Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, UK, USA: Princeton University Press, 2002. Hdb ISBN 0-691-09604-X

The fighting stopped in the Korean War in 1953, but the war itself has not yet been officially ended by a peace treaty. Large armies face one another across the armistice line, and the USA is committed to defending South Korea with nuclear weapons if necessary. In this authoritative, informative and comprehensive study, Selig Harrison challenges this long-standing US policy. Harrison, the former Washington Post Bureau Chief in Northeast Asia, combines scholarship with a seasoned reporter's direct experience. He argues that North Korea is not - as many policy makers expect - about to collapse. He also contends that the long-term goal of US policy should be the full disengagement of US combat forces from Korea as part of regional agreements insulating the peninsula from all foreign conventional and nuclear forces. This is a controversial book, but it is one that cannot be ignored by anyone concerned with long-term peace in Northeast Asia.