Annotated Bibliography: Should Korea be Unified?

Working Thesis: Korean should not unify to reduce the challenges of costliness and complexity.

Lee, Ji-Young, 3. "5 Things to Know about North and South Korea." The Conservation, Credo Reference, 7 May 2017, search.credoreference.com/content/entry/conversqauq/5_things_to_know_about_north_and_south_korea/0. Accessed 31 Oct. 2018.

This informational article was updated on July 5, 2017, by Ji Young Lee, who is an Assistant Professor at the American University School of International Service (SIS). Lee’s research specializes in diplomatic histories and East Asia's relationships. In addition, at SIS, she teaches some courses about international politics such as South Korean, and North Korean, and Asian as well. This article points out the reason why North and South Korea was established, as well as the difference between cultures, languages, and political policies. Moreover, this article generalizes issues about the people who are originated from North Korea and settled to South Korea. Lee uses her knowledge on the historical relationship between the United States and two Koreas to provides relevant information to inform readers about the timely issues in Korea. Therefore, I am going to use this source to make my background section becomes clear and more accurate. Moreover, from relevant information that the author provided will help readers realize the deep in history and obstacles when two regions come to unify.

Pruitt, Sarah, 2. "What You Need to Know about North Korea & Its Nuclear Program." History, 13 Apr. 2017. America's Historical Newspapers, http://www.history.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-north-korea. Accessed 5 Oct. 2018.

This source is excerpted from History official page. It provides a great deal of information, so it is considered as an informational source to help background section have some highlights about historical context on the issue. The article is written by Sarah Pruitt, who has worked for History for more than ten years. In addition, her articles usually mention historical narratives, fact, and the stories of real people who have an effect on our world. On the other hand, she got a Bachelor of Art in History from Princeton University and a certification in American Studies. This article refers to a dictatorial country that a single family has administered North Korea for its entire existence. The country is isolated from the international community with restrictions on entry and exit, the media is strictly controlled, and an education with a special training room, where children are taught the doctrine. North Korea is a “hermit kingdom” with ambitions for nuclear weapons. They are continuing to research and produce underground nuclear facilities, the North Korean dictatorship's ambition is to produce nuclear missiles strong enough to reach the U.S coast. With information provided plentifully about the nuclear situation as well as a regime separate from the world community, I will use this source to help readers visualize the huge differences between North and South Korea, so the reader can reflect on the difficulty and complexity of unifying the two regions.

Dudden, Alexis, 2, et al. "The Goal in Korea Should Be Peace and Trade – Not Unification." UConn Today, 1 May 2018, http://www.today.uconn.edu/2018/05/goal-korea-peace-trade-not-unification/. Accessed 1 May 2018.

This source is an opinionated article, which offers the same idea with my thesis, was written by Alexis Dudden. Dudden is an assistant professor at the Department of History – University of Connecticut. She has the expertise in Korean, Japanese and American politics; in addition, she can speak, read and write fluently in Japanese and Korean. Dudden indicates her opinion that two Koreas do not need to unify, they should keep a relationship of peace and free trade. In this article, she mentions the villainous face of North Korea's leader in the past, leads readers to answer a question of how 80 million Koreans will share their peninsula after unification. Moreover, she focuses on arguing viewpoints form South Korean that reunification which is a combination between North Korea’s labors and advanced technology in South Korea would help to create jobs and establish strengthen the economy. Therefore, Korea could seek a life in peace between two religions with free trade and free exchange labors without military threats. On the other hand, two religions have economic independence, so the cost of unification could be decreased. I will use this source as a path forward in my research because it helps me answer the research question and create a foundation to identify the strengthening of the working thesis. By focusing on a great deal of unifying arguments, it helps readers organize their thoughts and make their own opinion.

