Politics, Generation, And the Making of New Leadership in South Korea

This paper examined the social and political background of the rise of new political leadership in the Presidential election of December 2002, analyzing voting outcome that reflected styles of life, thinking, and behavior of young generation. This paper contends that generational effect on voting was very significant as to break the rigidity of political support market consolidated by cleavage structure such as regional division in South Korea. Behind the marginal victory of President Roh Moo Hyun by a 2.2% over the competitor there existed a strong support of young generation that had developed far different cultural sentiments and ideological orientation from old generation. The young generation projected its generational mission on Mr. Roh to reject three main legacies, i.e., state centrism, authoritarianism, and growth-first ideology. This paper analyzes characteristics of his power brokers in the Transition Commission and political supporters, arguing that the progressive attitude such as pro-union, pro-distribution, and anti-elite approaches will receive severe attack from the conservative group, i.e., business and the upper class. Whether his regime successfully realizes the expectation of young generation entirely relies upon the toleration of the conservative group of the substitution of old social order and value system with new ones. It needs time to wait and see how his regime will successfully manage contested terrains where new ones are emerging and conflicting with old ones.This work has been supported by the Korea Research Foundatio

The 1287 G/A polymorphism of the Norepinephrine Transporter gene (NET) is involved in Commission Errors in Korean children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous evidence supports the role of noradrenergic systems in ADHD, and norepinephrine transporter (NET) is critical in regulating the noradrenergic system. The present study aimed to investigate the association between NET gene polymorphism and the performance measures of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) in Korean ADHD children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty-seven children (mean age = 9.23 ± 1.99 years) with ADHD were recruited from a university hospital. Genotypes of G1287A of the NET gene (SLC6A2) were analyzed. All participants completed the CPT, with performance measures of omission errors, commission errors, reaction time and reaction standardization computed. The relationship between G1287A polymorphisms and CPT performance measures was examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 46 subjects with the G/G genotype, 35 subjects with the G/A genotype and 6 subjects with the A/A genotype. Among the three groups, there were no significant differences in the performance of CPTs. When dichotomized according to whether the subjects have the rare allele or not, subjects with the homozygous G/G genotype showed significantly lower commission errors compared to those without G/G genotypes (by independent T-test, t = -2.18, p = 0.026).</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our study found a significant association between commission errors of the CPT and the G1287A genotype of the NET gene in Korean ADHD children. These findings suggest a protective role of the G/G genotype of the NET polymorphisms in the deficits of response inhibition in ADHD children.</p

State and Economic Segmentation: Analysis of Effects of Export- Promotion Strategy on Wage Differentials in Koreas Manufacturing Industries

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of economic differentiation on worker earnings in Korea, We argue that the export-promotion policies of the state have substantially reduced segmentation of labor markets. The export promotion strategy functions to counteract industry and size effects on worker earnings and flattens wage differentials between the core and the periphery economic sectors. This result reflects the state's objective of removing the impact of institutional non-market forces on the process of earnings determination and preserving the market-pricing mechanism in labor markets. This does not mean that all forms of segmentation have been eliminated. The export promotion policy has led to a new structural inequality based on the division of the economy into a sector oriented toward production for export and a sector oriented toward production for domestic consumption. This is an inevitable outcome of an export-promotion policy designed to maximize labor productivity

A case of anemia caused by combined vitamin B12 and iron deficiency manifesting as short stature and delayed puberty

Anemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency resulting from inadequate dietary intake is rare in children in the modern era because of improvements in nutritional status. However, such anemia can be caused by decreased ingestion or impaired absorption and/or utilization of vitamin B12. We report the case of an 18-year-old man with short stature, prepubertal sexual maturation, exertional dyspnea, and severe anemia with a hemoglobin level of 3.3 g/dL. He had a history of small bowel resection from 50 cm below the Treitz ligament to 5 cm above the ileocecal valve necessitated by midgut volvulus in the neonatal period. Laboratory tests showed deficiencies of both vitamin B12 and iron. A bone marrow examination revealed dyserythropoiesis and low levels of hemosiderin particles, and a cytogenetic study disclosed a normal karyotype. After treatment with parenteral vitamin B12 and elemental iron, both anemia and growth showed gradual improvement. This is a rare case that presented with short stature and delayed puberty caused by nutritional deficiency anemia in Korea

Possible link between Arctic Sea ice and January PM10 concentrations in South Korea

In this study, we investigated the possible teleconnection between PM10 concentrations in South Korea and Arctic Sea ice concentrations at inter-annual time scales using observed PM10 data from South Korea, NCEP R2 data, and NOAA Sea Ice Concentration (SIC) data from 2001 to 2018. From the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis, we found that the first mode (TC1) was a large-scale mode for PM10 in South Korea and explained about 27.4% of the total variability. Interestingly, the TC1 is more dominantly influenced by the horizontal ventilation effect than the vertical atmospheric stability effect. The pollution potential index (PPI), which is defined by the weighted average of the two ventilation effects, is highly correlated with the TC1 of PM10 at a correlation coefficient of 0.75, indicating that the PPI is a good measure for PM10 in South Korea at inter-annual time scales. Regression maps show that the decrease of SIC over the Barents Sea is significantly correlated with weakening of high pressure over the Ural mountain range region, the anomalous high pressure at 500 hPa over the Korean peninsula, and the weakening of the Siberian High and Aleutian low. Moreover, these patterns are similar to the correlation pattern with the PPI, suggesting that the variability of SIC over the Barents Sea may play an important role in modulating the variability of PM10 in South Korea through teleconnection from the Barents Sea to the Korean peninsula via Eurasia