Monica Kim – författare

A groundbreaking look at how the interrogation rooms of the Korean War set the stage for a new kind of battle—not over land but over human subjectsTraditional histories of the Korean War have long focused on violations of the thirty-eighth parallel, the line drawn by American and Soviet officials in 1945 dividing the Korean peninsula. But The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War presents an entirely new narrative, shifting the perspective from the boundaries of the battlefield to inside the interrogation room. Upending conventional notions of what we think of as geographies of military conflict, Monica Kim demonstrates how the Korean War evolved from a fight over territory to one over human interiority and the individual human subject, forging the template for the US wars of intervention that would predominate during the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond.Kim looks at how, during the armistice negotiations, the United States and their allies proposed a new kind of interrogation room: one in which POWs could exercise their “free will” and choose which country they would go to after the ceasefire. The global controversy that erupted exposed how interrogation rooms had become a flashpoint for the struggles between the ambitions of empire and the demands for decolonization, as the aim of interrogation was to produce subjects who attested to a nation’s right to govern. The complex web of interrogators and prisoners—Japanese-American interrogators, Indian military personnel, Korean POWs and interrogators, and American POWs—that Kim uncovers contradicts the simple story in US popular memory of “brainwashing” during the Korean War.Bringing together a vast range of sources that track two generations of people moving between three continents, The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War delves into an essential yet overlooked aspect of modern warfare in the twentieth century.

A groundbreaking look at how the interrogation rooms of the Korean War set the stage for a new kind of battle—not over land but over human subjectsTraditional histories of the Korean War have long focused on violations of the thirty-eighth parallel, the line drawn by American and Soviet officials in 1945 dividing the Korean peninsula. But The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War presents an entirely new narrative, shifting the perspective from the boundaries of the battlefield to inside the interrogation room. Upending conventional notions of what we think of as geographies of military conflict, Monica Kim demonstrates how the Korean War evolved from a fight over territory to one over human interiority and the individual human subject, forging the template for the US wars of intervention that would predominate during the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond.Kim looks at how, during the armistice negotiations, the United States and their allies proposed a new kind of interrogation room: one in which POWs could exercise their “free will” and choose which country they would go to after the ceasefire. The global controversy that erupted exposed how interrogation rooms had become a flashpoint for the struggles between the ambitions of empire and the demands for decolonization, as the aim of interrogation was to produce subjects who attested to a nation’s right to govern. The complex web of interrogators and prisoners—Japanese-American interrogators, Indian military personnel, Korean POWs and interrogators, and American POWs—that Kim uncovers contradicts the simple story in US popular memory of “brainwashing” during the Korean War.Bringing together a vast range of sources that track two generations of people moving between three continents, The Interrogation Rooms of the Korean War delves into an essential yet overlooked aspect of modern warfare in the twentieth century.

Jungkook is one of the world's biggest stars, period. His first album, Golden, sold more than 2 million copies on the day of its release and stayed on the Billboard 200 for twenty-four consecutive weeks. How did a young prodigy from South Korea make music history?The Meaning of Jungkook is an unofficial kaleidoscopic exploration of the forces that made Jungkook into the triumph he is today. This book does more than just chronicle his humble beginnings in Busan and meteoric rise to fame. A lively narrative, it places Jungkook in a larger cultural and historical context, shedding light on the inner workings of the K-pop industry, internet culture, ARMY, and more. We learn that Jungkook's ruthless work ethic is a symptom of Korean culture and its singular pursuit for excellence; his style of dance places him in the lineage of Michael Jackson; and "the soldout king" has a unique visual appeal that meets high, intensive Korean beauty standards but also subverts it with his irreverent style choices.Jungkook's success is not an accident. Talent and training, the livestreams and good looks, globalization and timing all contributed to the making of Jungkook, "the Golden Maknae," the South Korean pop superstar who overcame the odds, and through his success, changed the status quo. This is an unauthorized elevated tribute to the singer, for both his fans and others interested in the genre.Monica Kim has delivered a tour-de-force, filled with vivid detail, that makes sense of the world of a music icon who has captured the devotion of millions of fans worldwide.

Jungkook is one of the world's biggest stars, period. His first album, Golden, sold more than 2 million copies on the day of its release and stayed on the Billboard 200 for twenty-four consecutive weeks. How did a young prodigy from South Korea make music history?The Meaning of Jungkook is an unofficial kaleidoscopic exploration of the forces that made Jungkook into the triumph he is today. This book does more than just chronicle his humble beginnings in Busan and meteoric rise to fame. A lively narrative, it places Jungkook in a larger cultural and historical context, shedding light on the inner workings of the K-pop industry, internet culture, ARMY, and more. We learn that Jungkook's ruthless work ethic is a symptom of Korean culture and its singular pursuit for excellence; his style of dance places him in the lineage of Michael Jackson; and "the soldout king" has a unique visual appeal that meets high, intensive Korean beauty standards but also subverts it with his irreverent style choices.Jungkook's success is not an accident. Talent and training, the livestreams and good looks, globalization and timing all contributed to the making of Jungkook, "the Golden Maknae," the South Korean pop superstar who overcame the odds, and through his success, changed the status quo. This is an unauthorized elevated tribute to the singer, for both his fans and others interested in the genre.Monica Kim has delivered a tour-de-force, filled with vivid detail, that makes sense of the world of a music icon who has captured the devotion of millions of fans worldwide.