Engagement With North Korea: A Viable Alternative

Suggesting that engagement might prove a more fruitful policy approach towards North Korea than coercion, particularly with regards to the question of nuclear weapons, Kim (Northeast Asian studies, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Japan) and Kang (director, Korean Studies Institute, U. of Southern California, US) present eleven chapters assessing the international and inter-Korean experiences with engagement and North Korean responses. The first set of chapters explores the individual engagement policies of the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, as well as the political economy of North Korea's economic relations. The remaining chapters address the inter-Korean dimension with discussions of the coalition for South Korean engagement within the state and business, business advances to North Korea as outward foreign direct investment, South Korean non-governmental organization engagement with North Korea, and North Korea's policy towards South Korea. Overall, the contributors find that engagement is a viable alternative for all concerned parties, greater coordination is needed among relevant actors concerning their diverse engagement strategies, and that the Six-Party Talks need to be supplemented by actions by the United States that help provide distance from the legacy of the Korean War and facilitate the normalization of relations. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sung Chull Kim is Professor of Northeast Asian Studies at Hiroshima Peace Institute, Japan. He is author of North Korea under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance, also published by SUNY Press, and coeditor (with Edward Friedman) of Regional Cooperation and Its Enemies in Northeast Asia: The Impact of Domestic Forces.

David C. Kang is Professor of International Relations and Business and Director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California. He is author of Crony Capitalism: Corruption and Development in South Korea and the Philippines; Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (with Victor D. Cha); and China Rising: Peace, Power, and Order in East Asia.