Col. James V. Young spent almost twenty years in Asia, including 
fourteen in Korea. Here, he writes with the expertise of an old 
Korea hand about a period that saw South Korea develop from an 
agrarian economy to a modern industrial state.

    Young volunteered in 1969 for a new program aimed at creating 
area specialists within the military. In 1975, after four years of 
training in Korean language and culture, he witnessed how 
American diplomats convinced Park Chung-Hee, the South Korean 
president, not to develop his own nuclear weapons.

    Later, from the perspective of a military attaché, Young saw the 
mistrust that characterized U.S.–Korean relations during the 1970s. 
He provides new insights into the behind-the-scenes efforts to 
derail President Jimmy Carter’s troop withdrawal policies and 
argues that the United States was caught flat-footed by such crucial 
episodes as the coup of 1979 and the 12/12 Incident.
 
    Young’s memoir straddles the line between military and 
diplomatic history and offers entertaining and often humorous 
stories. Those interested in the region, the issues, and military life 
off the battlefield will value this book.

_________________________________________________________

JAMES V. YOUNG is currently president of Pacific Associates, a 
consulting firm based in Pinehurst, North Carolina. WILLIAM 
STUECK, who lives in Athens, Georgia, is author of The Korean 
War: An International History.


Number Eighty-eight: Texas A&M University Military History 
Series


What people are saying about this book

“This book speaks to a broader audience than its narrow 
subject might suggest. Young provides a rare and eminently 
readable account of what the life of a military area specialist and
attaché, in the country of an important ally during and beyond the
Cold War, was like.”—Journal of Military History