Korean Endgame
A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement
Selig S. Harrison(Author)
Princeton University Press
Published on 5. May 2002
Book
Hardback
440 pages
978-0-691-09604-9 (ISBN)
Description
Nearly half a century after the fighting stopped, the 1953 Armistice has yet to be replaced with a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War. While Russia and China withdrew the last of their forces in 1958, the United States maintains 37,000 troops in South Korea and is pledged to defend it with nuclear weapons. In Korean Endgame, Selig Harrison mounts the first authoritative challenge to this long-standing U.S. policy. Harrison shows why North Korea is not - as many policymakers expect - about to collapse. And he explains why existing U.S. policies hamper North-South reconciliation and reunification. Assessing North Korean capabilities and the motivations that have led to its forward deployments, he spells out the arms control concessions by North Korea, South Korea, and the United States necessary to ease the dangers of confrontation, centering on reciprocal U.S. force redeployments and U.S. withdrawals in return for North Korean pullbacks from the thirty-eighth parallel. Similarly, he proposes specific trade-offs to forestall the North's development of nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems, calling for the withdrawal of the U.S. nuclear umbrella in conjunction with agreements to denuclearize Korea embracing China, Russia, and Japan.
The long-term goal of U.S. policy, he argues, should be the full disengagement of U.S. combat forces from Korea as part of regional agreements insulating the peninsula from all foreign conventional and nuclear forces. A veteran journalist with decades of extensive firsthand knowledge of North Korea and long-standing contacts with leaders in Washington, Seoul, and Pyongyang, Harrison is perfectly placed to make these arguments. Throughout, he supports his analysis with revealing accounts of conversations with North Korean, South Korean, and U.S. leaders over thirty-five years. Combining probing scholarship with a seasoned reporter's on-the-ground experience and insights, he has given us the definitive book on U.S. policy in Korea - past, present, and future.
The long-term goal of U.S. policy, he argues, should be the full disengagement of U.S. combat forces from Korea as part of regional agreements insulating the peninsula from all foreign conventional and nuclear forces. A veteran journalist with decades of extensive firsthand knowledge of North Korea and long-standing contacts with leaders in Washington, Seoul, and Pyongyang, Harrison is perfectly placed to make these arguments. Throughout, he supports his analysis with revealing accounts of conversations with North Korean, South Korean, and U.S. leaders over thirty-five years. Combining probing scholarship with a seasoned reporter's on-the-ground experience and insights, he has given us the definitive book on U.S. policy in Korea - past, present, and future.
Reviews / Votes
"Harrison has written the best book to appear on the Korean problem in many years. It is the summing up of thirty-five years of close observation by one of America's best analysts, who marries the curiosity of a great investigative reporter to the policy concerns of someone in close touch with debates in Washington. Unlike almost anyone else, Harrison has had access to all the major players in Washington, Seoul, and Pyongyang, while retaining his independence and authoritative judgment." - Bruce Cumings, author of The Origins of the Korean War "Harrison's fair-minded and well-researched book makes a timely contribution to American understanding of relations with North Korea. His reportage on North Korean points of view are gleaned from his years of first-hand contact. He uncovers much that has never appeared in print and clears up numerous misunderstandings. Accessible to anyone curious about foreign affairs, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in Korea or the region." - Leon Sigal, author of Disarming Strangers: Nuclear Diplomacy with North KoreaMore details
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
1 Maps
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
794 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-09604-9 (9780691096049)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2009
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€206.95
Available for download
Person
Selig S. Harrison is a former Washington Post Bureau Chief in Northeast Asia and the author of five books about the continent. He served as Senior Fellow and Director of Asian Studies at the Brookings Institution and, for twentytwo years, as a Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has visited North Korea seven times and met the late President Kim II Sung twice. He played a key role in setting the stage for the 1994 U.S. nuclear freeze agreement with Pyongyang.