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Very Short Introductions #625
Korea: A Very Short Introduction
Duration: 4H 30M
Having spent centuries in the shadows of its neighbours China and Japan, Korea is now the object of considerable interest for radically different reasons-- the South as an economic success story and for its vibrant popular culture; the North as the home to one of the world's most repressive regimes, at once both bizarre and menacing.
This Very Short Introduction explores the history, culture, and society of a deeply divided region. Michael Seth considers what it means to be Korean, and analyses how the various peoples of the Korean peninsula became one of the world's most homogeneous nations, before exploring how this nation evolved, in a single lifetime, into today's sharply contrasting societies. He also discusses how Korea fits into the larger narrative of both East Asian and world history, economically, politically, and socially.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Having spent centuries in the shadows of its neighbours China and Japan, Korea is now the object of considerable interest for radically different reasons-- the South as an economic success story and for its vibrant popular culture; the North as the home to one of the world's most repressive regimes, at once both bizarre and menacing.
This Very Short Introduction explores the history, culture, and society of a deeply divided region. Michael Seth considers what it means to be Korean, and analyses how the various peoples of the Korean peninsula became one of the world's most homogeneous nations, before exploring how this nation evolved, in a single lifetime, into today's sharply contrasting societies. He also discusses how Korea fits into the larger narrative of both East Asian and world history, economically, politically, and socially.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
5 pages, Audiobook
First published March 29, 2020
36 people are currently reading
318 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
July 26, 2023
This was a fascinating VSI. Seth's writing style was transparent and clear. The book covers a ridiculous amount of material in a very limited range of pages, i.e. medieval Korea to modern North and South Korea. The general sense of the country rendered by Seth is that it is tenatiously independent and despite the constant pressures and influences (and manipulations) of the outside world, it has struggled and succeeded in maintaining its distinctive identity. The most fascinating element of the story told here was how North and South Korea diverged from the 1950s to the 00s. The division seems tragic, artificial, a sustained contradiction of previous Korean history. As with all VSI's, it was sometimes superficial and rushed, but this was a great overview for anyone interested in visiting Korea or starting a research project on a Korean-related topic.
December 28, 2022
Listened to this book while on a vacation in South Korea. It was a fantastic accompaniment to the travels across the country - Seoul (seeing the enthralling Joseon dynasty palaces), DMZ (learning about the Korean War), Gyeongju (1500-year old Silla dynasty’s history and peaceful Buddhist temples) and Jeju (beautiful volcanic landscapes in this self governing territory).
I entered Korea only knowing 3 things about it - Samsung, BTS and Gangnam Style! I leave Korea with a lot better understanding of this remarkable place. And this book has a large part to play in this unexpected unplanned cultural enlightenment for me.
Gansahamnida to the writer!
I entered Korea only knowing 3 things about it - Samsung, BTS and Gangnam Style! I leave Korea with a lot better understanding of this remarkable place. And this book has a large part to play in this unexpected unplanned cultural enlightenment for me.
Gansahamnida to the writer!
July 6, 2020
Definitely one of the better Very Short Introduction titles. Goes over the Korean War at a very quick pace, but I'd say this is one of the things I like the most about it - spends the time instead talking about the development of Korea on a grand scale instead of picking out specific battles. Very potent stuff - my guess is nearly anyone will learn a few things in this very quick read.
June 25, 2022
As promised, this is "a very short introduction to Korea(s)"...
January 18, 2025
Listened to this one as an audiobook. A very well summarised, quick overview of the history of the Korean peninsula. Really helped me understand many of the peculiarities of Korean culture today as well as just how incredibly fast the development of South Korea has progressed since the division. It also made me realise once again that a lot of conflict could have been avoided had western “allies” acted differently.
May 19, 2025
Very short, and tightly packed with information which is well narrativised and provides coherent images of different time periods. The three-star rating is awarded for the rather simple and lackluster prose — while some might say that accessibility is the key feature of this text, and that this is therefore a benefit, it simply made for a less enjoyable experience.
January 12, 2022
After reading author Eugenia Kim's historical novels, I wanted to know something about Korea, and this book filled the bill. Short, but comprehensive, it gave a good overview of the country. The tiny type was a challenge to these old eyes, but well worth it!
