Hello /his/. I was wondering if the reason why Seoul(capital

Before Japanese colonization, Korea was basically a continuation of Ming Dynasty culture, i.e. not original at all. In fact, many things that are now staples of Korean society and culture were introduced during Japanese colonization.

Korea had not been relevant for thousands of years until rapid industrialization and the spread of Korean pop culture. The way that people view Korea nowadays would've been unthinkable merely 30 years ago. It's one of the modern world's most amazing success stories.

>>1474539
But there are cities like Casablanca or Sydney which probably weren't ever the capital cities of great powers, but tend to be well-known.
Furthermore I don't think a culture needs to be original to become "famous" or "relevant".

>>1474603
Korea *literally* shut itself from the 1500s-1800s.

They coined the term Hermit Kingdom for sakes.

Korea isn't really relevant historically because they never did anything of note. That said, they have rapidly built a unique identity and are an economic powerhouse.
Ita remarkable actually.

>>1474616
a historical misconception, there was more trade between china and japan through korea than directly so up to 1800; only with the rise of anti-catholicism did isolation actually become a thing.

although they didn't like meeting even slighly exotic countries like siam and ryukyu from the start, I must admit.

>>1474629
what is a role they could have taken? would greater commerce within east asia in general increase its relevance?

I keep hearing about SoKo not being that great outside of seoul. Any anons care to shed some light on it?

>>1474694
depends on how you mean "great", could you be more specfic?

>>1474694
Bullshit made up by Japs trying to say they're the only first world country in Asia, or leftists/DPRK supporting madmen trying to justify their starving hellhole.
I've spent quite a bit of time in Busan and the surrounding areas, honestly I think it's a better place to live than most American cities, definitely a first world city, hence why I'm moving there pretty soon.

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>>1474694
There are slums, but what country doesn't have some shitty areas?

>>1474696
not on par with the convenience and living standards of seoul.

>>1474727
yeah, but something about old people not doing so well post retirement.

>>1474710
tell me about your experiences.

>>1474710
high praises for a slowly-dying city, in my opinion. what did you enjoy the most from there?

>>1474727
those "slums" are confined to a specific area right next to a business district in gangnam; an exception left out by mistake during de-urbanization in the 70s and 80s.

>>1474426
Just to let you know OP, Texas is a state, not a city.

Lest you think I'm trying to be an uppity smart-ass, I'll admit the only thing that comes to mind when I think of Seoul is K-pop, and I'd be willing to admit that's the case for most Americans. I'm not sure why your city seems irrelevant to most of the western world, but I'd imagine a large part of it is the rather large difference in language, even if I knew major events or figures related to Seoul, I doubt I'd be able to pronounce them, much less remember them.

Not using stupidity as a justification for ignorance, just a possible explanation.

>>1474727
>what country doesn't have some shitty areas?

Japan. :^)

>>1474694
I've been to a few places throughout Korea, and I sort of agree. Seoul is great, and Busan is really cool too. There's some really beautiful scenery in other parts of the country, like Gyeongju, Jeju (Korea's Hawaii) and parts of Jeolla. The rest of the cities, like Daegu, Gwangju and Ulsan (never been to the last one myself, but others told me they were unimpressed) are generic masses of apartment buildings, offices, industrial zones and shopping complexes.

The DMZ is something everyone should see too, its a short day trip outside of Seoul.

>>1474762
>generic masses of apartment buildings, offices, industrial zones and shopping complexes.

Describes most cities in, say, America too.

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>>1474747
of course, I was also originally going to write California instead of LA, just because the state name can become more well-known than the cities.

>>1474762
connecting with mention of "convenience and living standards", I think most of SK is seoul-tier or just lower for koreans. dunno for foreigners though, particularly because of english-eligibility

>>1474762
Never visited SK, now it is on my list.
The thing with pretty places is that they are available and very well maintained in my country as well, but they don't get too many tourists.

>>1474778
we're talking about south korea though, not america.

>>1474745
I think it's a fun place, pretty clean (no garbage on the streets or trashy slums visible in most places), lots of stuff to do, beautifully placed in a nice landscape with nice beaches, everything's convenient like the subway, ultra fast internet, all kinds of restaurants and bars open all night, no worrying about crime. Idk I lived in LA before and Busan seems like it's much more fun and less stressful.

>>1474746
I like the fact it's like how I imagined Korea to be, lots of stuff to do and really convenient together with being on the beach (I'm from the Caribbean so that's a big thing for me). Why would you say it's slowly dying? :(

>>1474751
Lived in Okinawa one year, Japan's poorest prefecture, nice place overall but I definitely saw some slums ladm8.

>>1474426
Korea was an irrelevant, isolationist, pre-industrial shithole up until very, very recently and it's mostly k- pop that people think of.

>>1474790
the population is gradually decreasing, unfortunately. and there isn't much shipping to be done from anywhere to pusan, or from pusan to anywhere.

global warming's supposed to open up the arctic for direct trade between europe(rotterdam) and asia(hong kong/shanghai), so the future may hold some hope for pusan.

>>1474811
And spicy fermented veggies.

>>1474812
Aww I see. Well yeah that's gonna be the case with most of East Asia this lifetime, everywhere but the capital depopulating until the low birth rates finally start affecting the capital too. Happening in Japan and Taiwan as well. Actually even I'm gonna be doing that, my waifu is from Busan but at some point she wants to try living is Seoul as well. At least it'll be comfier for the remaining population and the environment, hopefully. But yeah I see what you mean by shipping, unless by some miracle Japan-Korea trade really picks up, then Busan is perfect for that.

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korea is the kimchi of the orient

you can superficially spice it up all you want, but it's still just a pot of cabbage. sorry korea, you need to start over.

>>1474817
>>1474858
stale fermented memes

>>1476735
okay jeong

I'm part Korean and I've always wanted to visit SK, just to see where my grandma came from and all that. But I've heard a lot of negative things about how the older generation treat foreigners and especially mixed race foreigners. Is there any credence to that?

>>1474603
I don't think Casablanca or Sydney are any more well known or culturally relevant than Seoul. They are all shit cities.