The Diaspora of Korean Children: A Cross-Cultural Study of the Educational Crisis in Contemporary South Korea

The diaspora of Korean children first started after the Korean War in the 1950s. Abandoned by their impoverished mothers and shunned by society, many orphan children were sent abroad for adoption, which was the best, if not the only, available solution at the time. Half a century later, South Korea today is no longer a desperately poor country, and yet an increasing number of young children are still being sent abroad. The exodus of children, termed as the diaspora of Korean children in this study, is an out-of-country solution chosen by both students and parents in response to an educational dilemma in Korea, which signifies the urgent issues of public education in the increasingly globalized world today. By anchoring the educational crisis in contemporary South Korea in historical and cultural contexts, a primary purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to explore the seeming contradiction between the remarkable successes of Korean education, in particular its role in Korea\u27s remarkable social and economic transformation, and its fundamental weaknesses. Its historical and cultural background, including the experience of war, provides context for understanding the phenomena of Korean society manifested in the expressions such as parachute kids, wild geese families, cuckoo mommies and penguin daddies. This study also investigates the relevance of Confucian values in explaining Korea\u27s educational crisis today. It places Korea\u27s cultural underpinnings and complex historical experience in the context of the quest for modernization. Some critics blame Confucianism as the main culprit for the educational crisis today. But others disagree and argue that, despite its excesses and rigid applications in the past, Confucianism holds promise for addressing some of the problems of modern society. By reevaluating the efficacy of Confucian values in contemporary Korean society and in particular its complex and even conflicting interpretations in justifying competing models of education, this study addresses the question that many societies are facing today, including the United States, At what cost, education

Rethinking media flow under globalisation: rising Korean wave and Korean TV and film policy since 1980s

The rising popularity of Korean contents in Asia known as Hanryu ('Korean Wave'), which was partly supported by Korean cultural policy, has many implications with regard to cultural policy in periphery countries under globalisation and the open-door versus cultural diversity debate. This thesis assesses how recent cultural opening under globalisation in Korea has affected Korea's cultural industries both quantitatively in terms of economic performance and qualitatively in terms of cultural content, identity and diversity. These questions are examined in the context of the changing relationship between the cultural industries and cultural policy in Korea since the end of the 1990s. The research draws upon statistical data, historical material and interviews. By researching how the Korean experience has developed, this thesis attempts to look at Hanryu not just as a phenomenon in its own right, but also considers the secondary impact of this phenomenon on perceptions of culture and identity. In particular the thesis considers Hanryu in terms of the cultural influence on neighbouring countries manifest through tourism and a new interest in Korean language and culture. Such cultural effects are less easily measured than economic data but are important to an understanding of causes and effects of Hanryu. Finally this thesis places the Korean experience in the broader context of cultural policy in periphery countries responding to globalisation and the relationship between national cultural policy and the global cultural economy. It is still too early to reach conclusions on the future of Korean cultural industries based simply on the recent trends However, since the mid 1990s, the Korean cultural industries have been transformed dramatically. Cultural policy has contributed to this trend and strengthened the competitiveness of Korea's cultural industries. At the same time the thesis considers some of the limitations and criticisms of Hanryu, including potential loss of cultural diversity and an anti- Korean backlash in some other Asian countries. The Korean cultural industries have benefited from imitating the Hollywood system and developing a distinctive hybrid cultural content and business model. This has made possible an alternative approach to policy and management which lies between two extremes of protectionism and free market ideology. The thesis comments on some of the difficulties and limitations in sustaining such a balance and concludes by considering the sustainability of Hanryu both in Korea and in the broader Asian context

The Seoul Olympic Games and Korean society : causes, context and consequences

The overall aim of the research project is to investigate the alms and the consequences of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. The Seoul Olympics took place over twenty years ago, and the event has had a significant impact on South Korean society which is best explained by reference to theories of globalization and mega events. The project uses qualitative methods and a variety of data sources to evaluate the domestic impact of the Games in relation to culture, politics, sport, and economics. The analysis is contextualised within an understanding of Korean history with specific reference to Japanese colonialism and relations between North and South Korea. Particular attention is paid to the decision by most of the Communist bloc to participate in the Seoul Olympics, despite a North Korean boycott. The thesis also examines the reasons that lay behind Seoul wiuning the right to host the Games, as well as the postGames consequences, both of which are addressed using empirical data drawn from interviews and documentary evidence. Having addressed the evidence within the context of wider sociological debate concerning globalisation, the thesis concludes that South Korea's political, economic, cultural and sporting interests were well served by the Seoul Olympic Games, and that hosting a mega-event of this scale helped to accelerate South Korea's modernisation process and its emergence on the global stage

Institutional Conditions for National Technology Capabilities: A Comparative Study of Technology Catch-up in Korea and Japan

What determines technology capabilities and catch-up of countries? Why do the patterns, speed and performance of innovation differ across countries? This thesis seeks to address these questions by linking institutional, organisational and sectoral features of innovation in Korea and Japan which are regarded as the most successful cases of technology catchup. Despite the widespread recognition that innovators are susceptible to institutional conditions and contextual influences, previous empirical studies have not used contextual factors as determinants of innovation. On the other hand, institutional analysis of innovation has addressed national diversity and historical patterns of change based on thick description and qualitative evidence. This thesis provides a new way of explaining the underlying of dynamics of innovation by empirically examining direct correlations between country-specific institutional characteristics and technology capabilities and by testing causal relationships between technology input and output. This thesis employs the national innovation system (NIS) and the late industrialiser perspectives to perform three sets of empirical analyses. The first indentifies key institutional and policy determinants of national technology capabilities based on five sets of cross-sectional data, consisting of 37 high-income countries and 32 middle-income countries. The second examines specific institutional conditions for causal relationships between technology input and output based on time-series data of Korea and Japan. The third investigates technological catchup occurrence, speed and performance to indentify productivity and technology gaps as well as delaying and contributing factors. The findings of the thesis have significant relevance to innovation strategy and policy of other catching-up countries in the process of building indigenous technology capabilities

