Books about Contemporary South Korean Politics: Some Thoughts on Textbooks Heike Hermanns Department of Political Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea For questions and comments, please contact
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The study of South Korean politics is a complicated and multi-faceted affair that has produced numerous academic and journalistic publications covering all aspects of the political process. This diversity offers much to the scholar of Korean politics but creates a problem for students looking for an overview and introduction to the subject. Many international programs at Korean universities (and universities outside Korea) now include introductory courses along the lines of ‘contemporary Korean politics’, often for students from other regions and other academic disciplines, so the detailed syllabi prepared for specialist courses are less appropriate for this audience. Journalistic accounts can be found in David Tudor’s interesting Korea: The Impossible Country (2012) and the compilation of commissioned newspaper articles by the Korean Political Science Association and Korea Herald (2008). But here is a lacuna among academic work in English publications that could serve as a textbook for courses covering contemporary Korean politics and society in the widest sense. There are plenty of worthy monographs largely deal with one topic in-depth, while edited volumes often focus on specific aspects (e.g. social movements), specific periods (e.g. Kim Daejung’s presidency or take a particular theoretical approach (e.g. critical analysis). Such analyses have diversified and deepened the knowledge of Korean politics and society immeasurably, but often, they do not serve well as a textbook for an introductory class to contemporary Korean politics at undergraduate and graduate level.1 The broad approaches to Korean politics by Kihl Young Whan (2004) and John Kie-Chiang Oh (1999) cover the developments in the 20th century well, but more up-to-date books are rare, in particular those concentrating on the politics of the 6th Republic. This brief review discusses some suggestions for textbooks that have been published in more recent years. In order to understand contemporary Korean politics, it is essential to establish firm background knowledge on the developments in the first half of the 20th century. Michael Robinson (2007) and Michael Seth (2009) both provide very good analyses of this period. Seth begins his narrative in the late 19th century and provides greater detail for each period. Robinson’s concise chapters are written for a broader audience and thus more approachable for students who are non-native speakers. Both books cover the two Korean states separately in the second half of their writing, with a focus on political and economic development, and the geopolitical setting. In both books,
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This is at least partially a result of the priorities of publishers and performance evaluators that place low value on such endeavours. It seems ironic that, despite the limited amount of information available, there are plenty of publications on North Korean politics but so few introductions to South Korean politics.
this second part is, by default, limited for the purposes of a class on contemporary (South) Korean politics, so additional reading material is most likely to be required to cover such topics. This means more work for a lecturer, but the payoffs of using one (or both) of these excellent books as a grounded introduction to the background of contemporary Korean politics are substantial. They also provide a good starter for the relevant topics of contemporary politics and place them into context of Korean and regional history and geopolitical setting. The four following books take different approaches to contemporary Korean political, focusing on the general developments, the economy or personalities. The updated second edition of Charles Armstrong’s The Koreas was published in 2014. It is a very readable account of the developments in the two Korean states since their foundation in the 1940s, updated to include the death of Kim Jong-il and the election of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye respectively. The political, economic and societal changes are introduced and discussed in detail for each state. Armstrong reminds the reader that the two states are both legitimate and possible outcomes of Korea’s encounter with modernity (p. 11), avoiding an expressed preference for one side. Other chapters cover the Korean diaspora, inter-Korean relations and the Korean peninsula’s role in international relations, placing the Korean peninsula in the regional and global context. The book provides a very good introduction for students interested in the contemporary issues and problems related to the Korean peninsula, in a concise 140 pages. The bibliography offers a broad range of further reading. The book’s coverage may go beyond the range of ‘contemporary Korean politics’ but offers a good starting point for the relevant themes in a course on political, economic and social developments related to a globalising Korea. Uk Heo and Terence Roehrig (2010) offer an introduction to South Korea since 1980, as part of the ‘The World since 1980’ series. Despite the title, they begin with an introductory overview of the politics, economics and foreign relations before 1980 (Chapter 1). The next two chapters look at the shift from dictatorship to democracy and the social changes of recent years. The strength of the book lies in the following chapters, where Heo and Roehrig write on their areas of expertise, economic development (Heo, a ‘Korean native’ the back of the book reassures the reader) and South Korean relations with the North and the USA (Roehrig). Heo offers deep insights in particular in the financial crisis of 1997, its origins and he outcomes. Roehrig focuses on the 1994 crisis, the northern nuclear programme and the Six Party Talks. The books ends its narrative with the inauguration of Lee Myung-bak in 2009, so there is little on the changes to the sunshine policy and Lee administration’s approach to North Korea, regional players and the USA. Heo discusses the (then planned) Korean-US free trade agreement in detail, which has since been signed. These sections would benefit from an updated version. Another inconvenience of the book is the referencing system, using the Chicago system with footnotes, where further citations start with an author-title reference. This interrupts the reading flow and becomes inconvenient when combined