Dejevsky, Mary, 2. "At This Summit, North and South Korea Took a Real Step towards Peace." The Guardian, 27 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/27/summit-north-south-korea-peace-kim-jong-un. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

This article is classified as an opinionated source which argues against my thesis. The article was presented by Mary Dejevsky, who is a writer and broadcaster. She is a special correspondent in Europe and China. She has written about the collapse of communism from within Moscow, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Iraq War. Furthermore, she also is a former reporter in Moscow, Paris, and Washington. In this article, her viewpoint argues around Kim Jong-un’s positive changes besides the obstacles of unification. Kim broke the taboo of his country and became the first person to enter into South Korea. Kim is a person basically yells at the US President, and he boasted of missiles that could attack the US. However, at this time, he seems to be calmer and less aggressive. He has accepted all of the requirements about suspending missile tests to get a meeting with the US President – Donald Trump. I will use this source to help my readers can visualize Kim's unpredictable change based on one of arguing point from Dudden’s article. Although this one is one of the sources that disagree with my thesis, it is the bridge that assists readers in determining whether we should ignore Kim’s villainous face in the past and trust him this time.

Wight, John, 2. "Time Has Come for the Reunification of the Korean Peninsula." RT, 27 Apr. 2018, www.rt.com/op-ed/425320-north-south-korea-reunification/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

This article is from an RT News, and it is considered as an opinionated source. The author is John Wight, who has written for newspapers and websites such as Independent, Counterpunch, and Foreign Policy Journal. He works at RT Op-ed Department, and he is writing and ranting on culture and politics. As Dejevsky’s article, this article is also written in opposition to my thesis. It mentions that the embrace between two leaders of two regions in historic meeting and summit is long overdue. Wight emphasizes that this is a right time to unify, and it is a ray of hope to get the peace after decades of hatred and conflict between two Koreas. Wight praises Kim's ingenuity when he converses from a person who refuses to kowtow to a person who demonstrates a commitment to peace. This is a perfect source of contrast that I am going to use in my research. It contains the opinions that create strong arguments; therefore, this source will help my research make contractions and wave of debates. Moreover, readers also establish a certain viewpoint that should or not unify two religions by themselves.

Grzelczyk, Virginie, 2. "New Approaches to North Korean Politics after Reunification: The Search for a Common Korean Identity." Communist and Post-Communist Studies, vol. 47, no. 2, June 2014. Science Direct, www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/science/article/pii/S0967067X14000282?via%3Dihub. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.

This source is an academic journal article that was found on Glendale Community College Library. The author is Dr.Virginie Grzelczyk, who was a senior lecturer in International Relations at Nottingham Trent University. Her research focuses on Northeast Asia, especially North Korea's relations with the international community. In brief, this article addresses how both North and South Korea understand and use the concept of identity on which the two Koreas could build a new nation while most of the documents just focused on how to achieve unify through negotiation and diplomacy. Grzelczyk points out understanding Korean identify, South and North Korean national identities, and how far national identities between two regions. By using this source in my research, it is going to help me compare issues that two Koreas need to overcome to get a unifying country. With plenty of statistics about education, culture, politics, business, and people, this source also helps readers answer the huge obstacles two religion need to be solved.

Works Cited

• Dejevsky, Mary, 2. "At This Summit, North and South Korea Took a Real Step towards Peace." The Guardian, 27 Apr. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/27/summit-north-south-korea-peace-kim-jong-un. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.
• Dudden, Alexis, 2. "The Goal in Korea Should Be Peace and Trade – Not Unification." Uconn Today. Uconn Today, today.uconn.edu/2018/05/goal-korea-peace-trade-not-unification/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2018.  
• Grzelczyk, Virginie, 2. "New Approaches to North Korean Politics after Reunification: The Research for a Common Korean Identity." Communist and Post-Communist Studies, vol. 47, no. 2, June 2014. Science Direct, www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy.gc.maricopa.edu/science/article/pii/S0967067X14000282?via%3Dihub. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.
• Lee, Ji-Young, 3. "5 Things to Know about North and South Korea." The Conservation, Credo Reference, 7 May 2017, search.credoreference.com/content/entry/conversqauq/5_things_to_know_about_north_and_south_korea/0. Accessed 31 Oct. 2018.
• Pruitt, Sarah, 2. "What You Need to Know about North Korea & Its Nuclear Program." History, 13 Apr. 2017. America's Historical Newspapers, www.history.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-north-korea. Accessed 5 Oct. 2018.
• Wight, John, 2. "Time Has Come for the Reunification of the Korean Peninsula." RT, 27 Apr. 2018, www.rt.com/op-ed/425320-north-south-korea-reunification/. Accessed 30 Oct. 2018.