Korea-U.S. Relations
Fall 2014
Graduate School of International Studies
Korea University
Tuesday 2 – 4:40
#114
Instructor: Dongryul Kim
Associate Professor
Korea National Diplomatic Academy
Office (Hour): TBA
Cell: 010-2275-3718
Email:
Course Description: Korea-U.S. Relations is designed for an advanced understanding of the bilateral relations from the comparatrive viewpoint of history and theory. First, both conservative and revisionlist interpretations of the over-a-half-century history are introduced for a fair review of what happened in and around the Korean Peninsula when the United States involved in the Korean affairs. Second, theories to account for contunity and changes of the Korea-U.S. relations are examined to see whether the relations are accountable from a common analytical framework for world affairs. Finally, the historical and theoretical reviews are cross-compared in our discussion of updated events involving both the Peninsula and the United States.
Course Requirements: Student participation is essential for the success of this course. Lectures will be highly limited to extremely necessary cases and instead discussions will take most part of the class. Each student is urged to be ready for class discussion by reading the assigned materials thoroughly and bringing a few topics to each class. Class participation will be fully reflected in the evaluation of performance by taking as much as 20% of the final grade. Another 60% will be portioned for two in-class exams, mid-term and final (30% each). The rest 20% will be saved for student projects, either individually or in group. The projects include both presentation and summary report. (How to manage the projects will be discussed in detail after the course add-drop period.)
Class Participation: 20%
Exams: 60% (Mid-term and Final, 30% each)
Projects: 20%
Course Text: There is no assigned textbook for this course. Instead, all books and articles we read for the course are avaialble at the University Libraries. You may either make photocopies or download them online using your ID and Password. Please let the instructor know when any of the materials are not found in the libraries.
Assignment:
Week 1: Course Introduction
Week 2: No Class (Korean Thanksgiving)
Part I: Historical Views on the History of Korea-U.S. Relations
Week 3: Modern Korea
Bruce Cummings, Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History (W. W. Norton & Company, 2005), Chapter 3.
Chae-jin Lee, A Troubled Peace: US Policy and the Two Koreas (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006), Chapter 2 (9-24).
Week 4: Korean War
Cummings, Chapters 4-5.
Henry Kissinger, Diplomacy (Touchstone, 1994), Chapter 19.
Week 5: Cold War
Lee, Chapter 3
Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History (Basic Books, 2001), Chapter 3.
Part II: Theories for Korea-U.S. Relations
Week 6: History vs. Theory in International Relations
Paul Schroeder, “Historical Reality vs. Neo-realist Theory,” International Security, 19. 1 (Summer, 1994).
Edward D. Mansfield and Jack Snyder, “Democratization and the Danger of War,” International Security 20. 1 (Summer 1995).
Thomas J. Christensen, „China, the U.S.-Japan Alliance, and the Security Dilemma in East Asia,“ in G. John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, eds., Inernational Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific (Columbia University Press, 2003).
Week 7: Theoreis of U.S. Foreign Policy
Graham T. Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis,”American Political Science Review 62. 3 (September 1969).
Ole R. Holsti, “Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Challenges to the Almond-Lippmann Consensus,”Internaitonal Studies Quarterly 36. 4 (December 1992).
G. John Ikenberry, “Liberal Internationalism 3.0: America and the Dilemmas of Liberal World Order,” Perspectives on Politics (March 2009), 71-86.
Week 8: Mid-term Exam
Week 9: Alliance and Bilateral Politics
Stephen M. Walt, The Origins of Alliances (Cornell Univesity Press, 1987), Chapters 1-2.
Victor Cha, “Powerplay: Origins of the US Alliance System in Asia,” International Security, 34. 3 (Winter 2009/10).
Week 10: Norms, Ideas, and Power
Joseph S. Nye. Jr., “The Decline of America’s Soft Power,”Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004).
Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activists beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics(Cornell University Press, 1994), Chapter 1.
Haesook Chae, “South Korean Attitudes toward the ROK-U.S. Alliance: Group Analysis,” PS (July 2010), 493-500.
Part III: Korea-U.S. Relations Today
Week 11: North Korea 1: National Identity and Possibility of Change
Leon V. Sigal, “Can Washington and Seoul Try Dealing With Pyongyang for a Change?”Arms Control Association, November 2010. (
Bruce W. Bennett and Jennifer Lind, “The Collapse of North Korea: Military Missions and Requirement,” International Security (Fall 2011), pp. 84-119.
Victor Cha and Nicholas Anderson, “A North Korea Spring?”, Washington Quarterly (Winter 2012), pp 7-24. (
Week 12: North Korea 2: Nuclear Challenge
Siegfried S. Hecker, “Lessons learned from the North Korean nuclear crises,” Daedulus (Winter 2010), 44-56.
Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang, Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Columbia University Press, 2003), Chapters 3-4.
(background) Jonathan Pollack, No Exit: North Korea, Nuclear Weapons & International Security(Routledge, 2011)
Week 13: South Korea: National Defense Strategy
Bruce Bennett, “The Korean Defense Reform 307 Plan,” Issue Brief No. 8, April 19, 2011, Asan Institute of Policy Studies. (
Han Yong-sup, “Analyzing South Korea’s Defense Reform 2020,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, 28. 1 (2006), 111-133.
Abraham Denmark, “Proactive Deterrence: The Challenge of Escalation Control on the Korean Peninsula,” Academic Paper Series, Korea Economic Institute(December 2011).
(
(Ref: OPCON) Bruce Klingner, “OPCON Transfer: Timing Isn’t Everything,” July 8, 2010. (
Week 14: China, Japan, and Korea-U.S. Relations
Sung-han Kim, “From Blood Alliance to Strategic Alliance: Korea’s Evolving Strategic Thought Towards the United States,”Korean Journal of Defense Analysis (September 2010).
G. John Ikenberry, „The Rise of China and the Future of the West: Can the Liberal System Survive?“Foreign Affairs (January/February 2008).
Masaru Tomamoto, „Ambiguous Japan: Japanese National Identity at Century’s End,“ in Ikenberry and Mastanduno.
Week 15: Conclusion
Week 16: Final
1