Patriots, Traitors and Empires: The Story of Korea's Struggle for Freedom

by Stephen Gowans

Patriots, Traitors and Empires recounts modern Korean history from the point of view of those who fought to free Korea from the domination of foreign empires. First Japan, then the United States.

When Kim Il-sung, founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, along with other patriots, launched a guerrilla war against Japanese colonial domination in 1932, other Koreans joined the side of Japan's Empire. They became officers in the Japanese army or part of the hated colonial police force, thus traitors to the cause of Korean freedom.

After the US engineered partition of their country, Koreans fought a conventional war from 1950-1953. Three million Koreans gave their lives.

This insightful, informative and timely book answers the nagging questions and provides a much-needed antidote to the jingoist clamor spewing from most quarters whenever Korea is discussed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Asia, History and Politics, Theory, Historical

290 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Stephen Gowans is an independent political analyst whose main interest is on who influences foreign policy in the United States. His book, Washington’s Long War on Syria (Baraka Books, 2017), was widely acclaimed.

Reviews

[Joaquín]

i hate the united states of america

[Tev · Rating 5 out of 5]

What was left of a lifetime of anti-DPRK programming has been scrubbed clean. I was surprised that I had never heard or made the connection myself that nuclear weapons for the DPRK played a dual role of deterring agression rather than instigating it, while also allowing their military defense spending to be less of a burden on their economy.

[Sheena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and poetic. Fascinating history for those who are already anti-imperialist and for those who are not this puts into plain perspective why the DPRK (among every other anti-imperialist nation on earth) deserves your support. Cannot recommend enough.

[haredaaaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN!!! Would recommend to anyone interested in knowing about Korea's history especially North Korea.

[Jim Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book that exposes (and explodes) myths about North Korea and shows how South Korea is a puppet state of the US. Full review: http://bit.ly/koreanstruggle

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

very highly recommend to anyone interested in the Korean war and Korean politics (or should I say American?) , it gives a concise and well-researched overview into the transference of power over South Korea from Japan to America, as well as detailing America’s imperialist and colonial aims of expansion, overall very good read! I will be moving on to Cumings as I noticed that he was used a lot as a source . I always prefer primary to secondary sources (especially if used repeatedly) and that’s really my only issue with this book.

[Justin Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gowans is great at amassing details that emphasize the premise of Patriots, Tratiors, and Empire: North Korea is an anti-imperialist state that seeks a united Korea free of foreign interference. Just trace the lineage of the various heads of state. The progenitor of the Kim family, Kim Il-Sung, was a much beloved anti-Japanese and anti-US, guerrilla fighter who several times since 1960 proposed a "Koryo Federation" between the north and south that accepted a dual system on the condition the US left. This was rejected by US and South Korean leaders - one of which was one of the US-installed dictators Park Chung-hee, who tried to hunt down Kim Il-Sung when Japan ruled Korea.

His daughter, the future disgraced president Park Gyeun-hee, lives up to the family name. Worth noting the "coincidence" of daughters of dictators running for president fully support by the political establishment because of the strength of the legacy of their dictator parents then turning out to be deeply corrupt. ENTER: Keiko Fujimori.

Anyway, it's these kinds of details, colored in with the US' legalistic hypocrisy about nuclear armaments and its regular genocidal threats to a country it butchered in the 50s, that repositions North Korea as a country trying to reunify the countries under a democracy free of US interests. Maybe the clearest example, as Gowans repeatedly emphasizes, is that the South Korean army is not run by South Korea. The US has operational command over it.

I have to take away a star for several reasons though:

1) Gowans can be a bit loose with anecdotes, such as the story of Syngman Rhee being rewarded a gold pocketwatch for his service to Emperor Hirohito. He cites Bruce Cumings, but the only reference to this story I can find from Cumings has it as being gifted by the Japanese-installed figurehead president of Manchuria Pu Yi. It doesn't take away from the broader point, but it's distracting.

