The Two Koreas (Oberdorfer & Carlin)

In The Two Koreas, Don Oberdorfer and Robert Carlin draw from years of journalism and State Department expertise to offer a history of the peninsula from World War II to present day (2014, for the third edition).  In a nutshell:

After World War II, The Korean peninsula (under Japanese occupation during the conflict) was divided in two, with the northern portion falling under Soviet sway, and southern under US (much like East and West Germany).  After both sides turned their respective areas over to local leadership, they departed, only to return in 1950 with the outbreak of the Korean War, an attempt by the North to reunite the country through invasion.  Repulsed by the US and her allies (ending in 1953), the 38th parallel remained the line of demarcation between the two regions, where a demilitarized zone (DMZ) remains to this day (with heavy fortifications on both sides close by).  True peace was never achieved, though open hostilities have (mostly) ceased for almost 70 years.

North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK) was (and remains) a communist regime, led by Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un in turn.  A secretive, brutal dictatorship, it's long lagged behind its southern neighbor in many respects.  Strong Sino and Soviet alliances initially injected much-needed resources (food, material, weapons), but the partnerships diminished over the decades as the USSR fell and China moved towards Western economics.

South Korea (the Republic of Korea, or ROK) was led by democratically-elected but essentially autocratic Syngman Rhee until 1961, when a military coup put Park Chung Hee in power.  After several elections, he declared martial law in 1972, implementing a repressive system called yushin to tighten his grip on power, and remained in charge until 1979.  Political reform came slowly but surely, and free elections resumed in 1987.  Throughout dictatorship to democracy, Western-style economics led to flourishing.

The relationship between the North and the world has been tense (at times on the brink of war) and is now a predictable cycle of provocation and negotiation.  The US and other major players take differing tactics dependent largely upon the administrations in power at the time.  Much focus has been on the North's development of/quest for nuclear technology (for power and/or weapons), and the world's attempts to stop it.  As early as the '90s, the DPRK realized it had a bargaining chip here, and has used that countless times in negotiations for food, fuel, and investment in the desperately poor country that would be otherwise ignored.  Tensions continue to this day, and points to "the stasis, almost paralysis, that has become tacitly accepted as the norm by all the players on and around the peninsula."  "Should two hostile regimes continue to exist on the peninsula, it will be a tragedy no only for the Korean nation but for all of Northeast Asia, warping policies and hobbling developments for decades to come."
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This book was informative, but mislabeled as a general history book.  Most of the book is about the relations of the two countries with each other, the US, Russia, China, Japan, and the world.  So it's more focused on international relations (political/diplomatic efforts) than anything (indeed, one review called it "a useful primer on policy").  The information was valuable (though dry at times), and the authors were eminently qualified (both witnessing Korean developments firsthand for years), but I was hoping for a more 'typical' history book that walked through the respective development of, and major events in, the two Koreas.  But perhaps the focus is appropriate, as the peninsula seems doomed to be defined by the hostilities between North and South.

Rating: B