In this exhaustively researched study, Han explores the positive role that the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo played as a model for Park Chung Hee's South Korea after his 1961 coup. The history of Park's "bulldozer regime" (Han's term) is well known, but Manchukuo usually does not feature in that story, except in negative terms. Han's larger focus in this volume is the history of the South Korean developmental state; left out of that scholarship is "historical context: namely, the existence of Manchukuo in the interstice between the Japanese and the South Korean states"(p. 108). [This] book should interest readers studying modern Korea, Japan, and the rise of the developmental state in East Asia. A similar study of Manchukuo's impact on postwar Asian states is Mariko Tamanoi's Memory Maps: The State and Manchuria in Postwar Japan (CH, Oct'09, 47-1018). Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.
— Choice Reviews
"Suk-jung Han’s book makes the argument that the Korean states on both sides of the 37th parallel were profoundly shaped by the Japanese developmental puppet state of Manchukuo. Focused primarily on South Korea, this powerful work bursts with telling details and riveting stories, designed to fascinate specialists and non-specialists alike."
— Prasenjit Duara, Duke University and author of Sovereignty and Authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian Modern
"Suk-Jung Han’s creative and systematic tracing of the historical roots of South Korea’s developmental regime to the Japanese imperial state of Manchukuo is a fascinating contribution to both the scholarly and popular literature on the subject, as well as a lively, and thoroughly engaging read."
— Carter J. Eckert, Harvard University and author of Park Chung Hee and Modern Korea
"This magisterial book is far more than a history of modern South Korea: it is a history of the global modern. Delving into Korea’s colonial past and its relations to Japan’s Manchukuo state, Suk-Jung Han demonstrates in hypersonic detail how one of the most important places in the world raced through the transition from traditional society to a key leader of Asia today. Lucidly written and deftly executed, Han introduces sources ranging from South Korea’s powerhouse conglomerates as well as an encyclopedic command of film, fiction, and music to narrate a sweeping history through lived experience. It is a rare must read.”
— Alexis Dudden, University of Connecticut