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Palgrave Macmillan

The American Press and the Cold War

The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945–1954

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Oliver Elliott

    1. Independent Scholar, Barcelona, Spain

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  • Features the first scholarly study of American press coverage of South Korea in the 1940s and 1950s

  • Examines the political, military, institutional, cultural, ideological, and personal factors that influenced American journalists covering South Korea

  • Documents the largely forgotten stories of the foreign correspondents who sought to warn the United States about the rise of authoritarianism in South Korea as well as the efforts of the South Korean government to influence American public opinion

  • Appeals to scholars of U.S. foreign relations, Cold War history, Korean history, and history of journalism

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 1-25

  3. Occupation 1945–1946: Hope and Failure

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 27-65

  4. Occupation 1947–1948: Division and Independence

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 67-95

  5. The ROK Problem 1948–1950

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 97-119

  6. War 1950–1951

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 121-149

  7. The 1952 Crisis: Rhee’s Takeover

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 151-174

  8. The Rise of the ROKA

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 175-196

  9. Legacies of War

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 197-216

  10. Conclusions

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 217-227

  11. Epilogue: Prelude to Vietnam?

    • Oliver Elliott
    Pages 229-231

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 233-254
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Keywords

About this book

During the Cold War, the United States enabled the rise of President Syngman Rhee’s repressive government in South Korea, and yet neither the American occupation nor Rhee’s growing authoritarianism ever became particularly controversial news stories in the United States. Could the press have done more to scrutinize American actions in Korea? Did journalists fail to act as an adequate check on American power? In the first archive-based account of how American journalism responded to one of the most significant stories in the history of American foreign relations, Oliver Elliott shows how a group of foreign correspondents, battling U.S. military authorities and pro-Rhee lobbyists, brought the issue of South Korean authoritarianism into the American political mainstream on the eve of the Korean War. However, when war came in June 1950, the press rapidly abandoned its scrutiny of South Korean democracy, marking a crucial moment of transition from the era of postwar idealism to the Cold War norm of American support for authoritarian allies.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Independent Scholar, Barcelona, Spain

    Oliver Elliott

About the author

Oliver Elliott has taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science, U.K., where he earned his PhD in International History.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The American Press and the Cold War

  • Book Subtitle: The Rise of Authoritarianism in South Korea, 1945–1954

  • Authors: Oliver Elliott

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76023-0

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-76022-3Published: 11 May 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09382-2Published: 08 February 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-76023-0Published: 20 April 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 254

  • Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: US History, History of Korea, World History, Global and Transnational History, Media and Communication, Political History

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