The Korean Way of War (Three Kingdoms to the Japanese Colonial Period: B.C. 57 - 1945): Based on Contrast to Western Europe and China

This study started based on the fact that in spite of Korea's long history, it is difficult to determine if Korea has a unique way of war because there is a lack of research on the subject. This study seeks to verify whether there is a unique way of war in Korea and, if so, defines it by contrasting certain characteristics to the ways of war of Western Europe and China. The main research question of this thesis is "Is there a distinct Korean way of war?" Subsidiary research questions are: "What is a way of war?", "What factors contribute to a specific way of war?", "What are the ways of Western Europe and China?", "What are the key differences that characterize the different ways of war?", "If there is a distinct Korean way of war, what is it?", "What are the implications from this research?" This thesis is a comparative case study using descriptions of ways of war of both Western Europe and China as well as proposes a definition for a Korean way of war. They will be analyzed based on eight relevant questions drawn from four evaluation criteria related with four proposed characteristics of a Korean way of war.