Sign-In
Cart
Witness to Korea 1945-47: The Unfolding of an Authoritarian Regime
Paperback
Series: Asia Research
20th Century United States HistoryGeneral Political ScienceKorean History
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 1956067914
ISBN13: 9781956067910
Publisher: Academia Publishers, LLC
Published: Apr 11 2026
Pages: 554
Weight: 1.61
Height: 1.23 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781956067910
Publisher: Academia Publishers, LLC
Published: Apr 11 2026
Pages: 554
Weight: 1.61
Height: 1.23 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Richard D. Robinson's Betrayal of a Nation and Mark Gayn's Korea section in his Japan Diary are the most substantial, intense, and critically engaging descriptions of immediate post-liberation southern Korea written in English between 1945 and the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. Robinson's academic essay and Gayn's journalistic diary each combine razor-sharp political analysis with personal eyewitness observations, despite the differences in literary genre. Both examine the early Cold War politics of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) and American support of right-wing Korean politicians. Both authors were attacked by McCarthy and his ilk. In today's terms, Robinson would be considered a whistleblower. In order to avoid court-martial in Korea by the U.S. Army, he fled to Turkey where he bided his time for almost a decade, whereas Mark Gayn ultimately left the United States for Canada.
Three supplementary essays by the editors examine the lives of Robinson and Gayn during McCarthyism, the emergence of right-wing politicians and fascist youth groups, and America's culpability in the establishment of South Korea's first authoritarian regime. Read together, the essays offer a fresh reading that resituates these events in a longer and strikingly current history of colonialism and its neocolonial afterlives, casting South Korea's authoritarian founding not as a postwar aberration born of confusion, but as a more deliberate-and more familiar-political project. C o n t e n t s Acknowledgments, viii At Long Last - John Merrill, 1
Richard D. Robinson and Mark Gayn: A Whistleblower and a Journalist - Frank Hoffmann, 5 Source Texts
Betrayal of a Nation - Richard D. Robinson, 53
Japan Diary: Korea - Mark Gayn, 327 Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Culpability in Southern Korea: Gayn and Robinson on the U.S. Military Government - Mark E. Caprio, 430
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Fascism in Korea - Frank Hoffmann, 462 References, 514
Image Credits, 527
Glossary and Index, 529
Contributors, 541
Richard D. Robinson and Mark Gayn: A Whistleblower and a Journalist - Frank Hoffmann, 5 Source Texts
Betrayal of a Nation - Richard D. Robinson, 53
Japan Diary: Korea - Mark Gayn, 327 Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Culpability in Southern Korea: Gayn and Robinson on the U.S. Military Government - Mark E. Caprio, 430
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Fascism in Korea - Frank Hoffmann, 462 References, 514
Image Credits, 527
Glossary and Index, 529
Contributors, 541
Also from
Caprio, Mark E.
Also in
Korean History
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult
Cheng, Jonathan
Hardcover
$32.40
This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
Fehrenbach, T. R.
Paperback
$31.30
The Korean Art of Living Well: The Eight Keys of Living Meditation for Balance and Transformation
Kim, Jenelle
Paperback
$18.00
The Promised Republic: Developmental Society and the Making of Modern Seoul, 1961-1979
Burge, Russell
Hardcover
$59.94
Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America
Kim, Joseph
Talty, Stephan
Paperback
$19.99
The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia
Jager, Sheila Miyoshi
Paperback
$28.45
The Korean Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes and Legends
Fenkl, Heinz Insu
Dalton-Fenkl, Bella Myong-Wol
Hardcover
$24.65
Gwangju Uprising: The Rebellion for Democracy in South Korea
Sok-Yong, Hwang
Jae-Eui, Lee
Yong-Ho, Jeon
Paperback
$49.95
The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture (Expanded Edition)
Hong, Euny
Paperback
$19.00
A Brief History of Korea: Isolation, War, Despotism and Revival: The Fascinating Story of a Resilient But Divided People
Seth, Michael J.
