Witness to Korea 194547: The Unfolding of an Authoritarian Regime

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. >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

Pagina's: 553, Paperback, Academia Publishers, LLC