Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas since 1989

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Bloomsbury Publishing, Feb 29, 2008 - History - 225 pages
North Korea and South Korea are never far from the news headlines - one for the alleged danger it poses to the world, the other for its apparent capitalist success story. In Bipolar Orders, Hyung Gu Lynn analyzes the processes driving both countries since the 1980s.

North Korea has experienced severe economic deterioration and increasing international isolation, while South Korea has undergone democratization and witnessed the emergence of a vibrant consumer culture. Paradoxically, this growing gap in ideologies and material standards has led to improved relations between the two countries. Why has this counterintuitive development occurred? Is North Korea really a threat, and if so, for whom? This book provides a substantive, accessible, and timely examination of the complex and compelling histories of the two Koreas.

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Contents

Introduction
1
1 Pandoras Box?
23
2 Altered States
56
3 Holy Trinity
91
4 Economic Tetralogies
124
5 Decussation Effects?
154
6 Conclusion
172
Notes
177
Suggestions for Further Reading
195
Index
200
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About the author (2008)

Hyung Gu Lynn is the AECL/KECPO Chair in Korean Research at the University of British Columbia. He has researched and taught at universities in Canada, the USA, South Korea, and Japan. His current research projects range from economic history to contemporary popular culture, plastic surgery to epistemology.

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