 Description:
The present Korean problem - which began with the division of Korea and
deepened with the Korean War and is now characterized by North Korea's
nuclear program - is a challenging issue interlocked with other regional
security issues in Northeast Asia. Despite drastic changes at the global
level after the demise of state-socialism in Eastern Europe, the Korean
peninsula still remains an island of the Cold War. The three nuclear crises,
erupted in 1993, 2002, and 2006, reflect the Cold War remnants centered
on the Korean peninsula. This lecture will provide an overview of the origin
of the problem, appraise its linkages with other regional issues, and probe
its practical solutions.
 Objective:
The lecture attempts to introduce students to a critical understanding
of the present Korean situation by examining both its history and current
international relations. Through the lecture and open discussions, students
may delineate the complexity - and even contradictions - of the Korean
situation. Furthermore, the lecture attempts to lead the students to search
for a comprehensive solution to the problem and related issues.
 Recommended Readings:
Oberdorfer, Don. The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, New York: Basic Books, 2002.
Sung Chull Kim, North Korea under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006.
Name:KIM Sung Chull
Present Post and Title: Professor, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University.
Final Education: Ph.D. in Political Science, University of California, Irvine
Specialized Field: Korean Affairs, East Asian regionalism
Recent Publications:
*Engagement with North Korea (coedited with David C. Kang), Albany, NY: State University of New York
Press, 2009
*"Kim Dae Jung: From Democratic Dissident to Democratic Practitioner,"
in John Kane, Haig Patapan, and Ben Wong, eds., Dissident Democrats: The Challenge of Democratic Leadership in Asia. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 213-240
*"Transformation of National Strategy in Postwar Vietnam: Dependency
to Engagement," International Journal of Korean Unification Studies 16 (1), 2007: 201-237.
*Regional Cooperation and Its Enemies in Northeast Asia: The Impact of Domestic Forces (coedited with Edward Friedman), London: Routledge, 2006
*North Korea under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006
*"Nested Institutions and Retardation of Adaptive Process," Systems Research and Behavioral Science (formerly Behavioral Science) 22 (6), 2005: 483-495.
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| Since I joined Hiroshima Peace Institute in 2003, I have focused my research on regional dynamics in Northeast Asia by exploring multiplayered linkages between domestic politics and regional politics. This approach is a radical break with the realist tradition of international relations study, the tradition which has attributed all the problems of world politics to inter-state relations. |
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