(same as POL_SC 4690). This course is designed to help student understand the dynamics of Korean politics by critically examining major political issues in Korean political history since 1945. Korea is the only country that still remained in the Cold War international structure. Since the division of Korean peninsula, the two Koreas are competing each other for the legitimacy among Koreans. For critical understanding of the Korean politics, I will first deal with the division of Korean peninsula and emergence of two Koreas, Korean war and the political implication of the two Koreas. And then I will focus on the South Korean politics of which country that is well known as a rare example that has achieved rapid economic growth as well as democratization in a short period of time in the world. I am also planning to deal with several issues that might have affected the South-North Korean politics, that is. ROK-US Alliance, North Korean nuclear challenge and unification questions, and Sino-US rivalry in the East Asia.