The Origins of the Korean War - Abridged

About this book

Bruce Cumings' The Origins of the Korean War: Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes, 1945-1947 is a book that examines the origins of the Korean War. Cumings argues that the war was a civil war and revolution that began with the end of Japanese occupation in 1945. He uses a variety of sources, including Korean-language materials, classified documents, and intelligence reports, to support his claims. In this two-volume work, The Origins of the Korean War, Cumings argues that the war was largely a result of American misunderstandings of Korean politics, American occupational authorities' desire to confront Soviet-style Communism on the peninsula and the damaging legacy of the Japanese colonial era, among other issues.ContentExamines the background of Korean politics after World War II, the arrival of American and Soviet troops, and the emergence of separate northern and southern regimesArgumentThe Korean War was a civil war and revolution with basic issues that were apparent immediately after Korea's liberationSourcesKorean-language materials, classified documents, intelligence reports, and U.S. military sources