2) Specifically around chapters 13 and 14, but generally over the course of the book, less and less is said despite the amount of words on the page. Historical context is restated, frameworks are resupplied, and at one point Gowans "reiterates" an earlier point by literally copy-pasting it. It feels like he wanted to say more but couldn't think of anything else to say.

3) Because of this perceived lack of a grander thesis, the book is deflated by the end. Yet this would have been easily resolved if he added extra emphasis to a semi-recurring idea that seems to be the fundamental point of writing the book in the first place: Charles Mills' idea of an epistemology of ignorance:

One 'has to learn to see the world wrongly, but with the assurance that this set of mistaken perceptions will be validated by' the official 'epistemic authority'...the official ideology prescribes an inverted epistemology, an epistemology of ignorance, which produces the ironic outcome that the denizens of imperialist countries will in general be unable to understand the world their countries have made."

This is timely not just because Critical Race Theory is in the headlines these days (which Mills' own work The Racial Contract is part and parcel of), but also because it ties the cultishly anti-North Korean media culture in America to the white supremacy of American empire-building. Maybe this was too theoretical and Gowans wanted to keep to the journalistic angle? Not unreasonable. Either way, as is, Gowans' conclusion that anti-imperialist governments like North Korea are an extension of "the democratic revolution inaugurated in France in 1789" feels incomplete without it. It is an inarguably important book to read though.

[sid · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you want more reasons to despise the USA this book is perfect

[Carlos Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very important book, one of a small handful that give a nuanced and interesting view of modern Korean history (others include Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History, North Korea: The Struggle Against American Power and Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement).

As you would expect with Stephen Gowans, the perspective is unapologetically anti-imperialist, but in a sea of essentially pro-imperialist writing on North Korea, this is no bad thing. Plus the book is well-sourced and credible.

[Kosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering reappraisal of the political situation in Korea, looking at it in terms of a failed and repressed attempt at decolonisation.

Rather than analysing the Korean war by looking at the years 1950-53, Gowans starts his analysis way back at the beginning of the 20th century, when Korea came under a brutal Japanese colonial and fascist occupation. During this occupation, he explains, there grew a division between anti-colonial rebels on the one hand, and pro-japanese collaborators on the other, consisting of fascist police and paramilitaries as well as the brutal and repressive landlord class they used to rule over the majority of Koreans, who were kept in a state of impoverishment and serfdom.

When the Japanese fascists left following WWII, the rebels enjoyed immense popularity, being the only major group representing ordinary Koreans. They organised people's committees, which were majority made up of peasants, and carried out land reform, passing ownership of land to the farmers themselves, rather than the class of feudal lords, and disbanded the police organisations set up by the Japanese to keep Koreans toiling under their landlords and keep Korea safe for foreign investment. When the US came into Korea in 1945, they came to defend this same social order that the Japanese had, much like their role in Vietnam with the French 20 years later. Using the same tactics they used in Vietnam, they set up a military run police state, rehinstated the Japanese-organised police and paramilitaries, and set in motion a purge that killed 100,000 Korean leftists in the south, while in the north the people's committees remained in power with the guerilla leader Kim Il-Sung at their head.

Meticulously sourced and passionately argued, Gowans puts forward an analysis completely at odds with the standard western remembering of the Korean war as an instance of a Stalinist puppet regime installed to repress the Korean people, showing that Kim Il-Sung was a popular leader heading an independent social and decolonial revolution longed for by the majority of Koreans, while in the South the US installed and backed a puppet military regime designed to continue the Japanese-run status quo of foreign domination. He's a bit verbose at times, I had to google more than a few words, but the substance of the argument is amazing. Spanning from pre WW-1 to the modern day, Gowans utilises a realist perspective to elucidate a widely misunderstood and heavily propagandised part of the world in a clear and consise way. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the Korean situation

[Aaron Watling · Rating 4 out of 5]

What “Stasi State or Socialist Paradise?” did for the perception of the DDR among many Western leftists, this book has the potential to be for perceptions of the DPRK. As eye-opening and well informed as it is, it’s just not quite it. This is undoubtedly due to the sheer-faced mountain of anti-DPRK propaganda pumped into the West like the bread fumes pumped out of a Subway; one book can only do so much to combat this.

