"The Korean economy was transformed from the opening of the hermit kingdom in 1876 to the end of Japanese rule in 1945. In Korea under Siege, Young-Iob Chung focuses on capital formation, economic growth, and structural changes. The so-called miraculous economic development in the southern half of the Korean peninsula has transformed the region from an agrarian economy to that of a major industrial power in a very short time period. South Korea is now considered one of a dozen industrialized countries in the world. However, there has been little careful analysis of the heritage of the Korean economy in the traditional and transitional periods from which it launched into a modern phenomenal economic success. The approach in this study is behavioral and analytical more than historical. Chung supports this analysis with quantitative data without being mathematical, statistical, or technical. Although narratives of Korean economic history before 1945 are scarce in English, Korea under Siege builds its analysis from data and narrative description from English-, Japanese-, and Korean-language original sources."--BOOK JACKET.

A major new history of North and South Korea, from the late nineteenth century to the present day “Cha and Pacheco Pardo have years of expertise in Korean international relations. . . . A crisp and balanced account.”—Christopher Harding, The Telegraph Korea has a long, riveting history—it is also a divided nation. South Korea is a vibrant democracy, the tenth largest economy, and is home to a world-renowned culture. North Korea is ruled by the most authoritarian regime in the world, a poor country in a rich region, and is best known for the cult of personality surrounding the ruling Kim family. But both Koreas share a unique common history. Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo draw on decades of research to explore the history of modern Korea, from the late nineteenth century, Japanese occupation, and Cold War division to the present day. A small country caught amongst the world’s largest powers—including China, Japan, Russia, and the United States—Korea’s fate has been closely connected to its geography and the strength of its leadership and society. This comprehensive history sheds light on the evolving identities of the two Koreas, explaining the sharp differences between North and South, and prospects for unification.

After having been a Japanese colony for more than 35 years until 1945, the miraculous economic development in the southern half of the Korean peninsula has multiplied the nation's output nearly 38 times and expanded per capita income by 16 times from $778 to $12,422 (in year 2000 prices) and transformed from basically an agrarian economy to that of a major industrial power, which is now considered one of a dozen or so of most industrialized countries in the world, during the 43-year period between 1953 and 1996. This book is a study of development of the South Korean economy from the time of the cessation of the Korean War to date, based on available data with minimal historical description, focusing on investment, the sources and means of capital formation, which is one of the most critical factors that contributed to economic development, and the government role of in them for economic growth and structural changes. The approach in this study is more analytical (without being mathematical, statistical, or technical, but with supporting quantitative data) than historical. There are a number of studies on some aspects of capital formation and economic development in short articles, but there is no comprehensive study/analysis/book of capital formation and economic development of South Korea since the Korean War, other than this authors comprehensive study of capital formation and economic transformation of Korea before 1945 (1876-1945). Not only this book fills the void of study of the subject after the Korean War but it also complement my first volume. This study reveals a number of significant, though perhaps not all unique, patterns and characteristics of capital formation and economic development of South Korea. The combination of circumstances, approaches, and experiences in the country was in many respects unique in comparison to many developing and developed countries, including many Asian countries, such as Japan and China.

Essays explore the social impact of Americas global network of military bases by examining interactions between U.S. soldiers and members of host communities in South Korea, Japan/Okinawa, and West Germany.