# America in Korea: a failed occupation?

An episode of [HistoryExtra podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/256580326), 25 Sep 2025, 46 min.

Audio: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR6733150054.mp3?updated=1758819413

For three quarters of a century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two very different regimes that are bitterly opposed to each other. But did it have to be this way? In his book, A Fractured Liberation, which has been shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, Professor Kornel Chang revisits the US occupation of the south of Korea between 1945-1948 to explore whether opportunities were missed for a better future. For today's episode, he shared his findings with Rob Attar. (Ad) Kornel Chang is the author of A Fractured Liberation: Korea under US Occupation (Harvard University Press, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fa-fractured-liberation%2Fkornel-chang%2F9780674258433. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.