Korea Witness: Donald Kirk, Choe Sang Hun: 9788956601557: Amazon.com: Books

Korea Witness: Donald Kirk, Choe Sang Hun: 
9788956601557: Amazon.com: Books



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Editorial Reviews

About the Author


Donald Kirk has been in and out of Korea since 1972, first as a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, then USA Today and for six years for the International Herald Tribune. Author of "Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era" and "Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung," he reports from Seoul for the Christian Science Monitor and CBS Radio. Choe Sang Hun, Seoul correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, is co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting in 2000 for exposing a slaughter of civilian refugees during the Korean War. Choe, who previously worked for the Korea Herald and the Associated Press in Seoul, is co-author of "The Bridge at No Gun Ri" and "How Koreans Talk."


Product details

Paperback: 455 pages
Publisher: EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co.; 1st edition (May 29, 2006)
Language: English
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Biography
Donald Kirk, from Washington, D.C., travels to South Korea, with stops in London, the middle east, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, among other places, writing on the confrontation of forces in the post-9/​11 era.

From 1997 through 2003, Don was Seoul correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, also filing for The New York Times and CBS, covering nuclear and economic crises. In addition, he has written articles for such diverse magazines as Institutional Investor, Far Eastern Economic Review, The New Leader, Future Korea Journal, National Review, Kyoto Journal and Hemispheres and commentaries for newspapers ranging from The Wall Street Journal Asia and South China Morning Post in Hong Kong to the Los Angeles Times, Providence Journal, Washington Examiner and Newsday.

Don first visited Seoul in 1972 as Far East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and has covered major events in Korea from the assassination of President Park Chung Hee in 1979 and the Kwangju revolt in 1980 to every presidential election since adoption of the "democracy constitution" in 1987.

From 1988 to 1994, he focused on economics and labor, writing Korean Dynasty: Hyundai and Chung Ju Yung, a critical study of Hyundai, Korea's largest chaebol, and its founder. Again in Seoul, he wrote Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era, published in 2000, and, most recently, Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine, a critical biography of the former South Korean president who passed away in August 2009.

He continues to write commentaries and file for CBS and The Christian Science Monitor. The University of Maryland University College in 2004 awarded him an honorary doctorate as "one of the United States' most knowledgeable observers and commentators on Asia."
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Top customer reviews

Jared M
4.0 out of 5 starsA collection of reminiscences of foreign media journalists about KoreaJanuary 1, 2010
Format: Paperback

Korea Witness is a collection of essays and reminiscences by current and former print journalists (Korean, Japanese, American and other nationalities) who covered events in Korea for publications such as the Asian Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and so on. The Editors, Donald Kirk and Choe Sang-hun (The Bridge at No Gun Ri), note that this book is a "Book of Remembrance", a collection of "Korea experiences" from foreign media correspondents. Korea Witness is also intended to be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club, and is dedicated to the journalists who died covering the Korean War (including those on the Communist side).

The book is split into a number of sections. The first, entitled "Hermit Kingdom", tells of the first journalists to venture to Korea, among whom was noted author Jack London. Of interest are the short essays on Japanese journalists who were in Korea during the colonisation days. Section Two, Forgotten War, is of course focused on the War Correspondents of the Korean War. Some of these essays are appreciation type efforts, while others are recounts of the trials and tribulations of covering the war.

"Dictatorship under Fire" is the third section, which covers the post war period up to about 1988 or so, when Roh was elected president of the Republic of Korea. For me personally, this was one of the most interesting parts of the book, as various journalists relate the difficulties of reporting on Korean events and issues while having to cope with obstructive government officials and the KCIA! This is a period of time, which is not always particularly well covered in histories of Korea (Don Oberdorfer's excellent "The Two Koreas" aside), so it is beneficial to have further perspectives on this turbulent time in Korea's history. One essay is by Richard Halloran, who writes of the attempted assassination of President Park Chung-hee at Seoul National Theatre by a disaffected Japanese Korean. Halloran was actually present at the time of the attempt, which claimed the lives of Park's wife and a teenage girl. "Time of Rebellion" is a chapter which focuses on the specific event of the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980. Chapter Five covers the "Time of Transition", the decade of the 80's during which the dictatorship of General Chun peacefully transferred power to Chun's nominated successor, Roh Tae-woo.

