PATHWAYS TO DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP: THE MEDIATING ROLES OF DELIBERATION AND POLITICAL EFFICACY IN THE EFFECTS OF OLD AND NEW MEDIA USE ON POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN SOUTH KOREA

For more than three decades, citizen engagement in the political process in South Korea was strictly hampered by the harsh control of the public sphere by authoritarian regimes and mainstream media\u27s failure to provide a democratic public forum. With the penetration of online and social media, the participatory culture of South Korea has significantly and qualitatively changed. During the last 10 some years, citizens actively used Internet media, such as online and social media, in mobilizing people for social and political causes. In recent elections, the use of Internet media has been considered one of the decisive factors of turnout and election results. The wide availability of information, the supply of unfettered discussion forums, and constant connectedness beyond space and geographical boundaries of the Internet are believed to work efficiently in leading citizens to the political process. However, unlike in Western countries, research to investigate the mechanism through which citizens engage in political affairs has been scant in South Korea. Drawing on the participatory democracy theory, this study examines how old and new media use in South Korea possibly change citizens\u27 political attitudes and perceptions and how such changes subsequently trigger civic engagement in political affairs. Among various possible factors of political communication, this research pays special attention to the mediating roles of political efficacy and deliberation behaviors of the electorate during an election period in South Korea. A multitude of studies have proven that political efficacy is one of the most immediate attitudinal explanations of political action. As one acquires feelings of heightened political efficacy, one becomes more likely to get involved in the democratic process. Also, deliberation behaviors, such as political conversation and reflection on news played an important role in citizens\u27 political life. This study explores how political efficacy and deliberation jointly affect the pathway that connects news consumption with political participation, drawing on prior political communication frameworks, such as the cognitive mediation model, the communication mediation model, and the O - S - R - O - R model. This study suggests a two-step mediation model which centers on the roles of deliberation and political efficacy in political communication. Particularly, the hypothesized model incorporates the interpersonal discussion component of the communication mediation model and the political efficacy component of the cognitive mediation model into one, in order to theorize a holistic information processing framework that channels the influences of news consumption on political engagement. The current study provides empirical evidence to the hypothesized model by carrying out two cross-sectional analyses and one auto-regressive analysis from the data of a two-wave panel survey that was conducted during the 2012 presidential campaign in South Korea. Findings reveal that political efficacy mediated the relationship between news attention and political participation. Political efficacy also played a mediating role between deliberation behaviors and political participation. In addition, deliberation behaviors mediated the relationship between news attention and political efficacy. Most important, the deliberation behavior and political efficacy jointly mediated the impact of news attention on political participation, supporting the hypothesized model of this study. Such results imply that interpersonal political discussion and intrapersonal reflection on political issues help citizens make sense of the information obtained from the media, and at the same time, boost the level of competence of their political beliefs. The results also suggest that deliberation and political efficacy play a pivotal role in connecting citizen\u27s information seeking behaviors with political participation. The findings also show that, among diverse news channels, social media have the biggest performance power in explaining citizen engagement in the political process. In addition, the results of path comparisons demonstrate that the paths from news attention via online and social media to deliberation, political efficacy, and political participation were stronger in the Wave 2 model than in the Wave 1 model. The findings imply that online and social media are providing South Koreans a more effective pathway toward democratic participation than traditional media by motivating their deliberative and by shaping political attitudes. The present study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the ways in which South Korean citizens take advantage of recent new media technologies to engage in political affairs. Considering that many South Koreans have long been excluded from the actual political process, this study\u27s findings provide practical meanings in understanding how we can boost citizen engagement in the democratic process in this digital age. Additionally, the hypothesized model of the present research helps organize a large body of theories on news consumption and political participation in political communication. It also suggests larger social and cultural implications for a healthy democracy across countries beyond South Korea

Citizen news podcasts and engaging journalism: The formation of a counter-public sphere in South Korea

This study examines what roles citizen news podcasts of South Korea play, based on two unique concepts—carnivalism and engaging journalism. To this end, the current study content analysed the content of 11 citizen news podcasts that are most popular in this country and conducted interviews with 10 professional journalists. The findings reveal that through the use of comedic techniques such as humour, parody, and satire, the discourse of citizen podcasts transgresses existing social and cultural hierarchies and subverts a range of authoritative discourses by mainstream media. The analysis also finds that the discourse in citizen news podcasts takes on the nature of engaging journalism, which motivates ordinary individuals who are left largely disillusioned from mainstream journalism to engage in elite-challenging political action. Professional journalists admitted that citizen news podcasts provide an opportunity to re-evaluate the journalism norms and practices of South Korea.

