The Island of World Peace: The Jeju Massacre and State Building in South Korea

This book explores the history of the Jeju massacre or Jeju 4.3, the deadliest civilian massacre in modern South Korean history. It examines state violence in relation to the birth of anti-communism, the reintegration of Jeju people through mobilization in the Korean War, the capitalist modernization movement, and attempts at reconciliation.

Gwisook Gwon is a research fellow at the Research Institute for Tamla Culture in Jeju National University and taught sociology there from 1994 to 2016. She has published Gieog-eui Jeongchi, or The Politics of Memory in 2006. Her recent works have appeared in Under Occupation, the Asia-Pacific Journal, and the Journal of Korean Religions.