June 2, 2021
Better than expected.
Before starting listening to, I saw that the reviewer´s rating was 3,73. So I started this book without much enthusiasm. At the end, I found it great for my purposes. The book is short and is focused on history of politics and big events (as expected). It is from 202o, so it is uptodated.
If you are looking for something more embracing (yet out of date), I suggest:
, Korea: The Impossible Country, by Daniel Tudor.
Before starting listening to, I saw that the reviewer´s rating was 3,73. So I started this book without much enthusiasm. At the end, I found it great for my purposes. The book is short and is focused on history of politics and big events (as expected). It is from 202o, so it is uptodated.
If you are looking for something more embracing (yet out of date), I suggest:
, Korea: The Impossible Country, by Daniel Tudor.
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July 11, 2025kore hakkında hakkında çok iyi bilgiler edindim. yormayan ve faydalı bir kitap.
August 6, 2020
Very interesting, although this really should be split into several books like with the VSIs of eg Modern Japan or Modern China. A lot of the book is spent covering more of the ancient history rather than the more modern one, and it felt like the book ended just as it was getting really interesting. The book gave a lot of facts but at times little cultural/sociological analysis as to why things were the way they were or why eg Korea has become so big on cosmetic surgery (not mentioned at all) or about why the society still holds to very patriarchal values even though there has been progress in many other ways? Why so many abandoned and adopted babies? I hope at some point there will be a ‘Modern Korea’ version that will better touch on these topics and a analyse them.
October 1, 2024
I didn’t realize until 40 mins into the book when I was getting annoyed by the narrator’s pronunciation of Korean words, that this book was written by the same author as the previous Korean history book I listened to: A Brief History of Korea: Isolation, War, Despotism and Revival: The Fascinating Story of a Resilient But Divided People. “A Brief History of Korea …” was published in 2019 and this book was published in 2020. In “A Brief History of Korea …”, the content is very similar, but the tone is slightly different, and it is 9.5 hours. It talks a little bit more about prominent people and events of Korea. However the problem with that book is that the audio also has mispronunciations (just like this book) and the physical/ebook has many typos. This book is only 4.5 hours and according to the reviews, the editing was better. I didn’t see any complaint of typos.
So speaking of pronunciation, this is another case of an audiobook where the narrator is pronouncing the Korean words like Chinese words. When pronouncing a lot of the Korean words the emphasis is on the last syllable when it should be on the first. The narrator often makes the tone go up at the end or constricts the word when speaking it. This is problematic because it makes it harder to look up people and events if they are pronounced wrong.
I think I get it now when people say a history book is written from a western perspective. I guess I never really noticed it before now. Especially if I knew next to nothing about the subject matter. Korea is a nation/culture with over 5000 years of history but 1/3 of the book is spent talking about its creation up to the 1800s. Then the rest of the 2/3 of the book talks about the catalyst that led to the Japanese occupation and Korean war. Then it ends the book talking about the spilt country and the emergence of the 2 states. Why is 4700 years only talked about for 1/3 of the book and the last 300 years takes up the majority of the book?
Throughout the book, it doesn’t talk about what is going on in Korea unless it affected something outside of Korea or is a result of something that happened outside the country by other nations/countries. It also mentioned that Korea refers to itself as a shrimp among whales, with the whales being China, Russia and Japan. I’ve been studying the Korean culture for 10+ years and I’ve never heard that phrase. The phrase I hear very often is the “Four Asian Tigers”. This phrase refers to South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is about the rapid development and success of their nations over the last 50 years. This book never mentioned that phrase.
The first third of the book is spent talking about the legitimacy of Korea being a unique culture/people because of the surrounding cultures and people, like China and the Mongols. I found that a little insulting because I’ve never read history about England, Spain, Ireland, Italy, or Greece where the historian contested the legitimacy of the culture or its origin. Also, even China wasn’t unified China back then and I wished the author would have referred to the dynasty or clan names instead of just saying China. The book then goes on to mostly talk about Korea in terms of how they fought with or were dominated by the Mongols or China. There had to have been so much going on inside the Korean Kingdoms but it only talked about it in reflection of the differences to China and the influences of China.