"Glory, Shock and Scandal" ranges from the coverage of the Olympics to the downfall of geneticist Hwang Woo-suk. There are also contributions on film and television media, which is a relief from the dominance of the print journalists who contributed the majority of the content of the book. The unique difficulties of reporting on North Korea is the subject of Chapter Seven, and is of interest. Both Michael Breen (who wrote a biography of Kim Jong-il) and Donald Kirk are among the contributors for this chapter. The final chapter discusses the establishment of the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club.

Interspersed with the text are a number of black and white images, which help add some extra dimension to the various contributions. However, the proofreading could have been a little better as there are a few annoying typographical errors. I also found the writing of some of the Asian journalists to be a little clumsy at times, so perhaps these could have been better edited. Of course, this would be somewhat contradictory to the purpose of letting the contributors "speak" in their own voices.

I enjoyed Korea Witness. Not only does it provide a more personal perspective on the key events in modern Korean history such as the Korean War, but also on lesser known events, such as the collapsing of the Sampoong Department Store building. Of course, it also makes one appreciate the difficulty of being a reporter, particularly during the oppressive days of the generals. Recommended for those interested in modern East Asian/Korean history as well as Korea watchers.
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M. Smith
4.0 out of 5 starsForeign correspondents tell their own storiesMay 14, 2010
Format: Paperback

The archetypal image I have for foreign correspondents isn't exactly flattering nor is it accurate. For that matter, it's not even of flesh and blood. It's a stock news reporting character from The Simpsons. No, not everyone's beloved Kent Brockman or even that guy with the poofy black hair who reported that pork prices began to rise in early trading. No, I'm referring to the skinny guy who dishevely dons a drab 1940s style suit and brown fedora. You might remember that he was with Bart when Blinky, the three-eyed fish, was discovered in the polluted waters downstream of the nuclear power plant. Although he has only appeared in the long-running TV series less a handful of times, you might have an image of him. Then again, you might not. His name, while completely forgettable, was actually Dave Shutton and he writes for the Springfield Shopper. I make this reference because like real foreign correspondents in Korea, their names may not be familiar to you at all but their presence and stories surely have captivated you. Korea Witness is a collection of dozens of stories of how these pioneers of their field got their scoops as well as the trails and tribulations associated with reporting the news in Korea.

Chronologically arranged, this book spans the careers of several generations of journalists and their careers involving Korea and its foreign press. Stories from parachute journalists based in Tokyo and English speaking Koreans working for foreign presses share their fascinating and surprisingly shocking stories from their time. From meeting other hacks, dodging Korean war bullets and bombs, interviewing CEOs in Japanese, rubbing elbows with Korean presidents, dangerously sneaking into the Gwangju student-led powder keg, pre-email era dictating horrors, enduring death threats and surviving tear gas assaults, these men (and one Pulitzer prize winning woman) have earned their right to call themselves journalists. Their stories are just as dynamic as any Hollywood movie.

The book design is non-distractingly pleasing and thoughtfully laid out. The plentiful amount of photos embedded are often breathtaking in their own right and certainly compliment the attached article. Cleanly laid out at the end of each entry is a short summary of the author which is footnoted to help fill in certain biographical details that might help the reader better understand the author's relationship with Korea. The editors have accepted works from a wide range of writers and the book is all the better for it.

However, one early chapter about Japanese correspondents in particular feels like a rough draft of what could have been a memorable story. There's not else much to criticize other than the comparatively small amount of non-Caucasian American male voices to be heard but that's likely indicative of both the language of the book and the likely small ratio of European, Chinese and Japanese correspondents of the time.

Korea Witness is an smooth and entertaining read. If not limited in scope, it tells of a war-torn, post-Liberation, economic miracle, Olympic hosting, economic collapsing, technology exporting powerhouse that, through the eyes of the foreign press, have plenty of stories to tell. This book sums up those stories quite nicely.
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