My only main criticism is at times Gowans tends to go on a bit and can be a bit repetitive at times, but to a certain extent I can’t blame him seeing as he’s making such large and divisive arguments in such a public way.

Worth a read.

[Jackson Burrowes · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book about how the korean peninsula as well as the entire world has been forcefully shaped by american capital.

[Mahree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me very sad and angry that the reputation and physical state of NK has been dragged through hell and back. I know how horrible and evil the US is but the extent of what the US has done to Korea. Diabolical. It is only time before the dying empire will fall. It has made me much more determined and firm!!
Also he is an amazing writer.

[Scott Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly had to double check who the author was of this book, as this work hewed so close to the official pronouncements of the Korean Central News Agency (aka, the propaganda mouthpiece of the DPRK/North Korea). This work covers the struggles of the Korean peninsula from the start of the 20th century to the present. In particular, it focuses on what became South Korea and its struggles for independence and freedom while dealing with the Japanese and American occupations, as well as a series of autocratic/dictatorial governments before it evolved into the economic powerhouse it is today.

Gowans however, is working from the premise that what is South Korea is nothing more than an artificial construct that is forever under the influence of exterior forces, mainly Japan and now the US. South Korea was always more open to this and fell more willingly into an imperialistic/capitalistic subjugation. In comparison, North Korea actually engaged in a more “freer” society, under the leadership of Kim Il-Sung. South Korea, even as it has grown more powerful than North Korea militarily, is still seen as a puppet of the US in this telling, whereas North Korea is a militarized, backwards country only due to its trying to defend itself from the oppressive, capitalistic clutches of the US.

As I finished this work, it struck me that if reviled sports commentator Skip Bayless ever wanted to write a book about foreign policy, this would be his type of work. Gowans almost seeks to be contrarian, and troll any knowledgeable reader about the Korean Peninsula. His praise of the DPRK system of government would make you wonder if Pyongyang actually offered him some advanced money. He quotes extensively from North Korean political documents and offers exquisite praise of Kim Il-Sung. He conveniently dismisses any criticism of his narrative as propaganda of the West and other non-Korean entities.

The reality of North Korea is far, far from Gowans’ description. No mention is made of how it was truly North Korea that started the Korean War conflict, once Kim Il-Sung got the go-ahead from Stalin to do so. No mention of Kim’s ruthless destruction of his political rivals. Gowns conveniently skips over how North Korea turned into near perfect Orwellian state with internal survelliance and a system of gulag/concentration camps that would make Stalin proud. While North Korea did start out with an economic edge on South Korea, poor economic mismanagement and way too many ties to the USSR doomed the country by the 1980s. Of course, Gowans will not mention the various terrorist attacks and plots by North Korea to harm South Korea. Gowans almost seemed to be pulling for North Korea to have actually invaded and set up their own state in Korea. Maybe it would be an anti-imperialist/anti-American ideal, but given how North Korea ran its own borders, would Gowans say the same for a full North Korean Peninsula?

About the only reason that I could give this a weak 1-star is that in this pro-North Korean screed, there are a few slivers of truth. The US did basically sell Korea to Japan in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, something that the Korean Peninsula hasn’t forgotten. The US did divide the Korean Peninsula with no real understanding or logic about Korea. South Korea was basically under a military-style dictatorship for the 1st 40 years or so of its existence and they were brutal to their enemies. Yes, North Korea is using its pursuit of nuclear weapons as a defensive measure. Of course, as flawed as South Korea is, North Korea is in a far, far worse situation. It is using nukes to defend itself, but think about what sort of regime it is defending. Is Gowans aware of how North Korea uses its limited economic resources? The sanctions hurt the country, but the money it can bring in goes not only to the military, but also to its elites for their excesses.

