (a powerful conglomerate of multinationals based in South Korea) received massive government support to pioneer new growth industries, even as a nationwide campaign of economic shock therapyâ€"interest hikes, devaluation, and wage cutsâ€"met strong public resistance and caused considerable hardship.
This landmark volume examines South Korea’s era of development as a study in the complex politics of modernization. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources in both English and Korean, these essays recover and contextualize many of the ambiguities! in South Korea’s trajectory from poverty to a sustainable high rate of economic growth.
In 1959 South Korea was mired in poverty. By 1979 it had a powerful industrial economy and a vibrant civil society in the making, which would lead to a democratic breakthrough eight years later. The transformation took place during the years of Park Chung Hee’s presidency. Park seized power in a coup in 1961 and ruled as a virtual dictator until his assassination in October 1979. He is credited with modernizing South Korea, but at a huge political and social cost.
South Korea’s political landscape under Park defies easy categorization. The state was predatory yet technocratic, reform-minded yet quick to crack down on dissidents in the name of political order. The nation was balanced uneasily between opposition forces calling for democratic reforms and the Park government’s obsession with economic growth. The chaebol (a powerful conglomerate of multinationals based in! South Korea) received massive government support to pioneer n! ew growt h industries, even as a nationwide campaign of economic shock therapyâ€"interest hikes, devaluation, and wage cutsâ€"met strong public resistance and caused considerable hardship.
This landmark volume examines South Korea’s era of development as a study in the complex politics of modernization. Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources in both English and Korean, these essays recover and contextualize many of the ambiguities in South Korea’s trajectory from poverty to a sustainable high rate of economic growth.
Legend has it, if you climb the 28 stairs leading to the school dormitory and count each step aloud, a 29th step will appear and a spirit will grant you a wish. If your intentions are honorable, your wish can be a blessing of good fortune. But at this high school, where paranoia and jealousy reign supreme, malicious wishes are about to unleash an unspeakable evil. Be careful what you wish for; some wishes were never meant to be granted.The South Korean! "Ghost School" trilogy comes to a close with
Wishing Stairs, a typically creepy example of modern Asian horror. First-time director Yoon Jae-Yeon was fresh out of film school when she signed on for this commercial assignment, and her rookie status makes this a lesser entry in the "Asian Extreme" genre, following the trilogy's previous installments,
Whispering Corridors and
Memento Mori. Still, fine performances and attention to psychological detail make this an effectively eerie study of peer pressure, classroom cruelty, and blind ambition in a girls' art school, where three aspiring ballerinas make fateful wishes upon an enchanted staircase (or is it cursed?) near their school. According to legend, if you climb the 28 steps and count each step aloud, a 29th step will magically appear and a fox-spirit will grant your wish. Fierce competition, paranoia, and malicious intentions make these "wishing stairs" a recipe for disaster, when one girl commits sui! cide and another wishes for her revival. At that point,
Wis! hing Sta irs employs standard-issue horror techniques that will be familiar to anyone who's seen
Ju-On or the Japanese version of
Dark Water (including the ghostly girl with long black hair). For patient viewers, the film's frightful climax comes not a moment too soon. A comprehensive "making of" documentary is included, including interview clips with primary cast and crew.
--Jeff ShannonThe late Lee Eun-Joo (GARDEN OF HEAVEN and TAEKUGI: THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN) gave a deeply heartbreaking performance in this cryptic romance directed by acclaimed Korean director Hong Sang-Soo. A love-triangle like relationship between a filmmaker, his enigmatic young female assisstant (Lee) and his friend is told twice, with the second version retelling their affair in a completely different light. Shot in beautiful black and white, VIRGIN STRIPPED BARE BY HER BACHELORS is a raw, unflinching look at our search for companionship and how our innocence is lost over time.All it! em have English and Chinese subtitles. All item play region 1 (US, Canada). All item are complete series.United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: Korean ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Korean ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Film director, Hong, takes young starlet, Hyun-ah, to the countryside to discuss a new role, where they stop at a farm that is renowned for its home-made chicken soup. The owner of the farm, Pan-gon, is a recluse and social outcast with a very dark secret. Jealous of Hyun-ah's beauty and insulted by her disdainful treatment of him, he ruthlessly strangles Hong and imprisons Hyun-ah in the basement. Does he want to torture her, use her for sex, or is his agenda even darker? After Hyun-ah's sister becomes concerned over her disappearance, she contacts the police. A trail of evidence points toward the farm, but will they make it in! time to save Hyun-ah from the whims of the unhinged maniac, or will Pan-gon's vengeance be complete?
