Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine [Paperback]

Donald Kirk (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312240171 | ISBN-13: 978-0312240172 | Publication Date: December 21, 2010

For the first time, using original sources and his own reporting going back to 1972 when he met Kim Dae Jung at his home in Seoul, Donald Kirk explores the great untold story of modern Korean history. This book recounts the rise of Kim Dae Jung from an oppressed region of Korea, beginning with his schooldays, his activities in the Korean War and his entry into politics. The book addresses his populist politics, his ascent to the national stage and his encounters first with the dictators who tried to take his life and then had him tried and sentenced to death for the Kwangju revolt. The book outlines DJ’s life in exile in the United States, his great return to Korea and his entry into presidential politics climaxed by his election in 1997 at the height of economic crisis. Focusing on DJ’s Sunshine policy, his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il and his drive for the Nobel, the book tells the story of payments that brought about the summit and the prize as well as the corruption that ensnared his sons and top aides.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“As Don Kirk details, Kim [Dae Jung]'s presidency was a tragic disappointment. . . Korea Betrayed helps us better understand the manifold gifts and flaws of this extraordinary statesman.” —The Washington Times

“The late Kim Dae Jung--the remarkable political dissident who rose to be President of South Korea and to win the Nobel Prize for Peace--is revered internationally, but his reputation in his native South Korea is much more controversial and contested. In this critical biography, Donald Kirk--a journalistic eminence who has been covering Korea for more than 30 years--helps us understand why this could be so. In his fascinating book, Kirk not only traces Kim Dae Jung's great political rise, but also details the moral and financial corruption that came to engulf, and permanently tarnish, the ‘DJ’ Presidency.  Korea Betrayed will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of every student of modern Korea. Kirk's account of the failure of DJ's ‘Sunshine Policy’ toward North Korea, furthermore, should be ‘must reading’ for all American policymakers before they prepare to deal with Pyongyang.” —Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, The American Enterprise Institute

“Donald Kirk's Korea Betrayed is a comprehensive yet cogently written look at one of the most important figures in the past hundred years of Korean history. Brilliantly researched and equally well written, Kirk's newest book could not come at a more important time.  Kirk's book reminds American and South Korean policy makers why decisions made in the past are so relevant for foreign affairs today--as Washington, Pyongyang, and Seoul are at a crossroads in foreign relations that will affect the security of Northeast Asia for many years to come.” —Bruce E. Bechtol  Jr., Professor of International Relations, Marine Corps Command and Staff College and author of Red Rogue: The Persistent Challenge of North Korea

About the Author

Donald Kirk, journalist and author, has covered Korea for American newspapers and magazines beginning with assignments there as Far East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in the early 1970s. Since then he’s reported from Korea for The Observer of London and USA Today and served as Seoul correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Christian Science Monitor, CBS Radio and the Asia Times. He is the author of two books on Korean economic issues, Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung and Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era as well as books on his years as a war correspondent in Vietnam and a Fulbright research scholar in the Philippines. He currently travels to Korea and elsewhere from his home base in Washington, D.C

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Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312240171
• ISBN-13: 978-0312240172
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,590,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donald Kirk, from Washington, D.C., travels to South Korea, with stops in London, the middle east, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, among other places, writing on the confrontation of forces in the post-9/​11 era.

From 1997 through 2003, Don was Seoul correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, also filing for The New York Times and CBS, covering nuclear and economic crises. In addition, he has written articles for such diverse magazines as Institutional Investor, Far Eastern Economic Review, The New Leader, Future Korea Journal, National Review, Kyoto Journal and Hemispheres and commentaries for newspapers ranging from The Wall Street Journal Asia and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong to the Los Angeles Times, Providence Journal, Washington Examiner and Newsday.

Don first visited Seoul in 1972 as Far East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and has covered major events in Korea from the assassination of President Park Chung Hee in 1979 and the Kwangju revolt in 1980 to every presidential election since adoption of the "democracy constitution" in 1987.

From 1988 to 1994, he focused on economics and labor, writing Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung, a critical study of Hyundai, Korea's largest chaebol, and its founder. Again in Seoul, he wrote Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era, published in 2000, and, most recently, Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine, a critical biography of the former South Korean president who passed away in August 2009.

