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The relationship between modernization and religion is contested, with the literature differing in how and in what ways religion helps or hinders countries' social, economic, and political development. This paper draws upon the history of Christianity in South Korea to critically explore the links between religion and modernization. It makes two arguments. First, discussions of the link between religion and modernization frequently employ static definitions of religion, but Christianity is characterized by oscillations between worldly (institutionalizing) and unworldly (countercultural) impulses that theoretically make very different contributions to social, economic, and political development. Second, in the case of South Korea, it is shown that both impulses have made vital contributions to the country's modernization at different times. This suggests that the dynamic tug-of-war between the institutional and countercultural facets of Korean Christianity, although problematic for individual believers and religious leaders, helped it become an important contributor to the country's success story. However, this paper concludes on a cautionary note by warning that extreme instances of these impulses have caused cleavages between Christianity and the Korean state and society and could undermine its future contributions. This suggests that diversity and toleration—a hallmark of Korean Christianity—will continue to be the best pathway forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collaboration relationships between innovation actors at a geographic level may be considered as grouping two separate layers, the domestic and the foreign. At the level of each layer, the relationships and the actors involved constitute a Triple Helix game. The paper distinguished three levels of analysis: the global grouping together all actors, the domestic grouping together domestic actors, and the foreign related to only actors from partner countries. Bibliographic records data from the Web of Science for South Korea and West Africa breakdown per innovation actors and distinguishing domestic and international collaboration are analyzed with game theory. The core, the Shapley value, and the nucleolus are computed at the three levels to measure the synergy between actors. The synergy operates more in South Korea than in West Africa; the government is more present in West Africa than in South Korea; domestic actors create more synergy in South Korea, but foreign more in West Africa; South Korea can consume all the foreign synergy, which is not the case of West Africa. Research data are limited to publication records; techniques and methods used may be extended to other research outputs. West African governments should increase their investment in science, technology, and innovation to benefit more from the synergy their innovation actors contributed at the foreign level. However, the results of the current study may not be sufficient to prove that greater investment will yield benefits from foreign synergies. This paper uses game theory to assess innovation systems by computing the contribution of foreign actors to knowledge production at an area level. It proposes an indicator to this end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christianity has a relatively short history in Korea, yet it has grown rapidly, consolidating the biggest percentage of Christians among East Asia. Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist churches are some of the mainline Protestant denominations in the country. Furthermore, alternative Christian groups, also referred to as new religious movements (NRMs), started to appear in the country after 1907 Pyeongyang's Great Revival Movement and expanded during the Korean War (1950-1953). Some of the most dynamic groups at the moment are Guwonpa, the World Mission Society of God, Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and Christian Gospel Mission. This paper will focus on the origin of these two last groups' core doctrine, widely known as Unification Church and Jesus Morning Star (JMS) or Providence. Similar to other Korean NRMs, both founders emphasize their doctrine as new and unique, yet this paper will bring light to show how their narratives are interrelated and emanate from the same grassroots, namely Kim Sung-do, Baek Nam-ju and Kim Baek-moon1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of the Chile-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA) over the bilateral extensive and intensive margins of trade. Using disaggregated product-level data for the period 1996-2017, the paper tests the impact of CKFTA on bilateral flows, as well as differentiate these effects between intensive and extensive margins at the product level. To estimate, a Poisson-Pseudo Maximum Likelihood model is proposed. It is found that the CKFTA had a positive effect over bilateral trade flows, and although new products were added to the bilateral export basket (extensive margin), the impact is stronger on goods already traded (intensive margin). Moreover, the paper concludes that this effect is stronger for Chilean exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a practical framework for developing a net-zero electricity mix scenario (NEMS), which considers detailed conditions for supply of each energy. NEMS means a path scenario for power generation amount by year of each generation resource required to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. NEMS framework refers to a methodological framework that contains procedures and requirements to continuously update the NEMS by comprehensively reflecting policy changes. For evaluation of NEMS, indicators such as a system inertia resource ratio (SIRR) and a fuel conversion rate (FCR) are proposed. The proposed framework and indicators are applied for the 2050 NEMS in Korea's electricity sector. The SIRR, indicating the ratio of inertial resources to total resources, projects values of 49% and 15% for the years 2030 and 2050, respectively. Furthermore, the FCR, reflecting the ratio of fuel conversion for resources undergoing this process, predicts that all targeted resources will have completed conversion by the year 2043. