Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9780674293823

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Reviews

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 Korean history as a whole. -- Sungik Yang * Seoul Journal of Korean Studies * A welcome addition to the empirical record of histories of the Park regime, but also to scholarly conceptualizations of development and nationbuilding. Like the contrail following a ballistic missile, Cornerstone of the Nation points towards farther reaching implications for how we understand the making of militarized statehood. -- Syrus Solo Jin * Journal of Military History * “Global economists who study developmental states consider the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to be a model of rapid and successful economic development. Peter Banseok Kwon’s seminal book, Cornerstone of the Nation, offers a rare and valuable analysis of the role of Korea's defense industry in building modern Korea under President Park Chung Hee, the godfather of the 'Korean economic miracle.' Korea is an important ally of the United States, and a major player in the global economy. Korea's robust defense industry is an important component of its economic success, making this an essential book for understanding modern Korea."" -- Kongdan Oh, co-author of <i> North Korea in a Nutshell: A Contemporary Overview (2022) </i> “A brilliant work. Cornerstone of the Nation is simply the definitive account of South Korean industrialization and its critical role in the country’s post-WWII transformation. Kwon not only sheds light on modern Korea, but also offers lessons about national development, authoritarianism, militarism, nationalism, and state-sponsored capitalism that resonate today.” -- Mitch Lerner, Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Studies Center, The Ohio State University

Author Information

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

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