the implementation of the armistice. Since neither the United States nor South Korea ever signed the agreement (although they respect the terms as members of the United Nations), a state of war is formally still in effect. The Society and Its EnvironmentFew societies have changed as rapidly or as dramatically since the end of World War II as that of South Korea. When the war ended in 1945, the great majority of the people living in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula were poor peasants. The Japanese colonial regime from 1910 to 1945 had promoted modernization of the economy and society, but this had a limited, and mainly negative, impact on most Koreans as its main intent was to serve Japan. The poverty and distress of the South Koreans were deepened by the Korean War of 1950-53 when numerous people died and cities and towns were devastated. During the next few decades, however, South Korea evolved into a dynamic industrial society. By 1990 educational and public health standards were high, most people lived in urban areas, and a complex structure of social classes had emerged that resembled the social structures of developed Western countries or Japan. The country also was making substantial progress in its evolution from a military dictatorship similar to that of many Third World regimes to a democratic, pluralistic political system. In the mid-1950s, few observers could have imagined that Seoul, the country’s capital, would emerge from the devastation of war to become one of the world’s most vibrant metropolitan centers rivaling Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. The population of the Korean Peninsula, sharing a common language, ethnic identity, and culture, was one of the world’s most homogenous. Although there were significant regional differences even within the relatively small land area of South Korea, neither North Korea or South Korea has significant non-Korean ethnic minorities. This h...
