In “Surgical Miracle: South Korea as a Developmentalist State,” Ga Eun Cho will discuss post-Korean War South Korea’s emergence as a developmentalist state. The South Korean military junta used economic development as a justification for its coup d’état and the postponed transition to democracy. As such, the state defined those unconforming to the goal as ‘pathogenic,’ and embarked on their surgical removal from the modernizing nation.

The East Asian Studies Graduate Seminar is a bi-weekly meeting, the main purpose of which is to offer a space for graduate students to present works-in-progress to an interdisciplinary community of faculty and graduate students. Besides presentations, we will also host a number of other events geared at intellectual and professional development for graduate students. The seminar is hybrid to accommodate our colleagues abroad and is on Mondays, 9:00-10:30 am in Gilman 300. All papers will be circulated one week in advance. If you would like to receive the zoom information or the pre-circulated paper, please contact Wesley Sampias ([email protected]).