Anarchism in Korea

Book excerpt: This book provides a history of anarchism in Korea and challenges conventional views of Korean anarchism as merely part of nationalist ideology, situating the study within a wider East Asian regional context. Dongyoun Hwang demonstrates that although the anarchist movement in Korea began as part of its struggle for independence from Japan, connections with anarchists and ideas from China and Japan gave the movement a regional and transnational dimension that transcended its initial nationalistic scope. Following the movement after 1945, Hwang shows how anarchism in Korea was deradicalized and evolved into an idea for both social revolution and alternative national development, with emphasis on organizing and educating peasants and developing rural villages.