Product Description

A distinguished group of international scholars debates the state of change or continuity in North Korea's post--Kim II Sung regime--shedding light on one of the world's most closed societies, its potential to adapt to post--cold war realities, and the prospects for a peaceful and stable Korean peninsula.

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Customer Reviews (106)

Great book!
Wow, I just finished this book and LOVED it!I knew nothing about North Korea before reading this, but was always amazed at how they managed to control their people and stay in the dark ages during this vast global electronic evolution.Thank you for making this about real, personal stories.My heart is broken for these people.I had no idea all of this was going on while I'm in my wonderful free country! I find myself google-ing North Korea and reading their latest news now.This was not a light and easy read, but well worth it.I will definitely look for some documentarys to watch on this sad, fascinating country!!!Again, WOW!

North Korea: A Love Story
A friend of mine working at the American embassy in Beijing sent me this book.It is six separate defector's stories from North Korea, providing a glimpse into typical lives north of the 38th Parallel from the end of the Cold War, through the death of Kim Il-Sung and catastrophic famine of the late 1990s, to their maladjusted lives of freedom and abundance in South Korea in the early twenty-first century.It is fascinating, often unbelievable and creepy.The Stalinist regime is unlike any other totalitarian state of the twentieth century, save possibly Pol Pot's Cambodia at its murderous apex.Life in North Korea, even today, resembles less a repressive police state than an insane quasi-religious cult, like a contemporary Jonestown, only with over 20 million members and possessing nuclear weapons.

Author Barbara Demick writes clearly and simply.She describes a hidden world of almost incomprehensibly forced devotion -- worship really -- of Kim Il-Sung and his son, Kim Jong-Il.She tells how each household is provided an official portrait of father and son and are required to display it prominently and alone on a plain white wall and clean it daily with a special piece of linen provided by the government that can only be used to dust the photo and frame.All organized religion is banned in North Korea, but the citizens of the People's Republic are provided with their own deity and Christ-like son to worship.As Demick tells us, "Instead of marking time from the birth and death of Christ, the modern era for North Koreans would now begin in 1912 with the birth of Kim Il-Sung so that the year 1996 would now be known as Juche 84."

Each morning, after passing signs on the way to school declaring "Let's eat two meals a day," school children begin their day with a sing along to a tune called, "We Have Nothing to Envy in the World."The official government first grade arithmetic text book provides quizzes with none too subtle political messages that are sick, but humorously absurd.For instance, "Three soldiers from the Korean People's Army killed thirty American soldiers.How many American soldiers were killed by each of them if they killed an equal number of enemy soldiers."

Demick charts the experience and travails of six characters representing a relative cross section of North Korean society, although they are all from the industrial northeastern coastal city of Chongjin.However, for me at least, one narrative was most compelling and memorable and insightful, the story of Mi-ran, a young woman with "tainted blood" thanks to a grandfather who served in the South Korean Army during the Korean War who suffers from lack of professional and personal opportunity in North Korea's already economically stunted society, but nevertheless carries on a secret courtship with a promising young engineering student on the fast track to Worker's Party membership and a life of relative privilege in Pyongyang.Her story is poignant, touching and, ultimately, uplifting.

Even if you have little interest in Korean politics, "Nothing to Envy" provides an amazing, unforgettable glimpse into perhaps the most secretive and terrifying society in history.

"One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic"
Demick has done a great service to readers around the world by her depiction of life in North Korea. This is not a book about North Korea's politics, history or economy. I imagine that there are better books out there on those topics. What Demick does brilliantly is to methodically describe the lives of six different North Koreans who defected to South Korea. Her information is based on interviews with the defectors and further research from other sources. It is clear that she used multiple sources to corroborate the information she obtained from her interviewees. By delving deep into the lives of her subjects, readers will develop a clear picture of life under North Korea's oppressive regime. Demick is not emotional about her subjects; she is fair, unbiased, and objective. This is particularly commendable given the hardships that the defectors endured which makes staying objective difficult. Ms. Demick is an outstanding journalist and author. Highly recommended.

Absolutely riveting!
I discovered Barbara Demick when she was interviewed on the Dennis Prager show and was immediately interested in the book.It turned out to be one of the most fascinating reads I have had in a long time.Her writing is immersive, achingly descriptive and compassionate.I came away from it with a sense of awe at the tenacity of the North Koreans, sadness for all of their terrible losses, and a deep sense of gratitude for being born in a free country.She says herself that it is impossible to know everything that has/is happening there, but her accounts are an excellent window into this strange land.Well done Ms. Demick!

Emotional stories from a land of desparation
It is so sad how much death, sickness, and misery ca be caused by a
government controlled by those acting with bad intentions and
obsessed with wrong=headed ideas.

A comparison between (1) Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Turkey vs. (2)
Kim Il-sun and North Korea is stark.Both produce dramatic, huge,
and far reaching changes, but ...One, in Turkey, produced a modern
functioning economy and a democratic government that responds to the
needs of its people.The other, in North Korea, produced a country
with almost no economy at all and a government that responds to its
people with repression and propaganda, causing them to starve, to
suffer, to remain uneducated, and to miss out on the benefits of
modern technology, economic productivity, and the arts and
entertainment.

The stories in this book are heart-warming and bring a bit of cheer
with their endings, but only because they are about a few
individuals who managed to escape.Imagine the misery and
desperation of all those left behind.And, even for those who have
escaped (defected), their stories are no lived-happily-ever-after
ones.Adjusting to a advanced economy after living in a backward
one is not easy.

It is always possible to claim that a planned economy could produce
acceptable results, even in one run so incompetently and so
selfishly as that in North Korea.OK, Cuba does not seem to have
produced such great results either.There is no way to disprove
such a claim, nor any other claim of the form that X would be Y if
only Z.Still, capitalist systems seem to produce better results
and much higher standards of living, although there are problems with the
distribution of those benefits and the disparity of benefits and
lack of them.Some capitalist systems do seem to leave behind large
sections of there populations.And, we do seem to have a fair share
of booms and busts, economic shocks, recessions, etc.

Still, perhaps one of the benefits of reading this book is the
lessons it teaches in the way of thankfulness for the benefits and
living conditions we enjoy in our own society and an appreciation
for just how much worse things could be.We need to be reminded of
this, especially now, during a severe economic recession.

This book is worth reading, not just because of what you will learn
about a place that we know so little about, but also because of some
of the thoughts it is likely to push you to think about, such as:
(1) There but for the grace of god or chance go I.(2) How can
single person or a small group of people or a misguided ideology
cause so much suffering, misery, and death, and loss?(3) How are
other/some advanced societies better and worse, for example: the
U.S. where we've created so much wealth and yet have so many people
without health care coverage, not receiving acceptable educations,
living in poverty, etc. so, is that disparity an inevitable result of
a capitalist economic system.And, most importantly, what can we do
to help those in our own societies who need help most.

... Read more

Product Description
America's leading historian on Korea offers a nuanced analysis that demolishes familiar generalizations.

Depicted as an insular and forbidding police state with an "insane" dictator at its helm, North Korea —charter member of Bush's "Axis of Evil" —is a country the U.S. loves to hate. Now the CIA says it possesses nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, as well as long-range missiles capable of delivering them to America's West Coast.

