Korean Nationalism Betrayed

Written by one of Korea's leading historians, who controversially is involved in the China-Korea-Japan Joint History Research project, this study examines the modern history of Korea from the point of view of the fate of nationalism and the key players North and South.

He argues that by so doing the reader will gain a much more informed understanding of the main factors at play, socially, economically and politically, in Korea today.

When liberated from Japanese colonialism, Koreans dreamed of establishing their unified independent nation state.

This dream, however, has yet to be realized. On the contrary, Korea remains divided and the Korean peninsula continues to be the last bastion of the Cold War mind-set.

Even after the epochal summit meeting of South and North Korea in June 2000, the two rival regimes continue to harbor unrelenting hostility and are bent on destroying each other.

The author argues that this tragedy of national division originates from the failure of Korean nationalism, and makes a plea for moving beyond the extreme ideological positions held by both sides to a policy of reconciliation and cooperation.