...In the latter Choson period, Korea could not keep up with the social and economic developments of modernization and was invaded by Japan, endangering Korea's rights as a nation.
Reform movements for modernization were promoted by enlightened officials and the intelligentsia. But these enlightenment movements were not smoothly carried out as a result of opposition by conservative forces and intervention by world powers. Furthermore, a peasant movement rose up in resistance to aggressions by feudalistic and imperialistic powers, but failed as a result of stern suppression by the government and Japan.
Although political and social reforms on an institutional level were implemented very slowly, Korea was not idle in accepting and utilizing modern civilization. This soon set the framework for today's Korean society, techniques and theories.