But, as Bruce Cumings demonstrates in this provocative, lively read, the story of the U.S.-Korea conflict is more complex than our leaders or our news media would have us believe. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Korea, and on declassified government reports, Cumings traces that story, from the brutal Korean War to the present crisis. Harboring no illusions regarding the totalitarian Kim Jong Il regime, Cumings nonetheless insists on a more nuanced approach. The result is both a counter-narrative to the official U.S. and North Korean versions and a fascinating portrayal of North Korea, a country that suffers through foreign invasions, natural disasters, and its own internal contradictions, yet somehow continues to survive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Sympathy for the Hermit Kingdom
The three ideological pillars on which the North Korean (DPRK) state rests are the following: (i) self-reliance, (ii) national independence, and (iii) independent economy. Any nation doing its utmost to stand on its own feet commands our admiration, but as even a cursory reading of our newspapers reveals to us: the DPRK is almost always reviled rather than extolled. The author endeavours to unravel the mechanisms behind America's irrational hatred of this great nation, and succeeds in his task quite well. The anti-DPRK hysteria in America is rooted in the following two factors: ignorance and indoctrination. The author's second aim is to explain the rationale behind DPRK's Realpolitik. As a post-colonial nation with deep-seated memories of the horrendous crimes against humanity committed by the American terrorists and marauders during the Korean war, the DPRK feels compelled to adopt a stalwart posture vis-à-vis the Americans. The Koreans have taken the following law of the jungle to heart: the strong devours the weak. Therefore, if and when the Yanks come knocking, the DPRK will have one nasty surprise after another in store for the unwanted visitor. An American general estimated that in the case of a new Korean war, "he would need as many as 80,000 to 100,000 body bags for American soldiers who would die" (p. 72). The Americans are not willing to pay such a high price, and this the Koreans know.

An important counterpoint
This book is, in my mind, a valuable addition to the collection of work on North Korea despite its limitations.Bruce Cummings is certainly an expert in the field and despite the obvious, overwhelming consensus of North Korea as a rogue, totalitarian nightmare of a state operated by a half-insane, comically maladjusted madman, he manages to point out the dangers of oversimplification.Likewise, Cummings wisely points out that despite characterizations to the contrary, the North Korean government is well entrenched, its grip on power solid, and its behavior identifiably consistent, if not entirely predictable.Briefly, here are his key points.

1) The Korean war was a civil war wherein the North did not see it as a war of conquest, but one of liberation and national unification.

2) The war was devastating to North Korea, with vast swathes of the country reduced to cinders and people burrowing in caves and sewers to avoid allied air power.This informs their decisions to massively militarize their countries.

3) North Korea has always had a policy of self-sufficiency when surrounded by enemies and as such seeks to develop its military and civil arsenal to minimize its reliance on external forces.

4) Until the 1980s, North and South Korea were on similar levels of economic development, with the North actually leading the South in such key factors as the development ofheavy industry, the use of fertilizers, electrical consumption, and so on.

5) Much of the information which informs American public opinion is filtered through the lens of South Korean news and intelligence services, both of which have their own biases and tendencies towards sensationalism.

6) North Korea IS willing to open up to the west to a certain extent and come in from the cold, but numerous factors inhibit this.These include the fact that North Korea will not accept reunification through absorption (as in Germany), the fact that for decades American official policy has been regime change in the North, and the fact that any kind of rapprochement with North Korea is wildly unpopular in the United States.

Nevertheless, Cummings does have a tendency to gloss over the problems of North Korea and is in some ways inaccurate.For example, Cummings maintains that there are no more than 100 to 150,000 prisoners in North Korean camps, a figure which would represent less than one half of one percent of the population.Given North Korea's penchant for collective punishment of families, this number is ridiculously low.Likewise, Cummings fails to explain what precisely went wrong with North Korea to take it from being more or less on par with the South to one of the most backwards and underdeveloped country in Asia.Other than blaming this largely on the collapse of communism in the early 1990s, Cummings declines to comment.

Also, Cummings has a tendency to make certain sweeping generalizations about North Korea in particular and Koreans in general.For example, he actually claims that Korea (unlike China and Japan) has not fallen into a habit of cultural ethnocentrism or racism.This statement is blatantly false, especially for anyone who has ever lived in Korea (especially as a foreigner).One needs look no further than the ways in which the "half-breed" children of Korean peasants and Vietnamese or Philippa women are treated by society.

Finally, Cummings-- while adroitly making comparisons between South and North Korea-- tends to ignore one key fact.While South Korea may have started off as a one-party state, largely run by hard-line conservatives (many of whom had ties to the colonial Japanese administration), the fact remains that over a period of 15-20 years in the 80s and 90s, South Korea DID modernize, democratize, and relax to the point where now it can rightfully be considered a free and fair representative democracy comparable to Japan or Taiwan.North Korea for whatever reason, has never done so and seems extremely unlikely to do so in the near future (or any future, for that matter).

As such, while Cummings does make some excellent points and fearlessly goes against the grain in pointing out some of the benefits of life in North Korea, his analysis remains somewhat myopic and as such, flawed.

I'm all for alternative viewpoints, but...
This book just doesn't have a point.There's no overarching thesis to explain the North's behavior.I think he's going towards a Confucian explanation, but then he doesn't really have that much to say about Confucianism either.The first chapter is about the history of the Korean war, and how disproportionate our reaction was.The second is about the nuclear crises in the 90's and 2000's, which makes the point that North Korea isn't as unpredictable as people make it out to be.For these two chapters, I'll give it one star above the minimum.However, there's a big hole between 1953 and 1990: he seems to be making the same mistake as those he detracts, only paying attention to them in terms of their military relations with the US.Moreover, the thesis of the second chapter doesn't get expounded anywhere else in the book.

The third chapter is about Kim Il Sung (and the fifth chapter is largely about Kim Jong Il)- which kind of makes me wonder why I'm bothering reading an alternative history in the first place.Sandwiched inbetween in a chapter on daily life.He quotes a number of people who have direct experience in Pyongyang, and relates their experiences to his own experiences in Pyongyang.He never really makes it out into the countryside, though, thus neglecting the biggest part of the country, when nowadays it's perfectly possible to get information on that subject.Finally, the last chapter talks about a lot of other authors that I haven't read.In general, his political views are incoherent: he questions people who assert that Koreans aren't fit for democracy, after excusing the death camps on the basis that they're okay for Koreans.I won't give too much else away, because that's part of the fun of reading the book - and anyway most other reviews have already talked about it.I'm really dying to know what Saudi Arabia has done to "make Kim Jong Il look enlightened" though - he never really explains that point.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good alternative source on North Korea, I would recommend Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country.It doesn't have quite the same political leanings, but it's basically non-political, and it gives you a good feeling for how the country really works, outside the halls of power.

stick with it 'til at least the 2nd half of the book....
Taken as a whole, most of the comments of others before me (below) provide a very balanced review of this book.I will not add in-depth comments in much the same veins, but I did want to issue cautionary encouragement to the [prospective] reader.

This work DOES provide interesting and useful insight into an otherwise rarely well-analyzed North Korean culture and regime.That said, as an international relations specialist, and doctor, with two advanced degrees from Ivy League schools (dating from the early-mid 1990s), I was surprised to find this book such a challenge to stick with reading.I am glad I did.I read the second half with far greater understanding having 'suffered' through the 1st half.

If, as you read this book, you find yourself suffering through seemingly unending descriptions, in the most minute of detail, of military and nuclear to and fro between various U.S. presidencies and North Korea, hang in there.Skim small parts of pages or select paragraphs, and put the book down for several days, if you need, but DO keep reading.I nearly gave up at least a half dozen times; I am very glad I did not.Whatever you glean from making it through the first half WILL help you put the second half in much better context, and THE 2nd HALF of the book IS WORTH THE EFFORT.

North Korea: A Contrarian View
Bruce Cumings has a poor opinion of media coverage of North Korea. "With the occasional exception, most of it is uninformative, unreliable, often sensationalized, and generally fails to educate instead of deceive the public." The nuclear crisis is a case in point. "The media has had the wrong stories in the wrong place at the wrong time; the absurd result is that often one has to read North Korea's tightly controlled press to figure out what is actually going on between Washington and Pyongyang."

He also has a low esteem of the bulk of North Korea studies published in the US. Nicholas Eberstadt, a Washington pundit, has been "wrong-wrong-wrong throughout the past fifteen years in his prognostications of North Korean collapse". The most interesting piece of information to be found in his book is that "Kim Il Sung University has a baseball team". Another book published by a CIA analyst has some useful information "on arcane and difficult to research subjects like North Korean wage and price structures, the self-sufficient and decentralized neighbourhood living practices that mostly eliminated the long line for goods that characterized Soviet-style communism, and the decade of one's young life that almost every North Korean male is required to devote to military service." But the author's characterization of North Korea as a `cult society' "merely betrays her lack of knowledge about the society she spent so many years studying, presumably with the best intelligence material that the US government can muster at her fingertips."

