Daily Archives: February 19, 2019

Victoria Ten – Technologies Of Self In Contemporary Korea- The Notion Of Suryŏn (修練) In GiCheon (氣天) – Pages 76-96

Abstract GiCheon (氣天) is one of many contemporary South Korean mind-body disciplines focused on physical and moral self-cultivation. Utilizing a series of interviews with the adherents of this movement, this paper examines their individual experience and understanding of GiCheon praxis in the new social and political context, revealing the mechanisms of self-construction in modern and…

Niu Song – Islam And South Korea’s Middle East Diplomacy – Pages 60-75

Abstract Islam was reintroduced into South Korea during the Korean War due to the participation of the Turkish army. In its more than 50 years’ development process, the achievements of Korean Islam include the establishment of legal Islamic organizations, the construction of mosques all over the country, pilgrimage to Mecca, translation of the Koran into…

Anna Noh – Religion And Political Identity- Korean Protestantism In The Power Structures Of Early South Korea, 1945–1948 – Pages 45-59

Abstract Throughout the history of post-1945 Korea, evangelical Protestants in South Korea reinforced their political, economic, and cultural ascendancy over the country with extensive economic and administrative supports from the US government as well as missionaries from that country. This paper will examine in what ways Korean evangelical Protestantism gained hegemonic power in nation-building… Members…

Jong Chon An – Who Are The First Koreans? The Nationality Law Of 1948 – Pages 23-44

Abstract This article deals with the First Korean Nationality Act which was spurred by the US Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) and enacted by the first Korean Congress. Although there seemed to be a debate on the Nationality Act before Korea was colonized by Japan, the boundary of “Korean” citizenship was cultural and self-evident.…

Shinyoung Kwon – Promoting Mass Movements- A New Perspective On Japanese Wartime Imperialism In Korea – Pages 1-22

Abstract This article aims to explore the Japanese colonial government’s efforts to promote mass movements in Korea which rose suddenly and showed remarkable growth throughout the 1930s. It focuses on two Governor-Generals and the directors of the Education Bureau who created the Social Indoctrination movements under Governor-General Ugaki Kazushige in the early 1930s and the…

Christopher Green and Steven Denney – ‘An Institutional Approach to Economic Reform and Development- Towards a Developmental Understanding of North Korea’ – Pages 88-111

North Korea is not an average low-income state with a moribund national economy. The outcome of the state’s Suryŏngist-Sŏn’gun ideological and economic structure is a well-run, sector-specific economy within a neglected national economy, all ordered around the maintenance of the ruling system, which is led and tightly controlled by the Kim family. However, the pockets…

Bul-chul Shin and Il han Bae – ‘North Korea’s Dual Network of Mobile Telecommunications Systems and the Futures of the Korean Peninsula’ – Pages 71-87

This paper provides a history of North Korea’s telecommunications system which was first introduced in 2002 and analyses the emergence of a dual network system: the official network fully controlled by the Government, and the unofficial network which was begun for business communications by Chinese residents in North Korea and now is used by the…

Chi Young-hae – ‘Gazing into the Crystal Ball- Environmental Crises as a Formative Factor for the Korea of 2032’ – Pages 54-70

What will be the formative factors for the situation on the Korean peninsula in 2032? This article presents a conjecture against the theoretical backdrop that local social-political processes are conditioned by major changes in the power structure of international relations. It envisages environmental crises, both global and regional, as one of the most decisive elements…

Robert Winstanley-Chesters – ‘2032- Juche-Oriented Environmental Futures’ – Pages 36-53

During the reign of Kim Jong Il, strategies and projects focussed upon environmental development in North Korea were often claimed to incorporate elements of a developmental approach rooted in paradigms of conservation and preservation. The DPRK’s environmental focus has moved towards floral and faunal conservation, growth in an interest in low-carbon and alternative forms of…

Glen David Kuecker – ‘South Korea’s New Songdo City- From Neo-liberal Globalisation to the Twenty-first Century Green Economy’ – Pages 20-35

This essay explores the Republic of Korea’s transition from the embrace of neo-liberal globalisation to a commitment toward building a twenty-first century green economy. It explores South Korea’s place within twenty-first century global challenges, the importance of twenty-first century urbanisation for understanding those challenges, the conceptualization and building of New Songdo City, and a ……