If you have to get this book, don’t pay any money for it. If someone gifts this to you, save it for kindling and/or when you need emergency toilet paper, and then question your standing with the person who would give it to you. For Gowans, if you are going to put yourself completely in the pocket of North Korea, at least use some of their descriptions. Spice up the writing by more generous references to “Yankee Bastards” and comparing South Korean leaders to “lap dogs”. The logic that because North Korea is anti-US, they must be better is almost as bad as the US figuring as long as a country was anti-commie, they must be ok…surely not the point Gowans wanted to make.

[Ryan McPenis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading books about history can sometimes be frustrating due to the lack of historical context. You need to know what’s going on elsewhere in the world to fully understand what’s happening in one section of the world. Patriots, Traitors, and Empires is a fantastic read that gives a great history of the world and Korea’s place in it starting around WWI and going up to present day. If you want to learn more about how North and South Korea came to be and the United States role in that split, read this book now. Unlike my other reviews I actually bought a physical copy of this book because after reading part of the first chapter on my phone I was immediately engrossed and knew I needed to own this book. I actually need to buy another copy because I marked my first one up too much. This is barely a review but it’s dangerously close to being too long to fit into one screenshot for me to post on twitter to show people that I read books. Read this book! 10/10

[catcanread · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative, but author can get a bit repetitious. otherwise it's an important read that upends the popular perception of the dprk, rok, and america's role in the conflict, countering the propaganda disseminated by the american empire in what the author calls the epistemology of ignorance.

[Zain Bin Amjad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Quite the eye opener.
A well researched and easy to understand book which lays bare the hypocrisy of the so called 'Rules based orders' and explains the very real and lifelong struggles of people who want to be emancipated. A must read to counter Washington's limitless propaganda!

[mimissyouu · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little repetitive at times and some points about the DPRK i disagree with personally (whispering: it's because i'm a maoist but overall a very good account of the war and provided much needed modern context to the conflict. i went into it initially expecting a structured historical account, which wasn't really what i got, but still!!

[Ricky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of real Korea.

[Curtis Hardwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won't shut up about this one

[Aamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as an introductory glance into the modern (early 20th century onwards) history of the Korean Peninsula is concerned, Stephen Gowans does incredibly well in Patriots, Traitors, and Empires. The book is concise, clear, and easy to read. Gowans illustrates a history of Korea that has been brutalized, exploited, and occupied for decades, thus explaining the emergence of a resistance movement as typified by the "patriot" Kim Il-Sung. Conversely, Gowans is excellent in covering the history of the ROK (South Korea) as a puppet state, exploring its establishment and continued existence through the lens of a collaborator class.

Whereas Gowans maintains a fairly accessible style, there are moments where flowery prose overwhelms a point being made. Poetic language can be good, but it is used here in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Furthermore, Gowans for me loses credibility when comparing the DPRK to other anti-imperialist nation-states like Saddam's Iraq (which Gowans describes as an Arab socialist state. Firstly, while the Iraq War was no doubt an imperialist endeavour, it must be noted that Saddam himself was a puppet of Empire much like the ROK, as best typified in his role during the Iran-Iraq War. In fact, Saddam did not lose the favour of his US masters until 1990, where his invasion of Kuwait threatened US oil supply, especially if he further advanced into Saudi Arabia. Secondly, at no point was Iraq under Saddam Arab socialist. Many on the left tend to err by either a) conflating anti-imperialism with socialism and b) conflating Baathism with socialism. On point a, while US intervention must be opposed on principles of anti-imperialism alone, it is not right to assume all enemies of US are socialist by nature. In fact, Saddam himself used US supplied weapons to commit genocide on the Iraqi Kurdish population in the north and the Shi'ites in the south (Anfal campaign, Halabja). On point b, Baathism contains certain socialist tendencies. However, this ignores decades of Middle Eastern history including the Baathist split into the Syrian and Iraqi camps in the 60's, as well as Baathism's turn to hardline Arabism and Arab nationalism in a region that contains many ethnic minorities. Thus, for me this book loses credibility on that basis.

In conclusion, I would still suggest this book as a great primer on Korean history and the current Korean situation, though I would urge caution and recommend further books beyond this text.