Japan was always a threat but Japan wasn’t unified either. When Japan was talked about in the first third of the book, it was about how Korea had to fight off the early Japanese pirates. Then it moved on to talk about how Korea was closed off to trade and only traded with Japan and China. This moves us into the last 2/3rds of the book where China and Japan were fighting over Korea.
Chapter 3 was the worst chapter. It is where the language used showed the bias (or rudeness) of the author. Words like “pathetic”, “backwards”, and “pitiful” were used to describe Korea during and after the Japanese occupation. Those are subjective and biased words. History books should be objective and just provide facts. Let the readers make up their own minds. I will give the author credit that when the book talks about the spilt, it did mention how horrible and irresponsible it was and how the U.S. was unprepared to fully help.
I understand this is a very short introduction, but it should be renamed to “Korean Political History based on interactions with other nations: A Very Brief Introduction”.
So speaking of pronunciation, this is another case of an audiobook where the narrator is pronouncing the Korean words like Chinese words. When pronouncing a lot of the Korean words the emphasis is on the last syllable when it should be on the first. The narrator often makes the tone go up at the end or constricts the word when speaking it. This is problematic because it makes it harder to look up people and events if they are pronounced wrong.
I think I get it now when people say a history book is written from a western perspective. I guess I never really noticed it before now. Especially if I knew next to nothing about the subject matter. Korea is a nation/culture with over 5000 years of history but 1/3 of the book is spent talking about its creation up to the 1800s. Then the rest of the 2/3 of the book talks about the catalyst that led to the Japanese occupation and Korean war. Then it ends the book talking about the spilt country and the emergence of the 2 states. Why is 4700 years only talked about for 1/3 of the book and the last 300 years takes up the majority of the book?
Throughout the book, it doesn’t talk about what is going on in Korea unless it affected something outside of Korea or is a result of something that happened outside the country by other nations/countries. It also mentioned that Korea refers to itself as a shrimp among whales, with the whales being China, Russia and Japan. I’ve been studying the Korean culture for 10+ years and I’ve never heard that phrase. The phrase I hear very often is the “Four Asian Tigers”. This phrase refers to South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It is about the rapid development and success of their nations over the last 50 years. This book never mentioned that phrase.
The first third of the book is spent talking about the legitimacy of Korea being a unique culture/people because of the surrounding cultures and people, like China and the Mongols. I found that a little insulting because I’ve never read history about England, Spain, Ireland, Italy, or Greece where the historian contested the legitimacy of the culture or its origin. Also, even China wasn’t unified China back then and I wished the author would have referred to the dynasty or clan names instead of just saying China. The book then goes on to mostly talk about Korea in terms of how they fought with or were dominated by the Mongols or China. There had to have been so much going on inside the Korean Kingdoms but it only talked about it in reflection of the differences to China and the influences of China.
Japan was always a threat but Japan wasn’t unified either. When Japan was talked about in the first third of the book, it was about how Korea had to fight off the early Japanese pirates. Then it moved on to talk about how Korea was closed off to trade and only traded with Japan and China. This moves us into the last 2/3rds of the book where China and Japan were fighting over Korea.
Chapter 3 was the worst chapter. It is where the language used showed the bias (or rudeness) of the author. Words like “pathetic”, “backwards”, and “pitiful” were used to describe Korea during and after the Japanese occupation. Those are subjective and biased words. History books should be objective and just provide facts. Let the readers make up their own minds. I will give the author credit that when the book talks about the spilt, it did mention how horrible and irresponsible it was and how the U.S. was unprepared to fully help.
I understand this is a very short introduction, but it should be renamed to “Korean Political History based on interactions with other nations: A Very Brief Introduction”.
September 28, 2020
Korean peninsula is one of the most significant and volatile geopolitical regions today. It is politically divided between the Communist North Korea (People's Republic of Korea) and Democratic and Capitalist South Korea (Republic of Korea). The two political entires both claim the exclusive sovereignty rights over the entire Koran nation, and have been in a state of uneasy armistice that ended the Korean war confrontations in 1953.
