THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC OPINION AND SOUTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR DETERRENCE ENHANCEMENT POLICY

Many people are in favor of South Korea enhancing nuclear deterrence options (the redeployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons or its indigenous nuclear weapons). Since North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, a majority of those surveyed in opinion polls have favored enhancing nuclear deterrence. The results of these polls have attracted the attention of domestic and foreign media as well as those in politics and academia. However, questions remain, such as what this public opinion means both implicitly and explicitly, and what factors have prevented public opinion from influencing the government’s policy-making decisions. This thesis focuses on domestic political factors rather than international factors, such as the feasibility and effectiveness of nuclear deterrence options. This thesis argues that public opinion in favor of enhancing nuclear deterrence options did not influence the government’s policy formation due to 1) characteristics for the public opinion in favor of enacting a new policy, and 2) the existence of alternative policies to the enhancing nuclear deterrence options.Dae-wi, Republic of Korea ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

A study on change and determinants of South Koreans\u27 Perceptions of Unification

South Koreans’ interest in and aspirations for unification have decreased recently. This decrease of desires for unification is one of the obstacles to achieve unification. This study analyzes the change of South Koreans’ perceptions of unification and examines various factors that affect those perceptions toward unification. I use unification perceptions survey data from 2007 to 2014 collected by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies Seoul National University. The dependent variables of this study are perceptions of the necessity of unification and the possibility of unification. Independent variables are classified into four types. They are expected benefit factors, the political factor, national identity factors and demographic factors. Expected benefit factors are perceptions of the economic consequences of unification for South Korea and for the individual. The political factor is ideology. The national identity factors are perception of North Korea and friendship with North Koreans. The demographic factors are sex, education, income and age. I use multiple regressions to test the effect of independent variables. Perception of national benefit and personal benefit, ideology, perception of North Korea, friendship with North Koreans, sex, age, and education have a significant effect on the dependent variables. The results of this study show that a large number of people are pessimistic about the necessity and possibility of unification. Also, the perception of unification is different according to perception of benefit, ideology, national identity and demographic factors such as sex, age, and education. To gain the support of the public for unification, the South Korean government will need to address the factors identified in this study

Public Opinions on Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation: A Survey Analysis

This research attempts to provide an in-depth analysis of the public perceptions of inter-Korean economic cooperation. KDI survey data with a sample size of 1,000 were subjected to empirical analyses. By means of ordered logit estimations, we derive the following results. First, there is a significant effect of age on economic cooperation perceptions, where younger generations tend to be more negative. Second, the group who has positive view on the economic cooperation tends to prefer large-scale, domestic-entity-funded cooperation projects, whereas the group who has negative view tends to prefer small-scale projects and projects funded by international organizations. According to these results, prioritizing trade with the involvement of international organizations is likely to be an effective measure to alleviate potential political constraints and to achieve sustainable long-run economic cooperation systems when pursuing the economic cooperation

Could German Experience Be applied for the Settlement Policy for North Korean Defectors?