Association between childhood adversities and adulthood depressive symptoms in South Korea: Results from a nationally representative longitudinal study

Objective To examine how childhood adversity (ie, parental death, parental divorce, suspension of school education due to financial strain or being raised in a relative\u27s house due to financial strain) is associated with prevalence and incidence of adulthood depressive symptoms and whether this association differs by gender and by age in South Korea. Design Prospective cohort design. Setting Nationally representative longitudinal survey in South Korea. Participants 11 526 participants in South Korea. Outcome measure Prevalence and incidence of adulthood depressive symptoms were assessed as a dichotomous variable using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale in 2006 and 2007. Results In the prevalence analysis, each of the four childhood adversities was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of adulthood depressive symptoms. The higher incidence of depressive symptoms was associated with suspension of school education (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.32 to 1.82) and parental divorce (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.71). In the age-stratified analyses, prevalence of depressive symptoms was associated with all CAs across different adulthoods, except for parental divorce and late adulthood depressive symptoms. After being stratified by gender, the association was significant for parental divorce (OR 3.76, 95% CI 2.34 to 6.03) in the prevalence analysis and for being raised in a relative’s house (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.21 to 2.94) in the incidence analysis only among women. Conclusions This study suggests that childhood adversity may increase prevalence and incidence of adulthood depressive symptoms, and the impact of parental divorce or being raised in a relative\u27s house due to financial strain on adulthood depressive symptoms may differ by gender

The Relationship between Lewis/Secretor Genotypes and Serum Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 Levels in a Korean Population

Background : The Lewis histo-blood group system consists of 2 major antigens-Le(a) and Le(b)-and a sialyl Lewis antigen-carbohyd rate antigen (CA) 19-9. We investigated the distribution of Lewis genotypes and evaluated the relationship between the Lewis/Secretor genotypes and the serum level of CA 19-9 in a Korean population to identify whether the serum CA 19-9 levels are influenced by the Lewis/Secretor genotypes. Methods : The study included 242 individuals who had no malignancies. Lewis genotyping was performed for the 59T>G, 508G>A and 1067T>A polymorphic sites. The Secretor genotype was determined through analysis of the 357C>T and 385A>T polymorphic sites and the fusion gene. Serum CA 19-9 level was analyzed using an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Results : Individuals carrying the 3 common genotypes-Le/Le, Le/le(59,508), and Le/le(59,1067)-accounted for 95% of the study population. In the Korean population, the allelic frequencies of Le, Le(59)le(59,508) and le(59,1067) were 0.731, 0.010, 0.223, and 0.035, respectiveiy. We found a significant difference in serum CA 19-9 concentrations among the 9 LewislSecretor genotype groups (P<0.001). The serum CA 19-9 levels in subjects with genotype groups 1 and 2 (Le/- and se/se) were higher than those with genotype groups 3-6 (Le/- and Se/-; 15.63 vs 6.64 kU/L, P<0.001). Conclusions : Le/Le(59,508), and Le/le(59,1067) are frequent Lewis genotypes in Koreans. Because serum CA 19-9 levels are significantly influenced by the LewislSecretor genotypes, caution is suggested when interpreting the serum CA 19-9 levels. (Korean J Lab Med 2010;30:51-7)SONG SY, 2008, KOREAN J HEMATOL, V43, P34Park KU, 2005, ANN HEMATOL, V84, P656, DOI 10.1007/s00277-005-1041-5Hayashi N, 2004, PATHOBIOLOGY, V71, P26, DOI 10.1159/000072959Hamajima N, 2002, J MOL DIAGN, V4, P103HAMAJIMA N, 2002, GASTRIC CANCER, V5, P194Liu TC, 2000, ANN HEMATOL, V79, P599Lamerz R, 1999, ANN ONCOL, V10, P145Vestergaard EM, 1999, CLIN CHEM, V45, P54Liu YH, 1999, J HUM GENET, V44, P181Kim MJ, 2002, YONSEI MED J, V43, P427SHIBATA A, 2003, GASTRIC CANCER, V6, P8Liu YH, 1999, J FORENSIC SCI, V44, P82Liu YH, 1998, HUM GENET, V103, P204Pang H, 1998, HUM GENET, V102, P675Narimatsu H, 1998, CANCER RES, V58, P512Liu YH, 1996, J FORENSIC SCI, V41, P1018Koda Y, 1996, AM J HUM GENET, V59, P343Kudo T, 1996, J BIOL CHEM, V271, P9830ROUQUIER S, 1995, J BIOL CHEM, V270, P4632KELLY RJ, 1995, J BIOL CHEM, V270, P4640NISHIHARA S, 1994, J BIOL CHEM, V269, P29271MOLLICONE R, 1994, J BIOL CHEM, V269, P20987