This short introduction to Korea is a fascinating look at over 2000 years of Koran history. Korea is situated between two giants - China and Japan - and Korea's own history has been deeply influenced by these two neighbors. Koreans had to undertake a very fine balancing act of engagement with their neighbors, and fend of numerous attempts at invasion. It is quite remarkable that Koreans have maintained their cultural and ethnic identity despite these overwhelming odds. In fact, starting in 1910 and until the middle of the 20th century Japan had engaged in a concentrated effort to completely assimilate Koreans into the Japanese nationhood, something that has left deep and enduring scars on Korean psyche.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the modern Korean history is the remarkable rapid development of the South Korea over the past half a century. South Korea has risen from a relatively unremarkable and corrupt Asian nation to one of the global cultural and technological superpowers in an incredibly short period of time. There are many valuable lessons in that rise for any other nation that would like to emulate it.
Before reading this short book my knowledge of Korea was rather scant. Thanks to this very engaging and informative volume, I have a much better grasp of this remarkable nation. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about Korea.
This short introduction to Korea is a fascinating look at over 2000 years of Koran history. Korea is situated between two giants - China and Japan - and Korea's own history has been deeply influenced by these two neighbors. Koreans had to undertake a very fine balancing act of engagement with their neighbors, and fend of numerous attempts at invasion. It is quite remarkable that Koreans have maintained their cultural and ethnic identity despite these overwhelming odds. In fact, starting in 1910 and until the middle of the 20th century Japan had engaged in a concentrated effort to completely assimilate Koreans into the Japanese nationhood, something that has left deep and enduring scars on Korean psyche.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the modern Korean history is the remarkable rapid development of the South Korea over the past half a century. South Korea has risen from a relatively unremarkable and corrupt Asian nation to one of the global cultural and technological superpowers in an incredibly short period of time. There are many valuable lessons in that rise for any other nation that would like to emulate it.
Before reading this short book my knowledge of Korea was rather scant. Thanks to this very engaging and informative volume, I have a much better grasp of this remarkable nation. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about Korea.
February 13, 2024
❌ - Would I read it again?
No, I read it to get a high level understanding of Korean history.
✅ - Would I recommend it?
Yes, it provided the general, high level view of Korean history that I wanted.
✅ - Was it educational/informative/I learned something?
Yes.
❌ - Did it address a clearly identified problem; offered help/suggestions that were clear and concise; narrative was easy to follow and I felt engaged?
No, the purpose of the book was to provide an overview of Korean history, which it did, but it jumped around a lot so it was hard to follow a linear timeline of events.
✅ - Diction, syntax, writing
Good, clear, no obvious errors.
No, I read it to get a high level understanding of Korean history.
✅ - Would I recommend it?
Yes, it provided the general, high level view of Korean history that I wanted.
✅ - Was it educational/informative/I learned something?
Yes.
❌ - Did it address a clearly identified problem; offered help/suggestions that were clear and concise; narrative was easy to follow and I felt engaged?
No, the purpose of the book was to provide an overview of Korean history, which it did, but it jumped around a lot so it was hard to follow a linear timeline of events.
✅ - Diction, syntax, writing
Good, clear, no obvious errors.
October 17, 2025
The very short introduction series does an excellent job of presenting the basics of very complex ideas. I picked this book up at the Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul while on vacation there. I was not disappointed - and you can tell by the time I spent reading this book that it was difficult to put down.
Korea is of course; at this point two countries. Writing this on October 16, the day I returned to the United States I'm sure I've forgotten some of the finer points. That said it lead me to buy further books from the same excellent bookstore. Kyobo has a wonderful English section and was recommended to me by a good Korean friend.
Korea is of course; at this point two countries. Writing this on October 16, the day I returned to the United States I'm sure I've forgotten some of the finer points. That said it lead me to buy further books from the same excellent bookstore. Kyobo has a wonderful English section and was recommended to me by a good Korean friend.
October 22, 2022
Not knowing much about Korean history, I think the book did a good job of providing a basic framework of the people. Most of my knowledge was post WWII, so I enjoyed learning about the period before the war.
Korea’s entire history has been trying to balance the larger powers around it: first the Chinese emperor, then the Japanese, then the USSR & communist China or the US. It also comes across that both North and South drifted toward authoritarianism, with the difference being the US kept yanking the South back from it whereas the North went all gas, no brakes toward it.