Some scholarship on North Korea nonetheless finds favour in his eyes. Besides his own books and articles, "new work by excellent younger scholars has enabled [him] to go beyond [his] previous publications that have dealt with the North." A few testimonies are also worth quoting. Breaking the Silence, the memoir by Kim Jong Il's adopted daughter Li Nam Ok, is used at length. The Aquariums of Pyongyang, a testimony on the North Korean gulag first published in French in 2000, is "an interesting and believable story, precisely because it does not, on the whole, make for the ghastly tale of totalitarian repression that its original publishers in France meant it to be."

According to Bruce Cumings, what most reporting on North Korea fails to see is that "the DPRK is not a nice place, but it is an understandable place". Its leaders follow "a rationality of historically informed, trial-and-error, theory-and-practice learned behaviour growing out of the Korean civil conflict going back to 1945, yielding intransigent bargaining strategies and extreme conceptions of national sovereignty." Cumings is not the only analyst to note that "the 1990 dealt North Korea a very bad hand, but they played it with surprising skill". In his opinion, and as of his writing in 2003, the only solution to unravel the impending calamity is "a quick return to the status quo ante 2001, to the compelling and still feasible denouement of the original crisis fashioned by Kim Dae Jung, Bill Clinton, and Kim Jong Il." His hope is that "sooner or later an American president will come to understand this, the crisis will end, embassies will be exchanged, and Americans will begin to enjoy touring this beautiful Hermit Kingdom and meeting with its unknown but warm, proud and dignified people."

Bruce Cumings is convinced that "for decades the North far outstripped the South in economic development", and that standards of living in the 1970s "were higher and more equitably distributed than in the South". His judgement is grounded on the observations of a Swedish ambassador (although he notes that "diplomats were kept in such ignorance that they would speculate as to whether the DPRK had a court system"), on personal observations (his first visit to the DPRK was in 1981), and on some production figures : "the DPRK used as much electricity as the South, with half the South's population; it produced more crude steel and three times the number of machine tools (the building blocks of industry) as the South." "Its agriculture was far ahead of the South in productivity; it used miracle seedlings and its chemical fertilizer application was `probably among the highest in the world,' while the South still ladled human waste on its rice fields." Economists may have second thoughts on such evidence of economic superiority.

Bruce Cumings is a professor of history at Chicago University and a specialist of the Korean war. As he makes it clear, North Korea is "another country", not his country anyway, and although feeling "empathy for the underdog is something [he] can't help, being a lifelong fan of the Cleveland Indians", he feels no sympathy for this "garrison state". On the other hand, he is passionate about the Korean war, his academic field and his key to the understanding of the Pyongyang regime. He still feels anger about the US army's decision to cross the 38th parallel to carry the battle to the North after September 1950: due to this fateful decision, "upward of three million North Koreans died, along with another one million South Koreans, and nearly a million Chinese. Fifty-two thousand more American soldiers died. And the war ended where it began." This tragedy is not ancient history: "the war is still not over and appears unlikely to be resolved anytime soon." The Korean conflict provides a lesson on "how easy it is to get into a war and how hard it is to get out".

Bruce Cumings also holds strong views about the policies followed by the United States of America in the Middle East, the state of its prisons, and other issues. He has every right to hold these views: it is his country anyway. But his commentary on US domestic and foreign policy issues is both excessive and misplaced: one only wishes he would tone down his language, and stick to the topic he is addressing. ... Read more

Product Description
Greenhaven Press's The World's Hot Spots series provides context and insight into some of the most unstable and conflict-ridden places on the planet. Each volume is an anthology of primary and secondary documents that provides historical background and contemporary analysis on the conflicts in one country or region. An introduction outlines essential background information, and a historical chapter illustrates the roots of the conflicts. Next a wide range of individuals--from world leaders, activists, and professional writers--presents the causes and potential solutions to the current hostilities. In addition, each book includes extensive research tools, such as an annotated table of contents, comprehensive bibliographies, and a glossary of terms and important figures. Greenhaven Press's The World's Hot Spots series will help readers develop a firm grasp of some of the most important issue to affect the international community. (20050401) ... Read more

Product Description
North Korea remains one of the least understood nations on earth; a nuclear enabled "Hermit Kingdom" ravaged by economic mismanagement and reliant on illegal weapons sales, smuggling and counterfeiting for most of its foreign reserves while undergoing a prolonged famine and propped up by aid donations. Not a normal country in any sense of the word, its nuclear weapons program makes it a country whose actions could have global ramifications. This book demystifies North Korea through revealing the daily life of its citizens; the political and economic history of the nation; the reasoning behind the country's combative way of engaging the world and the tentative economic reform process now being undertaken. The prospect of a nuclear North Korea preferring brinksmanship to engagement and negotiation, makes understanding Pyongyang's guiding principles, motives and possible future increasingly important.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Important Dispassionate Work on a Highly Emotive Subject
Mr. French has done us all a great service by writing a dispassionate analysis of recent history in the DPRK. Few places in the world bear witness to the intersection of so many disparate national interests and international concerns. The complexity of the subject is often obscured by emotive reporting that rehashes the prevailing neo-Con world view.

As Mr. French clearly demonstrates throughout his well written book, any of the few remaining misguided apologists for the Pyongyang regime have no factual standing for their views.However, the "demonization" of Kim Jong Il and his regime has simply worked to paint the Bush administration into a corner by removing any flexibility in its dealings with Pyongyang.The DPRK has survived against the odds for more than 60 years and has acquired a new lease on life through its ham-fisted entry into the nuclear club.This fact is something that will not change no matter how much anger and alarm the White House and the Western media can generate. It is not a question of doing something reactively in a knee-jerk manner, which seems to be the order of the day.

Now is the time for dispassionate analysis to find a way to break through the diplomatic log-jam that has kept the Korean peninsula in suspension since 1953.This requires the emotional reserve to understand how the DPRK sees the threats posed by the post-WWII world.Mr. French's book is worth the price of admission for the knowledge that it conveys to the reader on that score.

It seems to me that other reviewers have overstated the shortcomings of Mr. French's book.Certainly someone who is serious about understanding the dilemma on the Korean peninsula will need to go through the entire literature available on this topic and sort through a wide range of views.While Mr. French's book is one of many that are mandatory reading, it is, admittedly, not a complete view (as if there is such a book on any subject).

I have only given his book four stars because of my pedantic bias for research in local language materials. However, while Mr. French's book is based on non-Korean language sources, this does not detract in the least from its usefulness.

Some good, some bad
I'm a budding student of North Korea ("Pyongyangologist"). So I snapped up a copy of this book when it came out. Thus far, I'm not terribly impressed with it. Why is that? Well, I think that French seems rather biased against the US (if not actually for the DPRK). I'll give three examples:

First, he accuses the US during the 1992-1994 crisis over Yongbyon of "extreme belligerence." This really makes me wonder if French bothers to read the stuff put out by the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency, the DPRK's "press") and by other mouthpieces of the regime. The North Koreans routinely refer to the US as "fascists," "imperialists," "war mongers," etc. Since the crisis resumed in 2002, the regime has put out a line of propaganda posters that show such engaging themes as a Korean People's Army soldier smashing the Capitol dome with a karate chop, a DPRK missile doing the same, and --my personal favorite-- an American soldier impaled on DPRK bayonets. Furthermore, during the 1992-1994 crisis, the DPRK was the country that said any form of sanctions against it would be "an act of war." Who's being extremely belligerent here? Granted President Bush did call the DPRK a member of the Axis of Evil, but that's just a pebble compared to the mountain of hateful, vitriolic propaganda that pours out of Pyongyang aimed at the US.

Second, I was disturbed by the way the author characterized an infamous event at Panmunjon in 1976, the so-called "Axe Murders."

