The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History

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Authors: Don Oberdorfer,Robert Carlin

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The Two Koreas:

“A well-reported if unfinished story, well told by someone who has been a Korea-watcher for almost four decades. . . . Probing behind events to reveal the machinations of key politicians, generals, and bureaucrats, often re-creating the dynamics shaping their behavior, is the strength of this book. . . . Oberdorfer chronicles with impressive detail the pathos of the nuclear crisis and the freezing of North-South relations it precipitated. What emerges from
The Two Koreas
is a portrait of precisely why the peninsula is so volatile: two rivals competing for national legitimacy in a culture where compromise is tantamount to defeat. . . . Oberdorfer refrains from punditry and predictions, letting his powerful material tell the story.”—
The Boston Globe

“[A] fine book. . . . [Oberdorfer’s] gripping narrative should chasten our leaders and inform our citizenry about the continuing perils and costs of America’s involvement with Korea. At a time when frivolous sensationalism dominates the media, [
The Two Koreas
] illustrates the virtues of a life given to honest, independent, inquiring journalism. . . . [It is] a detailed insider’s account of the period since President Nixon opened China. . . . Oberdorfer excels at weaving together the characters and events of the period (often ones that he covered as a reporter) with more recent interviews with major participants in Washington, Seoul, Pyongyang, Beijing and Tokyo. He also pays more attention than usual to the work of scholars on Korea. What results is not really the history of the two Koreas but of American relations with Korea in the last 25 years. Oberdorfer is often definitive on that subject, deploying information that even specialists do not know.”—Bruce Cumings,
The Los Angeles Times

“Oberdorfer is one of America’s keenest analysts of the international scene.” —James A. Baker III, former U.S. Secretary of State

“An authoritative and readable work of history that will inform [Oberdorfer’s] colleagues and the public at large as they watch the future of the Cold War’s last remaining division unfold. . . . Even for those who know a lot about recent diplomacy, Oberdorfer fills in gaps, having interviewed many key participants.” —
USA Today

“Though he is an old Asia hand who has made many visits to the Korean peninsula—including two to North Korea—he deliberately keeps himself out of this book. Mistrusting his impressions, Oberdorfer, a retired diplomatic correspondent for
The Washington Post
, researched exhaustively, conducting more than 450 interviews. The result is a comprehensive and informative . . . account of postwar Korean history, from the Korean War to the rise of democracy in the South to the nuclear-weapons crisis in the North.”—
The Globe and Mail

“A most timely book to understand what could happen if North Korea implodes or attacks South Korea.”—
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“[A] fine new book. . . . Oberdorfer is the sort of well-informed and conscientious journalist with a lifetime of experience that academic specialists can learn a lot from, and general readers will find this a lively, interesting, accessible, and satisfying book. It is not quite a contemporary history of the two Koreas (there are only a few Korean voices, and large swaths of domestic Korean history are left out), but it is the best history of the past 30 years of American-Korean
relations. . . . Oberdorfer pens remarkably accurate portraits of a string of South Korean presidents. . . .
The Two Koreas
should give pause to those who think we should fight wars to keep the instruments of war out of the wrong hands.” —
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

“Oberdorfer, veteran
Washington Post
diplomatic correspondent who has met every South Korean president on their home ground and every North Korean foreign minister during their annual trips to the United States, does an excellent job of filling in the blanks in our knowledge of events from 1953 until today. . . . The picture Oberdorfer presents is by no means a clear view of sweetness and light and democracy on our side, and communist tyranny and terror on their side.”—
Florida Times-Union

“A fine overview of Korea’s recent past.”—
Kirkus Reviews

“Combining the depth and authority of a first-rate textbook with the readability of a good novel, [
The Two Koreas
] has proven to be a wonderful teaching tool for instructors and students alike.”—Carter J. Eckert, Professor of Korean History, Harvard University

“A useful primer on policy.”—
The Weekend Australian

“Packed with great details and anecdotes which bring the whole extraordinary saga [of the two Koreas] to life . . . [Oberdorfer] is particularly good at detailing how the South gained the military and economic upper hand from the 1980s onwards as the North’s communist backers deserted it. He sheds much light on how the Soviet Union stepped in to bankroll Kim Il-sung after China reduced its support under new leader Deng Xiaoping. And how with the Soviet Union’s collapse seven years ago, North Korea, refusing to contemplate reforms, went into economic free-fall. . . . Oberdorfer’s description of the friendship forged between [Carter and Il-sung] . . . is worth the price of the book alone. . . . [A] skillful mixture of reportage and history which opens the door to understanding what will happen next.”—
South China Morning Post
(Hong Kong)

“Engrossing, informative, wise. A rare achievement, the best account yet of a tragically divided country.”—Ezra Vogel, Director, Asia Center, Harvard University

“Award-winning contemporary history from a veteran correspondent whose contacts book is as fat as the Old Testament. Here he traces the last 50 years of divided Korea, a tragic situation that we have all too readily learned to live with. With expert knowledge of both sides of the DMZ, Oberdorfer is able to trace common currents of Koreanness that unite the two halves. The real strength of the book is in its meticulous research about how other countries have treated Korea, a natural emphasis in the case of a country crucial to the security interests of Japan, China, Russia and the United States. . . . Oberdorfer . . . stitch[es] together a wonderful tapestry of fact and anecdote, all impeccably sourced to firsthand information from key players like Gorbachev and George Schultz. Journalism is known as the first draft of history, but this will probably stand unchallenged.”—
The Daily Yomiuri
(Tokyo)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Oberdorfer, Don.

The two Koreas : a contemporary history / Don Oberdorfer, Robert Carlin. —Revised and updated third edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-465-05088-8 (e-book) 1. Korea (South)—History. 2. Korea (North)—History. I. Carlin, Robert, 1947– II. Title.

DS922.2.O25 2013

951.904—dc23

2013030124

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