[dante]

I'm seeking to deepen my knowledge on Korea's history and the DPRK's development as Europe (with support from its puppetmaster the US) gears up and arms itself for war with China, which will no doubt be waged on the peninsula. It is imperative that we mobilize and oppose any coming attempts at aggression towards the DPRK and China and that we stand with our comrades in this struggle.

I chose Gowans as my intro as I was looking for an overview before delving deeper and I can recommend this as a starting point on the DPRK and the United States' imperial grip on the area! I'll continue my study with Bruce Cumings, who Gowans quotes extensively from, and Suzy Kim.

Two gripes: I have issues with his use of "leftist" in some chapters, or even the concept of "leftism", I don't believe those are descriptors useful for serious analysis, on top of that I find it disrespectful to call the 5 million(!) Koreans that were slaughtered by ROK forces with help of the US military "leftists", they were revolutionaries, they were communists. They were eradicated in a coordinated, deliberate Holocaust precisely because they were revolutionaries or suspected communists, which Gowans also points out! So I don't see the need to use an asinine descriptor such as "leftist" there. I can overlook this as he does generally use "communist" where accurate elsewhere.

A bigger problem for me is a quotation of Lenin (cited below), it seems to me cherry-picked from State and Revolution in a way that both reduces Lenin's point to what he was debunking in State and Revolution and accidentally(!) lends credence to anti-DPRK propaganda. I think this stood out to me mainly because Gowans seems to be writing for less knowledgable readers and as he does a good job of defending and disseminating communism for readers throughout the rest of this book, I think clarity on what is meant is important!

Gowan, pg 185: "Instead, the DPRK constitution guarantees that all “able-bodied citizens may choose occupations in accordance with their wishes and skills” and further requires that North Koreans be “paid in accordance with the quantity and quality of their work,” a basic socialist principle. Lenin gave the principle a biblical flourish, quoting Paul the Apostle: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”

It's not a principle quite the way the Lenin quotation after presents it here. I fully realize I'm being pedantic but I find the implications in Gowans' errant quoting of Lenin there irresponsible and find it actually contributes to the misunderstanding that he's trying to avoid, and if I'm a reader who grew up hearing the DPRK deliberately starves its citizens and kills those who refuse to work this would do nothing to dispel that. It would've been a completely sufficient and factual paragraph without the last sentence tacked on! Or he could've used this as a perfect jumping off point to quickly explain why the DPRK is stuck in this state, socialism- because it cannot transition to full communism, where all people are taken care of regardless of work, as long as the United States (and further, a global capitalist dictatorship) exist, which would've furthered and deepened his analysis! Full Lenin quote below.

Lenin, pg 127, State and Revolution: "The first phase of communism [socialism], therefore, cannot yet provide justice and equality; differences, and unjust differences, in wealth will still persist, but the exploitation of person by person will have become impossible because it will be impossible to seize the means of production—the factories, machines, land, etc.—and make them private property. In smashing Lassalle’s petit-bourgeois, vague phrases about “equality” and “justice” in general, Marx shows the course of development of communist society, which is compelled to abolish at first only the “injustice” of the means of production seized by individuals and which is unable at once to eliminate the other injustice, which consists in the distribution of consumer goods “according to the amount of labor performed” (and not according to needs).
The vulgar economists, including the bourgeois professors and “our" Tugan, constantly reproach the socialists with forgetting the inequality of people and with “dreaming” of eliminating this inequality. Such a reproach, as we see, only proves the extreme ignorance of the bourgeois ideologists. Marx not only most scrupulously takes account of the inevitable inequality of human beings, but he also takes into account the fact that the mere conversion of the means of production into the common property of the whole society (commonly called “socialism”) does not remove the defects of distribution and the inequality of “bourgeois laws” that continues to prevail so long as products are divided “according to the amount of labor performed.”
Continuing, Marx says: "But these defects are inevitable in the first phase of communist society as it is when it has just emerged, after prolonged birth pangs, from capitalist society. Law can never be higher than the economic structure of society and its cultural development conditioned thereby."
And so, in the first phase of communist society (usually called socialism) “bourgeois law” is not abolished in its entirety but only in part, only in proportion to the economic revolution so far attained—that is, only with respect to the means of production. “Bourgeois law” recognizes them as the private property of individuals. Socialism converts them into common property. To that extent—and to that extent alone—“bourgeois law” disappears. However, it persists as far as its other part is concerned: it persists in the capacity of regulator (determining factor) of the distribution of products and the allotment of labor among the members of society. The socialist principle “he who does not work shall not eat” is already realized; the other socialist principle, “an equal amount of products for an equal amount of labor,” is also already realized. But this is not yet communism and it does not yet abolish “bourgeois law,” which gives unequal individuals, in return for unequal (really unequal) amounts of labor, equal amounts of products.
This is a “defect,” says Marx, but it is unavoidable in the first phase of communism, for if we are not to indulge in utopianism we must not think that, having overthrown capitalism, people will at once learn to work for society without any rules of law."