Essentially what happened was this. One fine day, two American officers led a work party into the DMZ near the truce village to cut some branches from a tree that was blocking their view into the DPRK. They were not armed. A group of KPA guards accosted them and demanded that they stop. Perhaps unwisely, the senior American refused to do so (although he was within his rights to refuse). Whereupon the North Korean commander shouted, "Kill the foreigners." This is exactly what the North Koreans did. They beat both of the American officers to death with axe handles and anything else that was handy (photos of this incident are available online).

Mr. French refers to this cold-blooded, supremely brutal, and unprovoked pair of murders as "a confrontation" that "led to the deaths" of the two American officers. Using that sort of formulation, one could describe September 11 as "a confrontation that led to the deaths of 3,000 American civilians" It's a classic example of doing violence to the English language.

Third, there is the incredible excuse the author offers for the North Koreans to violate the spirit (if not the letter of the 1994 Agreed Framework as well as a separate promise to South Korea). This was the decision by the DPRK to embark on a clandestine highly enriched uranium production program some time in the late 1990s. Mr. French attributes this action as the result of North Korean frustration over delays in implementation of components of the Agreed Framework. Supposedly, the North Koreans started the HEU program in order to force the US back to the negotiating table and honor its promises.

That interpretation of facts simply defies common sense. Granted, the North Koreans had some reason to be unhappy with the delays in the delivery of fuel oil and the lagging effort to build the light-water reactors promised to them (although they did get some of what they were promised and might have gotten it all had they played fair with the US). But if all they wanted to do was force the US back to the table, why didn't they simply announce that if the US didn't start talking with them by a certain date, the Agreed Framework would be suspended or ended outright? Why would they embark on the HEU program, which they had no way of knowing the US would discover as the means to force the US back to the table?

Mr. French, it makes no sense. I'll say it again. It makes NO sense. I respectfully suggest to you that the North Koreans became disenchanted with the Agreed Framework, but they continued to play along to extract concessions while trying to pull "a fast one" on the US and the international community by developing a bomb through the HEU route. In other words, by the late 1990s, they were acting in bad faith.

So the bottom line on "the Paranoid Peninsula" for me at least is that while it probably has some useful information, I'd treat the analysis with a substantial amount of skepticism. ... Read more

Product Description
In June 1950 the North Koreans invaded South Korea. This book recounts these military operations, the slogging war on the ground as well as the UN naval superiority and the importance of air power. It also explains the diplomatic background of international relations between China and the West, the communist propaganda in the north, the issue of prisoners-of-war, the talks leading to armistice and the creation of the demilitarized zone. The war enabled the UN to act in an official capacity to defend a state under military attack , the only time during the Cold War it did so. But it did not enhance the reputation of the UN for resolving international disputes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

United Nations War
The author, Brian Catchpole is British, and the book notes all the British units fighting in the war, as well as all the other United Nations troops. United States troops are also included, as they provided most of the troops, next to the Koreans, but the Brits provided the 2nd most, after the U.S.British Commandos were in the fighting at the Chosin Reservoir, for example.
The horrendous intelligence failure to see over 300,000 Chinese troops is noted, as the stupidity of Gen Almond to want to continue the advance to the Yalu in spite of the masses of Chinese attacking.
The book includes chapters not usually included in this war.
There are chapters about the role of the Navy,and Air Force, and special operations behind the lines.
The contributions of the Greeks, Turks, French, Canadians, Kiwis. and Australians, Filipinos, and Thais are included.
The Koreans did the most suffering, by the millions. Souel was a ruin, having been taken 4 times in the War twice by the Chinese, twice by us.
The Japanese were the big benefactors of the war, with billions of military spending causing a boom in Japan. Japan was our repair shop, storage shop, and they made many of our vehicles.
For example, the Toyota president had tried just before the war started to form a partnership with Ford. Ford refused, and then Toyota had to make thousands of vehicles on its own for the military when the war broke out, and kept all the profit.
The POW issue is included.
The war was forgotten before it even ended. When troops came home, no one welcomed them. The public did not even notice.
The Brits did not declassifiy much of the Korean War information until the 1990.s.
Differences in equipment were noted, with the Brits with their sten guns and rum ration, the Canadians with huge supplies of Labatt beer.
The battles of the Hook and Pork ChopHill are gone into in some detail, as they were the final battles.
A chapter is included on the various perspectives on the war from the different country' points of view. The McCarthy era, Ike, is discussed, as well as the effect in China and Britain.

It is a very good book for an overall view of the Korean war, especially if you are British.

The Korean War: 1950-53, by Brian Catchpole
In this book, Brian Catchpole provides a political and military history of the movements and actions leading up to the war and on through to 1953.Although this book does not get bogged down in any one facet of the war, it does do a good job at covering the political plans of President Truman, the tactical maneuvers of Gen. MacArthur and his commanders, and the grinding ground/sea/air battles that took place.

Some will be astonished at the power that MacArthur wielded as the commander of U.N. forces.He was quite a diplomat, building a coalition of nations to fight the Chinese and Russian fortified North Korean People's Army (NKPA).

The book also gives the reader a good insight into the life of an infantryman, be it the 8th Army, X Corp, or Republic of Korea (ROK) regiments, trying to survive the cold Korean winters and defend against crushing attacks.

No single book can cover all of what transpired during the Korean War, but this book should satisfy all but the most erudite war buff.

Review of "The Korean War"
For those of us born in the years immediately following World War II, the start of the Cold War was one of those dark ghosts that would haunt us until middle age.To me, the Korean War marks the formal recognition that the First and Second Worlds had irreconcilable differences that would not soon disappear.America began a conscious effort to change its political system and military philosophy and doctrine to cope with this challenge. The Korean War was also the tangible manifestation that the Cold War would be a global contest.Thereafter America looked at Asia and the world outside of Europe differently.

Otherwise it was so reminiscent of the other large wars of the Twentieth Century.A megalomaniac autocrat sends his army to overwhelm a weak neighbor.The weak neighbor through bravery, desperation, and limited help from a hard-pressed ally, militarily unprepared and with a politically indifferent populace, narrowly fends-off the invader until the US can bring the might of its resources to bear.In this way it was eerily similar to the way the First World War started, was fought, and ended.

This book tells the history of the Korean War -- mostly from a British perspective -- from the individual heroism of the Black Watch in the battle of the Hook to the efforts various British governments to support the UN effort.Despite this perspective, Catchpole is careful to maintain a balance with the narrative of the general military and political context.The book does not neglect the important battles that American forces fought, nor does it neglect the ROK army.Douglas MacArthur, America's proconsul to Japan, comes off as out-of-touch and immensely egotistical.The decision to fire him was not a result of a sudden epiphany, but a culmination of minor and major insubordinations.

One of the basest insults for a soldier is that he is prepared for the last war.Indeed the soldiers of the Korean War, especially the British, should have been complemented for remembering the lessons and being prepared to re-fight the First World War.The book recounts, the appalling monotony in which the Chinese attacked, often at division strength, and were slaughtered as they attempted to take the prepared British defenses.

