In April 1954, amidst growing tensions regarding the situation in the Korean Peninsula and Indochina, the international community convened a…
The 1980 Kwangju Massacre and the Surge in Anti-Americanism in South Korea
In 1980, a democratization movement spread throughout South Korea following the assassination of Park Chung-hee, which ended his 18-year authoritarian…
An Axe Murder Triggers a Standoff in Korea’s DMZ, 1976
The United States and North Korea have not had the best relations, to put it mildly. Even in a place…
North Korea and U.S. Violation of International Waters
For much of military history, combatants of all nationalities have operated under the guidance of an ancient adage: all’s fair…
Visa Fraud and GI Brides Before South Korea’s Economic Boom
As long as there are vast economic disparities between countries, there will be people desperate (and unscrupulous) enough to do…
Cain and Abel: Splitting Up North and South Korea
With the end of World War II in August 1945, there was still no consensus on Korea’s fate among Allied…
The Little Emergency that was the Korean War
There was a lot of unfinished business on the Korean peninsula in the 1940’s. It had been ruled by the Empire…
Delivering the Mail and Avoiding Martial Law in South Korea, 1987
Chun Doo-hwan, president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988, seized power in 1979 and crushed many democratization movements during…
Tom Clancy Bombs Korea
Remember when renegade South Korean soldiers set off a bomb in Seoul during a festival and make it look like it was done by…
The Fall of South Korean Strongman Syngman Rhee — April 26,1960
Syngman Rhee, a staunch anticommunist and authoritarian, was the first president of South Korea. Backed by the United States, Rhee…