Lee, Chae-Jin 1936-

PERSONAL:

Born January 29, 1936. Education: Seoul National University, B.A., 1959; University of California, Los Angeles, M.A., 1962, Ph.D., 1966.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Diamond Bar, CA. Office—Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, Claremont McKenna College, 850 Columbia Ave., Claremont, CA 91711; fax: 909-621-8756. E-mail—cjlee@claremontmckenna.edu; cjlee@cmc.edu.

CAREER:

Academic. University of Kansas, Lawrence, assistant professor, beginning 1965, then professor of political science and East Asian Studies, ending 1986, codirector of the Center for East Asian Studies, 1976-82, cochair of the department of East Asian languages and cultures, 1976-82, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1982-86; California State University, Long Beach, professor of political science and dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Studies, 1986-89; Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, professor of government, 1989—, then Bank of America Professor of Pacific Basin Studies, director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies, 1989—. Fulbright-Hays visiting scholar in Japan and Korea, 1967-68; University of Washington, visiting associate professor, 1970-71; University of California, San Diego, visiting professor, 1994; Fulbright-Hays visiting scholar at Seoul National University, 1994, 1995, 2002; also taught at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, Association for Asian Studies, National Bureau of Asian Research (board of advisors, 1996—), Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies (board of counselors, 2006—), Pacific Association of Korean Studies (executive committee, 1997—), Pacific Council on International Policy, Association of the Korean Political Scientists in North America.

WRITINGS:

Communist China's Policy toward Laos: A Case Study, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS), 1970.

(Editor, with Dae-Sook Suh) Political Leadership in Korea, University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 1976.

Japan Faces China: Political and Economic Relations in the Postwar Era, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1976.

(With G. Cameron Hurst III) The Park Chung Hee Presidency in Historical Perspective, American Universities Field Staff (Hanover, NH), 1980.

(With Hideo Sato) U.S. Policy toward Japan and Korea: A Changing Influence Relationship, Praeger (New York, NY), 1982.

China and Japan: New Economic Diplomacy, Hoover Institute Press (Stanford, CA), 1984.

China's Korean Minority: The Politics of Ethnic Education, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1986.

The Korean War: 40-year Perspectives, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 1991.

The United States and China: Changing Relations and Regional Implications, Sejong Institute (Seoul, Korea), 1991.

(Editor) The United States and Japan: Changing Relations, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 1992.

(Editor, with Jay Speakman) The Prospects for Korean Reunification, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 1993.

(Editor, with Hideo Sato) U.S.-Japan Partnership in Conflict Management: The Case of Korea, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 1993.

Zhou Enlai: The Early Years, Stanford University Press (Stanford, CA), 1994.

(With Doo-Bok Park) China and Korea: Dynamic Relations, Hoover Institution Press (Stanford, CA), 1996.

(Editor, with Dae-Sook Suh) North Korea after Kim Il Sung, Lynne Rienner (Boulder, CO), 1998.

(Editor, with Arthur L. Rosenbaum) The Cold War—Reassessments, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 2000.

(Editor) The Changing Asia-Pacific Region: Strategic and Economic Issues, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 2001.

(Editor) U.S. Security Policy under Clinton and Bush: Continuity and Change, Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies (Claremont, CA), 2005.

A Troubled Peace: U.S. Policy and the Two Koreas, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 2006.

Contributor of articles to academic journals, including Journal of Asiatic Studies, Korea and World Affairs, Journal of Pacific Asia, Korean Studies, Asia Pacific Review, Asian Perspectives, Asian Survey, Political and Economic Review, Current History, Korean Journal of International Relations, Asia Quarterly, Midwest Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Asiatic Studies, Political Science Review, and Pacific Affairs. Editorial board member for a number of academic journals, including Asian Survey, Asian Perspective, Journal of Pacific Asia, Journal of Korean Studies, Journal of International and Area Studies, Review of Korean Studies, and editorial advisor to the International Journal of Korean Studies.