Catchpole's book is a reminder that the Korean War was a UN war.Although the military effort was predominantly American, the other contingents bore the brunt of the fighting out of proportion to their sizes.Politically, the support of America's allies was indispensable to maintaining the effort in a place most Americans cared little about and would just as soon forget. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great resource
For anyone wanting a comprehensive overview of North Korea and the information that makes this reclusive state tick, you don't want to miss this book. An invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in East Asia or doing business in this part of the world. It includes everything you'll ever need to know. ... Read more

Product Description
"Oh and Hassig give their readers genuine insight into one of the most bizarre and mysterious societies on earth, at the precise moment when the North Korean tragicomedy appears to be moving toward a denouement. The value and timing of this book could not be greater." - Francis Fukuyama, Hirst Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

"No one can presume to predict the near term future of North Korea-implosion, explosion, gradual assimilation into the Asian community of nations, peaceful reunification with the South, or continuing down the current path of a hermit nation-isolated and struggling to survive. We can predict with certainty that insights into what drives this nation of 23 million people, a focus of U.S. defense planning for 50 years, will continue to be important to U.S. national interests for years to come. Kongdan (Katy) Oh and Ralph Hassig have made a rich contribution to meeting the need for these insights with a view through the looking glass into the mystery that is North Korea. This is an important book, readable and profound. It is worthy of the careful study and attention of those who want to better understand the global environment that shapes and permeates our own future." - General Larry D. Welch, President, Institute for Defense Analyses

"Neither with rancor nor sentimentality Oh and Hassig unpeel the layers of misinformation, vilification, and speculation about North Korea to provide a textured view of this enigmatic Northeast Asian State. This fine book outlines the seemingly impenetrable logic of the North Korean ideology of Juche showing how it dominates state economic and foreign policy. It is also one of the best analyses of the leadership cults of the late Kim Il Sung and the current leader Kim Jong Il. The analysis presented here is not idle punditry; it is based on painstaking research, thorough familiarity with Korean language sources, and extensive interviews of a multinational group of policymakers familiar with North Korea, as well as defectors. This book will become a standard read for those interested in why North Korea has survived the fall of the global socialist system to continue to confound the stability and evolution of Northeast Asia's economic and diplomatic relations. It will also be required reading for American strategic planners who have isolated North Korea as a major security threat to the U.S. Oh and Hassig capture the unique dynamics behind the survival and continuance of this unique system whose future resides at the very heart of the Northeast Asian state system and its future." - Michael E. Robinson, Indiana University ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The Queen of Hearts family name is Kim
An informative, well written sojourn into one of the most bizarre lands on the planet. The only place where the book tends to bog down is when it makes a game try at explaining Juche, the governing philosophy of North Korea, a mystifying blend of doublethink, the divine right of kings, divinely inspired governmental infallibility and socialism (sort of). The rest of the book provides a fascinating glimpse into a culture that is so foreign to western minds that explaining it as an import from another planet almost sounds reasonable. The reader may find it troubling after finishing the book to reflect on the fact that North Korea is such a sealed culture that what the book presents is most likely just ripples on the surface of a very deep cenoté.

Excellent analysis of North Korea
This book contains very solid analysis of North Korea's society and political structure. However, I believe that if the authors had relaxed their anti-North Korea stance a touch the book may have helped me understand North Korea a bit more. I wouldn't recommend this to be the first book you read about North Korea - it's a bit too dense and analytical for that. But it's a great resource for further study.

Yet another alcoholic despot
The title suggests an "Alice in Wonderland" fantasyland, but a huge dose of Edgar Allen Poe must be added to the cauldron to get a feel for the horrors of this most bizarre of lands.

This terrific book explains that the combination of Confucian kingdom and totalitarian socialist state allows the rulers of North Korea, Kim Il Sung from its founding at the end of WW2 to his death in 1994 and his successor-son, Kim Jong Il, to wield inconceivable power not only over peoples' actions, but also over their minds. North Koreans almost uniformly believe their rulers are the equivalent of Gods. According to the authors, in the Korean tradition of Confucianism, North Koreans willingly subject themselves to a strict hierarchical social order and absolute loyalty to and respect for the Kims, which is returned with feigned benevolence.

While the history and troubles of North Korea make interesting reading, the most fascinating aspect for students of addiction (which provides an oft-overlooked explanation for bad behaviors) revolve around the observable (sometimes, subtle) clues to early-stage alcoholism in the current "central brain," Kim Jong Il. Needless to say, the clues are few, since little escapes the "hermit kingdom." We learn that the person who is, perhaps, the highest-ranking defector ever, former North Korean party secretary Hwang Jang Yop, reported that an understanding of Kim's personal life is irrelevant to comprehending his political behavior. This is simply untrue, especially if there is alcoholism, although I don't expect (or suspect that) the authors would understand this.

Kim displays numerous behavioral indications of alcoholism, which the book goes into in great detail (and which I describe in my books as evidence of addiction). As I note elsewhere and in the calculations embedded in my on-line Substance Addiction Recognition Indicator, barring actual evidence of addictive use we're limited to ascribing an 80% likelihood of alcoholism. As I've also noted elsewhere, a diagnosis of alcoholism is essential if we are to understand the motivations of the subject under scrutiny, if there really is early-stage alcoholism.

While such evidence is scarce, it is not non-existent. According to the authors, the late-night parties of his younger days are said to be legendary. Japanese women invited to attend one of Kim's intimate parties, apparently after he became the supreme leader, report that he drank heavily and scattered hundred dollar bills (a rather ironic use of U.S. money). And, the authors say, "Kim Jong Il relies on a kitchen cabinet composed of a small group of friends and family members of approximately his own age, especially trusting a few close relatives and drinking buddies." As discussed in my book "Drunks, Drugs & Debits," merely having drinking buddies, especially when well past age 30, is a classic sign of alcoholism.

The truly frightening aspect to this surreal mess is that not only is the head of state a likely alcoholic (and, therefore, capable of anything), but also that the vast majority of the North Korean people appear to be as indoctrinated as were the citizens of George Orwell's imaginary Oceania.

"Through the Looking Glass" details the amazing propaganda used by Kim, his military amateurism, social controls and "thought" control over the North Korean people. The book is a fascinating read. For those who grasp the idea of alcoholism, it offers a unique insight as to why Kim Jong Il, possibly the only alcoholic despot other than Stalin to have access to nuclear weapons (who had them for only a short time before he died), may be the most dangerous man ever.

Authors not up to the task
Interest in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has increased since President Bush included the nation with Iran and Iraq as an "Axis of Evil" state.Further interest was generated in October of 2002, when the North Korean government confirmed that it possesses a nuclear weapons program.I, along with many Americans, are now seeking information about this mysterious hermit nation. I chose Kongdan Oh's "North Korea: Through the Looking Glass" because it seemed to be a non-technical overview of North Korean society, economics, and politics.The blurbs on the back cover described the book as providing "genuine insight" gleaned from "painstaking research." Unfortunately, the book did not live up to its promise.

One finds oneself wishing that the authors would share with the reader all of the interesting data that they discovered in researching the book. Instead, all we get are general statements about the corruption and ineptitude of the North Korean government. This could have been a much better book if the authors had elected to paint a more vivid picture by including more detail. Here's an example: on page 66 the authors make the following statement: "North Korean government and party officials also engage in many illicit activities such as counterfeiting, production of illicit drugs, and smuggling (especially conducted by the DPRK's foreign diplomatic corps). " There is no elaboration on this provocative declaration. The citation for this statement is an article by David Kaplan et al. in US News & World Report, dated February 15, 1999. I looked up the article and found it to be fascinating. The US News piece states that North Korean counterfeit "$100 bills ... are cranked out on a $10 million intaglio press similar to those employed by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, officials say. North Korean defectors claim the notes come from a high-security plant in Pyongyang. Kim Jeong Min, a former top North Korean intelligence official, told US News that he had been ordered to find paper used to print US currency but couldn't. 'Instead. I obtained many $1 notes and bleached the ink out of them,' he says."You can see how the authors water down the source material to a bland presentation of generalities. It as if the authors went to the same writer's school as the North Korean propagandists, from whom they endlessly and boringly quote.

I was also annoyed by the repeated jabs at the North Korean government. Readers should be allowed to come to their own conclusions about the foolishness of the North Korean dictator, rather than be pelted with parenthetical inserts about the ineptitude of the leadership. An example: "The most pressing economic problem is the food shortage. The apparent (but wrong) solution to the problem is to try to achieve economic self-sufficiency... " This style gets irritating very quickly. Sometimes, the writing becomes downright stupid. An example from chapter 8:"North Korea is half a world away in the part of the globe less familiar to Americans -- Asia rather than Europe."

I was interested in examining the 29 photographs that occupy the center of the book. Unfortunately, they all appear to be government-approved. For instance, there are several sterile photos of peoples' backs as they stand still looking at statues exalting communism.Of course, the lifelessness of theses photos probably does reflect the Zeitgeist of this unfortunate country.But I wish the photographs could have provided more insight into the difficulty of daily life in North Korea.