Korea’s entire history has been trying to balance the larger powers around it: first the Chinese emperor, then the Japanese, then the USSR & communist China or the US. It also comes across that both North and South drifted toward authoritarianism, with the difference being the US kept yanking the South back from it whereas the North went all gas, no brakes toward it.
July 2, 2024
Overall, the book offers a concise introduction to the Korean Peninsula with a clear and transparent writing style that allows anyone interested in Korea to understand it, providing a basic understanding from medieval to modern times. It emphasises Korea's independence and the diverging paths of North and South Korea from the 1950s to the 2000s. While it does provide an excellent overview of Korea, some sections of the book either feel rushed or drawn out.
October 9, 2024
As someone who’s unfamiliar with Korean history, I found this to be a fairly accessible introduction. It moves quickly given the nature of this kind of book, but it’s a good resource for bookmarking people, events, and concepts to further research. The use of the McCune–Reischauer romanization system was a bit distracting since I’m used to the Revised Romanization system. But overall, reading this felt like an important step in my journey to learn more about Korean history.
August 27, 2020
I did find out more than I ever knew about Korea here (which wouldn't take much).Most of the book deals with the history of the whole peninsula and then moves to more specifics about the current North and South Korean nations. Definitely a "short introduction", so don't expect an in-depth history or sociology.
July 31, 2021
Listened to in one day - I read this one because the reviews were positive and it was, indeed, a good read. It covered Korean history in a scope that was both interesting and yet brief. A larger part of the book is dedicated to modern Korean history, so if you're looking for ancient Korean history this might not be the book.
December 24, 2023
As a burgeoning Kdrama fan, I realized that I was missing out on the depth of many of many stories because I didn’t know Korean history. This book has been a super helpful first step to understanding Korea more deeply. It’s a concise fun read. But the end of this reading this book you’ll know enough about Korean history to understand basic significance of historical dramas and current events.
July 29, 2025
The perfect little book to get an overview of Korea’s history before a trip. I was searching for a book that covered Korea’s history pre 1900s which turned out to be quite difficult.
I’m sceptical when it comes to this Very Short Introduction series as they’re always a hit or miss. Thankfully, this was one of the gems in the series.
I’m sceptical when it comes to this Very Short Introduction series as they’re always a hit or miss. Thankfully, this was one of the gems in the series.
Read
February 24, 2021Super interesting and informative! The book addressed Korean history, both ancient and modern. I found the parts describing imperialism and the aftermath of the Korean War the most intriguing. The author spent time describing the diverging paths of North and South Korea.
September 17, 2022
Another solid effort in the very well edited AVSI series, doing pretty much everything that you could want from a volume of this small size. Korea had been an unusual blank spot in my understanding of the world, and this volume has its share of surprises.
September 10, 2023
About to launch an art project related to Korean shamanism, I wanted to get a quick, concise overview of Korean history. This was perfect. That’s all. Not much to compare it to, but it fit the bill.
The author refers several times to geomancy. I want to know more about that.
The author refers several times to geomancy. I want to know more about that.
July 19, 2024
Great addition to the VSI series. It does what it needs to do: give the reader a brief intro to a new topic. I felt that I knew very little about Korea and I learned a lot of basic info to jumpstart future learning and better understand Korean issues in the news which is just what I wanted.
September 21, 2024
I read this to get an understanding of the Korean War, but ended up engrossed by this book as a whole. It’s heartwarming to know that most Koreans still believe in the reunification of the two sides.
February 19, 2025
The writer was rather condescending in a few sections and incredibly succinct about major issues that I, an absolute noob of Korean history, found shocking but as the title suggests, it is indeed a very short introduction to Korea.
July 30, 2020
Actually really enjoyed this. I knew very little about Korea previous to reading this. I can't wait to read the Modern China and Modern Japan versions. Uni reading list going well so far!
December 9, 2020
Seems like NOTHING happened in Korea before the Common Era!
Not recommended!
Regards,
Peter
Not recommended!
Regards,
Peter
December 15, 2020
It just made me more curious about Korean history.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews