[KS] Re-revised posting "Revoking a Recommendation"

[Don Baker]

I wouldn’t trust Brian Myers to evaluate someone else’s scholarship. He actually posted on his blog a while back a recommendation to readers to trust a totally concocted “account” of the May 18, 1980, massacre in Kwangju that claimed that the whole incident was caused by North Korean agents who had infiltrated Kwangju before May 18:  Daniel Kim (Kim Taeryŏng) Yŏksarosŏ ŭi 5.18: 5.18 chaep’an pŏmniŭi mosun [Looking at May 18 in historical perspective: Legal contradictions in the trials related to the May 18 incident-  (Seoul: Pibong Books, 2013) Myers went on to assert on his blog that "there is evidence or testimony to back up the claim of DPRK involvement.”   He has now removed that post from his blog, so maybe he realized how ridiculous his assertion was. (The original posting was at http://sthelepress.com/index.php/2016/06/14/recommendation-may-18th-as-history-2013/
Don Baker
Don Baker ProfessorDepartment of Asian Studies University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z2 don.baker at ubc.ca

From: jiyulkim at gmail.com
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2016 00:09:00 -0400
To: koreanstudies at koreanstudies.com
Subject: [KS] Re-revised posting "Revoking a Recommendation"

[NOTE TO ADMINISTRATOR: please discard two earlier versions and review this for posting]
I came across this recent posting by B. R. Myers revoking his recommendation for Charles Armstrong's Tyranny of the Weak (2013). Myers' revocation is, for me, unprecedented.Myers compares Armstrong's Tyranny with Balazs Szalontai's Kim Il Sung in the Khrushchev Era (2005). He gives detailed examples why he can't support the book.  If there is any truth to what Myers says then it is all very disturbing since Armstrong's books are widely admired and used.I wonder what others think.  Myers' post can be found at http://sthelepress.com/Jiyul KimOberlin CollegeOberlin, Ohio 		 	   		  
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