He continues to write commentaries and file for CBS and The Christian Science Monitor. The University of Maryland University College in 2004 awarded him an honorary doctorate as "one of the United States' most knowledgeable observers and commentators on Asia."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nation Building and Bungling in Asia, July 6, 2011

By 

Louis Dechert "Col Lou, SF" (USA, Retired) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine (Paperback)

US veterans who have served in the Republic of Korea, and particularly those who served in the hot war, 1950-53, can and do take great pride in Korea today. We do so based on our own personal impressions even though usually somewhat ignorant of the history of modern Korea dating from the Japanese seizure and occupation prior to World War II.

At the time of this review we are hearing up-to-the-minute "breaking news" of revolutions in Africa and the Middle East, the continued threats and rumblings from North Korea (the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea-DPRK, "NK" to most GI's), as well as geopolitical analyses of China's expanded strength from Beijing in all directions, even to Wall Street, USA.

Governments were not created by divine processes--they have been started by diverse peoples in widely differing circumstances, reflecting cultural, military, political, economic, and religious traditions; nation building is a fact whatever name it goes by.

The Republic of Korea is an excellent example of nation building/development. I have written of the role of the ROK armed forces, and their allies in that effort (July 2009, Korea's Growth Seen from Abroad: Successful Nation Building). However, today's ROK is extremely difficult to casually understand, politically--a pervasive national political system which had its roots in the national struggles which began after WW II concluded and really does not appear to have progressed as far politically as it has economically and militarily.

To understand and thus cope with governmental unrest and revolution in any nation , one must first understand their roots, "how we got where we are," from whence the problems developed.

Veteran author, and "dean of the Seoul correspondents," Donald Kirk, recently completed a valuable study of how the current situation developed: "Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine." Based on his excellent sources, documents, research, and over 40 years of personal acquaintances with key Korean leaders and citizens, Kirk has provided valuable insights on "how we got where we are" regarding the Korean Peninsula.

Not incidentally Kirk details the hidden underworld of the Nobel Peace Prize processes, the promotion and the buying and selling of that million (+) dollar prize. The US liberal establishment periodically harbored Kim Dae Jung in American university and political posts during times when he found it "inconvenient" to reside in Korea. That establishment, and in some instances the White House and the CIA, have become proficient in the Nobel buying process subsequent to the early 1960's.

Kirk documents President Kim Dae Jung's hidden transfer of over $500,000,000 to the "beloved" leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-il, as part of the hidden bartering to get a summit, "sunshine," bi-lateral talks, and, not incidentally, a Nobel Peace Prize.

Like all such funds the DPRK devoted the assistance to an oppressive military establishment, possibly advancing the development of nuclear weapons--as has been the bulk of American aid advanced by administrations since 1995.

Don's book also provides valuable insights into the seemingly omnipresent anti-American manifestations in the Republic of Korea (we already know why NK harbors and conducts viral anti-American policies!)

The inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak in February 2008 has done much to ease anti-American feelings in the Republic of Korea. However, Lee's term will end in less than two years, now, and he cannot seek another term. Some increase in anti-American feelings ought to be anticipated and proactive attitude towards them adopted. It is important that Americans, and their leaders, understand that historically recurring problem.

"Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine" brings documented understanding of America's strongest key ally in the world. Kirk's work is an essential tool in doing so. It is pricey: over $100 a year ago when I purchased my copy. It is now available on Amazon at much lower costs.

Donald Kirk has been a foreign correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and presently reports from Seoul for the Christian Science Monitor and CBS Radio. He has written six books, including two on the Vietnam War, "Tell it to the Dead":" Stories of a War and Wider War: The Struggle for Cambodia, Thailand and Laos"; one on the Philippines, "Looted: The Philippines After the Bases", and two on business in Korea, "Korean Dynasty, Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung" and "Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era".

A few personal comments about the author are in order as I close this review. I met Don when I became Chairman of the US-Korea Allies Council in 2006. He covered our activities in DC and Seoul. I learned that he had also covered the Vietnam War and was actually there during my last (fourth) tour of duty in that war. He has covered the insurgency and other events in the Philippines. Donald Kirk is not long on opinion and short on experience and carrying a personal agenda, a seemingly common trait of American media types. His book is a BEST BUY if you seek to know and better understand modern Korea.

Louis T Dechert,President and Chairman of the Board, Korean War Veterans Association of USA, 2004-2008