A History of Contemporary Korea

A History of Contemporary Korea PDF

Author: Man-gil Kang

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-11-26

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 9004213740

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Now in English, this important new contribution from a distinguished Korean historian on the history of twentieth-century Korea covers: first, the Japanese colonial period, including detailed accounts of the anti Japanese independence movements, followed by the liberation of Korea, the Korean War and political developments up to the late 1980s.

Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition)

Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition) PDF

Author: Bruce Cumings

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2005-09-17

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 0393347532

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"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.

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean History

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean History PDF

Author: Michael J Seth

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-01-29

Total Pages: 726

ISBN-13: 1317811488

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Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century when Korea became entangled in the world of modern imperialism and the old social, economic and political order began to change; this handbook brings together cutting edge scholarship on major themes in Korean History. Contributions by experts in the field cover the Late Choson and Colonial periods, Korea’s partition and the diverging paths of North and South Korea. Topics covered include: The division of Korea Religion Competing imperialisms Economic change War and rebellions Nationalism Gender North Korea Under Kim Jong Il Global Korea The Handbook provides a stimulating introduction to the most important themes within the subject area, and is an invaluable reference work for any student and researcher of Korean History.

The History of Korea

The History of Korea PDF

Author: Djun Kil Kim

Publisher: Greenwood

Published: 2005-01-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780313038532

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The Koreas are two of the few countries in the East Asian world to successfully maintain political and cultural independence from China. Originated by the Han-Ye-Maek people who had migrated from North China to Manchuria and the Korean peninsula since 2000 BCE, three Korean dynasties—Great Silla, Koryo, and Choson—kept peace and prosperity in the country since the 7th century, nurturing a civilization based on Buddhism, Confucianism and the East Asian world-system. Korea, despite experiencing Japanese dominion and the nation's division, now looks forward to enjoying its prosperity as a member of the global community and to seeing a unified Korea. This volume provides a comprehensive review of Korea's history, from its roots in Neolithic civilization, and the tradition and evolution of nation-building in the traditional East Asian world system, through Korea's global setting in modern times. Also included are a biographical section highlighting famous figures in Korean history, a timeline of important historical events, a glossary of Korean terms, and a bibliographical essay with suggestions for further reading. The historical origin of Korean identity in the East Asian world, Korea's failure to adapt to a changing East Asian world-system, as well as the political division Korea suffered in the second half of the 20th century are discussed. Readers will benefit from the inclusion of direct translations from original classical Chinese and Korean sources by the author. Excellent as a reference tool for students and general readers interested in the history of this unique nation.

The Korean War

The Korean War PDF

Author: Bruce Cumings

Publisher: Modern Library

Published: 2011-07-12

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 081297896X

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A BRACING ACCOUNT OF A WAR THAT IS EITHER MISUNDERSTOOD, FORGOTTEN, OR WILLFULLY IGNORED For Americans, it was a discrete conflict lasting from 1950 to 1953. But for the Asian world the Korean War was a generations-long struggle that still haunts contemporary events. With access to new evidence and secret materials from both here and abroad, including an archive of captured North Korean documents, Bruce Cumings reveals the war as it was actually fought. He describes its origin as a civil war, preordained long before the first shots were fired in June 1950 by lingering fury over Japan’s occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. Cumings then shares the neglected history of America’s post–World War II occupation of Korea, reveals untold stories of bloody insurgencies and rebellions, and tells of the United States officially entering the action on the side of the South, exposing as never before the appalling massacres and atrocities committed on all sides. Elegantly written and blisteringly honest, The Korean War is, like the war it illuminates, brief, devastating, and essential.

The Two Koreas

The Two Koreas PDF

Author: Don Oberdorfer

Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)

Published: 2013-12-10

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 0465031234

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Ever since Korea was first divided at the end of World War II, the tension between its northern and southern halves has riveted—and threatened to embroil—the rest of the world. In this landmark history, now thoroughly revised and updated in conjunction with Korea expert Robert Carlin, veteran journalist Don Oberdorfer grippingly describes how a historically homogenous people became locked in a perpetual struggle for supremacy—and how they might yet be reconciled.

Korea-China Relations in History and Contemporary Implications

Korea-China Relations in History and Contemporary Implications PDF

Author: Robert Kong Chan

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-08-28

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 331962265X

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This book examines the complex relations between Joseon Korea (1392–1910) and Ming/Qing China in history, and reveals their contemporary implications for the nature of a China-dominated order in East Asia and the relations between China and the middle powers in the region. Instead of relying on the works that offer over-generalized conclusions based on information drawn from secondary sources, this book provides a much more nuanced account of the Koreans’ experience of managing their relations with the great powers by analyzing the first-hand evidence documented by the Joseon historiographers related to the major events in Joseon–Ming relations, Joseon’s response to power transition from Ming to Qing, and Joseon–Qing relations. In East Asia today where the middle powers are facing the rise of China and a trilateral dilemma as a result of the Sino–US rivalry in the region, what history can tell us is of significant value to scholars, policy advisers, and policymakers.

Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey

Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey PDF

Author: Michael E. Robinson

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2007-04-30

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0824831748

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For more than half of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two hostile and competitive nation-states, each claiming to be the sole legitimate expression of the Korean nation. The division remains an unsolved problem dating to the beginnings of the Cold War and now projects the politics of that period into the twenty-first century. Korea’s Twentieth-Century Odyssey is designed to provide readers with the historical essentials upon which to unravel the complex politics and contemporary crises that currently exist in the East Asian region. Beginning with a description of late-nineteenth-century imperialism, Michael Robinson shows how traditional Korean political culture shaped the response of Koreans to multiple threats to their sovereignty after being opened to the world economy by Japan in the 1870s. He locates the origins of both modern nationalism and the economic and cultural modernization of Korea in the twenty years preceding the fall of the traditional state to Japanese colonialism in 1910. Robinson breaks new ground with his analysis of the colonial period, tracing the ideological division of contemporary Korea to the struggle of different actors to mobilize a national independence movement at the time. More importantly, he locates the reason for successful Japanese hegemony in policies that included—and thus implicated—Koreans within the colonial system. He concludes with a discussion of the political and economic evolution of South and North Korea after 1948 that accounts for the valid legitimacy claims of both nation-states on the peninsula.