2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

HIST3695 The Korean War

40 creditsClass Size: 16

Module manager: Dr Adam Cathcart
Email: A.Cathcart@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

Korea, the hub of Northeast Asian political and military conflict in the second half of the twentieth century, remains a puzzling world problem, an unfinished war, and the site of divided and mutually hostile states. This module will examine Kim Il-sung's role in the creation of North Korea under Soviet occupation until 1948, American military aid to South Korea, and the origins of the war that began in 1950. As backdrop, students will delve into the Chinese revolution, Soviet foreign policy, and the US occupation of Japan in American Cold War strategy. Personalities at the core of the module include Kim Il-sung, Mao Zedong, Douglas MacArthur, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin, but the difficulties the occupation and war imposed on the Korean people will also take centre stage, including the role of massive US bombing of Korea. American foreign policy and Anglo-American decision-making, the mechanics of the United Nations intervention in Korea, and the politics of nuclear and bacteriological weapons, as well as propaganda and culture, will be discussed.

Objectives

By the end of this module students should have developed:
- The ability to write clearly about the division of Korea, and political factions in both Koreas;
- A broad knowledge of how the developing Cold War shaped political developments in northeast Asia, and vice versa;
- A clear capacity to discuss the evolution of the Korean War as it evolved from an inter-Korean conflict into a broader global war;
- A deeper understanding of the domestic and external context for the consolidation of power by Kim Il-sung in North Korea, and the role of Soviet and Chinese aid in that consolidation;
- The capacity to engage with the principal historiographical questions and controversies surrounding the war;
- An ability to identify and synthesise a wide range of secondary source material, and to identify, analyse and evaluate primary source material of relevance to the subject;
- Skills in the effective and appropriate communication of knowledge both orally and in writing.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students should have acquired extensive knowledge of:
(1) Korea as the hub of Northeast Asian political and military conflict in the second half of the twentieth century. Central to this is the role played by North Korea as it emerged out of Soviet occupation in 1948 and initiated war against its US-backed counterpart regime, the Republic of Korea, in 1950;
(2) the interrelationship of the Cold War and communist revolutions in Northeast Asia, the Chinese revolution, Stalin’s stance toward the US in East Asia as well as his own allies, and the role played by the U.S. occupation of Japan;
(3) the impact of certain personalities at the core of the Korean War narrative: notably Kim Il-sung, Mao Zedong, Douglas MacArthur, Harry Truman, and Joseph Stalin;
(4) American foreign policy and Anglo-American decision-making, and the mechanics of the United Nations intervention in Korea, as well as Kim Il-sung's methods of securing support from his comrades;
(5) other topics which will require student fluency include the impact of the war on the Korean people, the role of massive and largely unopposed US bombing of Korea, and Chinese-North Korean co-operation in their shared border region.

In addition, students should be able to demonstrate extensive familiarity with the principal biographical and secondary literature in this area and enhanced skills in analysis and critical thinking in relation to these sources.

Syllabus

Topics may include:
Korea and the Japanese Ascendency, 1910-1945; Northeast Asia and the Korean Exile Movement; Korea, the US, and the USSR in World War II; The US Occupation of Korea and Japan; The Soviet Occupation of North Korea; The Cold War in Asia: China, Japan, and Great Power Strategy; 1948; Stalin, Mao, and Kim Il-sung; Cumings, Millett, and Theories of Korean War Origins; North Korean Victories and US Response; MacArthur, the Pusan Landing, and the US Occupation of North Korea; China Crosses the Yalu; The MacArthur Controversy; North Korean-Chinese Relations; The Bombing of North Korea; POW Camps; Korean War Culture and Propaganda on the Home Fronts; The Korean War and Europe; Eisenhower, Dulles, and Nuclear Threats; The Armistice; Impacts of the Conflict.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Workshop	4	1.00	4.00
Seminars	22	2.00	44.00
Private study hours			352.00
Total Contact hours			48.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			400.00

Private study

Reading to prepare for seminars (120 hours)
Further self-directed reading (66 hours)
Preparing and researching for the assessed essay, including formative elements (80 hours)
Preparing and researching for the OTA, including formative elements (80 hours)
Reflection on feedback (6 hours).

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Regular office hours throughout the year
- One-to-one feedback meetings preceding and following the Semester 1 4,000-word essay
- One-to-one feedback meetings preceding and following the Semester 2 OTA
- One-to-one feedback meetings following resits

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	4,000 words	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Online Time-Limited assessment	48 hr 00 mins	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		50.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 18/10/2024

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD