210 Book ReviewS
Michael J. Seth, North Korea: A History (London: Macmillan International Higher Education, 2018). 312 pp. $33.99 (paper).
Scholars of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (dprk), or even those well-read non-scholars who have lived on the Korean Peninsula for many years, probably all have received requests for reading recommendations. Even well- read, well-educated non-Koreans are starting to realize, thanks to the ever- growing difficulties North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have present- ed, as well as the growing South Korean economic and cultural clout North Korea jeopardizes, that their knowledge of the area is lacking. The scholar or well-informed layperson’s list until now necessarily has included multiple books that historians, journalists, or other popularizers have written, because one book surely cannot tell the complete story of the Hermit Kingdom. And those of us who have read extensively have a handful of books handy for such an occasion. But would not just one book be better? Michael J. Seth’s North Korea: A History attempts to be that one book those in the know can recommend not only to their friends, but also use for introduc- tory courses to bring students up to speed on the thorniest of East Asian secu- rity dilemmas. Does it succeed? Essentially yes, though there is some reason to hope it will not represent the last attempt. In addition to its introduction, the book is divided into seven chapters, covering distinct eras in the state’s evolu- tion. The first deals with the “historical roots of the North Korean state,” includ- ing both the Joseon Dynasty and its fall, plus the attendant Japanese takeover and assorted forms of resistance—among both nationalists and leftist radi- cals on the peninsula, as well as Communist partisans who battled Japan in Manchuria. The second chapter deals with the foundation of the state following the Japanese Empire’s defeat, with land reform, Kim Il Sung’s ascent to leadership, as well as the reorganization of society, with much of the aristocratic yangban fleeing south as the government seized their assets and turned them over to peasants. It also addresses the Korean War, its failure to unite the peninsula and how the regime responded, reshaping North Korean politics through the downfall of former South Korean leftists who had moved to North Korea. The third chapter concerns the state’s push for industrialization in the postwar pe- riod, with the Chollima movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s typifying its efforts. It also details Kim’s successful purging of rivals—those aligned with Soviet Russia and Maoist China – within the government. The fourth follows the conclusion of that process, as Kim eliminated the last of his domestic rivals and oversaw the creation of a monolithic state, revolving around him as the
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/18765610-02702008
journal of american-east asian relations 27 (2020) 199-212