Paperback
$15.19
Privileged But Powerless: How North Korean Elite Grievances Reveal the Regime's Greatest Weakness
Baek, Jieun
Hardcover
$57.00
Internationalism in Practice: Claudia Jones, Black Liberation, and the "Bestial" War on Korea
Jones, Claudia
Paperback
$16.88
Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Harden, Blaine
Paperback
From $8.99
Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo
Cheevers, Jack
Paperback
$27.00
A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592-1598 Volume 20
Swope, Kenneth M.
Paperback
$37.43
The Forgotten Home Front: Roger Marshutz's Photographs of Pusan, South Korea, 1952-1954
Barbash, Ilisa
Kim, Sean C.
Hardcover
$57.60
Inside the Korean House: Architecture and Design in the Contemporary Hanok
Park, Nani
Fouser, Robert J.
Paperback
$18.99
Budoji: A Tale of the Divine City of Ancient Korea with an Overview of Korean Shamanism
Cho, Sungje
Park, Jesang
Paperback
$23.75
Passcode to the Third Floor: An Insider's Account of Life Among North Korea's Political Elite
Yong-Ho, Thae
Hardcover
$31.30
Korean Culture Dictionary: From Kimchi To K-Pop And K-Drama Clichés. Everything About Korea Explained!
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
$27.54
The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China
Hawley, Samuel
Paperback
$36.19
Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story -- The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
$18.99
The Armed Forces of North Korea Volume 2: Korean People´s Army Air and Anti-Air Force
Mitzer, Stijn
Oliemans, Joost
Paperback
$28.45
Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans, and the Making of a Democracy
Brazinsky, Gregg A.
Paperback
$57.33
The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un
Fifield, Anna
Paperback
From $10.99
Becoming Kim Jong Un: A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator
Pak, Jung H.
Paperback
$23.00
Belonging in a House Divided: The Violence of the North Korean Resettlement Process
Park, Joowon
Paperback
$44.93
Standardizing Empire: The Us Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism
Chung, Patrick
Hardcover
$72.60
Called by Another Name: A Memoir of the Gwangju Uprising
Vanvolkenburg, Matt
Dolinger, David Lee
Paperback
$32.30
The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
Frederick, Jim
Jenkins, Charles Robert
Paperback
$44.93
The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region Volume 23
Shepherd, Hannah
Paperback
$52.43
Grand Royal Palaces of Korea: Over 200 Pages of Beautiful Photos With Cultural and Historical Background Explanations In English
Wilson, Brian
Lee, Yeong-Hun
Paperback
$42.70
From Creation to Unification: The Complete Histories Behind the Ch'ang Hon (Itf) Patterns
Anslow, Stuart
Paperback
$44.99
Concise History of Modern Korea: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present
Seth, Michael J.
Paperback
$53.13
Corea Without and Within: Chapters on Corean History, Manners and Religion, With Hendrick Hamel's Narrative of Captivity and Travels in Corea -
Griffis, William Elliot
Paperback
$18.74
Gwangju Uprising Overthrown by Moon Jae-In's 5.18 Tear: Exposing the Politics of False Narratives in South Korea
Kim, Daeryeong
Paperback
$20.40
The First Protestant Martyr in Korea from Wales: The Life and Ministry of Robert Jermain Thomas
Hae-Seok, Yoo
Paperback
$21.85
Millennial North Korea: Forbidden Media and Living Creatively with Surveillance
Kim, Suk-Young
Paperback
$40.60
The Armed Forces of North Korea Volume 1 Part 1: Korean People's Army Ground Forces Organisation, Strategy and Infantry
Oliemans, Joost
Mitzer, Stijn
Paperback
$28.45
Victory in Shanghai: A Korean American Family's Journey to the CIA and the Army Special Forces
Kim, Robert S.
Hardcover
$31.30
Concise History of Premodern Korea: From Antiquity through the Nineteenth Century
Seth, Michael J.
