spring semester, 2016 Modern Korean History and Society

Park, Tae Gyun

Kim, Chong Min

Week 1. Two perspectives to understand Korea

Main Question: 1. How to interpret the background of rapid and effective economic and socio-political development?

Reading: Park, Ideological Battlefield and Buffer Zone: Korea's Position in East Asia in the 1940s and the 1950s, The Korean War, A Eurasian Perspective. 2000

Week 2. Division of the Korean Peninsula

Main Question: 1. What is the most critical cause to divide the Korean Peninsula in 1945?

2. Why is the Korean Peninsula still divided even after the collapse of the Cold War system?

Reading: Park, An Ally and Empire, Two Myth in Korea-US Relationship, AKS, 2012, Chapter 1

Week 3. Korean War

Main Question: 1. Why did the US and China send troops during the Korean War?

2. Why did the US plan to eliminate Rhee from the presidency during the Korean War?

Reading: Park, An Ally and Empire, Two Myth in Korea-US Relationship, AKS, 2012, Chapter 3

Week 4. Unfinished War and Armistice system

Main Question: 1. How to understand the NLL issue?

2. Why does North Korea want to replace the Armistice Agreement?

Reading: Park, "Beyond the Myth," Pacific Affairs, 2009

Park, "The Korean Armistice System since 1953 and the Origins of the Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Incidents, SJKS, 2011

Documents: Agreement between the Commander in Chief, United Nations Command, and the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and the Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers, Concerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom, Korea, July 27, 1953

Week 5. Economic Development during the Park Era

Main Question: 1. Why did the military junta revise its original plan in 1964?

2. What is the most critical condition for development of science and technoloty during the Park Era?

Reading: Park, "The roles of the United States and Japan in the Development of South Korea's Science and Technology during the Cold War," Korea Journal, 2012

Park, An Ally and Empire, Two Myth in Korea-US Relationship, AKS, 2012, Chapter 4

Week 6. Vietnam War and Korea

Main Question: 1. What was the effect of the Vietnam War in Korea?

2. Why did South Korea face economic difficulty in the late 1970s?

Reading: 1. Park, An Ally and Empire, Two Myth in Korea-US Relationship, AKS, 2012, Chapter 6 and 7

2. Park, "Compositional Changes of Economic Policymakers and New Economic Discourses in the 1970s and 80s," SJKS, 2009

Week 7. Gwangju Uprising

Main Question: 1. Was the US responsible for the Massacre at Gwangju in 1980?

2. Why does Katsiaficas pay attention to the economic perspective before and after the Gwangju Uprising?

Reading: Geroge Katsiaficas, "US Involvement in the Gwangju Uprising,"

CHEROKEE File

Week 8

Week 15. Final Exam

Grade: Attendance 20%, Presentation 20%, Discussion 20%, Weekly Paper and Question 20%, Final Exam 20%