South Korean Nationalism and the Legacy of Park Chung Hee: How Nationalism Shaped Park’s Agendas and the Future Korean Sociopolitical Landscape

Park Chung Hee (presidential term: 1961-1979) is, arguably, the most significant leader in the Korean Peninsula’s modern history. His governance has many trademark elements that have been thoroughly analyzed. These include his economic plans and violent dealings against his political opposition. One often overlooked variable, however, is the significant traces of early Korean nationalism (1890s-1930s) that defined his regime. Park employed these ideas, although controversial, to completely change a nation that was teetering on the brink of destruction into what is now, one of the most well-known republics in the world – economically, technologically, and culturally. It is important, therefore, to investigate how early nationalism affected and shaped Park’s tenure, and more importantly, how it still affects South Korea today. There are two main nationalist ideologies that affected Park’s rule. First are the teachings of early nineteenth century Korean nationalists, most prominently Sin Chaeho and Choe Namson. These philosophies gave Park the foundations to base his eventual regime upon. Specifically, Sin and Choe’s take on the Tan’gun creation myth promoted that the Korean people are entitled to a prosperous and homogenized land. This was also one element of their minjok tenet – minjok loosely translating to “the Korean people.” It is an ethnonationalist philosophy implying that all Koreans and the lands from where they originated are bound together by blood. Second, Park took those theories and mixed them with a Social Darwinist, Neo-Confucian ideology, one modeled after what he learned from his brief Imperial Japanese military career; this is otherwise known as bushido. When fused together, these elements created a unique institution that was evident throughout every aspect of a Park-era South Korea. It was not until the 1980s onwards that an affluent South Korean citizenry sought a more advanced republican-like polity. From this time on they out grew their need for Park-styled autocracy and nationalism. Through intense and daily mass protests, many of which ended in bloodshed, South Koreans infused old minjok nationalist themes with dissent; this union was called minjung. Minjung loosely translates to “mass people”, however during the protests the term was solidified under the definition of “the will of the [Korean] masses.” Therefore, minjung is now synonymous with South Korean-styled democracy. As a result, the end of the decade finally saw the last relic of Park’s governance. His successor, Chun Doo-hwan, was ousted as South Korea ascended into the pantheon of highly developed democracies

Next Generation Connectivity: A Review of Broadband Internet Transitions and Policy from Around the World

Fostering the development of a ubiquitously networked society, connected over high-capacity networks, is a widely shared goal among both developed and developing countries. High capacity networks are seen as strategic infrastructure, intended to contribute to high and sustainable economic growth and to core aspects of human development.

South Africa's emergent developmental state and the challenges of capabilities development - are universities at the cutting edge of ICT?

Dissertation presented for a Masters Degree in Development Studies in the Faculty of Humanities and School of Social Sciences, at the University of the Witwatersrand. 17 September 2014The manufacturing sector contributed to growth in the 20th century, which ultimately enhanced capabilities related to machinery and plants. However, towards the end of the 20th century, the manufacturing sector became less prominent as a catalyst for growth as the economy became increasingly bit-driven. A bit-driven or knowledge economy characterises the 21st century, where economic growth is created through the expansion of ideas and the enhancement of human capabilities (Evans, 2007). In order to analyse the requirements of economic growth in the 21st century, I relied on the New Growth theory and the capability approach of Amartya Sen. The capability approach reviews state policies in terms of its impact on developing its citizens’ capabilities, for instance, the ability to choose amongst Information and Communications Technology (ICT) courses at universities (Sen, 1990: 49). South Africa has several policies in place which acknowledge the importance of a knowledge-based economy. It has also referred to the efforts of the African National Congress (ANC) to build a Developmental State (DS). This research examined several policies aimed at creating a 21st century DS and asks whether they enhance the capabilities of citizens to partake in the knowledge economy. This paper looked at development during the industrialisation period (specifically after World War II). Here, economic growth was propelled through manufacturing. I drew on specific countries’ experiences such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which were 20th century DSs. However, as the 21st century approached, the industrial revolution was replaced with a knowledge-based economy (KBE). The 20th and 21st century DSs are linked in that the manufacturing sector in the latter DS needs the services sector as a catalyst for job creation and economic growth. Therefore the manufacturing industry needs to diversify to include the services sector (Zalk, 2014)

Next Generation Connectivity: A Review of Broadband Internet Transitions and Policy From Around the World

Fostering the development of a ubiquitously networked society, connected over high-capacity networks, is a widely shared goal among both developed and developing countries. High capacity networks are seen as strategic infrastructure, intended to contribute to high and sustainable economic growth and to core aspects of human development. In the pursuit of this goal, various countries have, over the past decade and a half, deployed different strategies, and enjoyed different results. At the Commission's request, this study reviews the current plans and practices pursued by other countries in the transition to the next generation of connectivity, as well as their past experience. By observing the experiences of a range of market-oriented democracies that pursued a similar goal over a similar time period, we hope to learn from the successes and failures of others about what practices and policies best promote that goal. By reviewing current plans or policy efforts, we hope to learn what others see as challenges in the next generation transition, and to learn about the range of possible solutions to these challenges