SIDELIGHTS:

Chae-Jin Lee is an academic. Born on January 29, 1936, Lee began his higher education studies at Seoul National University, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1959. Lee decided to pursue graduate studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, earning a master of arts degree in 1962 and a Ph.D. in 1966.

Lee began working at the University of Kansas in 1965 as an assistant professor. He eventually became a full professor of political science and East Asian Studies. From 1976 to 1982, he also served as codirector of the Center for East Asian studies and cochair of the department of East Asian languages and cultures. From 1982 until 1986, when Lee left the University of Kansas, he served as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

In 1986 Lee moved to Long Beach's California State University, where he served as a professor of political science as well as dean of the School of Social and Behavioral Studies until 1989. At that point he switched institutions once again, starting at California's Claremont McKenna College as a professor of government. He eventually became the Bank of America Professor of Pacific Basin Studies and director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies. Lee has also held a number of additional positions and fellowships, including serving as a Fulbright-Hays visiting scholar in Japan and Korea from 1967 to 1968, a visiting associate professor at the University of Washington from 1970 to 1971, and a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego. Lee also served as a three-time Fulbright-Hays visiting scholar at Seoul National University, in 1994, 1995, and 2002. He has also taught at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Lee published Zhou Enlai: The Early Years in 1994. The account serves as a biography of the People's Republic of China's first premier, addressing the leaders younger, formative years before taking office.

Qiang Zhai, reviewing the book in the Historian, wrote that "Lee has gone a long way toward unraveling the mystery of Zhou's personality. His book is likely to be the standard account of Zhou's early life." Ronald C. Keith, reviewing the book in Pacific Affairs, proposed that "this biography is a welcome addition for the growing research and literature on Zhou Enlai. Lee amply displays the craft of a senior historian, but I am not sure that this volume alone will solve all of the outstanding historiographical issues."

In 1996 Lee wrote China and Korea: Dynamic Relations with Doo-Bok Park. The study looks into the relations that China had with Korea, from the period of Kim Il Sung's revolution dividing the country to contemporary times. The account also focuses on the relation between China's Mao and the Soviet Union's Stalin and how their rivalry was played out partly through the support of North Korea.

A contributor writing in the Economist called the account "boring," adding that it is "a dry detailed catalogue filled with diplomatic ephemera." Donald Zagoria, writing in Foreign Affairs, remarked that "this volume brings together most of the relevant scholarship in an admirably balanced fashion," despite the ambiguousness of the origins of the wars in China and Korea. Zagoria pointed out that "the author closes with a sensible conclusion."

Lee edited North Korea after Kim Il Sung in 1998 with Dae-Sook Suh. The book aims to provide proposals as to what the future holds in store for North Korea since the death of its founder, Kim Il Sung, through the reign of his son, and beyond.

Andrei Lankov, writing in Korean Studies, observed that "it looks like that this book is yet another indication of ongoing changes in the perception of North Korea." Lankov concluded that "overall, the book provides readers with a reliable review of North Korea's foreign policy in the middle and late 1990s and covers a wide range of related topics and problems. Written by renowned specialists, full of thoughtful analysis and insights, it will be a useful addition to the still small but rapidly growing library of North Korean studies."

In 2000 Lee edited The Cold War—Reassessments with Arthur L. Rosenbaum. The book, inclusive of contributions from noted scholars like William Stueck, John Lewis Gaddis, and Raymond Garthoff, provides an analysis of the impact the Cold War had on the world, centering on wars in Korea and Vietnam, as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Joseph M. Siracusa, writing in the Australian Journal of Politics and History, commented that "the first stop for anyone interested in the future of the subject should be The Cold War—Reassessments, a small collection of important essays by distinguished scholars."

Lee published A Troubled Peace: U.S. Policy and the Two Koreas in 2006. Lee examines the contrasting relationship between the United States and the two Koreas, noting that U.S. policy has been affected by security policies in the Koreas, South Korea's democratization, and President Clinton's approach to deal with North Korea diplomatically.

