This book provides a sweeping overview of East Asian international relations in history from the nineteenth century onwards, with a focus on Korea and its relationship with East Asia and the USA. In contrast with many books which concentrate exclusively on the twentieth century, this book offers a long-term perspective on modernity and modernization in East Asia. It addresses the tributary system, the Meiji Restoration, Japanese imperialism in East Asia, and the Cold War in East Asia. It also incorporates the First and Second Indochina Wars from Vietnam's perspective and expands the geographical scope of East Asia beyond the traditional framework of Korea, Japan, and China. The book begins with the tributary system as a starting point of East Asian modernity in contrast to the old view that the tributary system was not a "modern" system. It rejects the idea that Japan was modernizing while Korea remained stagnant and shows why Japanese colonialism continues to be controversial and problematic. Through the book's emphasis on Vietnam's perspective of the Indochina Wars, it places much value on nationalism, anti-imperialism, and decolonization as forces of modernity and modernization. Relevant to scholars and students in history, international relations, and East Asian studies more broadly, the book brings with it a novel, fresh and innovative approach to East Asian history.

Autorentext

Kyu-hyun Jo is a lecturer in Political Science at Yonsei University, where he teaches Korea and East Asian International Relations. He received his Ph.D. in Modern East Asian History at the University of Chicago in June 2019 under the direction of Bruce Cumings. He has published on various issues and problems related to or stemming from Japanese colonialism and imperialism in East Asia, such as Japanese "judicial imperialism," sexual slavery, the Korean War, Dokdo and territorial sovereignty, the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the San Francisco System in East Asia, "Comfort Women" in China, and the coercive illegality of Japanese imperialism in Korea. He has published articles in Asia-Pacific Viewpoint, the Journal of History (University of Toronto), Territory, Politics, and Governance, the Review of Korean Studies, Acta Koreana, Korea Journal, and Asian Politics and Policy among others. He is also the author of Japanese Judicial Imperialism and the Origins of the Coercive Illegality of Japan's Annexation of Korea: A Study of Unequal Treaties Between Korea and Japan, 1876-1910 (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2023) and The Dawn of War in South Korea, 1947-1950: The South Korean Workers' Party and the April Third Massacre (Springer, 2024)