The passing of John Kie-chang Oh is a vivid reminder of how much political science is driven by political responsibility. As a young man in Seoul, John Oh found himself at the center of the great upheaval that was the Korean War. His enrollment in law at the prestigious Seoul National University was cut short, and the prospect of a career in law and politics was put permanently on hold. Even worse, as he recalled, he could not depart from the city, as he was recovering from an appendectomy. The bright optimism of a 20-year-old had been shattered on that September morning in 1950, as he suddenly found himself on the run in his own native land.
Oh's remembrance of those traumatic events fifty years later captures the terror and the resolve born within them:
The North Koreans in Seoul now engaged in methodical hunts for able-bodied men to be impressed into their various “volunteer” units. I moved nine times from relatives' houses to friends' places to stay a step ahead of the occupation soldiers—who were spreading their dragnets ever wider. We heard rumors about “kangaroo courts” held at city squares where any “reactionaries” were bludgeoned to death. I was undoubtedly a “reactionary” by their definition. For the first time I knew fear and hunger, as food was extremely scarce. This was the darkest and most helpless period in my life. I was convinced that all the shocking events were caused by the communist aggression. Along with some schoolmates, I decided to do my part in defending my homeland.”
(Oh Reference Oh2000)By November of 1950, Oh had graduated from officer training and was assigned to work at army headquarters. It was there that his career as a political scientist probably began, as his responsibilities included reading and summarizing the main American newspapers for the Ministry of Defense. Later, he found himself tasked with attending the Panmunjom negotiations in order to brief South Korean journalists. It was there that he met John Casserly, an International News Service correspondent who made it possible for him to receive a scholarship to Marquette University after his discharge from the army. From there, he studied at both Columbia and Georgetown, earning a Ph.D. at the latter in international relations. Yet, even then, he might have turned in a different direction.
It was just as Oh was finishing his Ph.D. (1961) that the military coup occurred in South Korea. He was subsequently offered a position with the new regime, but he firmly declined. As a political scientist, he explained, he had made the judgment that the junta would become dictatorial. “I thought that the military rule in Korea would endure for about 10 years—it lasted for 32.” During that time and for the remaining two decades of his life, John Oh devoted himself to the study of the larger problems of Korea and of the democratic transitions that have followed the epoch of communist and authoritarian regimes. Serving first on the faculty of political science at Marquette and later at the Catholic University of America, he became a distinguished scholar, not only of Korea, but also of the emblematic changes that Korea has undergone within the East Asian region.
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The author of six books and more than 100 articles, Oh is best known for the two books he published with Cornell University Press. Korea: Democracy on Trial appeared in 1968, while Korean Politics: The Quest for Democratization and Economic Development was published in 1999. It is especially in the latter that Oh developed a synthetic approach that enabled him to weave a compelling narrative of the trials and triumphs of his native land. But what gave his work a larger significance is that he understood such challenges as not specifically Korean. The interrelationship between economic development and the emergence of robust democratic institutions is the political story of much of the past 50 years. Without neglecting the uniqueness of particular countries, Oh searched for universal implications that might be drawn. His was a life of dedication and service, not only in response to the turmoil that engulfed the Korean peninsula, but also to the needs he saw in the wider world. That generosity of spirit was particularly displayed in his willingness to undertake the administrative responsibilities so indispensable to university life. Oh served in senior positions at Marquette University, where he became dean of the graduate school, and later as academic vice president at Catholic University. A well-liked teacher, he was also a strikingly congenial colleague, as well as a devoted husband and father. He took great pride in his children and grandchildren and was particularly pleased to bask in the academic accomplishments of his wife, Professor Bonnie Oh (retired) of Georgetown University. John Oh gave of himself in exemplary service to his native Korea, the United States, the Church, the academy, the discipline of political science, and all—students, faculty, friends, and admirers—who were fortunate enough to encounter him.
