South Korean academic writings of 2013 provide a useful window through which students of Japan worldwide can observe Japan and Japanese-Korean relations. So far this year, I found that six books have been published on Japan and Japanese-Korean relations, as well as six articles in the two most prestigious journals of political science (The Korean Journal of International Relations and Korean Political Science Review). These works reflect recent trends in Japan’s diplomacy, including the history issue, and Japan’s domestic economic policy. Moon Chung-in and Seo Seung-won’s book illuminates contemporary Japan through a series of in-depth interviews with prominent Japanese intellectuals. The Institute for Japanese Studies, Seoul National University, has published two books: 1) a record of conversations with Gerald Curtis, Wakayama Yoshibumi, and Park Cheol-hee; and 2) an analysis of Japan’s diplomatic policy toward the Korean Peninsula by Kimiya Tadashi. Son Yeol edited Japan’s Leadership for Resurrection, compiling the analyses of ten Japanese leaders by a group of young Japan studies scholars in South Korea. Kim Kyung-min, who specializes in Japanese security, wrote Talking about the North Korean and Japanese Nuclear Programs, and Park Yu-ha published Comfort Women of the Empire, making a strong case against the dominant comfort women discourse in South Korea. These books show an interesting cross-section of Japan studies in South Korea.

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