Book Review: Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea Under Park Chung Hee

Authors

Kevin Davidson

Files

Description

Author: Peter Banseok Kwon

Reviewed by: Colonel Kevin Davidson, US Air Force, Northeast Asia foreign affairs officer, United States Africa Command Liaison Office

In this groundbreaking study, Peter Banseok Kwon uncovers how South Korea’s defense industry became the engine of its rapid modernization under President Park Chung Hee. Drawing on declassified archives and firsthand interviews, Kwon reveals a hidden alliance of military, scientific, and industrial forces that transformed Korea into a global economic power. Cornerstone of the Nation reframes the “Miracle on the Han River” as a story of militarized industrialization, offering fresh insights into authoritarian development and Cold War geopolitics.

Publication Date

3-5-2026

Keywords

militarized industrialization, sociopolitical, Cold War, authoritarianism, national identity

Disciplines

Defense and Security Studies

Recommended Citation

Kevin Davidson, Book Review: Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea Under Park Chung Hee ( US Army War College Press, 2026),
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/131