Despite the flaws in the book, the subject is of such intrinsic interest that I kept reading. My persistence was rewarded at the end of the book, where the authors discuss policy options in dealing with North Korea. This section was well-reasoned and shows that the authors do indeed know their topic. Too bad the preceding 200 pages were not equally as good.

A Hermit Kingdom
A great introductory insight into one of the most strange and mysterious countries on earth.The authors provide valuable examples and a good understanding as to how the bizarre North Korean government operates, and how this regime minipulates the minds of its people.The most interesting parts of the book are the insights provided by the many defectors from the North, and the stories they tell.

In my opinion, the book lacked any real insight into North Koreas military capability, it kind of leaves the reader wondering how strong this country really is.Though the author does mention that North Korea has a "military first" policy, and most of its money and resources goes into the military, we don't know what types of capabilities they really have, what types of technology they possess, and what countries are supplying them with what technological products.This lack of information may be due to lack of the authors access to this information.

After reading this book, I still don't know how the economy of this country functions, this is definetly a country that requires serious help from the outside.This book is a great read, and a very good introduction to understanding this backward nation. ... Read more

Product Description
North Korea, despite a shattered economy and a populace suffering from widespread hunger, has outlived repeated forecasts of its imminent demise. Charles K. Armstrong contends that a major source of North Korea’s strength and resiliency, as well as of its flaws and shortcomings, lies in the poorly understood origins of its system of government. He examines the genesis of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) both as an important yet rarely studied example of a communist state and as part of modern Korean history.

North Korea is one of the last redoubts of "unreformed" Marxism-Leninism in the world. Yet it is not a Soviet satellite in the East European manner, nor is its government the result of a local revolution, as in Cuba and Vietnam. Instead, the DPRK represents a unique "indigenization" of Soviet Stalinism, Armstrong finds. The system that formed under the umbrella of the Soviet occupation quickly developed into a nationalist regime as programs initiated from above merged with distinctive local conditions.

Armstrong’s account is based on long-classified documents captured by U.S. forces during the Korean War. This enormous archive of over 1.6 million pages provides unprecedented insight into the making of the Pyongyang regime and fuels the author’s argument that the North Korean state is likely to remain viable for some years to come.

Studies of the East Asian Institute, Columbia University ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent Study, Sound Conclusions
Completely by coincidence, I finished this book one day after the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950.It is an appropriate coincidence, however, since Armstrong (who completed the first version of this study as his dissertation under Bruce Cumings at the University of Chicago) lays out the development of North Korea as an increasingly separate state and society right up to the eve of the war.In Armstrong's description, "Korea's sudden liberation from Japanese colonialism in 1945 created an enormous space for politics, releasing a cacophony of contesting voices claiming to represent Korean society" (p. 47).Armstrong traces the early development of several of those voices, eventually narrowing his focus to Kim Il Sung and the people surrounding him--primarily allies from his days as an anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter in Manchuria.Indeed, one of Armstrong's purposes is to demonstrate that the experience of living and fighting in exile in the hinterlands of China had far more to do with shaping Kim's thinking and politics than any adherence to a Soviet-inspired system.He convincingly demonstrates that the development of North Korean politics, society, economy, and culture in these five crucial years immediately after Liberation were a combination of the legacy of colonial rule, influence from the USSR and China, and a bedrock of enduring Korean culture.Especially valuable is Armstrong's extensive use of North Korean documents captured by US forces during the Korean War--an enormous archive which scholars have only begun to mine.Armstrong concludes that Kim Il Sung gained power not because he was anointed by the Soviet Union but because he skillfully manipulated internal political alignments and understood the strength of Korean nationalism.He rose to power through internal politics, and could only be recognized and supported, not selected, by the USSR.Equally important, he shows that for all its outward adherence to many of the forms of a Soviet system, in its content the North Korean state developed essentially as a nationalist, and not a Soviet-internationalist, construction.It remains so today, dependent still on the rhetoric of external threat, a unitary people and culture, and the need for a strong leader to manage the constant crisis.It is a very good study, and did much to enhance my understanding of this crucial period.

Solid, detailed, and thorough.
When the history of North Korea is discussed, the focus is usually on the division of the peninsula, the installation of a pro-Soviet regime, and the application of communism. But Charles K. Armstrong went far beyond this approach in this work.

Armstrong went through several aspects of North Korean society, touching upon even art, to show how the government's authority and ideology touched upon every aspect of daily life and every imaginable segment of society. To his credit, he highlights the communists' significant overturning of traditional Korean classes, as the communists placed the peasantry on top.

A sound work free of political bias which examines what the North Koreans did between August 14, 1945 and June 25, 1950, in their attempt to revolutionize their half of the peninsula.

Excellent study on the development of communist North Korea
In The North Korean Revolution 1945-1950, Charles K. Armstrong argues that North Korea was not simply the result of an externally imposed communist system strictly controlled by the Soviet Union - and that Kim Il Sung was not a hand-picked Soviet puppet.Instead, he argues that North Korea, though created under the umbrella of the occupying Soviets, developed a uniquely Korean form of communism forged from the experiences of the various Korean communist groups that returned or re-emerged after liberation.Throughout the book, Armstrong strives to demonstrate the uniquely indigenous Korean aspects of the social formation of North Korea into a communist state - particularly those that contrast the Soviet national model and the type of socialism imposed more strongly on the Eastern European states.
Armstrong begins his argument by discussing how socialist endeavors at land reform in Manchuria amongst the large populations of ethnic Koreans directly influenced subsequent land reforms in North Korea after Soviet occupation.Armstrong uses this one example to illustrate that an indigenous communist movement not only existed in theory in colonial Korea, but also actually put their theories into practice amongst the ethnic Korean population of Manchuria.Armstrong also notes that this nascent Korean communist movement, that existed to a limited extent within Korea and also in other countries where Koreans emigrated to or fled, was neither created nor controlled by the Soviet Union.In fact, when Soviet forces occupied North Korea, they had no known communist groups with which they had contact.Also, Armstrong makes the claim that the Soviets did not necessarily plan on creating a communist state in the North - only a state that would be friendly with the Soviet Union and open up its economic resources.Further, the various communist groups that eventually poured back into Soviet-occupied Korea did not all have the same agenda and competed amongst each other for influence.Armstrong also strongly emphasizes in this book that Kim Il-Sung was not the hand-picked puppet leader of the Soviet authorities, but was rather a leader of one of the several returning communist factions who had to compete for his ultimate leadership of the North.
After making these significant points in his argument, Armstrong spends the rest of the book demonstrating how the communism that developed in North Korea from 1945 to 1950 was more a result of both traditional Korean Confucian traditions and the complex influence of oppression under and resistance to the Japanese colonial system than a result of an implementation of Soviet-style socialism.Armstrong also notes that North Korea had no real exposure to Western liberal ideals since it moved "directly from neo-Confucian monarchy to Japanese colonialism to Stalinism virtually without a break (6-7)."Finally, Armstrong shows throughout his book, and especially in the last few chapters, the influence of the anti-Japanese struggle on the formation of North Korea's unique brand of communism.With the rise of Kim Il-Sung's Kapsan guerilla faction to power, their experiences of continuous and desperate struggle against an almost omnipotent Japanese surveillance and security force directly informed their own policies of continual mass mobilization for war and the development of a widely-pervasive national surveillance infrastructure.
Armstrong bases his argument primarily on his research of North Korean documents covering the period 1945 to 1950 captured by American forces during the Korean War.According to Armstrong, more than 1.6 million North Korean documents are currently stored in the United States National Archives.While the use of these captured documents provides a level of insight and detail impossible to obtain from sources within North Korea itself, there are limitations to using these types of documents as primary sources.First of all, having been written by North Korea communists themselves, these writings undoubtedly strive to portray the Korean communists as having a great amount of political autonomy from Soviet occupation authorities - if for no other reason than nationalistic pride.Armstrong himself notes in his appendix on sources that he did not use any Russian-language sources from the same time period.This is a shame, since these documents could just as well have supported his argument - but they may also have contradicted it by revealing a more powerful and influential occupational authority than envisioned by Armstrong.
Therefore, Armstrong has probably painted an overly optimistic portrait of the "North Korean Revolution."But, this criticism aside, this book is a worthy addition to the library on modern Korean studies.I respect Armstrong's willingness to challenge traditional wisdom on the formation of the North Korean state and the true value of this book is found in this challenge.However, his reliance on captured North Korean documents as his primary source, without contrasting Russian-language sources from the same period, weaken his overall argument of the purely indigenous nature of North Korea's development into a communist state.With this said, I believe that Armstrong successfully demonstrated that North Korea was not simply a Soviet-created and supported puppet state - but he did not demonstrate well from his sources that, beyond just being there and allowing nascent communism to flower, that the Soviet Union did not have a more direct influence on the style of communism that developed in the young North Korean state. ... Read more

Product Description
A new edition of the definitive overview of contemporary Korean history, updated with new material to account for recent, dramatic events.

