Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee...

— —

Peter Banseok Kwon

Cornerstone of the Nation

The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee

Peter Banseok Kwon

$61.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Harvard University Press
19 March 2024

Asian history; Central government policies; Economic history; Manufacturing industries

Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs

Cornerstone of the Nation is the first historical account of the complex alliance of military and civilian forces that catapulted South Korea's conjoined militarization and industrialization under Park Chung Hee (1961–1979). Kwon reveals how Park's secret program to build an independent defense industry spurred a total mobilization of business, science, labor, and citizenry, all of which converged in military-civilian forces that propelled an unprecedented model of modernization in Korea.

Drawing on largely untapped declassified materials from Korea and personal interviews with contemporaneous participants in the nascent defense industry, as well as declassified US documents and other external sources, Kwon weaves together oral histories and documentary evidence in an empirically rich narrative that details how militarization shaped the nation's rapid economic, technological, political, and social transformation. Cornerstone of the Nation makes the case that South Korea's arms development under Park may be the most durable and yet least acknowledged factor behind the country's rise to economic prominence in the late twentieth century. Through an analysis that simultaneously engages some of the most contested issues in Korean historiography, development literature, contemporary politics, and military affairs, this book traces Korea's distinct pathway to becoming a global economic force.

By: Peter Banseok Kwon
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 726g
ISBN: 9780674297135
ISBN 10: 067429713X
Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 19 March 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Peter Banseok Kwon is Assistant Professor of Korean Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Reviews for Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee

Significantly contributes to other important topics in modern Korean history…a pathbreaking work [that] will surely itself become a cornerstone of the growing scholarship on the Park Chung Hee era and modern history as a whole. -- Sungik Yang * Seoul Journal of Korean Studies *