Politics In North And South Korea

Politics in North and South Korea provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the political dynamics of the two Koreas. Giving equal weight to North and South Korea, the authors trace the history of political and economic development and international relations of the Korean peninsula, showing how South Korea became democratized and how Juche ideology has affected the establishment and operation of a totalitarian system in North Korea. Written in a straightforward, jargon free manner, this textbook utilizes both historical-institutional approaches and quantitative evidence to analyse the political dimensions of a wide variety of issues including: Legacies of early-twentieth-century Japanese colonial rule South Korean democratization and democratic consolidation South Korean diplomacy and North Korean nuclear crises The economic development of both North and South Korea The three-generation power succession in North Korea North Korean human rights issues Inter-Korean relations and reunification This textbook will be essential reading for students of Korean Politics and is also suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on East Asian Politics, Asian Studies, and International Relations.

A comparative look at North and South Korea's political and economic institutions and processes, and an examination of their evolution since 1945. Problems such as leadership succession, democratization, nuclear weapons, education and reunification are explored.

This much-needed study draws on fresh material and firsthand observation to provide an understanding of North Korea as it exists today. North Korea under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and Prospects for Change delves deeply into what we know—and what we think we know—about the current North Korean system. This incisive book probes the dynamics that inform the nation's domestic and foreign policies, examining key leadership institutions and personalities, as well as prospects for the next regime. In outlining the major events behind Kim Chong-il's assumption of power, Ken E. Gause illuminates the environment that shaped Chong-il's worldview and his concept of the regime and his role in it. The book focuses on regime politics since 1994. Among other critical topics, the book examines the evolution of North Korean decision-making with regard to its internal and external affairs and how both are intermingled. The prospects for a third hereditary succession and the prospective stability of the next regime are also considered.

Featuring contributions by some of the leading experts in Korean studies, this book examines the political content of Kim Jong-Il's regime maintenance, including both the domestic strategy for regime survival and North Korea's foreign relations with South Korea, Russia, China, Japan, and the United States. It considers how and why the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) became a "hermit kingdom" in the name of Juche (self-reliance) ideology, and the potential for the barriers of isolationism to endure. This up-to-date analysis of the DPRK's domestic and external policy linkages also includes a discussion of the ongoing North Korean nuclear standoff in the region.

Essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary Korea and East Asia, this book provides a comprehensive and balanced introduction to contemporary Korean politics. It explicates the great changes in South Korea, which has gone from being one of the poorest nations to a proud member of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation while making the transition to democracy. The work focuses on the geopolitical and cultural setting, historical evolution, institutional foundation, dynamics of political leadership, and political and administrative processes of Korean politics. It also features chapters on political determinants of the rise and decline of the Korean economy, foreign and unification policy of South Korea, and political development and decay in North Korea.

The Evolution of Government and Politics: North and South Korea provides an opportunity to explore the government and political structures of North and South Korea and how the nations' governments evolved and changed through history. This book discusses issues such the Korean War, political philosophies, debt, poverty, weath, communism, socialism, constitutional changes, and other historical events. The young reader is encouraged to analyze past events and draw conclusions about how outside factors modified North and South Korea's political systems and world influence. The North and South Korea title has been developed to address many of the Common Core specific goals, higher level thinking skills, and progressive learning strategies from informational texts for middle grade and junior high level students.

The debate in South Korea over the government's engagement policy toward North Korea (the "sunshine" policy) did not start with Pyongyang's recent admission that it has been secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons program in violation of multiple international commitments. However, the evolution of the debate will be an important determinant of how the South Korean and broader international response to this latest North Korean challenge ultimately ends. This book provides a framework for viewing South Korean responses to this challenge, examining the South Korean debate over policies toward the North, analyzing the sources of controversy, and assessing their implications.

A fresh historical and theoretical exploration of the much-debated, but still elusive, question of the Korean divide. In contrast to much of the literature on the divide, which deals with state-building on the two sides of the Demilitarized Zone, this book sheds light on the slow, but steady process of homogenization between the two estranged peoples, as accelerated after the end of the Cold War and especially after the inauguration of President Kim Dae-jung in 1998. Providing immense empirical detail as well as theoretical debate on the ideas in policy shaping in South Korea, the book presents a rich ‘history of enemies’ and covers issues including: an overview of the structural shift and the rise and fall of identity groups in South Korea history of 'enemy-making' and 'peace-building' North Korea's external relations with the US, Japan and Europe Hyundai's groundbreaking, cross-border tourism and other economic cooperation projects the lingering nuclear weapons crises. By focusing on the question of identities, the book presents a new approach on one of the most important legacies of the Cold War and threat to peace in the contemporary world: the divided Korean peninsula. As such it fills a major gap in the literature, utilizing new theoretical and empirical frameworks to deal with the Korean division and its future implications in East Asia.