Financial liberalization in South Korea

This article analyzes the process of financial liberalization in South Korea from the perspective of financial globalization through an international political economic approach. Korean financial liberalization has been highly influenced by the outside pressure of the United States, the OECD and the IMF, as well as by the big business conglomerates (chaebols), as a powerful domestic interest group. In a broad perspective, South Korea's entrance into the OECD, the Financial Services Agreement under the WTO and the Structural Adjustment Program of the IMF after the 1997 financial crisis were important moments for Korea's financial reforms. There are two viewpoints on the causes of the Korean financial crisis. From a domestic viewpoint, South Korea had a weak financial market system and its financial liberalization process was too premature to create a stable financial market when Korea met the financial crisis. In a globalization perspective, financial globalization intrinsically encourages uncontrollable short-term financial capital flows across borders, thus financial crisis is inevitable regardless of a strong or weak domestic financial system. This article compares these two viewpoints in the case of South Korea.     

Religion and Political Tolerance in South Korea

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' religiosity and its impact on political tolerance in South Korea. Based on the results of survey data analysis, we find that there are inter-denominational as well as intra-denominational differences of religiosity that influence levels of political tolerance among South Koreans. In terms of the inter-denominational differences (the ethnoreligious thesis), we find that Buddhists tend to be more tolerant than Protestants, and Protestants tend to have the lowest level of political tolerance in South Korea. In terms of the intra-denominational differences (the culture wars thesis), religious traditionalists have a lower level of political tolerance than religious modernists in South Korea. This paper argues that there is a statistically significant relationship between individuals' religiosity and their level of political tolerance, and that a composite model (combining the ethno-religious model and the culture wars model) is the best way of investigating such a relationship in the Korean context.     

Labor and democratization in South Korea and Taiwan

The article examines the recent work by Rueschemeyer et. al. (1992) and revisits the classic issue of the social basis of democracy. It argues that Rueschemeyer et al. are biased in their definition of democracy, have focused too narrowly on the postures of individuals classes, and have produced a one-sided picture of the role of the workers in democratization. Using the experiences of South Korea and Taiwan, the article argues that the extent of workers's involvement in the democratic struggle depends on their experiences of state domination. The latter, in turn, is influenced by the workers' market positions and the nature of the labor regime in question. The article also argues that workers affect democratization in a macro-structural sense, both by influencing the agenda of the oppositional movement and by shaping the contour of socio-political conflict of society.     

Freedom of Expression in South Korea

South Korea is widely considered a consolidated democracy, but there is growing evidence that freedom of expression in South Korea has lagged behind that of comparable Asian countries and that it has deteriorated since 2008. Freedom House downgraded South Korea’s “freedom of the press” status from “free” to “partly free” in 2010 and other international reports also raised concerns on the status of freedom of expression in the country. We identify five problems that have contributed to the deterioration in South Korea’s rankings with respect to civil liberties: abuse of criminal defamation, the rules governing election campaigns, national security limitations on free speech, restrictions related to the internet and partisan use of state power to control the media. We close by considering possible explanations of the phenomenon, ranging from more distant cultural factors and the influence of the Japanese legal systems through the enduring impact of the Cold War. However, the main problems appear political. Governments on both the political right and left have placed limits on freedom of expression in order to contain political opposition, and constitutional, legal and political checks have proven insufficient to stop them.     

韩国国内的经济民主化论战及问题

经济民主化是一个非常模糊的概念.“民主化”意味着在政治领域的平等,而“经济”则被认为是以市场为前提的概念,是有竞争力的企业生存、没竞争力的企业淘汰的差别化系统.因此,经济领域的民主化可能会带来严重破坏市场系统本身的后果.最近韩国政界提出的以财阀所有结构改革为中心的经济民主化法案可能会造成韩国财阀的全球竞争力萎缩,因而给整个社会带来不良影响.     