Therapeutic Effects of Holmium-166 Chitosan Complex in Rat Brain Tumor Model

This study examined the effectiveness of Holmium-166 (Ho-166) chitosan complex therapy for a malignant glioma. Cultured C6 glioma cells (100,000 in 5 µl) were injected into the caudate/putamen of 200 - 250 gram Wistar rats. Five days later, a Ho-166 chitosan complex was injected into the same site of the glioma injection. Four injection doses were administered: the control group received PBS 10 µl, group 1 received an injection of 100 µCi (10 µl), group 2 received an injection of 50 µCi (5 µl), and group 3 received an injection of 10 µCi (1 µl). The average tumor volume for each group was 1.385 mm3 for the control group, 0.036 mm3 for group 1, 0.104 mm3 for group 2, and 0.111 mm3 for group 3. Compared with the control group, the size of the tumors in groups 1, 2 and 3 was reduced by an average of 97.4%, 92.5% and 91.9%, respectively. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve of group 2 was the longest, followed by groups 3, group 1 and the control. The mean survival was 22.8, 59, 60, and 44.6 days for the control group and groups 3, 2 and 1, respectively. H-E staining revealed that group 2 yielded the best results in the destruction of the malignant glioma. TUNEL staining and immunohistochemical studies indicated apoptotic features. The Ho-166 chitosan complex proved to be effective in destroying the malignant glioma

The Actual Five-year Survival Rate of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients after Curative Resection

The five-year survival rate of patients after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been reported to be 30 to 50%, however the actual survival rate may be different. We analyzed the actual 5-year survival rate and prognostic factors after curative resection of HCC. Retrospective analysis was performed on 63 HCC patients who underwent curative resection from 1998 to 1999. A total of 63 cases were reviewed, consisting of 53 men and 10 women, with a median age of 49 years. These cases included all four pathologic T stages (pT stage) and had the following representation: stage 1 (1 case), stage 2 (17 cases), stage 3 (38 cases), and stage 4 (7 cases). In our study, the actual 5-year survival rate was 57.0% and the median survival time was 60 months. In addition, the patients in our study had an actual 5-year disease-free survival rate of 50.2% and a median disease-free survival time of 46 months. Thirty-one patients had recurrences, with a majority occurring within one year (65%). These patients with early recurrences had a poor actual 5-year survival rate of 5%. A univariate analysis showed that the prognostic factors influencing survival rate were the presence of satellite nodules, increased pT stage, HCC recurrence, and the time to recurrence (within one year). Interestingly, microvascular invasion made a difference in survival rate but was not statistically significant (p = 0.08). Furthermore, factors influencing the disease free survival rate include the presence of satellite nodules, microvascular invasion, and pT stage. Multivariate analysis identified pT stage as the only statistically related factor in determining the disease-free survival rate. The most important prognostic factor of HCC is recurrence. Moreover, the major risk factor for recurrence is an advanced pT stage. Therefore, performing prospective studies of postoperative adjuvant therapy is necessary to prevent recurrences after hepatic resection. Furthermore, active preventative treatment and early diagnosis of recurrences should be of the highest priority in the care of high-risk patient groups that have an advanced pT stage