Korean Drama
:A Korean Perspectiveon Nuclear Weapons, Negotiation, and Unification
Il Young Jeong & Rose Adams
Amazon Kindle Edition: January 23, 2024
ISBN:979-82-183-6684-1
Just like Korea’s famous movies and TV shows, there is no shortage of drama on the Korean Peninsula. Unlike these shows, however, the ending remains unclear. This book endeavors to explain the plot so far and look for paths towards a happy ending. We will take a deeper look at the last two years’ developments in North and South Korea, identify trends in inter-Korean relations and the US-ROK alliance, and ask questions about the peninsula and – by extension – East Asia’s regional politics as a whole.
Co-authored by Sogang University Professor Il Young Jeong and up-and-coming North Korea scholar Rose Adams, 'Korean Drama' is a cross-Pacific collaboration designed to introduce readers to a new perspective on Korean affairs seldom published in the English language. With tensions on the Korean Peninsula the highest they've been since the end of the Cold War, there is no better time to look for new perspectives and solutions. 'Korean Drama' is written to be approachable to curious new readers while tackling decades-old issues with fresh arguments that will appeal to even the most seasoned Korea watcher.
Ⅰ. Brave New Ideas for an Old Problem
1. A Game of Chicken with No Safety Net
2. I’ll Stop if You Stop
3. The Evolution of the US-ROK Alliance
4. Uneasy Bedfellows
❖ The American Lens
Ⅱ. Why Denuclearization on the Peninsula Has Failed
5. 30 Years Later: Why the Peninsula Keeps Going in Circles on the Denuclearization Issue
6. Three Reasons the United States Failed to Denuclearize the Korean Peninsula
7. Should South Korea Pursue Nuclear Weapons?
8. Three Proposals to Break the Denuclearization Stalemate
❖ The American Lens
Ⅲ. Debunking Common Myths About North Korea
9. How North Korea Built a Single Person Government Around a Personality Cult?
10. The COVID-19 Paradox and the Sanctions Myth
11. Is North Korea Really on the Brink of Another Mass Famine?
11.5. A Response from the Field of Source-Based Reporting
12. Crisis Doesn’t Mean Collapse
13. Not Brainwashed, Not Helpless, and Certainly Not Hopeless
❖ The American Lens
Ⅳ. Proposals for Starting a New North-South Relationship
14. The Dilemma of Discussing North Korean Human Rights from South Korea
15. Ending the Cold War Culture Wars: Let Us Watch North Korean YouTube!
16. Balancing the Generality of International Relations with the Specificity of Inter-Korean Relations
17. Why Inter-Korean Agreements Keep Falling Through
18. Let's Build a Digital Platform on the Korean Peninsula
❖ The American Lens
V. The Path Towards Peace and Reunification
19. Ending the Korean War and Establishing a Mechanism for Peace
20. Why a Growing K-Defense Industry Requires Greater Democratic Control
21. Key Issues to Consider When Formulating a Unification Plan
22. Lessons from Cyprus
23. Is the Metaverse our Bridge to a Unified Korea?
Conclusion: Seeking a Happy Ending for this “K-Drama”
<Authors
Il Young Jeong
Il Young Jeong is a research professor at Sogang University’s social sciences research institute where he researches North Korea and the “Korean Issue.” He graduated from SungKyunKwan University himself with a PhD on the origins of North Korea’s system of social controls. Prior to his work at the research institute, he worked for both South Korea’s National Assembly and Industrial Bank of Korea(IBK) on issues related to inter-Korean relations.
