College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• He keeps going and going

  Phased retirement doesn't mean much to Young Kihl, professor of political science.
  
  

• Technically, Young Kihl is on Iowa State's phased retirement plan.
  
  "I would like to complete my career as a teacher, scholar and researcher," said the professor of political science, who is a year away from retirement.
  
  By the looks of things he's accomplishing just that.
  
  His latest book, one of 15 he has written in his distinguished career, came out earlier this year to critical acclaim.
  
  "Transforming Korean Politics: Democracy, Reform and Culture is a magisterial work from an authoritative senior scholar," writes C.S. Eliot Kang of Northern Illinois University.
  
  Covering developments through the 2004 elections, Kihl shows in his book how the South Korean government and society have been shaped not only by the dynamics of modernization, democratization and globalization, but also by their interaction with the cultural norms of post-Confucian society.
  
  He discusses the forces shaping Korea's political economy and the performance of successive Republic of Korea (South Korea) governments and highlights the challenges faced by the newly elected government.
  
  But this isn't the only book Kihl has been working on. He is serving as co-editor of a new manuscript, North Korea: The Politics of Regime Survival, which is scheduled to be published later this year.
  
  "We examine how the standoff (between North and South Korea) needs some resolution," the native of South Korea said, "and how North Korea will need help to abandon its posture of isolation and eventually interact with its neighboring countries as a friendly nation."
  
  Two books in two years. For most individuals that would be enough. But Kihl says he has "more book projects to finish."
  
  One of those will deal with regional security in northeast Asia and will focus on the Korean Peninsula and the nations important to that part of the globe – North and South Korea, Russia, China, Japan and the United States.
  
  Kihl hopes to receive a fellowship from the East/West Center at the University of Hawaii, where he plans to go after retiring from Iowa State to complete this project.
  
  "One of the themes I will explore is ‘history matters,'" he said. "History doesn't repeat itself but it (history) can provide lessons for the next generation's leadership."
  
  Korea has played an important role in Kihl's scholarship during his career. In addition to his books on comparative foreign policy, Asian security and Korean politics, Kihl also currently serves as editor-in-chief of International Journal of Korean Studies. In the late '90s he was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, an exchange professor in residence at the Sejong Institute and a Fulbright Exchange Professor at Ewha Women's University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul, Korea.
  
  And this fall, he coordinated a symposium on campus on U.S./Korea relations that included presentations by U.S. Department of State and Republic of Korea diplomats.
  
  All of which has led to two recent awards for Kihl including the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence.
  
  He is also one of the 2005 recipients of the Global Korea Award given for "his unselfish commitment to the well-being of the Korean community and global society, his significant contribution to improving understanding between Korea and the rest of the world, and his devotion to quality education for the next generation."

Young Kihl

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October 17-30, 2005

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