[KS] New NKIDP Publication: The Rise and Fall of Détente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974

Larry Hepinstall larryhep1 at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 26 22:56:54 EDT 2011


I would greatly appreciate a copy of your recent publication on Korea. My dissertation was on the transition from military to civilian rule in 

South Korea from 1961 to 1963 and your book will add an interesting perspective on the changing US-ROK relations after that period.

Thank you.


Larry Hepinstall
26 Manahoac Lane
Sperryville, VA 22740

(Retired Professor, University of Maryland University College)



________________________________
From: James Person <jfperson at hotmail.com>
To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 3:08 PM
Subject: [KS] New NKIDP Publication: The Rise and Fall of Détente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974


 
NKIDP is pleased to announce the release of the The Rise and Fall of Détente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974.  The publication features the transcript of the second in a series of 
critical oral history conferences jointly convened by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ North Korea International 
Documentation Project and the University of North Korean Studies. The publication also features a selection of twenty-two newly translated documents from the archives of North Korea's former communist allies.


In July 2010, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s North Korea International Documentation Project and the 
University of North Korean Studies convened their second in a series of 
critical oral history conferences at the Wilson Center in Washington, 
DC. For the first and perhaps last time, a group of veteran diplomatic 
and intelligence officials from the Republic of Korea, the United 
States, and the former communist bloc, all active in Korean affairs in 
the early 1970s, assembled with a small group of scholars in an effort 
to provide context to, and fill gaps in the available documentary 
record. The Rise and Fall of Détente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974 is the result of that historic conference and features extended and 
probing discussions on the rise and demise of the inter-Korean dialogue, South Korea’s changing relationship with the United States, and North 
Korea’s position within the communist bloc during the era of détente.


The proceedings revealed the following findings:

	* South Korean leaders were concerned that after the United 
States-China rapprochement in the early 1970s, Washington might also 
unilaterally seek rapprochement with North Korea. These concerns 
factored prominently into Seoul’s decision to engage Pyongyang directly.
	* After determining that the prosperity gap between the two Koreas was widening in South Korea’s favor, President Park Chung Hee suggested 
holding discussions on a rotational basis in Seoul and Pyongyang to make the North Korean leadership aware of the South’s growing affluence;
	* North Korean leader Kim Il Sung entered into dialogue with Seoul 
believing that South Korea was ripe for revolution, and that, much like 
North Vietnam, the North would ultimately prevail over the South;
	* Korean Central Intelligence Agency Chief Lee Hurak played an 
influential role in the decision to strengthen presidential authority in South Korea under the Yushin system – possibly more so than President 
Park Chung Hee.

Twenty-two documents, obtained from archives in South Korea, 
Hungary, Romania, (East) Germany, Bulgaria, Albania, and the United 
States accompany the conference transcript and provide additional 
context and evidence on this period in inter-Korean, U.S.-Korean, and 
DPRK-Socialist bloc relations. Among the most noteworthy documents in 
the collection are newly obtained and translated conversation between 
Kim Il Sung and foreign heads of state, including Romania’s Nicolae 
Ceausescu and Bulgaria’s Todor Zhivkov. In his 1971 conversation with 
Ceausescu, Kim Il Sung described his new policy of peaceful 
reunification, premised on the belief that South Korea was on the verge 
of revolution. In his 1973 conversation with Zhivkov, the North Korean 
leader expressed his frustrations with Chinese foreign and domestic 
policies.


The Rise and Fall of Détente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974 is available online. To receive a free copy of the book, please send your name and mailing address to nkidp at wilsoncenter.org.
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