The History of Korea: Kingdoms, War, and National Division — Fexingo History

By Fexingo

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Episodes: 236

Description

From the mythic founding of Gojoseon to the nuclear standoff on the 38th parallel, the Korean Peninsula has been a crucible of dynastic ambition, foreign invasion, and fierce cultural identity. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through four thousand years of Korean history: the Three Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla locked in centuries of warfare and cultural exchange with Tang China; the unifying Goryeo dynasty that gave the West its name for Korea; the Confucian revolution of Joseon, which produced the Hangul alphabet, the turtle ships of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and a rigid social order that cracked under Japanese invasions and Manchu conquests. The show traces the agonizing decline of the Joseon dynasty into the Hermit Kingdom era, the brutal Japanese colonial period (1910–1945) with its forced assimilation and independence movements, the division at the 38th parallel that split families overnight, the Korean War's devastation from the Pusan Perimeter to the Yalu River, and the subsequent divergence of the two Koreas: the North's Juche ideology, famine, and nuclear brinkmanship; the South's authoritarian industrialization under Park Chung-hee, its democratic uprising in Gwangju, and its emergence as a cultural powerhouse. Each episode dissects a turning point—the Silla unification, the Imjin War, the March First Movement, the Korean DMZ—while debating how history shapes today's tensions over reunification, comfort women, and the North's missiles. No boosterism, no simple narratives: just two historians in a room, wrestling with a history that remains unfinished. #KoreanHistory #ThreeKingdoms #JoseonDynasty #KoreanWar #Goryeo #ImjinWar #YiSunSin #JapaneseColonialism #DMZ #Juche #Hangul #GwangjuUprising #Silla #Baekje #Goguryeo #History #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode Date
Korea's Three Kingdoms: Baekje, Silla, and Goguryeo
Sep 15, 2026
The Korean Diaspora in Manchuria: Beyond the Partition
Sep 14, 2026
The Goryeo Dynasty: Monks, Mongols, and Bronze Bells
Sep 13, 2026
The Imjin War's Last Stand: Yi Sun-sin's Final Victory
Sep 12, 2026
The Korean Diaspora: Japan's Lost Subjects and Return
Sep 11, 2026
The Sinking of the Lusitania and Korea's Forgotten Role
Sep 10, 2026
The Forgotten Scholar-Officials of Joseon
Sep 09, 2026
Yi Sun-sin's Secret Weapons: Iron-Shelled Ships and Turtle Tactics
Sep 08, 2026
Korea's Lost Princesses: The Royal Family in Exile
Sep 07, 2026
The Secret Life of Joseon Eunuchs
Sep 06, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Women Warriors: The Hwaseong Defense
Sep 05, 2026
The Silent Coup: How Queen Min Fell to Japanese Spies
Sep 04, 2026
The Forgotten Defenders of Seoul: The Imjin War's Hidden Heroes
Sep 03, 2026
King Sejong and the Birth of Hangul
Sep 02, 2026
The Sinking of the Lusitania and Korea's Forgotten Role
Sep 01, 2026
The Gwangmu Reform: Korea's Leap into the Modern Era
Aug 31, 2026
The 1871 Sinmiyangyo: Korea's First Clash with America
Aug 30, 2026
Korea's Iron Road: The Gyeongbu Railway and Its Hidden History
Aug 29, 2026
The Donghak Rebellion: Korea's Grassroots Uprising
Aug 28, 2026
Ganghwa Island: Korea's Fortress Against the West
Aug 27, 2026
The Hwarang Code: Silla's Warrior Youth and Korean Identity
Aug 26, 2026
Min's Coffee Diplomacy: Queen Min's Secret Network
Aug 25, 2026
The Gabo Reforms: Korea's Abrupt Leap to Modernity
Aug 24, 2026
The Silla–Tang Alliance: How Korea Unified the Peninsula
Aug 23, 2026
The Hwarang Legacy: Silla's Warrior Youth and Korean Unity
Aug 22, 2026
The Four Hundred Year War: Goryeo's Last Stand
Aug 21, 2026
The 1882 Imo Incident: Korea's Mutiny and Its Aftermath
Aug 20, 2026
The Fire of Gwanghwamun: Gyeongbokgung, Taegukgi, and the Fight for Korea's Soul
Aug 19, 2026
The Pungwol Pavilion: Silla's Secret to Power
Aug 18, 2026
The Three Kingdoms: Korea's Ancient Superpowers
Aug 17, 2026
The Rise of the Goryeo Navy: Mastery of the Yellow Sea
Aug 16, 2026
The Four Hundred Year War: Goryeo's Struggle Against the Khitan
Aug 15, 2026
The 1910 Annexation: How Korea Lost Its Sovereignty
Aug 14, 2026
Queen Seondeok: Silla's First Female Ruler
Aug 12, 2026
The Hermit Kingdom's Open Door: Korea's Treaty of Ganghwa
Aug 11, 2026
The Jikji: Korea's World's Oldest Metal Print Book
Aug 10, 2026
Goguryeo's Secret: The Gwanggaeto Stele and Korea's Imperial Past
Aug 09, 2026
The Turtle Ship's Hidden Arsenal: Secrets of Geobukseon
Aug 08, 2026
The Fall of Baekje: Sabi, the Sack, and the Birth of a New Order
Aug 07, 2026
The Sajik: Korea's Forgotten Altars of State
Aug 06, 2026
The Gwangmu Reform: Korea's Leap into the Modern Age
Aug 05, 2026
Kim Jeong-ho and Daedongyeojido: Mapping Joseon
Aug 04, 2026
Korea's Turtle Ship: The Ironclad That Changed Naval Warfare
Aug 03, 2026
The Hwarang: Elite Youth Warriors of Silla
Aug 02, 2026
The Gat: Korea's Hat That Shaped a Dynasty
Aug 01, 2026
The Incheon Landing: MacArthur's Gamble That Turned the Korean War
Jul 31, 2026
Korea's Depraved King: The Tyranny of Yeonsangun
Jul 30, 2026
The Crane Wing Formation: Yi Sun-sin's Battle of Hansando
Jul 30, 2026
The Korean Provisional Government: Exile, Diplomacy, and the Fight for Freedom
Jul 29, 2026
King Jeongjo and the Building of Hwaseong Fortress
Jul 29, 2026
The March 1st Movement: Korea's Cry for Freedom
Jul 28, 2026
The 38th Parallel: How Korea Was Divided
Jul 28, 2026
The Later Three Kingdoms: Wang Geon's Path to Korean Reunification
Jul 27, 2026
Sejong the Great and the Creation of Hangul
Jul 27, 2026
The Gapsin Coup: Korea's Failed Modernization in 1884
Jul 26, 2026
Goryeo's Military Regime: The Choe Dynasty and Mongol Invasions
Jul 26, 2026
Namhansanseong 1636 - The Siege That Changed Korea
Jul 25, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution of 1894
Jul 24, 2026
The Silla-Tang Alliance: How Korea Unified Against China
Jul 24, 2026
Korea's Turtle Ship: The Ironclad That Saved a Kingdom
Jul 23, 2026
Korea's Gwanghaegun: The Deposed King Who Saved Joseon
Jul 23, 2026
The Fall of Goryeo: Buddhism, Factionalism, and the Rise of Joseon
Jul 22, 2026
Buddhism's Fall and Neo-Confucianism's Rise in Joseon Korea
Jul 22, 2026
Kim Yusin's Brilliant Deception in the Silla-Tang War
Jul 21, 2026
Korea's Admiral Yi Sun-sin: The Man Behind the Legend
Jul 21, 2026
Queen Seondeok and the Birth of Silla's Golden Age
Jul 20, 2026
Korea's Hwarang Warriors: The Flower Boys of Silla
Jul 20, 2026
Korea's Silk Roads: The Goryeo Heirlooms That Shaped World Ceramics
Jul 19, 2026
Korea's Turtle Ship: The Ironclad That Saved a Kingdom
Jul 19, 2026
The Silla-Tang War: How Korea's Unification Almost Failed
Jul 18, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Queen Myeongseong and the Fall of Joseon
Jul 18, 2026
The March First Movement and Korea's Nonviolent Uprising
Jul 17, 2026
Korea's Hermit Kingdom: The Byeonginyangyo and French Invasion of 1866
Jul 17, 2026
The Wihwado Retreat: Yi Seong-gye’s Fateful Decision That Toppled Goryeo
Jul 16, 2026
Korea's Righteous Armies: The Civilian Resistance in the Imjin War
Jul 16, 2026
Emperor Gojong's Secret Mission to The Hague Peace Conference
Jul 15, 2026
Gojong's Gwangmu Modernization and Korea's Lost Empire
Jul 15, 2026
Korea's Gwangmu Reform: Emperor Gojong's Modernization Struggle
Jul 14, 2026
The Story of Korea's Taegukgi: Flag of a Divided Nation
Jul 14, 2026
The Heungseon Daewongun: Korea's Isolationist Reformer
Jul 13, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korea's Forgotten Uprising
Jul 13, 2026
The Coup of Jeong Do-jeon: Joseon's Founding Visionary
Jul 12, 2026
King Gongmin's Assassination and the Fall of Goryeo
Jul 12, 2026
King Seonjo and the Flight from Hanseong in the Imjin War
Jul 11, 2026
The Fall of Baekje: Silla-Tang Alliance and the Battle of Hwangsanbeol
Jul 11, 2026
The Korean Alphabet King Sejong Created
Jul 10, 2026
The Rise of Baekje: Korea's Ancient Maritime Kingdom
Jul 10, 2026
King Gongmin's Goryeo Reform and the Fall of a Dynasty
Jul 09, 2026
Later Han Four Commanderies and Korea's Ancient Frontier
Jul 09, 2026
Manchurian Tiger: Goguryeo's Last Great King Gwanggaeto
Jul 08, 2026
Balhae: Korea's Northern Kingdom History Forgot
Jul 08, 2026
The Sambyeolcho Rebellion: Goryeo's Last Stand Against the Mongols
Jul 07, 2026
The Mongol Invasions of Goryeo: Korea's Thirty-Year War
Jul 07, 2026
The Fall of Goryeo: How Yi Seong-gye Built Joseon
Jul 06, 2026
The Gwageo: Korea's Civil Service Exam and Its Legacy
Jul 06, 2026
Seodang: Korea's Confucian Village Schools and Their Legacy
Jul 05, 2026
Joseon's Secret Weapon: The Hwacha Rocket Artillery
Jul 05, 2026
The Righteous Armies and the Battle of Hongseong
Jul 04, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's 1919 Uprising for Freedom
Jul 04, 2026
The Turtle Ships of Yi Sun-sin: Korea's Ironclad Warships
Jul 03, 2026
The Gyeongju Historic Districts: Silla's Living UNESCO Legacy
Jul 03, 2026
The Imjin War: Korea's Cataclysmic Defense Against Japan
Jul 02, 2026
The Hwarang Legacy: Silla's Warrior-Poets Beyond the Battlefield
Jul 02, 2026
The Gwangju Uprising: Korea's Prodemocracy Struggle of 1980
Jul 01, 2026
The Fall of Goguryeo: How Tang and Silla Destroyed a Superpower
Jul 01, 2026
Queen Seondeok: Silla's First Female Ruler and Her Legacy
Jun 30, 2026
Gyeongju: Silla's Golden Capital and Its Enduring Legacy
Jun 30, 2026
The Fall of Baekje: Sabi Fortress and the End of a Kingdom
Jun 29, 2026
The Hwarang Legacy: Silla's Warrior-Poets Beyond the Battlefield
Jun 29, 2026
The Hwarang Legacy: Silla's Warrior-Poets Beyond the Battlefield
Jun 28, 2026
Choe Che-u: The Mystic Who Founded Korea's Donghak Movement
Jun 28, 2026
The Wonhyo and Uisang: Two Monks Who Shaped Korean Buddhism
Jun 27, 2026
Dangun and the Gojoseon Legacy: Korea's First Kingdom
Jun 27, 2026
King Sejong the Great: Science, Music, and Korea's Renaissance
Jun 26, 2026
The Righteous Armies: Korea's Civilian Resistance to Japanese Rule
Jun 26, 2026
The Korean Demilitarized Zone: A World Within a Strip of Land
Jun 25, 2026
The Silla Hwarang: Knights, Poetry, and Korea's Flower Youth
Jun 25, 2026
The Geomungo: Korea's Ancient Zither and Its Silent Revolution
Jun 24, 2026
The Korean War's First Battle: Ongjin Peninsula 1950
Jun 24, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's 1919 Uprising for Independence
Jun 23, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korea's Uprising of 1894
Jun 23, 2026
Kim Yu-shin and the Unification of the Three Kingdoms
Jun 22, 2026
The Geobukseon: Yi Sun-sin's Turtle Ship Secrets
Jun 22, 2026
Seodang: The Village Schools That Shaped Joseon Korea
Jun 21, 2026
Hunminjeongeum: The Birth of the Korean Alphabet
Jun 21, 2026
Joseon's Secret Weapon: The Hwacha Rocket Artillery
Jun 20, 2026
The Story of Korean Pottery: From Celadon to Buncheong
Jun 20, 2026
The Gapsin Coup: Korea's Three-Day Modernization Coup of 1884
Jun 19, 2026
The Imjin War's Aftermath: How Korea Rebuilt After Catastrophe
Jun 19, 2026
The Kojiki and Samguk Sagi: How Korea's Oldest Histories Were Written
Jun 18, 2026
The Gwanghaegun Era: Joseon's Misunderstood King Between Wars
Jun 18, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Navy: The Joseon Fleet After Yi Sun-sin
