Additional information
by Eugene Y. Park (Translator), Ingeol Kim (Author)
Eugene Y. Park's annotated translation of a long-awaited book by Kim Ingeol introduces Anglophone readers to a path-breaking scholarship on the widening social base of political actors who shaped "public opinion" (kongnon) in early modern Korea. Initially limited to high officials, the articulators of public opinion as the state and elites recognized grew in number to include mid-level civil officials, State Confucian College students, all Confucian literati (yurim), influential commoners who took over local councils (hyanghoe), and the general population. Marshaling evidence from a wealth of documents, Kim presents a compelling case for the indigenous origins of Korean democracy.
Author Biography
Kim Ingeol, Ph.D., Seoul National University, is a Professor Emeritus of Korean History at his alma mater. He has published numerous studies in Korean history, including Chosŏn sidae sahoesa wa Han'guksa insik [Chosŏn social history and understanding Korean history] (Kyŏngin munhwasa, 2017).
Eugene Y. Park, Ph.D., Harvard University, is a Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has published books, book chapters, and articles in Korean history, including Korea: A History (Stanford University Press, 2022).
