Korean Politics

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course examines the history, domestic politics, and foreign relations of South and North Korea. The course will survey the Korean peninsula’s modern history, beginning with Japanese colonialism and moving on to partition and the establishment of two separate Koreas, Cold War politics, the Korean War, South Korea’s democracy movement, and the present-day North Korean nuclear and humanitarian crises, among other topics. The course will conclude by considering the possibility and implications of a future unified Korea on the balance of power in East Asia. Since the division of the Korean peninsula in 1945, South Korea has developed into one of the largest trading nations in the world with a vibrant democratic polity. North Korea, isolated, destitute, and now ruled by a third-generation hereditary dictatorship, has descended into a perpetually aid-dependent state that maintains internal control through extreme repression. What does the future hold for the two Koreas? Special attention will be given to the North’s strategy of brinkmanship, the implications of the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile program, potential pitfalls and opportunities of unification, and an analysis of U.S. policy toward North Korea. The course aims to provide students with the information necessary to analyze and understand present-day South and North Korea. By providing a survey of the modern Korean peninsula, the course will enable students to place contemporary issues such as the ongoing North Korean nuclear threat in their historical context. The course also aims to provide students with practical tools that will be useful in dealing with policy issues.