Author: Bruce Cumings Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393347532 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 544
Book Description
"Passionate, cantankerous, and fascinating. Rather like Korea itself."--Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times Book Review Korea has endured a "fractured, shattered twentieth century," and this updated edition brings Bruce Cumings's leading history of the modern era into the present. The small country, overshadowed in the imperial era, crammed against great powers during the Cold War, and divided and decimated by the Korean War, has recently seen the first real hints of reunification. But positive movements forward are tempered by frustrating steps backward. In the late 1990s South Korea survived its most severe economic crisis since the Korean War, forcing a successful restructuring of its political economy. Suffering through floods, droughts, and a famine that cost the lives of millions of people, North Korea has been labeled part of an "axis of evil" by the George W. Bush administration and has renewed its nuclear threats. On both sides Korea seems poised to continue its fractured existence on into the new century, with potential ramifications for the rest of the world.
Author: Victor Cha Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0062906445 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 479
Book Description
In The Impossible State, seasoned international-policy expert and lauded scholar Victor Cha pulls back the curtain on provocative, isolationist North Korea, providing our best look yet at its history and the rise of the Kim family dynasty and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them. Cha illuminates the repressive regime’s complex economy and culture, its appalling record of human rights abuses, and its belligerent relationship with the United States, and analyzes the regime’s major security issues—from the seemingly endless war with its southern neighbor to its frightening nuclear ambitions—all in light of the destabilizing effects of Kim Jong-il’s death and the transition of power to his unpredictable heir. Ultimately, this engagingly written, authoritative, and highly accessible history warns of a regime that might be closer to its end than many might think—a political collapse for which America and its allies may be woefully unprepared.
Author: Scott A. Snyder Publisher: Columbia University Press ISBN: 0231546181 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 203
Book Description
Against the backdrop of China’s mounting influence and North Korea’s growing nuclear capability and expanding missile arsenal, South Korea faces a set of strategic choices that will shape its economic prospects and national security. In South Korea at the Crossroads, Scott A. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future. Pairing a historical perspective with a shrewd understanding of today’s political landscape, Snyder contends that South Korea’s best strategy remains investing in a robust alliance with the United States. Snyder begins with South Korea’s effort in the 1960s to offset the risk of abandonment by the United States during the Vietnam War and the subsequent crisis in the alliance during the 1970s. A series of shifts in South Korean foreign relations followed: the “Nordpolitik” engagement with the Soviet Union and China at the end of the Cold War; Kim Dae Jung’s “Sunshine Policy,” designed to bring North Korea into the international community; “trustpolitik,” which sought to foster diplomacy with North Korea and Japan; and changes in South Korea’s relationship with the United States. Despite its rise as a leader in international financial, development, and climate-change forums, South Korea will likely still require the commitment of the United States to guarantee its security. Although China is a tempting option, Snyder argues that only the United States is both credible and capable in this role. South Korea remains vulnerable relative to other regional powers in northeast Asia despite its rising profile as a middle power, and it must balance the contradiction of desirable autonomy and necessary alliance.
Author: Victor D. Cha Publisher: Columbia University Press ISBN: 0231548249 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 279
Book Description
Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang’s Nuclear North Korea was first published in 2003 amid the outbreak of a lasting crisis over the North Korean nuclear program. It promptly became a landmark of an ongoing debate in academic and policy circles about whether to engage or contain North Korea. Fifteen years later, as North Korea tests intercontinental ballistic missiles and the U.S. president angrily refers to Kim Jong-un as “Rocket Man,” Nuclear North Korea remains an essential guide to the difficult choices we face. Coming from different perspectives—Kang believes the threat posed by Pyongyang has been inflated and endorses a more open approach, while Cha is more skeptical and advocates harsher measures, though both believe that some form of engagement is necessary—the authors together present authoritative analysis of one of the world’s thorniest challenges. They refute a number of misconceptions and challenge the faulty thinking that surrounds the discussion of North Korea, particularly the idea that North Korea is an irrational actor. Cha and Kang look at the implications of a nuclear North Korea, assess recent and current approaches to sanctions and engagement, and provide a functional framework for constructive policy. With a new chapter on the way forward for the international community in light of continued nuclear tensions, this book is of lasting relevance to understanding the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula.
Author: Andrei Lankov Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199390037 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 350
Book Description
In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive
Author: Jrgen Kleiner Publisher: World Scientific ISBN: 9789812799951 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 452
Book Description
This book provides an evenhanded coverage of Korea''s turbulent history during the last one hundred years, from seclusion to division. It focuses particularly on the development of the two different and antagonistic states on the peninsula since 1945. The author sees both countries through the windows of their possibilities and interests. He supplements his narrative, which makes use of rich source material, with observations he has made in South Korea, where he spent more than ten years from the 1970s to the 1990s, and where he had access to politicians and opinion leaders. The book starts by describing how the Hermit Kingdom was exposed to the greed of foreign powers at the end of the 19th century and how it became the victim of imperialistic Japan, then account is given of the country''s division and the hardening of that division through the Korean War. The rule of the military and the final triumph of civilian democrats in South Korea are analyzed in much detail. One chapter is devoted to the rise and intermittent decline of the South Korean economy. The history of North Korea under Kim II Sung and under his son is told, before the foreign relations of both Koreas are explained. A chapter on the so far overwhelmingly antagonistic South-North relations concludes the book. Sample Chapter(s). Foreword (95 KB). Chapter 1: The Hermit Kingdom (172 KB). Contents: Korea and the Modern Age: The Hermit Kingdom; Within Reach of the World Powers; The Japanese Rule; Divided Korea: The Origins of the Division of Korea; The Korean War Phase One: Towards Reunification; The Korean War Phase Two: The Division Hardens; Politics and Economics in the Republic of Korea: Syngman Rhee''s Korea; The Rise of Park Chung Hee; The Yushin System; Steps to Power; No Better Country?; OC Down with Military DictatorshipOCO The Beginnings of Democratic Rule; Civilian Leadership; The Economy; The Democratic People''s Republic of Korea: The State of Kim II Sung; North Korea Under the Son; Foreign Relations: South Korea''s Great Partner; The Neighbor in the East; Northern Policy; North Korea''s Foreign Partners; Nuclear Dangers and Beyond; South-North Relations: Confrontation and Dialogue. Readership: General."
Author: Sungju Lee Publisher: Abrams ISBN: 161312340X Category : Young Adult Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 299
Book Description
Written for a young audience, this intense memoir explores the harsh realities of life on the streets in contemporary North Korea. Every Falling Star is the memoir of Sungju Lee, who at the age of twelve was forced to live on the streets of North Korea and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting, begging, and stealing rides on cargo trains. Sungju richly recreates his scabrous story, depicting what it was like for a boy alone to create a new family with his gang, “his brothers,” to daily be hungry and to fear arrest, imprisonment, and even execution. This riveting memoir allows young readers to learn about other cultures where freedoms they take for granted do not exist.
Author: Bruce Cumings
Author: Victor Cha
Author: Scott A. Snyder
Author: 
Author: John Glenn
Author: 
Author: Victor D. Cha
Author: Andrei Lankov
Author: Jrgen Kleiner
Author: Sungju Lee