학위논문 (석사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 행정대학원 글로벌행정전공, 2021. 2. 최태현.The ROK as set a target of expanding its partnership with the private sector in its settlement policy for North Korean defectors. Since the enactment of the 'North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Act' in 1991, it has been making efforts to effectively organize various private resources. Faced with its own refugee challenges, West Germany (GDR) was quite successful in settling 4 million East German immigrants until the reunification of 1990. It is widely believed that a robust civil society and community foundation were major factors in its success. This study compares the governance of South Korea and West Germany. It analyzes i) the context of governance, ii) the shape of governance, iii) the outcome of governance to determine what type of governance each policy is based on. It finds that South Korea has implemented 'state-centered governance' under its government led developmental path. On the other hand, Germany instituted 'civil society centered governance' based on a strong community foundation. The approaches to refugee settlement in Korea and the former GDR differ in terms of the context of governance formation. While Germany had a long history of public-private partnerships in social service provision, South Korea has a relatively short history of civil society. Second, they differ in respect to the form f governance. While the private sector in Germany had considerable financial, organizational, and operational capacity, the private sector in Korea is still in the initial stages of developing its capacity. German private agencies play a broad range of roles in all phases of the policy process, while Korean private agencies’ role is limited to delegated tasks with little autonomy. Third, despite the different types of governance, both policies have produced good results. The success of these two different approaches proves that each type of governance was effective in the context of each society. However, the lack of public support for South Korea’s refugee settlement policies and social division are matters of concern. Based on analysis of the West German and Korean cases, this study makes several policy suggestions aimed at empowering the private sector and promoting social integration.현 정부는 북한이탈주민 지원 정책에서 민간과의 협력관계 확대를 정책 방향으로 삼았다. 1997년 ‘북한이탈주민의 보호 및 정착지원에 관한 법률’ 이 제정된 이래로, 정부는 우리 사회 내의 다양한 자원을 효과적으로 조직하고 활용하기 위한 노력을 기울여왔다. 한편, 독일은 1990년 통일을 맞이할 때까지 동독을 이탈하여 서독으로 이주해온 약 4백만명의 동독이탈주민을 성공적으로 지원해온 경험이 있다. 정부와 시민단체 간 상호신뢰를 바탕으로 한 협력이 독일 정책의 주요 성공요인으로 알려져 있다. 이러한 배경 하, 이 연구는 한국의 북한이탈주민 지원 정책과 독일의 동독이주민 지원 정책을 비교하고자 한다. 이를 위해 i) 양 정책의 거버넌스가 어떠한 맥락 하에서 형성되었는지, ii) 거버넌스가 현실에서 구체적으로 어떠한 형태로 나타나고 는지, iii) 결과적으로 거버넌스가 어떠한 성과를 얻었는지를 분석한다. 분석 결과 한국은 국가 중심적 경제 발전을 이루어 온 역사적 맥락 하에서 ‘국가 중심 거버넌스’를 형성해왔고, 독일의 경우 굳건한 시민사회의 전통을 바탕으로 ‘시민사회 중심 거버넌스’를 형성해 왔음을 알 수 있다. 구체적으로, 첫째, 두 정책은 거버넌스 형성 맥락이 다르다. 독일의 민간 영역은 복지업무 수행에 있어 정부와 협력하여 주도적 역할을 수행해온 오랜 전통이 있지만, 한국의 민간 영역은 상대적으로 그 역사가 짧다. 둘째, 거버넌스는 정책 현장에서 각기 다른 형태로 나타난다. 독일의 민간단체가 상당한 재정적, 조직적, 운영적 역량을 바탕으로 정책 전 단계에서 광범위한 역할을 수행함에 비해, 한국의 민간단체는 아직 재정적, 조직적 역량을 갖추지 못한 상태로 정부로부터 위임받은 업무에 그 역할이 한정된다. 셋째, 비록 두 정책의 거버넌스 형태는 다르지만 양자는 모두 객관적, 주관적 준거로 볼 때 정책 성과를 거두었고, 이는 각 거버넌스가 각 사회의 맥락에서 효과적으로 기능했음을 의미한다. 다만, 한국의 경우 정책에 대한 지지가 떨어지고, 북한이탈주민에 대한 사회적 거리감이 증가하고 있는 것은 우려할 만한 상황이다. 이러한 분석을 바탕으로 이 연구는 북한이탈주민 정책에서 민간의 역할을 보다 강화하고 사회적 통합을 증진시키기 위한 정책방안을 도출해본다.Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Background 1 1.2. Purpose of Study 3 1.3. Research Method 4 1.4. Structure of this study 4 Chapter 2. Theoretical Background and Literature Review 6 2.1. Theoretical Background 6 2.1.1. The Concept of Governance 6 2.1.2. The History of Governance 7 2.1.3. The Type of Governance 7 2.1.3.1. State-Centered Governance 8 2.1.3.2. Civil Society-Centered Governance 9 2.1.3.3. Market-Oriented Governance 10 2.1.3.4. The Context of Governance 11 2.2. Prior Study Review 12 2.2.1. Settlement Support Policy of South Korea 12 2.2.2. Settlement Support Policy of Germany 14 2.2.3. Governance Analysis Frame 15 Chapter 3. Frame of Analysis 21 3.1. The Significance of German Case 21 3.2. Frame of Analysis 22 3.3. Scope of Analysis 24 3.4. Method of Analysis 25 3.4.1. The Context of Governance 25 3.4.2. The Public-Private Relationship 25 3.4.3. The Outcome of Governance 26 Chapter 4. A Comparison of Two Policies: Germany and ROK 29 4.1. The Context of Governance 29 4.1.1. Definition of Terms 29 4.1.1.1. The East German Immigrants 29 4.1.1.2. North Korean Residents Escaping from North Korea 30 4.1.2. The Purpose of Policy 30 4.1.2.1. Germany 30 4.1.2.2. The ROK 32 4.1.3. The Size of Policy Target 34 4.1.3.1. Germany 34 4.1.3.2. The ROK 35 4.1.4. Political, Social, Economic Context 37 4.1.4.1. Germany 37 4.1.4.2. The ROK 39 4.2 The Public-Private Relationship 42 4.2.1. The Basis of a Relationship 42 4.2.1.1. Summary 42 4.2.1.2. Germany 43 4.2.1.3. The ROK 44 4.2.2. The Degree of Interdependence 45 4.2.2.1. Summary 45 4.2.2.2. Germany 46 4.2.2.3. The ROK 46 4.2.3. The Medium of Exchange 48 4.2.3.1. Summary 48 4.2.3.2. Germany 48 4.2.3.3. The ROK 51 4.2.4. Means of Resolving Conflict 54 4.2.4.1. Summary 54 4.2.4.2. Germany 54 4.2.4.3. The ROK 55 4.2.5. Culture 55 4.2.6. Summary of Analysis: Type of Governance 56 4.3. The Outcome of Governance 57 4.3.1. Employment Rate as an Objective Indicator 57 4.3.2. Satisfaction Rate as a Subjective Indicator 58 Chapter 5. Conclusion 63 5.1. Main Findings 63 5.2. Limitation 65 5.3. Implications 66 Bibliography 72 Abstract in Korean 78Maste

