Against the backdrop of China’s mounting influence and North Korea’s growing nuclear capability and expanding missile arsenal, South Korea faces a set of strategic choices that will shape its economic prospects and national security. In South Korea at the Crossroads, Scott A. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future. Pairing a historical perspective with a shrewd understanding of today’s political landscape, Snyder contends that South Korea’s best strategy remains investing in a robust alliance with the United States. Snyder begins with South Korea’s effort in the 1960s to offset the risk of abandonment by the United States during the Vietnam War and the subsequent crisis in the alliance during the 1970s. A series of shifts in South Korean foreign relations followed: the “Nordpolitik” engagement with the Soviet Union and China at the end of the Cold War; Kim Dae Jung’s “Sunshine Policy,” designed to bring North Korea into the international community; “trustpolitik,” which sought to foster diplomacy with North Korea and Japan; and changes in South Korea’s relationship with the United States. Despite its rise as a leader in international financial, development, and climate-change forums, South Korea will likely still require the commitment of the United States to guarantee its security. Although China is a tempting option, Snyder argues that only the United States is both credible and capable in this role. South Korea remains vulnerable relative to other regional powers in northeast Asia despite its rising profile as a middle power, and it must balance the contradiction of desirable autonomy and necessary alliance.

One of the most comprehensive texts on the political economy of Korea available Up-to-date - goes up to 1999

In The Real North Korea, Lankov substitutes cold, clear analysis for the overheated rhetoric surrounding this opaque police state. Based on vast expertise, this book reveals how average North Koreans live, how their leaders rule, and how both survive

Describes and analyzes South Korea's political, economic, social and national security systems and institutions. Examines the inter- relationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors. Provides a basic understanding of the observed society, striving for a dynamic portrayal. Particular attention is devoted to the people who make up the society, their origins, dominant beliefs and values, their common interests and the issues on which they are divided, the nature and extent of their involvement with national institutions, and their attitudes toward each other and toward their social system and political order.

The economic success of East Asia is often attributed to the relationship between state and business. In The State and Industry in South Korea , Jong-Chan Rhee presents a more balanced view of Korea's `industrial miracle'. The book examines the limits of a strong authoritarian state as a vehicle for intervening in the market or for sponsoring liberal reform. In so doing the author focuses on how state-controlled industrial adjustment in Korea has succeeded and failed.

Understand a particular foreign country through dynamic descriptions and analyses of its historical, social, environmental, economic, governmental, political, and national security systems and institutions. Particular attention is devoted to the people who make up the society, their origins, beliefs, interests, and their attitudes towards their social system and political order. Each study is written by a multidisciplinary team of social scientists. This series is a recognized standard in the field.