A Study on the Condition of POW Camps in North Korea and the Excavating Possibilities of the ROK POWs' Deads during the Korean War

There is little doubt that the globalization process has developed unevenly across time and space. This is most pronounced in the context of North Korea, one of the very few remaining communist societies, which has been isolated from the rest of the world since the end of the Korean War in 1953. This paper explores the impact of globalization on sport and physical culture in North Korea. Although North Korea categorically rejects globalization, justified by its Juche policy, its response to the globalization of sport is more differentiated, multifaceted, state controlled, and ranges from stubborn resistance to wholehearted embracement. The paper argues that North Korea’s historical trajectory, national needs and interests, and the ethnic nationalism prevalent in that society shape this reaction to globalization.

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A Tortured Relic

Journal of American-East Asian Relations ◽

10.1163/18765610-02204002 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 22 (4) ◽

pp. 343-367

Author(s):

Brandon K. Gauthier

Keyword(s):

North Korea ◽

Korean War ◽

The United States ◽

Prisoner Of War ◽

Republic Of China ◽

News Stories ◽

Popular Films ◽

The Korean War ◽

The Cold War ◽

The Relationship

Drawing on national and local news stories, newly declassified documents, u.s. prisoner of war (pow) memoirs, and popular films, this article argues that the legacy of the Korean War in the United States from 1953 to 1962 dramatically shaped how Americans imagined the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (dprk). It specifically examines how media portrayals of North Korean atrocities, the alleged misconduct of u.s. captives, and the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the dprk affected public perceptions of “North Korea” as a subjective construct. The painful legacy of the Korean War, particularly the experience of u.s.pows, encouraged Americans to think of North Korea as an inherently violent foe and as part of a broader “Oriental Communist” enemy in the Cold War. When the experiences of u.s. soldiers contradicted these narratives, media sources often made distinctions between “North Koreans,” a repugnant racial and ideological “other,” and “north Koreans,” potential u.s. friends and allies.

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The officer in the Air Force of North Korea before the Korean War and the political union system

Review of North Korean Studies ◽

10.17321/rnks.2016.19.3.002 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 52-93

Author(s):

김선호

Keyword(s):

Air Force ◽

North Korea ◽

Korean War ◽

The Political ◽

Political Union ◽

The Korean War

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The Political Was Personal: Shifting Images of 76 Korean pow s Who Went to Neutral Nations

Journal of American-East Asian Relations ◽

10.1163/18765610-27030003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 235-257

Author(s):

Jung Byung Joon

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

North Korea ◽

Korean War ◽

Prisoners Of War ◽

Soviet Bloc ◽

South Korean ◽

Direct Knowledge ◽

The Korean War ◽

Early Assumption ◽

Global Cold War

Abstract Under the terms of the Korean War armistice, prisoners of war (pow s) could reject repatriation. The vast majority of non-repatriates went to either of the Koreas, China, or Taiwan. But a small group consisting of 76 Korean and twelve Chinese pow s exercised their option to go to neutral nations instead. This article examines how South Korean discourse about these outlier pow s shifted over the decades. An early assumption was that they had made a principled, ideological decision to reject both blocs of a global Cold War. But their choice of neutral countries was a more personal than ideological one. Their anti-communism appeared muted, since they also eschewed the other side. This interpretation contained little direct knowledge of the pow s themselves; it owed more to how the South Korean public saw the war that devastated their peninsula. There also was the influence of “The Square” in the Korean intellectual society and the mass media in their understanding of these Korean prisoners. After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, South Koreans became more confident about the rivalry with North Korea. This led to a reengagement with the memory of the pow s who had spurned both Koreas, making rejection of Communist North Korea more convincing and their refusal to remain in South Korea was less problematic.

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