Korea: The Impossible Country

Korea: The Impossible Country by Daniel Tudor

There are surprisingly few histories of South Korea in English. Most of those that do exist focus on the Korean war of North Korea. South Korea meanwhile has grown from almost nothing to be a significant economic power. Korea has been occupied by various other powers, with Japan and China both exerting influence. Japan was in the process of wiping out Korean language and culture, and may have wiped out "Korea" had it won World War II. In the Korean war, Korea was a proxy in the West vs. Communism cold war. At the end of the cold war, the country was torn apart and extremely poor. South Korea successfully used import substitution and built up a significant economy. Seoul became a great city. The tight knit, hard working Korean culture has helped to build up the economy. The big conglomerates such as Samsung have been able to compete on the global market. They would often copy, but do things better. Today, Korean media is another popular export. There are still challenges. Korea has a high suicide rate. People work and study for long hours. The outcomes may be good, but other places have achieved similar outcomes with significantly less effort.  The book is a good introduction to Korea and their history from ancient times to today.