James I. Matray, reviewing the book in Korean Studies, suggested that "few readers will disagree with Lee's judgment that George H.W. Bush practiced ‘nuanced pragmatism’ …, but less clear is his claim that Yi Haichong ‘advocated a realist approach’ …, while Kim Dae-Jung's Sunshine Policy was ‘liberal’. … More important, his attempt ‘to be reasonable, eclectic, and evenhanded’ … results in writing a detailed narrative account without analytical depth." Matray further commented: "Lee is on the mark, however, when he advises that if the United States wants to play a wise and constructive role in the future, it ‘would do well to transcend the historical tendency to view Korea as an extension of its interests and concerns over Japan and China and to recognize the intrinsic significance of its enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with Korea.’"

Tae Yang Kwak, writing in the Political Science Quarterly, observed that "throughout the narrative, Lee conspicuously avoids explicitly criticizing the past policies of any president, Korean or American. But he offers an oblique criticism of the current Bush administration's militant" policies. Kwak concluded that "Lee's comprehensive and well-documented book is primarily intended for an American audience and is an important new contribution to the understanding of a troubled but vital region." Gregg Andrew Brazinsky, reviewing the book in Pacific Affairs, noted that "some political scientists might be disappointed with the work because it does not have a very elaborate theoretical argument. However, it is one of the best two or three books on Korea's international relations in the English language and should be of great interest to a wide range of scholars and general readers interested in Korea and East Asia."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, February 1, 1996, Marilyn A. Levine, review of Zhou Enlai: The Early Years, p. 223.

Asian Affairs, June 1, 1995, Rod Wye, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 237.

Australian Journal of Politics and History, March 1, 2002, Joseph M. Siracusa, review of The Cold War—Reassessments, p. 146.

China Quarterly, September 1, 1988, Wang Gungwu, review of China and Japan: New Economic Diplomacy, p. 477; September 1, 1995, Dick Wilson, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 894.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, February 1, 1995, E.H. Kaplan, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 985; March 1, 1997, review of China and Korea: Dynamic Relations, p. 1234; November 1, 2006, J.M. Peek, review of A Troubled Peace: U.S. Policy and the Two Koreas, p. 558.

Current History, September 1, 1982, review of U.S. Policy toward Japan and Korea: A Changing Influence Relationship, p. 273.

Economist, February 15, 1997, review of China and Korea, p. 12.

Foreign Affairs, March 1, 1997, Donald Zagoria, review of China and Korea.

Historian, March 22, 1996, Qiang Zhai, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 669.

International Journal, September 22, 1999, review of North Korea after Kim Il Sung, p. 726.

Journal of Asian History, March 22, 1996, Thomas D. Curran, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 102.

Journal of Asian Studies, May 1, 1997, Odd Arne Westad, review of China and Korea, p. 457; February 1, 1999, Charles K. Armstrong, review of North Korea after Kim Il Sung, p. 224.

Journal of Developing Areas, October 1, 1985, Paul B. Trescott, review of China and Japan, p. 126.

Korean Studies, January 1, 2001, Andrei Lankov, review of North Korea after Kim Il Sung, p. 151; January 1, 2007, James I. Matray, review of A Troubled Peace, p. 97.

Pacific Affairs, September 22, 1987, June Teufel Dreyer, review of China's Korean Minority: The Politics of Ethnic Education, p. 504; September 22, 1995, Ronald C. Keith, review of Zhou Enlai, p. 432; September 22, 1999, Young Whan Kihl, review of North Korea after Kim Il Sung, p. 445; June 22, 2007, Gregg Andrew Brazinsky, review of A Troubled Peace, p. 384.

Political Science Quarterly, summer, 2007, Tae Yang Kwak, review of A Troubled Peace, p. 338.

Problems of Communism, May 1, 1987, Walter Arnold, review of China and Japan.

ONLINE

Claremont McKenna College Web site,http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/ (September 13, 2008), author profile.

Pacific Council Web site,http://www.pacificcouncil.org/ (September 13, 2008), author profile.