Korea Under Roh Tae-woo: Democratization, Northern Policy, and Inter-Korean Relations (review)

1 86KOREAN STUDIES, VOL. 1 9 each has of the other, each ultimately constructed from self-perceptions. While both essays stress the importance of striving for a better understanding between the two countries, they end on a sober note bringing attention to the inherent difficulties of this task. In summary, I will end this review by assessing these volumes for their "usefulness." As I mentioned earlier, I find the 1992 format more useful than the 1993 one. I think that a briefing book will be most useful as a close survey and scrutiny of the politics and economy of one year. Even after many years, we can return to such a work as a fundamental reference. JaHyun Kim Haboush University of Illinois Korea Under Roh Tae-woo: Democratization, Northern Policy, and Inter-Korean Relations, edited by James Cotton. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen and Unwin in association with the Department of International Relations, Australian National University, 1993. 354 pp. South Korea's postwar economic successes are widely known. This collection of mostly republished essays attempts to call attention to and analyze another set of changes, the "remarkable political transformations" that occurred during a "period largely coinciding with the tenure in office of President Roh Tae-woo." The subject of democratization in South Korea is intriguing on several levels. First, there is the chronicle of significant political changes that have occurred, including the adoption of constitutional reforms, democratic elections, and the movement away from authoritarian government. Second, there is the contextualization and understanding of how and why these significant events have occurred. Third, there are speculations about what these changes mean for the future of South Korea's internal development and her relations with North Korea and other nations. Written by Korean as well as international scholars and observers, several of whom have held posts in government as well as academia, this book provides a worthy primer on recent movements toward democracy in Korea. The first part consists of essays describing the prerequisites for democracy in Korea. Cotton's essay provides a broad historical and theoretical perspective with which to view Korea's path "from authoritarianism to democracy ." He sets the context by asking important questions about the roles of elites as well as the effects of larger forces such as modernization, urbanization , and socioeconomic development on the emergence of democratic institutions . Cotton also provides a cornerstone for the book in a section entitled BOOK REVIEWS187 "Roh Tae-woo's Decision to Back Democratization" (33-35), in which he cites factors such as relations with the U.S., the 1988 Olympics, and Roh's desire to establish himself as a "personable and approachable individual," as well as to distance himself from Chun Doo-hwan. Central to this was his declaration of 29 June 1987 enumerating his now-famous eight-point program for democratic reform. While the explanation Cotton provides is plausible, he does not provide corroborating evidence to support his analysis of Roh's rationale for supporting democracy. Although many of the transformations occurred during Roh's time at the helm, his direct participation, leadership, and rightful place in Korean history is not yet clear. Indeed, many of the other essays in the first section demonstrate the extent to which factors other than Roh Tae-woo's leadership may have been more instrumental. Okonogi's essay, for example, describes the extent to which historical circumstances, such as the repressive Park Chung Hee regime, the turmoil following his assassination in 1979 that included the Kwangju massacre and other atrocities, and the trials and tribulations of the Chun Doo-hwan regime, all fostered popular demands for democratic reform. Rather than the singling out the successes of Roh Tae-woo and his party, Okonogi asserts that democracy was the "joint product of the labours of government , the ruling and opposition parties, students, intellectuals, and—above all—the people of the nation" (7). Similarly, Bedeski's essay on state reform and democracy identifies a sequence of stages by which South Korea has moved from authoritarian government toward democracy and cites reasons why her experience is unique—"ethnic homogeneity, geographic compactness , tradition of factionalism, and vulnerability to U.S. influence" (71). Won-mo Dong's essay describes...