Publications
Dual Perspective: Reading Thae Yong-ho
Thae Yong-ho’s memoir marks a bold attempt to push back the tide of South Korean public ambivalence toward North Korea, a sprawling 500-page narrative of his experiences in the DPRK diplomatic corps over twenty years and ending with his 2016 defection. Robert Lauler takes a look at this essential, if flawed, text.
Yongusil 94: Decoding the Sino-North Korean Borderlands
Sino-NK senior editors are excited to announce we have been working with Amsterdam University Press on an edited volume dealing with the issues and contradictions of the PRC-DPRK border. Our aim is to bring migration and economic issues into holistic dialogue. Here, we briefly introduce the project.
Yongusil 93: Socialism’s Influence on Syngman Rhee and the Founding of the Republic
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 Historical documents indicate things are more complicated than commonly assumed.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.
Yongusil 92: A New Perspective on the Evolution of South Korea’s Developmental State
Contrary to extant findings, evidence suggests the origins of South Korea’s industrial and economic transformation predated Park Chung-hee’s rise to power. A forthcoming piece for the Journal of Contemporary Asia argues that sweeping land reforms implemented in South Korea in the post-liberation period laid the foundations of the country’s economic development and industrial transformation.
Yongusil 89: One River, Three States in Asian Perspective Special Issue
This autumn saw the journal Asian Perspective bring together five authors for a transnational investigation of issues confronting the DPRK-PRC-Russia border region. The journal special issue was guided by guest editor Park Hyun-gwi of Cambridge University. Anthony Rinna takes a look inside.