Read up on Korea

The Imjin War
Samuel Hawley
Fantastic read, and very informative. Samuel Hawley’s book is a comprehensive English language account of Japan’s 16th century invasion of Korea.

Korean Between Empires
Andre Schmid
Enlightening read on Korea’s struggle during the 19th century to navigate between a rising Japan and sinking China.

Colonial Modernity in Korea
ed. Michael Robinson and Shin Gi Wook
A collection of twelve chapters by thirteen different authors with an additional introduction to the complexities of Korean colonial modernity.

The Coldest Winter
David Halberstam
From Amazon: Halberstam gives a masterful narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise.

Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History, Updated Edition
Bruce Cummings
From Amazon: Bruce Cumings traces the growth of Korea from a string of competing walled city-states to its present dual nationhood. 

Below is the bibliography for a paper I did on Korean origins and identity. It includes books, historical records, as well as journal publications. Some of the sources listed below may be difficult to dig up, but hopefully this provides a resource for anyone hoping to do some reading up on Korea.

Allen, Chizuko. “Northeast Asia Centered Around Korea: Ch’oe Namson’s View of History.” Journal of Asian Studies 49, no. 4 (1990): 787-806.

Brudnoy, David. “Japan’s Experiment in Korea.” Monumenta Nipponica 25, no. 1/2 (1970): 155-195.

Chandra, Vipan. Imperialism,  Resistance, and Reform in Late Nineteenth-Century Korea: Enlightenment and the Independence Club. Berkeley: Center for Korean Studies, University of California, 1988.

Chang, Ul-Byong. “Sin Ch’aeho’s Nationalism and Anarchism.” Korea Journal 26, no. 11 (1986): 21-40.

Chon, Kwan-U. “Research in Korean History: Past and Present.” Korea Journal 21, no. 9 (1981): 56-66.

Chung, Chai-sik. “In Defense of the Traditional Order: Ch’oksa Wijong.” Philosophy East and West 30, no. 3 (1980): 355-373.

Conroy, Hilary. “Chosen Mondai: The Korea Problem in Meiji Japan.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100, no. 5 (1956): 443-454.

Deuchler, Martina. The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1992.

Devine, Richard. “Japanese Rule in Korea After the March First Uprising: Governor General Hasegawa’s Recommendations.” Monumenta Nipponica 52, no. 4 (1997): 523-540.

Doak, Kevin. “Building National Identity Through Ethnicity: Ethnology in Wartime Japan and After.” Journal of Japanese Studies 27, no. 1 (2001): 1-39.

____. “Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twentieth-Century Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 22, no. 1 (1996): 77-103.

Duus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.

Eckert, Carter. (ed.), Korea, Old and New. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990.

Government General of Chosen. Annual Report on Reforms and progress in Chosen (Korea), 1911-12. Seoul: Government General of Chosen, 1912.

Grayson, James H. Myths and legends from Korea: An Annotated Compendium of Ancient and Modern Materials. Richmond, Va: Curzon, 2002.

Han, Kee-hyung. “Sin Chaeho and Nationalist Discourses in East Asia.” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 2, no. 2 (2002): 44-66.

Hong, Wontack. Paekche of Korea and the Origin of Yamato Japan. Seoul: Kudara International, 1994.

Iryon. Samguk Yusa: Legends and History of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Trans. Tae-hung Ha and Grafton Mintz. Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1972.

Jager, Sheila Miyoshi. Narratives of Nation Building in Korea: A Genealogy of Patriotism. New York: ME Sharpe Press, 2003.

Janelli, Roger J. “The Origins of Korean Folklore Scholarship.” The Journal of American Folklore 99, no. 391 (1986):24-49.

Kang, Wijo. “Belief and Political Behavior in Ch’ondogyo.” Review of Religious Research 10, no. 1 (1968): 38-43.

Kim, Chol-jun. “Backwardness of Korean History.” Korea Journal 6, no. 3 (1966): 16-20.

Kublin, Hyman. “The Evolution of Japanese Colonialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 2, no. 1 (1959): 67-84.

Lee, Kwang-Rin. “Korea’s Responses to Social Darwinism.” Korea Journal 18, no. 4 (1978): 36-47.

Lee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Trans. Edward Wagner. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984.

Lee, Peter H. (ed.), Sourcebook of Korean Civilization (Vols. I,II). New York: Columbia University Press, 1996.

McCune, George M. Korean Relations With China and Japan, 1800-1864. PhD. Dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1930.

Pai, Hyung Il. Constructing Korean Origins: A Critical Review of Archaeology, Historiography, and Racial Myth in Korean State-Formation Theories. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000.