Jun 17, 2026
Silla's Bone-Rank System: The Caste That Shaped Korean History
Jun 17, 2026
The Koryo Army: Gwanggaeto and Korea's Forgotten Steppe Warriors
Jun 16, 2026
Balhae: Korea's Lost Kingdom of the North
Jun 16, 2026
The Silla-Tang War: When Korea's Unifiers Fought Back
Jun 15, 2026
The Koryo Army: Gwanggaeto and Korea's Forgotten Steppe Warriors
Jun 15, 2026
The July 26 Declaration: Korea's Last Kisaeng Poet
Jun 14, 2026
The Foreign Ministry of Goryeo: Diplomatic Survival on the Silk Road
Jun 14, 2026
The Hermit Kingdom: Korea's Isolationist Policy Under the Daewongun
Jun 13, 2026
The Korean DMZ: From War's End to Accidental Wildlife Haven
Jun 13, 2026
Korea's Forgotten War: The Byeongin Invasion of 1866
Jun 12, 2026
The Gwangmu Reform: Korea's Last Attempt at Modernization
Jun 12, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korea's Failed Uprising of 1894
Jun 12, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's 1919 Uprising for Independence
Jun 11, 2026
The Story of the Gojoseon: Korea's First Kingdom
Jun 11, 2026
The Japanese Invasions of Korea 1592-1598 Imjin War
Jun 10, 2026
The Kisaeng of Joseon: Korea's Forgotten Artists and Poets
Jun 09, 2026
The Fall of Goryeo: Wihwado Retreat and Joseon's Rise
Jun 09, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Queens: The Women Who Ruled Silla
Jun 08, 2026
King Sejong the Great: Hangul and the Birth of Korean Writing
Jun 08, 2026
The Jeju Uprising: Korea's Forgotten Civil War of 1948
Jun 07, 2026
The Gyeongju World: Silla's Golden Capital
Jun 07, 2026
The Mongol Invasions of Goryeo: Korea's Thirty-Year War
Jun 06, 2026
The Hwarang: Korea's Flower Boys of Silla
Jun 06, 2026
The Samguk Sagi: Korea's Oldest Surviving History
Jun 05, 2026
The Silla-Tang Alliance: Korea's Unification and Its Costs
Jun 05, 2026
The Seodaemun Prison: Korea's Dark Heart of Colonial Repression
Jun 04, 2026
The Turtle Ships of Admiral Yi Sun-sin Engineering and Myth
Jun 04, 2026
The Fall of Baekje: A Kingdom Erased
Jun 03, 2026
Korea's Gwanggaeto the Great: The Stele and the Lost Empire
Jun 03, 2026
Korea's Righteous Armies: Civilian Resistance in the Imjin War
Jun 02, 2026
The Righteous Armies of Joseon: Korea's Civilian Resistance in the Imjin War
Jun 02, 2026
King Gojong's Seoul: The Failed Modernization of Korea's First Railroad
Jun 01, 2026
The Hermit Kingdom: Joseon's Closed-Door Policy of the 1860s
Jun 01, 2026
Korea's Donghak Peasant Revolution of 1894
May 31, 2026
Korea's Gwangmu Reform: The Last Empire's Modernization
May 31, 2026
The Korean Demilitarized Zone: From War to Wildlife
May 30, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's 1919 Uprising for Independence
May 30, 2026
The Korean Demilitarized Zone: Accidental Wilderness
May 29, 2026
The Kisaeng of Joseon: Art, Resistance, and Memory
May 29, 2026
The Goryeo-Khitan Wars: Korea's Three Decades of Resistance
May 28, 2026
The Balhae Kingdom: Korea's Forgotten Northern Empire
May 28, 2026
The Silla Bone-Rank System: Korea's Caste of Skulls
May 27, 2026
The Korean War's No Gun Ri Massacre: Refugees and Reckoning
May 27, 2026
King Sejong's Secret Weapon: The Invention of Hangul
May 26, 2026
The Sōshi-kaimei: Japan's Forced Name Change in Colonial Korea
May 26, 2026
The Gwangmu Reform: Korea's Last Modernization Push
May 25, 2026
The Turtle Ships of Admiral Yi Sun-sin: Engineering and Myth
May 25, 2026
The Imjin War: Turtle Ships and the Siege of Jinju
May 24, 2026
The Korean Alphabet's Secret History: King Sejong's Hangul Revolution
May 24, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Modernist: The Life and Art of Yi Sang
May 23, 2026
The Manchu Siege of Namhansanseong: Korea's Humiliation of 1636
May 23, 2026
The Silla-Tang War: Korea's Alliance That Became a Battle