Don Oberdorfer has written a gripping narrative history of Korea's travails and triumphs over the past three decades. The Two Koreas places the tensions between North and South within a historical context, with a special emphasis on the involvement of outside powers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

'Definitive' History a Definite Letdown
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R20JINHCDRKS3V Brief, general impressions of Don Oberdorfer's 'definitive' account of modern North and South Korea. The reviewer lives in S. Korea and was disappointed with the author's treatment of major figures in Korean history.

A Great First Book on Modern Korea by a Good Writer - Not an old-school history book
Don Oberdorfer's "The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History" is the perfect first book for anyone interested in the history and trauma in Korea over the last 50 years.This text was required reading in a graduate-level course on the Government and Security in Korea.

Oberdorfer knows Korea.From his first visit in 1953 as an Army Lieutenant through his interviews of the presidential candidates before the 1987 election, and his visit to Pyongyang in 1991, Oberdorfer continually followed Korean politics - mostly from the seat of a press member for the Washington Post.As he recounts in the text, Oberdorfer was sitting in the National Theater in Seoul on August 15th, 1974 when the shots rang out at ROK President Park Chung Hee, killing the ROK First Lady, the president survived.This personal touch of first hand accounts, compiled with interviews of major actors in Korean politics (both U.S., North Korean, and South Korean), is seamlessly rolled together in a readable narrative that draws the reader into this contemporary history.

The text covers the inside stories and under-the-table events which occurred between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from mostly first hand sources in the form of interviews with the participants.

I highly recommend this book for anyone studying Korea, Asian politics, or the military situation on the Korean peninsula.A 40-page notes and sources section serves the reader with the basis for Oberdorfer's statements and claims, and lends itself to more in depth research of the primary sources.

Style Over Substance
Don Oberdorfer's The Two Korea's is a triumph of style over substance.To be sure, Oberdorfer is a compelling writer and he tells the story of North and South Korea since the 1970s with a great deal of flair.But Oberdorfer's overall knowledge of Korea and Korean history is very shallow.Oberdorfer does not speak or read Korean and he can only use Korean sources that have been translated for him.His research in Korean materials is very thin and as a result the book does not yield a good understanding of the Korean perspective on events that were occurring.His knowledge of Korean history before the 1970s is also lacking.His telling of the events of the last three decades could have been greatly enriched by a deeper understanding of how the actions taken by Korea's leaders during this period were rooted in Korea's long history and fascinating culture.In short, Oberdorfer, like many of the Washington area journalists who write about Korea without ever bothering to learn the language or study Korean history, is really just a dabbler in Korean politics.His work may satisfy those who want asuperficial telling of recent events but is useless to those who want to gain a deeper understanding of Korean history.

Outstanding overview of recent Korean history
Anyone who wants to brush up on the issues surrounding North and South Korea would do well to pick up this volume.It is well written and actually enjoyable to read.You will also pick up a lot of historical tidbits from the era from the author who was actually there as a reporter.Especially interesting were his observations of North Korea made during a trip there.

What a book!
I cannot recall reading a book which covers a country's contemporary history in such an interesting and insightful way. ... Read more

Product Description
North Korea has been described as “the land that never changes”. But its early years witnessed unimaginable turbulence, both in the devastation of the Korean War and in the postwar ferment in which military interventions by the Chinese and the Americans both played a part.

Comprising more than 100 rare photos – most never before seen in print – "North Korea Caught in Time" documents the country’s destruction and painful rebirth. The accompanying text analyzes the regime’s totalitarian ethos and highlights their many official distortions of history. ... Read more

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The publication follows on from the establishment of diplomatic relations with the the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and visits there by scholars from the British Museum and British Library. The papers from the two study days provide a unique insight into North Korean culture. North Korea remains little known to the West and these papers will advance our knowledge and understanding. Contents: This volume presents aspects of North Korean culture, including papers on art, tombs, cinema, dance, literature, and politics by experts in the field including: Jim Hoare, Beth McKillop, Jane Portal, Soyoung Kwon, Hyangjin Lee, Agnita Tennant, and Keith Howard. The book is fully illustrated in colour throughout, together with maps and tables ... Read more

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North Korea is not easily accessible, but boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in the Korean Peninsula, and arguably in East Asia. Travel to and in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is tightly controlled, while political, economic, social and cultural life is played out in terms of a not readily understood philosophy, known as juche. The country maintains a watchful and often defiant relationship with the rest of the world and insists on following its own standards and norms at all times. Nonetheless, North Korea is slowly adjusting to the great changes that have taken place since the collapse of the Soviet Union. One important expression of this softening of attitudes is its willingness to allow a greater number of foreigners to enter and live in the country. In the belief that it is better to try to understand than to routinely condemn, the authors have attempted to interpret what they observed around them during their almost two-year stay in the DPRK setting up the first British Embassy in Pyongyang (the story of which is to be found in Part III of this book).The country's reputation as a difficult partner in world affairs could not be ignored, but for them that was never the whole story. Here was a society operating certainly along very different lines, but which in its essentials was recognizably Korean. The contents cover North Korean politics, the economy, the role of history, society, cultural values, and visiting and living in the DPRK. ... Read more

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This collection of essays by noted scholars of Asian security examines the perspectives and interests of North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan regarding North Korea's future, including the possibility of neutrality. ... Read more

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For many centuries the residents of the three northern provinces of Korea have long had cultural and linguistic characteristics that have marked them as distinct from their brethren in the central area near the capital and in the southern provinces.Contributors to this book address the problem of amnesia regarding the subjectivity of the northern region of Korea in contemporary, historical, and cultural discourses, which have largely been dominated by grand paradigms, such as modernization theory, the positivist perspective, and Marxism. Through the use of storytelling, linguistic analysis, and journal entries from turn-of-the-century missionaries and traveling Russians in addition to many varieties of unconventional primary sources, they creatively explore unfamiliar terrain while examining the culture, identity, and regional distinctiveness of the northern region and its people.

Sun Joo Kim is a professor of Korean history at Harvard University. She is the author of Marginality and Subversion in Korea. ... Read more

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Concentrating on the years 1953-64, this history describes how North Korea became more despotic even as other Communist countries underwent de-Stalinization.The author’s principal new source is the Hungarian diplomatic archives, which contain extensive reporting on Kim Il-sung and North Korea, thoroughly informed by research on the period in the Soviet and Eastern European archives and by recently published scholarship.

