Korean Studies Cassette Library (review)

BOOK REVIEWS115 by that, at least in the prospect of finding a wider audience. One must ask, however, why the typographical errors seem to have multiplied and, in particular, why no one thought to remove (end story) from the end of each and every story. There have been other changes as well. The writers collected in the anthology were for the most part something else first—college and university faculty, secondary school teachers, or formerly so. Kim observes in the Introduction that many of today's writers, those whose works were published after the postwar decade, are just that, writers first. Although this important point is garbled by the dropping of one or possibly two lines from the text (p. xxxvi), it may remind us of the parallel professionalization of so many aspects of contemporary life, including even the field ofKorean studies. A most poignant reminder ofthis is the difference between the final sentences in the prefaces of the books: the cheerful salutation of the earlier version—"There, now the book is all yours!"—stands replaced by the far more sober assertion that "I(t) goes without saying that the final responsibility for translation rests with me." Even as one welcomes the republication of this collection, one must also feel some regret at the passing from the amateur age of literary appreciation into the heavy atmosphere—though with little institutional growth to support it in the United States—of the age of the professionals. David R. McCann Cornell University Korean Studies Cassette Library, by Audio Learning. London and New York, 1983. As interest in Korean studies grows, the need for materials readily available to students and nonspecialists becomes more urgent. In recent years, scholars have produced new language texts, translations of Korean histories, and several movies on Korean art. Audio Learning of London and New York has added another dimension. They have produced five tape cassettes on various aspects of Korean art, history, music, contemporary politics, and economics. These tapes present the opinions of thirteen different scholars, only half of whom are Korean specialists. Each of the five tapes runs approximately fifty minutes. No attempt has been made to integrate all five tapes. They are rather a collection ofcomments on and interpretations on Korea. The last two tapes in the series, adapted from the 1982 Yale Symposium on Korean Culture, do form one unit. Each cassette is accompanied by a brief written synopsis of the material presented on the tape. The sound quality on all tapes is good. The first in the series, "Korea in the 1980's," is clearly the most disappointing . The title misleads, for the program, as well as dealing with contemporary Korea, offers a brief, flawed interpretation of Korean history from earliest time to the present. For example, the speakers, neither ofwhom is a historian or a Korean specialist, assert that Confucianism entered Korea before the Christian era, a statement that begs qualification. The same speakers state that Sejong, one of Korea's greatest kings, ruled from 1397 to 1450. In fact he reigned from 1418 to 116BOOK REVIEWS 1450. The authors even mangle recent events, declaring that the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950 was "spearheaded by Soviet T-34 tanks," and Soviet combat aircraft and artillery. Although the North Koreans did use Soviet equipment, the Soviets removed most of their advisers to disassociate themselves from the North Korean attack. Finally, the authors contend that Japan and South Korea normalized their relations in 1966; the actual date was 1965. Furthermore, the tape's portrait of Korea in the 1980s is incomplete. It presents a positive, but not always candid appraisal of the current Chon regime. The tone is so upbeat that one suspects the script may well have been composed by a member of Chön's ruling Democratic Justice Party. The presentation lacks spontaneity, the dialogue is wooden, and the readers follow their script haltingly. They frequently mispronounce Korean names and terms. It is a tedious tape. The second program, "South Korean Economic Affairs," is much more lively. The speakers are Dr. Kihwan Kim, formerly the president of the Korea Development Institute and now the vice minister of commerce, and Dr. Lawrence...