The History of Korea

(Hardback, 2nd edition)

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This revised edition examines North and South Korea's political, socio-economic, and cultural history from the Neolithic period to the early 21st century, including issues of recent political unrest and preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Korea continues to be featured in the news, especially after the succession of Kim Jong-un as leader of North Korea and his threats of nuclear attack. Yet the reported instability of the North is contrasted by the rapid modernization revolution of the South. Author Djun Kil Kim analyzes how tragic experiences in the regions' collective historyparticularly Japanese colonial rule and the division of the countryhave contributed to the dichotomous state of affairs in the Koreas. This comprehensive overview traces the development of two contradistinctive nationsNorth and South Koreawith communism in the north and democracy and industrialization in the south transforming the geopolitical and geo-economic condition of each area. Author Kim explores specific doctrines that revolutionized Korea: Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in the mid-7th and the late 14th centuries; and communism and American functionalism in the 20th century. The second edition includes an updated timeline, new biographical sketches of notable people, and an additional chapter covering the events of 2004 through the present day.

Reviews

This entry from the Greenwood Histories of Modern Nations series provides a wealth of information. . . . Recommended for school, college, and public libraries. * ARBAonline *

Author Bio

Djun Kil Kim, MA, is professorial and research chair of the Samsung Korean Studies Program at the University of Asia and the Pacific, Manila, Philippines.