North Korean Defectors as Cultural Other in South Korea: Perception and Construction of Cultural Differences

With around 34,000 North Korean defectors having arrived in South Korea (as of June, 2021), perceptions toward them remain ambiguous and unbalanced. The dominant discourse about North Korean defectors centers on adaptation, and cultural difference is often identified as one of the most challenging obstacles. This article examines how a specific conceptualization of culture is utilized to alienate North Korean defectors, while securing the belief in a single ethnicity of all Koreans. As a result, North Korean defectors are rendered as cultural other in South Korean society. While cultural difference is often believed to be the basis of discrimination for North Korean defectors, this article argues that social prejudice and discrimination reproduce and reinforce the discourse about cultural difference of North Korean defectors

Representation and Self-Presentation of North Korean Defectors in South Korea: Image, Discourse, and Voices

This article looks into how media representations of North Korean defectors reproduce the images of North Korean defectors, while paying particular attention to the contrasting voices of North Korean defectors which reflect self-presentation. The media-perpetuated image of North Korean defectors as displaced victims whose memories are mostly clustered around the oppressive regime fails to grasp the intersection of aspiration, determination, and agency of North Korean defectors. The self-presentation of North Korean defectors reveals that they are eager to be in charge of constructing and controlling their own images, which goes beyond hitherto nationalized, gendered, and ethnicized identities. Self-presentation, at the same time, is a product of strategic choices conditioned by social discourse and media representation

The limits of ethnic capital: impacts of social desirability on Korean views of co-ethnic immigration

A substantial body of research has found that social desirability motivates respondents to overstate support for immigration when asked directly, but when provided an unobtrusive means of expressing preferences, support declines. In this paper, we ask whether South Koreans follow this pattern, especially with regards to co-ethnic migrants from North Korea and China. We use list experiments to determine whether observed levels of support for general immigration and co-ethnic migration are biased by social desirability. We find that generally respondents overstate their support for co-ethnics from North Korea by a significant amount when asked directly, but not for the other groups, although college-educated respondents overstate their support for general immigration. Social desirability bias with respect to co-ethnics from North Korea is particularly evident in older respondents and males. These findings challenge the notion that native-born citizens prefer co-ethnic immigrants.Asian Studie

perspectives of millennial generation

Thesis(Master) -- KDI School: Master of Public Policy, 2020Korean diasporas in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, also called as ‘Koryo-in’ or ‘Koryo-saram,’ are uniquely situated people groups, who maintain strong national identity despite being displaced from homeland for over 150 years. They embody strong adaptive strength as they have experienced the traumatic separation from homeland and radical transformation of political and economic systems in the turmoil of modern history. With their adaptive strength, they suggest great potential for rich and productive population and focal point of global Korean network against the backdrop of rapid decrease in productive population in Korea. Their importance, especially the Millennials, as global economic and cultural network possessing bicultural and bilingual strengths, deserves more academic and political attention. With the objective to help them construct identities that could more positively define their diasporic lives and their relationship with homeland, this study explores the factors affecting the development of national identity with a focus on the Millennials, and attempts to suggest relevant policy considerations.I. INTRODUCTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW III. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND IV. HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT V. METHODOLOGY VI. DATA ANALYSIS VII. CONCLUSIONmasterpublishedMin Oak HON