Base encounters: the US Armed Forces in South Korea

Violent imaginaries and base encounters in Seoul -- Capitalism of the barracks: Korea's long march to the 21st century -- The colonized bodies of our women: Camptown spaces as vital zones of the national imagination -- Vil(l)e encounters: Transnational militarized entertainment areas on the fringes of Korea -- It'aewŏn's suspense: Of American dreams, violent nightmares, and guilty pleasures in the city -- Demilitarizing the urban entertainment zone? Hongdae and the US armed forces in the Seoul capital area.;Base Encounters explores the social friction that US bases have caused in South Korea, where entertainment districts next to American military installations have come under much scrutiny. The Korean peninsula is one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world with nearly 30,000 US soldiers in the area. Elisabeth Schober shares the lives of soldiers, sex workers and anti-base activists, to give a comprehensive introduction to the social, economic and political factors that have shaped the tensions over US bases in South Korea. --Cover.