Anti-American,pro-Chinese sentiment in South Korea

Anti-American, pro-Chinese sentiment is spreading widely in South Korea. This phenomenon is caused by extreme US-ROK policy dissension over matters related to North Korea, especially the nuclear questions, and South Korea's emotional attachment for China based on historical and geopolitical factors. In order to prevent this irrational situation from damaging the mutual interests of both Washington and Seoul, the two capitals should come up with mutually acceptable options for nuclear issues—placing more gravity and priority on dialogue over sanctions as a matter of strategy. Coercive measures can be employed only as a last resort. In order to maintain peace, to fulfill the political responsibility as a great power in East Asia, and to reciprocate to South Korea's positive expectation, Beijing should play a more constructive role in resolving the North Korean nuclear issues and in inducing Pyongyang to open up and reform more aggressively.     

Precarious Elderly Workers in Post-Industrial South Korea

This article examines how the combination of immature welfare state and expansion of the service economy, in particular, contributes to the precariousness of the elderly labour market in South Korea where nearly half of the elderly live below the poverty line. It completes an empirical analysis of how elderly workers in Korea are participating in the labour market and examines their situation using a conceptualisation of “precariousness.” It is explained how the elderly in an immature welfare state are pushed into bad jobs resulting in a large number of precarious “elderly workers” in an economically advanced country. Results of the statistical analysis suggest that, due to severe precariousness, the Korean elderly are unable to escape from poverty even though they work. Also, gender segregation of precariousness in the service industry has been exacerbated in the elderly labour market. Structural change such as the rapid transition to a service-oriented economy has a greater impact on elderly women than middle aged or elderly men because elderly women tend to have lower skill levels and shorter careers, mainly entering service occupations where the bad jobs are concentrated.     

Repression and development in the periphery: South Korea

Abstract

American social scientists have recently expressed deep concern over the stare of “human rights” in the third world The source of this concern can be pinpointed precisely as the “new moralism” of the Carter Administration. Like Mr Carter, these social scientists address the problem by isolating human rights as a distinct phenomenon which can be dealt with in the abstract, detached from the root characteristics of the political economy within which it occurs. The typical analysis focuses on the individual dictator, who, ostensibly, has available to him a range of choices on the amount of social control that is to be maintained. For example, if the United States were to exert pressure and to discontinue aid, then, according to this view, the dictator would restore democratic rights.     

韩国的地方选举和政党参与

以＂宪法＂和＂地方自治法＂为准绳,韩国实行地方自治制度,以团体自治和居民自治相结合的自治模式,由选举产生的各级地方议会、政府具体行使自治权。20世纪50年代,韩国经历了短暂的、不完全的地方自治,之后中断了31年。自20世纪90年代至2010年6月,韩国共举行了5次地方选举。韩国政党通过推荐或支持候选人参与教育监和教育议员以外的地方自治团体首长和地方议员的选举,积极地介入地方自治的整个过程,从另外一个侧面反映出了韩国政党的参政方式和特点。     

South Korea and China's Security Objectives in East Asia

This article explores how South Korea relates to China's national security objectives in East Asia. Specifically, it argues that for China, the strategic value of South Korea lies in coping with the strong position of the US in East Asia. Moreover, South Korea's stance on the North Korean nuclear issue is closer to China's, compared with that of the US.     

中韩自贸区建设及其对吉韩合作的影响

自2012年5月启动自由贸易协定谈判以来,中韩两国在30个月的时间里进行了14轮谈判,目前已草签协定文本,两国将于年内正式签署协定并予以生效。中韩两国之所以能在较短的时间里达成如此高水平的自贸协定,与其各自的自贸区战略密切相关。中国自贸区战略的目的是通过积极推进自由贸易区建设,加强同合作伙伴的相互依存关系,配合我国全方位和平外交战略的推进;韩国自贸区战略的目标是通过与主要国家和地区相互取消关税等贸易壁垒,作为包括海外企业在内的生产基地,成为全球"自由贸易轴心"。中韩间现已形成全方位、深层次、互利共赢的良好发展格局。与国家间贸易快速增长形成对比的是,进入21世纪后吉林省与韩国的贸易额一直在5亿~7亿美元区间波动。中韩自贸协定的达成,对于吉林省而言,可谓机遇与挑战并存。