Paperback
$53.13
The Making of Minjung: Democracy and the Politics of Representation in South Korea
Lee, Namhee
Paperback
$28.45
The First Protestant Martyr in Korea from Wales: The Life and Ministry of Robert Jermain Thomas
Hae-Seok, Yoo
Hardcover
$36.10
I was a North Korean Diplomat: Inside the Secret World of Pyongyang's Foreign Service
Han, Myung-Jin
Levi, Nicolas
Paperback
$20.39
Ask a North Korean: Defectors Talk about Their Lives Inside the World's Most Secretive Nation
Tudor, Daniel
Hardcover
$9.49
Cultural Production of Hallyu in the Digital Platform Era: Industry Perspectives
Jin, Dal Yong
Paperback
$44.93
The Armed Forces of North Korea: Volume 1 Part 2: Tanks and Artillery
Mitzer, Stijn
Oliemans, Joost
Paperback
$28.45
Beyond the Sewol: Activist Theatre and Performance in South Korea and the Diaspora
Jeong, Areum
Paperback
$39.20
The Comfort Women: Sexual Violence and Postcolonial Memory in Korea and Japan
Soh, C. Sarah
Paperback
$56.55
Ties That Bind: People and Perception in U.S. and Korean Transnational Relations, 1905-1965
Kim, Hannah
Hardcover
$91.00
Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea's 35 Year Standoff with the United States
Abrams, A. B.
Paperback
$30.35
[FULL COLOR] KOREAN CULTURE DICTIONARY - From Kimchi To K-Pop and K-Drama Clichés. Everything About Korea Explained!
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
$50.30
Virtue That Matters: Chastity Culture and Social Power in Chosŏn Korea (1392-1910)
Kim, Jungwon
Hardcover
$71.94
Guerra fría: Una guía fascinante de la guerra de Corea y la guerra de Vietnam
History, Captivating
Paperback
$17.07
The Japanese Seizure Of Korea, 1868-1910: A Study Of Realism And Idealism In International Relations
Conroy, Hilary
Paperback
$59.94
Historia de Corea después de 1945: Corea, el país dividido después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial
Carderas, Antonia
Paperback
$14.24
Historia de Corea fácil de aprender - ¡Para niños y adultos! Con ilustraciones para un aprendizaje completo
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
$17.09
Korean Culture Dictionary - From Kimchi To K-Pop and K-Drama Clichés. Everything About Korea Explained!
Kang, Woosung
Hardcover
$62.99
A Trip to the Museums in Korea: A must have book when touring Korea. A must read book if interested in Korean history, culture and philosophy.
Oh, Dong Suk
Kim, Yong Ho
Paperback
$62.44
Korea Reimagined: An Exploration of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Joo, Paulina
Kwon, Tony
Ford, Leah
Paperback
$14.40
North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors
Pearson, James
Tudor, Daniel
Paperback
$15.19
The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region Volume 23
Shepherd, Hannah
Hardcover
$142.50
Grenzziehung Zwischen Ver- Und Entflechtungen: Eine Entstehungsgeschichte Deutsch-Westungarns Und Des Burgenlandes
Murber, Ibolya
Paperback
$52.50
North Korea's Mundane Revolution: Socialist Living and the Rise of Kim Il Sung, 1953-1965 Volume 19
Schmid, Andre
Paperback
$52.43
Spiritual Interview with the Guardian Spirit of Kim-Yo-jong: (Spiritual Interview Series) [Korean Edition]
Okawa, Ryuho
Paperback
$12.44
Art, War, and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede
Jin, Jinyoung Anna
Hardcover
$66.49
Millennial North Korea: Forbidden Media and Living Creatively with Surveillance
Kim, Suk-Young
Hardcover
$159.50
Profits of Queerness: Media, Biomedicine, and Citizenship in Authoritarian South Korea, 1950-1980
Henry, Todd a.
Paperback
$49.00
Kim Jong Un: The Hidden Revolution. Inside the Mind and Strategy of North Korea's Modern Leader
Leone, Ferruccio
Paperback
$24.99
Reprimands and Admonitions: Reflections on the Japanese Invasions of Korea, 1592-1598 Volume 41
Ryu, Songnyong
Paperback
$52.50
Storia della Corea Semplificata - Per Grandi e Piccini! Con Illustrazioni per Imparare al Meglio
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
$17.05
North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors
Tudor, Daniel
Pearson, James
Hardcover
$20.85