Much of the story surrounds Kim Il-sung: his Korean nationalism and eagerness for Korean autarky; his efforts to balance the need for foreign aid and his hope for an independent foreign policy; and what seems to be his good sense of timing in doing in internal rivals without attracting Soviet retaliation.Through a series of comparisons not only with the USSR but also with Albania, Romania, Yugoslavia, China, and Vietnam, the author highlights unique features of North Korean communism during the period.Szalontai covers ongoing effects of Japanese colonization, the experiences of diverse Korean factions during World War II, and the weakness of the Communist Party in South Korea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Must read book for anyone interested in north korea politics and dynamics of its relations with the USSR
This is a must read book for anyone interested in north korean politics and north korean-soviet dynamtics of relations in the khrushchev area (1953-1964). ... Read more

Product Description
In 236 pages of detailed analysis, Korea - The 38th Parallel North presents fascinating insight from a North Korean perspective of the geopolitical events and U.S./U.S.S.R. domestic considerations following World War II that led to the division of Korea, thus setting the stage for the Korean War. ... Read more

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Praise for The Great Raid on Cabanatuan "An exciting narrative presented by a first-rate storyteller." —Publishers Weekly Acclaim for Feuding Allies "An absorbing look at the impact of Alliance politics on the outcome of WW II." —Kirkus Reviews ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

misuse of the facts
on page 228, chapter 30, the author quoted that a Communist official said " You are a turtle egg!" This is a fact, but it happend on Nov 14, 1951(ref: "Truce Tent and Fighting Front", US Army Offical Korean War History), not in the spring of 1953 as the author claimed.

This seems small but the whole book thus becomes questionable.

Is it the truth? Who knows...
Special oeprations in the Korean War is a new/interesting subject for me. I've read quite a bit about Vietnam and post-Vietnam special ops stuff but this was my first text on the Korean War. Unfortunately, even if what is contained in this text is true...I have serious reservations about this text. This book is written with such a slant that it almost sounds like early 80's anti-communist propaganda!!!

For one thing, it constantly uses racial slurs to make the North Koreans, Chinese, Russians and the Japanese(?) sound like monsters or sub-human. It continues to wave flags about how greatthe Western "democratic" forces were and how evil the Communists were. Now I'm not making a judgement call here, but I think I can make up my own mind if facts are presented as objectively as possible...I'm not 2 years old and have to be told what is good or evil.

If that's not enough for you, the language used to describe operations is repetitive and dull.

I now see why this is "bargain price" book. Find something else. You'll thank me later.

Theater of War Extends Well Beyond the Battlefield
Breuer, William B. Shadow Warriors
The Covert War in KoreaDS 921.5 S7 B74 1996

The well published Mr. Breuer--he boasts 23 other war-related texts-- has quite a talent for writing gripping text. Readers will find alot about the Korean War here not described in other books. There is a detailed description of the myriad of deceptive tactics employed by the North Koreans to distract attention from their imminent attack in the Seoul Corridor. Several chapters describe the preparations for the Inchon landing. Operation Trudy Jackson, using surveillance garnered from the small island of Yonghung, twelve miles south of Inchon, gathered vital data on troop strength, tidal ranges, placement of enemy mines, etc. I am eternally grateful to Breuer for finally translating "Wolmi-Do" as 'moon tip island'. (By the way, sunset and moonset over the Yellow Sea are a joy to behold]

Breuer is a bit confusing when he talks simultaneously about Inchon being a 'secret', while soldiers in Pusan, Japan, and the US referred to it as Operation Common Knowledge. Not only had the Chinese wargamed an Inchon landing as a possibility (and never informed the North Koreans they had done so), but the NY Times itself ran an article suggesting the idea in its September 14, 1950 edition. Breuer acknowledges this, but then shifts his focus to the disinformation campaign designed to fool the North Koreans the landing would be at Kunsan. I think his point should be to make clear that secrets are hard to keep and it is best to sew confusion to obscure your true intentions.

Breuer says the damage done by the Philby/Maclean/Burgess spy ring was primarily leaks of UN battle plans in North Korea, especially the restrictions placed on MacArthur. The Chinese knew they did not have to worry about another amphibious landing, for example. (Even when Van Fleet wanted a series of amphibious assaults up Korea's east coast, it was shot down-- the US had decided on a limited war.) Although the spies did their best to hide evidence of planned Chinese intervention, enough evidence was available from Commanders on the ground, and through other channels (such as the Indian Ambassador).

Other intelligence operations had a mixed outcome. The Li-mi project, an attempt to distract and tie down Chinese Communist armies in Yunan Province, was largely a failure. The US missed a major propoganda coup when they failed to publicize that smallpox raged in the devastated Chinese/North Korean territory. Ironically, it was the US that later suffered a barrage of Communist accusations about 'biological warfare.'The North Koreans constantly deceived US aerial reconnaisance into thinking major damage had been inflicted on roads, bridges, tunnels, and supply convoys.
The authors references to spy operations in Manchuria are interesting but sketchy and incomplete. Readers looking for cloak-and-dagger intrigue in Manchuria might want to readLawrence Gardella's "Sing a Song to Jenny Next," instead.And the elaborate preparations to kidnap Syngman Rhee--who was dismayed at the US's willingness to accept a permanent division of the Peninsula-- make amusing reading for those aware of the crosscurrents of loyalty vs. pragmatism in the Cold War era.

Some spy operations pay off in ways that are unanticipated. Such was the outcome of operation Moolah, which offered a hundred grand to any communist who landed a MIG-15 at Kimpo airport. Two months after the War was over, North Korean Air Force Captain Ro Kum Suk did exactly that

Exhilarating for any fan of military intrigue
In June 1950, North Korean communist soldiers crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. The United States' stance against global communism would endure its first bloody test.Shadow Warriors: The Covert War in Korea documents the high level clandestine operations that encompassed the "Forgotten" War in the Far East. Breuer reveals that perilous cloak-and-dagger operations were equally common on both sides of the conflict.Whether it be evidence supporting direct Soviet military involvement in Korea or CIA operations deep into the Chinese mainland, Breuer writes with a flair that hooks the fan of political intrigue while presenting enough historical detail to satisfy the avid military historian.

Upon perusing Breuer's notes, most of his book is based upon memoirs of top-level officials in the Korean conflict and author interviews with key players.Nevertheless, further government documentation appears warranted to support the author's arguments. However, Shadow Warriors is highly entertaining as a work of literature and most informative into a realm of military history of which most casual historians are unaware. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1910, Japan took control over Korea by military and political force. Then, in 1945, Korea was arbitrarily divided by the Soviet Union and the United States into North and South Korea. The Soviets impeded all United Nations efforts to hold elections and reunite the country under one government. Korea has been struggling for independence and reunification ever since.

In this memoir, Won Tai Sohn recollects the unusually harsh Japanese treatment of Korean people in Korea, Manchuria, China and Japan, and remembers his close relationship with North Korean president Kim Il Sung from their boyhood to President Kim’s sudden death in 1994. According to Dr. Sohn, President Kim devoted his entire life to the liberation of Korea, starting with fighting against the Japanese stationed in North Korea and China. He became the first premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea when it was established in 1948, and led his nation in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. In 1993, President Kim’s nuclear program and defense policy became a great concern for the United States when intelligence analysis estimated that North Korea was less than two years away from being able to strike South Korea and Japan with nuclear missiles. President Kim died two months after talks with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter about ending North Korea’s nuclear program. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

an important piece of the puzzle that is north korea
Do not read Dr. Won Tai Sohn's "Kim Il Sung and Korea's Struggle" if you are seeking a sophisticated political analysis of how Kim Il-song and Kim Chong-il have built and run the North Korean state.But do invest in this book if you seek to know the pain and nationalistic hopes characteristic of the Korean people as they struggled under the yoke of Japanese occcupation from 1910 to 1945. And, above all, do pay close attention to Dr. Sohn's description of his childhood exile in Manchuria, for his family sheltered and worked with the young Kim Il-song in organizing the Korean youths in China to keep alive their love of the motherland.

If your primary interest regarding this book is how the Koreans dealt with the Japanese occupation, then "Kim Il Sung and Korea's Struggle" is well-teamed with Richard Kim's "Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood."On the other hand, if your interest lies primarily in Dr. Sohn's first-hand knowledge of Kim Il-song as a youth, then the book is best teamed with Professor Dae Sook Suh's definitive biography of Kim Il-song. ... Read more