[mxv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really intriguing book that provides an alternative perspective on the Korean War and the DPRK. The writing is slightly exaggerated and Gowans repeats himself a lot, but overall its a great look at an important geopolitical issue.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mere mention of North Korea can evoke a flurry of negative reactions when mentioned in conversation. The country is ever presented as a threat to world peace with its limited nuclear arsenal and the leaders of the country are constantly ridiculed in news media and entertainment alike. Yet, what if there was more to the story than what is presented to Western audiences? In ‘Patriots, Traitors and Empires’ Stephen Gowans takes the reader on a deeper dive into the modern history of Korea, a history which has been omitted and meticulously curated in the West.

To understand modern Korean history, we should start at its beginning, perhaps with the leaders of both South Korea and North Korea. Kim Il-Sung the first leader of the North was a resistance fighter, he spent over a decade fighting a guerrilla war against the Japanese occupation of Korea. While Kim Il-Sung was fighting to free his homeland, the first leader of the South, Syngman Rhee spent his life in comfort in the United States where he went to ivy league institutions and his only claim to power was that he was flown in by the United States in the aftermath of WWII. As a reader, what do you think when presented with these facts?

While propaganda is a powerful tool, I believe that the masses are rational and when presented with facts in a clear and concise manner, people’s outlooks on issues can change. In his book Stephen Gowans provides a thorough and well sourced history of modern Korea. Gowans’ book is not a hagiography, it is intended to provide a balance sheet for the reader where they can sort through the linked history of North Korea and United States and eventually make their own conclusions. While Gowans can get repetitive at times, his book is a well-sourced and fairly easy to read modern history book. I would highly recommend for readers who are learning about anti-imperialism or history from a Global South perspective.

[Douglas Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a modern feel to it, (as it should, published in 2018), and so it has much more of a charged unashamedly pro-DPRK tilt to its narrative. While I appreciate the information and the perspective of liberal academics who attempt to be neutral like Bruce Cumings, this book more matches the anti-imperialist spirit of Marxism Leninism and lays out the historical context behind the DPRK's struggle against America. Most other books about North Korea have a decidedly anti-DPRK bias towards it, so it's refreshing to see a book that truly captures the perspective of the North Korean narrative of the events of the past century.

Gowans gives the context of western imperialism as a whole, and so this is not just important for understanding the Korean history with America, but of how western imperialism functioned throughout the 20th century, and the machinations behind American imperialism after WW2 in their Cold War policy against the Soviet Union. In many ways, American foreign policy was shaped by its involvement in Korea, when it created the CIA and started to manipulate mass media against global South countries fighting for their independence under the guise of "spreading and protecting Democracy". America's hypocrisy is analyzed fully under the microscope of this lens and when you fully understand the Korean situation, you understand America's policy in the Middle East, in Eastern Europe, in Latin America, in Africa, really all over the world.

I would recommend this book as a starting point for any Korean person wanting to know the truth about their country's history in the past 100 years, and anyone else who wants to know how the American war and propaganda machine operates.

[Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though repetitious at times, the points being repeated are essential to understanding the history of the Korean Peninsula over the past 120 years. The book clearly outlines its arguments and is steadfast in providing quotes and citations to support the author's views. When faced with the overwhelming anecdotal and statistical evidence presented in this volume, even the most staunch 'America the Great' liberal would be hardpressed to deny the imperialist nature of the United States division of Korea, as well as its invasions of the nation, and its subsequent occupation of the southern half of the country. The nuclear deterrent option which the DPRK has pursued in the past two decades is less belligerent than it is common sense when presented with the options the socialist nation has been forced into by the always encroaching American (and allied) military outposts & exercises, combined with brutal sanctions meant to starve the people within north Korea. Like The Jakarta Method, this book argues that America's global policy of anticommunism at all costs flew in the face of its purported values of self-determination, but unlike The Jakarta Method, this book is written from a Marxist viewpoint and outlines in much more clear ideological and material/geopolitical terms why these clashes come to pass between the imperialist American capitalists and the Korean patriots fighting for their homeland's liberation from ALL oppressor states, not just the Japanese.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful look into the Korean war, its history as a colonized nation, and the consequences of such events today. It covers a lot of this ground fairly briefly, and provides adequate context about the nations involved(Japan and U.S. as colonizers). Maybe it's a tad biased, but it is very well sourced and provides a deeper insight to an often misunderstood and mislabeled nation. It does get into some fairly gruesome subject matter though, so I should warn anyone who may be sensitive to war crimes, death, and human suffering. As for my criticisms: It can be a little redundant at times. Some facts are brought up throughout the book that make it slightly redundant to read. Also, anyone who already realizes that the U.S. is an imperialist empire, will have to listen to Gowan's explanation. And the structure of the book is maybe a little goofy, with some events not being as fleshed out or the author jumping between ideas, but its not so bad as to be of great distraction.

Overall, this is a valid read for anyone who wants to understand North Korea, its history, and why it is the way that it is.

[Gerardo Villarreal · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro es una recopilación de acontecimientos en la península de Corea, desde su ocupación por el Imperio Japonés a finales del siglo XIX hasta la actualidad, pasando por la guerra de guerrillas liderada por Kim Il-Sung en Manchuria, la división de las Coreas, la ocupación por parte de los Americanos y la Guerra de Corea.

Es una historia de patriotas (Corea del Norte), de traidores (sudcoreanos serviles a los imperios y a la burguesía local e internacional) y de imperios (EE.UU. y Japón.)

En tiempos donde la propaganda anti-Corea del Norte es pan de cada día, creo que éste libro provee el contexto necesario para entender el otro lado de la moneda cuando se trata de las relaciones entre las Coreas, EE.UU. y el mundo, incluyendo la necesidad crítica del programa nuclear de Pyongang como medio de sobrevivencia.

[Underling · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the most important book for understanding the dynamic between the "two Koreas" and the mainstream misrepresentations of the Korean War. For the citations (of which there are very many, one chapter had over seventy) I noticed that Gowans perhaps relies too heavily on Bruce Cumings' past research, meaning a lot of citations are made up of secondary sources. It however was clearly not the point of the book to uncover new archival evidence or primary sources, but rather to appropriate past research and form more nuanced conclusions. In that sense this book is indispensable, and one is bound to come to wrong conclusions without having understood its points. It has made me interested in reading some of Gowans' other books, right now I am eyeing Washington’s Long War on Syria (once I finish my backlog of reading material).

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you don´t have knowledge about Korean history or (geo) politics, you will after reading this book! Stephen Gowans does a great job at not only describing what led to the Korean war, but also how this page in Korean history relates to other social/political movements. This book is such a good read for those who would like to understand how imperialism and colonialism works. It may be a bit repetitive at times, but I personally liked it because it helped me understand the context and draw connections. Moreover, the book dissects the framing and narrative used to cover this part of Korean history and why that is problematic and counterproductive to the Korean cause. Excellent book! I definitely want to read more of this author.