Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea (review)

BOOK REVIEWS23 1 background in Korea, it is rich in topical coverage of activities by the U.S. government, such as the Truman administration, congress, the NSC, the CIA, and the JCS, as well as the United Nations and its international agencies . As a war dictionary, it carries numerous, detailed entries of famous battles and operations. For example, under "UN offensive across the 38th parallel" (pp. 488^189), Matray writes that Truman's decision with regard to "destroying the North Korean People's Army and reunifying Korea" was "unwise, if not disastrous" (p. 488). Hua Qingzhao of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, writes that China decided to join the fighting in Korea as "a result of careful deliberation" (p. 90) and that the Korean soldiers who fought for the Chinese communist revolution "were sent back to Korea" and "played a leading role in the North Korean invasion of South Korea" (p. 91). There are also many biographical entries. MacArthur has 15 entries, led by a three-page biography; Truman has 12 entries, including a twopage biography; Syngman Rhee (Yi Sung-man) has 5 entries, including a two-page biography. A dictionary of this nature cannot exhaust all the topics relating to the history of the war. The editor has exercised judgment, and rightly so, in selecting the most important items for inclusion. He has screened the entries carefully and succeeded in providing us with short articles of high quality on important events, places, and people related to the war. Every university library should have a copy. With the addition of a companion study guide, this dictionary could be used more effectively by teachers and students as supplementary reading and research material in undergraduate and graduate courses in history, political science, and Asian studies. Fujiya Kawashima Bowling Green State University Historical Dictionary ofthe Republic ofKorea, by Andrew C. Nahm. Asian Historical Dictionaries, 11. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1993. lxi + 272 pp. $39.50. Korean studies in the West is still hampered by the lack of English-language reference materials. Andrew Nahm's historical dictionary is therefore a welcome addition to the Asian Historical Dictionaries series edited by Jon Woronoff. However, it differs from most other members of the series in its narrow focus on recent history, limited as the title suggests to South Korea since 1948. Only a modest number of entries are included, about 230 in all. Some deal with specific persons, institutions, and events, 232BOOK REVIEWS while others address broad topics such as economic development, foreign affairs, and the women's movement. The usefulness of this reference work is enhanced by a historical chronology of Korea from the Paleolithic era to 1992; a 55-page essay on the history of Korea, emphasizing the contemporary period; several appendices listing government leaders and election results; and especially by a comprehensive bibliography of English language books (and some articles) on Korea. There are several maps, but these are poorly reproduced. A number of features make this a handy reference tool. The entries are clearly written and some of the longer ones, such as those on the Korean War and the student movement, contain succinct summaries of these important parts of South Korea's turbulent history that will be useful for those who have little background knowledge of things Korean or who need a quick review of events. Ample cross-references, together with consistent and accurate romanization in the McCune-Reischauer system, add to its practicality. But its value would have been further enhanced by including the Korean names for organizations and institutions, either in Korean or transliterated form, in parentheses after each entry title, and by including one or more bibliographic references at the end of each entry. However, the lack of immediate references is compensated for by the extensive bibliography, conveniently arranged by topic. It includes publications as recent as 1991, but is less comprehensive in its coverage of books published during the past ten years. Some critical works are omitted , for example, Bruce Cumings's second volume (1990) of The Origins of the Korean War. The author appears to have written this dictionary with the interested general reader as well the serious student of Korea in...