Product Details
Korea and Its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished War

Korea and Its Futures: Unification and the Unfinished War
By Roy Richard Grinker

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Product Description

Despite the passage of over forty years since the official end of the civil war in Korea, the north and the south sections of the country remain technically at war. Roy Richard Grinker suggests that a fundamental obstacle to peace on the peninsula is that South Korea has become a nation in which nearly all aspects of economic, political, and cultural identity are defined in opposition to North Korea. He further demonstrates that in spite of its status as a sacred goal for all Koreans, the idea of unification threatens the world in which almost every South Korean has been born and raised.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1999025 in Books
  • Published on: 2000-02-05
  • Original language: English
  • Dimensions: .96 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 336 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
In a provocative sociocultural study, Grinker (anthropology and international affairs, George Washington Univ.) unmasks traditional rhetoric, demonstrating that South Korea's "sacred" unification goal is clouded by a Korean homogeneity myth and met today with apprehension. Ostensibly desired, unification is risky, threatening South Koreans' known world. To them, unification means conquest, not acceptance of North Korea's impoverished and less modern culture. Divergent cultures, divided families, cultural symbols, and post-Cold War German unification are related issues all deftly explored by Grinker. This significant work on the "unfinished" war joins Bruce Cummings's Korea's Place in the Sun (LJ 2/15/97) to illuminate readers' understanding of today's Korea. Highly recommended for academic libraries.AMargaret W. Norton, IMH H.S., Westchester, IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“A provocative sociocultural study . . .” —Library Journal

“The subject of the unification of the Korean peninsula is crowded with the work of political scientists. The value of Grinker's book is that he introduces a fresh set of analytical tools, those of the anthropologist.” —Choice

“...thoughtful and provocative book....” —Journal of Asian Studies

Choice
The value of Grinker's book is that he introduces a fresh set of analytical tools, those of the anthropologist.