Tears of Theory

Demonstrating how storytelling and experience can be integral parts of International Relations scholarship, this book is about failure, hurt, and survival. Focused on the author’s research journey on a mysterious Cold War-era spy, Park-Kang reflects on how to transform wounds and challenges into academically meaningful work.

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Tears of Theory demonstrates the value of making storytelling and personal experience integral parts of International Relations (IR) scholarship. Through an examination of the disappearance of Korean Air (KAL) flight 858 in 1987, the book also explores what it means to conduct research in sensitive and difficult settings. According to South Korea, a female secret agent bombed the plane under instructions from the North Korean leadership, killing 115 people. Many unanswered questions emerged and resulted in two rounds of reinvestigations.

Taking this case in the context of the ongoing Cold War, Park-Kang presents the story about a researcher, whose life is deeply entangled with the Cold War mystery. The autoethnography-oriented story is based on the author’s dramatic research journey of seventeen years on the mysterious female spy. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of IR, Asian/Korean Studies, Narrative Studies, Security Studies, Pedagogy and methodology.