with a list of selected references at the end. While the authors use a variety of sources for the sections of their expertise, the introductory chapters cite only major works in English. So, overall, this is a useful and readable introduction with deeper insights into economic events and policies, and the external relations of South Korea. The earlier publication date (early 2010) is a setback for the use as a textbook. The authors have since published another volume that focuses on their area of expertise, South Korea’s Rise (2014). As it is more focused on the effects of economic development on Korean foreign policy, this volume is not included in this review on contemporary Korean politics. Although focusing on South Korea’s economic development, Mo and Weingast’s book (2013) also serves as a history of the country’s political development. Their integrated political economy approach assumes that the politics and economics of policymaking and development are intimately related (p. 2), so their theoretical framework includes the study of political institutions. The book tests a new approach to the ‘development problem’, dividing between different social orders. On the one hand are limited-access orders which limit access to privileges and rights, while on the other hand open access orders promote access to organizations of all types (pp. 3-4). They identify three turning points in Korean history that paved the way to an open-access order with a balance of political and economic openness; the military coup in 1961, the democratic transition in 1987 and the economic crisis of 1997. Their final chapter deals with the Roh Moo-hyun administration when the transition to an open-access order was nearing completion, but does not include the changes under the conservative government of Lee Myung-bak in detail. The focus is on economic development and the relevant institutions, so other themes of Korean politics receive less attention. The origins in political economy should not deter students of Korean politics. Kim Heemin’s book on Korean democracy is described as a ‘rational blueprint for developing societies’ in its subtitle. The author uses a rational choice theory and game-theoretic analyses to discuss the development of Korean democracy. In particular, inter-Korean relations and relations with the USA are set in a Bayesian games model. Quantitative data provides the basis for analysis of elections and candidates in the 1990s, with a focus on elites. The impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 is analysed using a game model. The narrative on the Korean transition in the main chapters ends in 2004 with the impeachment process, but the concluding remarks update the narrative up to 2009. In the final chapter, Kim suggests the application of a rational choice framework to other cases of transition outside Western societies. This ambitious book is not aiming at the general reader interested in the democratic transition process but is geared towards students of political science, as it is ambitious in its theoretical approach and more focused methodologically. The brevity (just over 100 pages) makes it a good additional text to the discussion of specific actors and events in the democratisation process.
This overview finishes with an older book that remains interesting due to its personality-centred approach. Kim Choong Nam (2007) focuses on the role of the presidents for Korean political and economic development. Each Presidency from Yi Sungman to Roh Moo-hyun is presented in detail, from their childhood and character to their achievements and legacies. The final section of each chapters focuses on leadership style to sum up the contributions to Korean development. Overall, this book presents an overview of Korean history in an accessible way, with a chapter for each period, allowing lecturers to pick specific chapters for reading lists. There are some caveats: the list of presidents is incomplete, as Yun Po-sin in 1960 and Choi Kyu-hwa in 1980 are not covered, presumably for their short period in office. The author’s conservative political views influence his writing, including the assessment of the more recent progressive presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. The description of other events is also affected by this conservative bias (e.g. all uprisings in late 1940s brush-stroked as ‘Communist’, although recent scholarship paints a more nuanced picture), but that does not diminish its overall value, and may well serve as a starting point for in-class discussion. Each of the suggested books has a different focus, so it is up to the lecturer to decide on the direction their class should take. New students to Korea and political science often get confused by the diversity of theories and methods, let along the events and main actors in Korean politics, so courses with a relatively small number of books rather than many articles are more beneficial for the students. The ideal textbook for a course on ‘contemporary Korean politics’ that balances a broad account with academic vigour and depth is still waiting to be published.
Books discussed: Armstrong, Charles K. 2013. The Koreas. London: Routledge. 2nd edition. 140 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0415643108 ISBN-10: 0415643104 Heo, Uk and Terence Roehrig. 2010. South Korea Since 1980. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 226 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1444112566, ISBN-10: 1444112562. Kim, Choong Nam. 2007. The Korean Presidents - Leadership for Nation Building. Norwalk, CT: Eastbridge Books. 438 pages. ISBN-10: 1599880032 ISBN-13: 978-1599880037. Kim Heemin. 2011. Korean Democracy in Transition: A Rational Blueprint for Developing Societies. Asia in the New Millennium Series. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. 146 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0813129945, ISBN-10: 081312994X. Mo, Jongryn, and Barry R. Weingast. 2013. Korean Political and Economic Development: Crisis, Security, and Institutional Rebalancing. Harvard East Asian Monographs, vol. 362. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center; distributed by Harvard University Press. 218 pages. ISBN: 978-0674-72674-1.
Robinson, Michael. 2007. Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey: A Short History. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’I Press. 220 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0824831745 ISBN-10: 0824831748. Seth, Michael J. 2009. A Concise History of Modern Korea: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. 304 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0742567139 ISBN-10: 0742567133
Other books mentioned: Heo, Uk and Terence Roehrig. 2014. South Korea's Rise: Economic Development, Power and Foreign Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 250 pages. ISBN-13: 9781107690530, ISBN-10: 1107690536. The Korea Herald, The Korean Political Science Association (eds.). 2008. Political Change in Korea. Paju: Jimoondang. 340 pages. ISBN-13: 9788988095386 ISBN-10: 8988095383. Kihl, Young Whan. 2004. Transforming Korean Politics: Democracy, Reform, and Culture. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. 404 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0765614285 ISBN-10: 0765614286 Oh, John Kie-Chiang. 1999. Korean Politics. The Quest for Democratization and Economic Development. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 272 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0801484582 ISBN-10: 0801484588. Tudor, David. 2012. Korea: The Impossible Country. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing. 336 pages. ISBN-10: 0804842523. ISBN-13: 978-0804842525
This version: 5 January 2015