May 22, 2026
The Sōshi-kaimei: Japan's Forced Name Change in Colonial Korea
May 20, 2026
Korea's Forgotten War: The Byeongja Horan and the Manchu Invasion of 1636
May 19, 2026
The Hwarang: Silla's Warrior Elite and Their Lasting Legacy
May 19, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korea's Failed Uprising
May 18, 2026
The Hermit Kingdom's Last Stand: General Eo Jae-yeon and the 1871 US Expedition to Korea
May 18, 2026
The Righteous Armies: Korea's Civilian Militias in the Imjin War
May 17, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's 1919 Uprising
May 17, 2026
The Wihwado Retreat: Why Yi Seong-gye Turned His Army Around
May 16, 2026
The Jikji: Korea's Metal Type Before Gutenberg
May 16, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Queen: The Tragic Fate of Queen Min
May 15, 2026
The Silla Bone-Rank System: Korea's Ancient Caste
May 15, 2026
Goryeo's Metal Movable Type: Printing Before Gutenberg
May 12, 2026
Goryeo's Mongol Queens: Marriage Alliance or Occupation
May 12, 2026
The Fall of Goryeo: From Mongol Yoke to Joseon Founding
May 11, 2026
King Sejong and the Creation of Hangul
May 11, 2026
Gyeongju: Korea's Ancient Capital Without Walls
May 10, 2026
The Turtle Ships That Changed Naval Warfare
May 10, 2026
Gwangju Uprising: South Korea's Pro-Democracy Bloodbath
May 09, 2026
Goryeo's Celadon: Korea's Ceramic Revolution
May 09, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Kingdom: Balhae and the Legacy of Goguryeo
May 08, 2026
The Turtle Ships That Changed Naval Warfare
May 08, 2026
The Turtle Ships That Changed Naval Warfare
May 07, 2026
The Korean Alphabet: King Sejong and Hangul's Creation
May 07, 2026
The Silla-Tang War: Korea's Unification and Its Cost
May 06, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Queen: The Tragic Fate of Queen Min
May 06, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution: Korea's Uprising of the Marginalized
May 05, 2026
Seoul's Rebirth: The Cheonggyecheon Stream Story
May 05, 2026
The Samguk Yusa: Korea's Mythic Origins and Buddhist Heritage
May 04, 2026
The Korean War's Frozen Hell: The Battle of Chosin Reservoir
May 04, 2026
The Turtle Ships That Changed Naval Warfare
May 03, 2026
The Fall of Gojoseon: China's Han Conquest and Korea's First State
May 03, 2026
The April Revolution: How Students Toppled Syngman Rhee
May 02, 2026
The SS Meredith: Korea’s Forgotten Independence Ship
May 02, 2026
Kim Ku: Korea's Long March for Independence
May 01, 2026
Korea's Comfort Women: The Untold Story of Wartime Sexual Slavery
May 01, 2026
The Korean War: Origins, Invasion, and Stalemate
Apr 30, 2026
Korea's Independence Activists: The Righteous Army After 1910
Apr 30, 2026
The Byeongjahoran 1636: Korea's Forgotten War with the Qing
Apr 29, 2026
Korea's Turtle Ships: The Ironclad Warships That Changed Naval Warfare
Apr 29, 2026
The Eulsa Treaty: How Korea Lost Its Sovereignty
Apr 28, 2026
Korea's Hermit Kingdom: The Story of Heungseon Daewongun
Apr 28, 2026
Korea's Forgotten War: The Byeongjahoran 1636
Apr 27, 2026
The Gwangju Uprising: Korea's Democratic Crucible
Apr 27, 2026
The Great Famine of 1871: Korea's Hidden Catastrophe
Apr 26, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Empire: Balhae and the North-South States Period
Apr 26, 2026
The March First Movement: Korea's Cry for Freedom
Apr 25, 2026
The Fall of Joseon: Japan's Colonization of Korea 1910
Apr 25, 2026
The Donghak Peasant Revolution and Korea's Path to Modernity
Apr 25, 2026
Joseon's Silent Revolution: King Sejong and the Creation of Hangul
Apr 25, 2026
Joseon's Secret Weapon: The Hwacha Fire-Arrow Battery
Apr 24, 2026
The Imjin War: Japan's Invasion of Korea 1592–1598
Apr 23, 2026
Korea's Forgotten Kingdoms and the Making of a Nation
Apr 23, 2026