Drawing on an impressive array of archival sources, from colonial criminal records to historical maps and exposé journalism, this book brings to light the overlooked history of ethnic Chinese enclaves in Korea during the era of Japanese colonialism. Situated within a global circuit of Chinese migration, the Japanese empire produced a structure of anti-migrant violence … [Read More]
Booklist: International relations and diplomacy
Black Market Intimacies: The Transpacific Sexual Economy of the Korean War [forthcoming]
Black Market Intimacies reveals how illicit exchanges of money and commodities involving sexual encounters between Korean and Japanese women and US soldiers provided the material foundations of the regional economy across Korea and Japan during the Korean War. Against the conventional view that illicit exchanges exist outside the formal economy and legal regulations, Jeongmin Kim … [Read More]
Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism
How the US military origins of global capitalism facilitated both South Korea’s “economic miracle” and the decline of US industrial might The US military has become a ubiquitous part of modern economic life. The Cold War prompted the first permanent overseas deployment of US troops and the creation of a global network of US military … [Read More]
Korean Relations with Japan and Ryūkyū In the Early Chosŏn Period: A Translation of Sin Sukchu’s Haedong Chegukki
Between 1392 and 1592 — a period bounded by Japanese pirate raids along the Korean coast and Japan’s invasion of Chosŏn Korea — more than 4,600 Japanese trade missions were recorded by the Chosŏn government. In response to these missions, the famous official Sin Sukchu compiled regulations, detailed information about Japanese contacts, and other material, … [Read More]
The Cultural Diplomacy of South Korea: Exhibiting the Nation in International Museums
This book explores the role played by museums and museum exhibitions in South Korea’s cultural diplomacy and international projection of itself to the world. Based on extensive archival research and fieldwork in cultural diplomatic institutions across South Korea, Britain and the United States, this book charts the important role played by this form of cultural … [Read More]
Cold War Comrades: An Emotional History of the Sino-North Korean Alliance
In this major new interpretation of Sino-North Korean relations, Gregg A. Brazinsky argues that neither the PRC nor the DPRK would have survived as socialist states without the ideal of Sino-North Korean friendship. Chinese and North Korean leaders encouraged mutual empathy and sentimental attachments between their citizens and then used these emotions to strengthen popular … [Read More]
Fallout: The Inside Story of America’s Failure to Disarm North Korea
A behind-the-scenes look into US efforts to contain North Korea’s nuclear capabilities and why they have not worked For almost four decades, the United States has tried to halt North Korea’s march to build nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Joel S. Wit, a former State Department official, takes readers to the front … [Read More]
The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region
In The Narrowing Sea, Hannah Shepherd examines the shared histories of Pusan and Fukuoka over the eight decades from Japan’s forced opening of Korea’s ports in 1876 to the end of the Korean War in 1953. One city was Korean, the other Japanese; one was a burgeoning colonial port, the other a provincial city buoyed by imperial … [Read More]
International Relations and the Development of Korea’s Film Industry
This book examines the evolution of the Korean film industry, presenting a comprehensive account from the early days of experimental screening to its current period of attracting increased foreign investment. Exploring the Korean film industry’s troubled past, this book covers occupation, civil war, authoritarianism, globalisation, and the continued uncertainties amidst geopolitical competition. It differs from … [Read More]
Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea
In Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea, Bruce E. Bechtol Jr. and Anthony N. Celso examine the influence of two rogue states whose rebellion against the United States and US-backed countries has serious consequences for international relations. Iran and North Korea have profited from illegal activities, such as the arming of terrorist … [Read More]
International Aid and South Korea: Experience from Recipient to Donor
This book explores South Korea’s experience as an aid recipient, as an aid donor, and as an inter‑Korea aid provider. Analysing case studies of international aid both received and dispensed by South Korea, from the end of the Korean War until the present day, this collection provides a novel lens through which to explore South … [Read More]
Southeast Asia-North Korea Relations: Drivers, Linkages, and Strategic Ambivalence
Southeast Asia-North Korea Relations reveals the genesis and evolution of Southeast Asian countries’ diplomatic relations with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) by unpacking the underlying political, economic, and security connections. In this book, chapters analyse in detail the individual bilateral linkages of the ten states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) … [Read More]
The United States-South Korea Alliance: Why It May Fail and Why It Must Not
The alliance between the United States and South Korea has endured through seven decades of shifting regional and geopolitical security contexts. Yet it now faces challenges from within. Domestic political turmoil, including deepening political polarization and rising nationalism in both countries, has cast doubt on the alliance’s viability—with critical implications for the balance of power … [Read More]
Transnationalism and Migration in Global Korea: History, Politics, and Sociology, 1910 to the Present
Contrary to the image of Korea as a largely self-contained country until its economy became global during the 1990s, this book shows that transnationalism has firmly been part of modern Korea’s national experience throughout its existence. The volume portrays Korea’s frequent transnational entanglements with other nations in East Asia and the West from the start … [Read More]
East Asia Observed: Selected Writings 1973-2021
This collection brings together themes in East Asian history, diplomacy, culture and politics written by J E Hoare since the early 1970s. His writings derive from his training as a historian, from his time as a Research Analyst in the British Foreign Office from 1969-2003, and from his experiences as a diplomat in the Republic … [Read More]
South Korea’s Grand Strategy: Making Its Own Destiny
Since the end of the Cold War, South Korea has taken on a greater role in global affairs. Ramon Pacheco Pardo provides a groundbreaking analysis of South Korea’s foreign policy from its transition to democracy in the late 1980s through the present day, arguing that the country’s approach to the world constitutes a grand strategy. … [Read More]