Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey: A Short History

by Michael E. Robinson

For more than half of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two hostile and competitive nation-states, each claiming to be the sole legitimate expression of the Korean nation. The division remains an unsolved problem dating to the beginnings of the Cold War and now projects the politics of that period into the twenty-first century. Korea’s Twentieth-Century Odyssey is designed to provide readers with the historical essentials upon which to unravel the complex politics and contemporary crises that currently exist in the East Asian region. Beginning with a description of late-nineteenth-century imperialism, Michael Robinson shows how traditional Korean political culture shaped the response of Koreans to multiple threats to their sovereignty after being opened to the world economy by Japan in the 1870s. He locates the origins of both modern nationalism and the economic and cultural modernization of Korea in the twenty years preceding the fall of the traditional state to Japanese colonialism in 1910.

Robinson breaks new ground with his analysis of the colonial period, tracing the ideological division of contemporary Korea to the struggle of different actors to mobilize a national independence movement at the time. More importantly, he locates the reason for successful Japanese hegemony in policies that included―and thus implicated―Koreans within the colonial system. He concludes with a discussion of the political and economic evolution of South and North Korea after 1948 that accounts for the valid legitimacy claims of both nation-states on the peninsula.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ironically, what was the Hermit Kingdom in the late 19th century is now where the major powers of the world are congregated, tied in a knot by their inability to find a new paradigm for stability in Northeast Asia." This brilliant sentence sums up the transformation and tragic history Korea went through in the 20th century. Michael Robinson does a very good job in reconstructing this transformation on less than 200 pages. The book is written in a very concise way, while covering many important issues related to politics, economics, geopolitics, international relations, social issues and culture. Given this wide range of issues, of course you can't expect much detail, but you'll still get a pretty good idea of most of the topics important in modern Korean history.

In the last few chapters, there is a strong focus on politics and geopolitics. Elections are described in some detail and nuclear crises are analyzed several times. The author also describes the Asian financial crisis and social issues, but neglects South Korea's recent economic transformation. While doing a pretty good job in explaining the developmental state under Park Chung-hee, Robinson almost completely misses the transformation of the developmental state in late 1980s and 1990s: The role of the state underwent a major transformation, responding to increasing domestic pressure from labor movements and students as well external pressure peaking during the Reagan administration and later democratization. Interventions in the economy became less strategic and more reactive, mitigating adverse effects of the market economy (as opposed to development planning). The South Korean state increasingly embraced free trade, free markets, reduced control over the chaebol, and reduced restrictions on labor movements, allowing employees to demand a larger share of the pie. Only the last point - increasing incomes and as a result consumption - and efforts to establish a welfare state are mentioned in the book. The author completely misses other important issues related to this transformation, such as the increasing and largely unchecked power of the chaebol.

If you're interested in politics and geopolitics, including relations between the Koreas and the USA, this book is perfect for you. If you're more interested in economic development (like me), I still recommend you to read it - It will give you great background on any aspect of modern South Korea you want to study.

[Ayu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers events that took place after the nineteenth century, which I'm just not too interested in at the moment.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually a required reading for my course on Modern Korean History. Not surprisingly, the author of the book was also my college professor. The book was fairly interesting. It was succinct yet comprehensive. The book was written in layman's term and author did not use any complicated jargon that is so common in academic styled books. It does a good job in providing analysis of different perspectives on Korean history. However, I thought the chapter on North Korea and the political and economic development of South Korea was a little too thin, he should have provided greater analysis of the North Korean famine and the era of authoritarian governance in South Korea. That being said, I would recommend this book if you are interested in Korean history and geopolitical issues in the Northeast Asian region.

[juliana]

read a chapter for my making of modern korea class and added it here because i thought there would be more readings from it... there weren't lol L

[hoffnarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short history. The length and style of the book make it perfect for a reference text to complement other more rich readings in a course on Korean or East Asian history. The approach is perhaps inevitably occasionally dry as a result but overall a great addition to the relatively few number of English language narratives of modern Korean history. In key moments, the book also moves away from the kinds of assumptions national history tends to make, and directly confronts nationalist historiography in several places in the book.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although very compact and at times a bit dry to digest, this book tries to make the positions of both North and South Korea more clear, in all their complexity. The book gives insight in the modern history of the Korean peninsula and does so in an organized manner.
I recommend everyone interested in modern history and/or Korean politics to read this book!

My 4 stars are a result of my own reading experience, not based on the information provided.

[Yune · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely short, but fairly well-balanced in weighing the perspectives of those involved. (I liked the separate treatment of North and South.) Doesn't really provide much of a personal view, or rather any compelling reason to read unless you're trying to learn about this period and some of the causal links.

[Aniko · Rating 5 out of 5]

could say exactly the same I said about Gordon's 'A Modern History of Japan' - simply the best in the field in this genre

[Paul Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise, balanced, and rich portrait of Korea in the 20th century. Recommended for either newcomers to Korea or as a primer for an History course on the topic.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimpy, but helpful.