Author Archive

Yongusil 93: Socialism’s Influence on Syngman Rhee and the Founding of the Republic

By | August 05, 2017

Was Syngman Rhee as explicitly anti-communist as he is often portrayed? How prominent a role did ideology play in Rhee’s role as a statesman and founding father of the Republic of Korea? Historical documents indicate things are more complicated than commonly assumed. A new working paper in the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) considers the evidence.

Collapsist Narratives and State Strength: Reading The Interview through Han Sorya’s Jackals

By | February 18, 2015

Han Sorya’s conception of Americans as “jackals” is a wartime description of an enemy but one that never went away–in a sense like the war itself. In this essay, David Fields surveys the strength of North Korean state narratives, folding in a very famous Korean War short story and a certain controversial Hollywood film.