Politics and Culture in South and North Korea:A Reader

This book provides an introduction to the rival politics, ideologies and political cultures of South and North Korea. Written at an accessible level for undergraduates, it is suitable as a main text for courses on Korea politics, and Korean society, and as a supplementary text for courses on Asian politics, Asian societies and comparative politics. Besides examining the formation of the two Korean states, and the nature and development of their ideologies and institutions, the book also explores the involvement of the Korean people in politics, and how their political outlook is shaped by, and expressed through, education, gender and sexuality, and resistance and protest. Unlike most other books on Korea, which treat South and North Korea separately, in this book each chapter considers its theme in relation to South and North Korea together, thereby showing how rival regimes have taken differing routes to social and political development.

Dennis Hart is associate professor in the political science department at Kent State University, Ohio. His previous book, From Tradition to Consumption: Construction of a Materialist Culture in South Korea (2001) was selected as a Distinguished Academic Book by Korea’s National Academy of Sciences in 2002.