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US-China chip war is becoming more intense as both countries understand the significance of semiconductors for their economic security and national defense. As a result of nationalist and unilateral actions taken by the US and China under the chip war, other Asian economic powerhouses are reassessing their semiconductor strategies, leading to new opportunities for semiconductor partnerships in Asia among middle powers. South Korea, a leading semiconductor power in Asia, is facing critical challenges amid the chip war, that, in turn, resulted in reshaping its trade and overseas production strategies that are heavily reliant on China. To maintain its semiconductor dominance and ensure economic security, Korea is adopting new approaches such as export and production diversification. In the meantime, India, amid the ongoing US-China tech war, is also seeking to construct a resilient supply chain and decrease its reliance on China for imports. In the process, New Delhi is looking to develop its semiconductor industry and build chip ties with like-minded countries in production and workforce development. This opens up significant prospects for Korea-India semiconductor partnerships. This paper proposes three areas where Korea and India could collaborate: semiconductor trade partnerships, semiconductor production partnerships, and semiconductor workforce collaboration. By doing so, it highlights how the US-China chip war is creating new opportunities for other Asian economic powerhouses to collaborate in the semiconductor industry. This paper also provides insights for policymakers to set a new agenda for India-Korea partnerships as both countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea) and India in 1973, their bilateral relationship has made significant progress. This year marks the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic partnership, which calls for a scholarly examination of the developments in Korea-India relations over the last five decades, and their future prospects. This special issue's introductory paper provides a concise overview of the evolution of Korea–India relationships and introduces the other papers in the issue, emphasizing their significance in understanding the trajectory of the relationships. The primary goal of this introductory paper is to make two contributions: First, it aims to enrich the existing literature on India–Korea relations; and second, it provides key insights for policymakers to strengthen India–Korea ties in a new global order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great attention has been paid to the bilateral economic relations between India, Vietnam, and South Korea; however, only scant research has focused on the prospects of triangular economic cooperation among the three countries. Given the advantage and demand for the cooperation of each party, there is significant potential for trilateral economic cooperation among South Korea, Vietnam, and India. In this paper, we discover the prospects for their triangular economic cooperation in three aspects. First, this study examines the potential for cooperation in production networks and supply chains between the three countries in the context of reconfiguring the global value chains (GVCs), with a focus on the leading role of South Korean multinational enterprises (MNEs). Second, the study explores trilateral cooperation in the digital economy and connectivity, focusing on how South Korea and India can collaborate on investment projects in Vietnam. Third, this study discusses the rationale and possibility of forming a regional trade agreement (RTA) between the three countries. South Korea, Vietnam, and India have extant bilateral trade agreements between two of the three countries; however, there is no regional integration among the three countries discussed in specific. Considering the bilateral relations and domestic and external factors, the paper reckons that an RTA for starters between the three countries would be mutually beneficial to each of the corresponding economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes new ways of missional engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards in Korea. While Covid-19 is inflicting serious damage on the entire Korean society, the damage to the Protestant churches is serious. The local government’s prohibition of ‘in-person gathering’ for worship resulted in the decrease of membership and endangered the unique paradigm of ‘in-gathering’-centred ecclesiology in Korean Protestant churches. The study tried to understand how local congregations coped with the changed situation in their missional engagement. Three congregations were used as case studies of how the local congregations responded to their missional tasks during the pandemic. With some preliminary assessments from these case studies, the paper suggests three ways of missional engagement of local congregation in Korea during the pandemic and even after the pandemic: 1) engaging personal fellowship using narratives, 2) performing a habitual ethical lifestyle, and 3) embracing the practice of hospitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the expansion of social policies in South Korea during the context of globalization, by linking two theoretical approaches: social investment and the New Developmental State. Applying the case study method, I endorse the hypothesis of complementarily between the welfare state and the developmental state. The article shows that between the 1990s and the 2010s, South Korea expanded all sectors of social policies analyzed. Beyond the expansion of passive policies, active policies (including education) were reshaped in an integrated manner with the industrial policy to promote innovation, pursuing the transition to the knowledge-based society; also the family policy became one of the most generous among OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce and study in this paper the policy design improvement regarding the public procurement process for public management innovation. Public procurement is obtained transparently and efficiently at the exact cost of goods, constructions, services, among others. In addition, it has decreased the national budget and supported the national economic development. Most of the major contributions of public procurement included support for small businesses, jobs, and balanced regional development. Nevertheless, a lot of issues have become apparent during the public procurement process, thus requiring preventive measures. The aim of this study is to demonstrate an enhanced public procurement process and develop efficient policies in the future. For this reason, we investigated the issues regarding South Korea's public procurement process, and concentrated on policy improvement. It is our intention to provide a highly efficient global public procurement process that can be used as an academic paper that will help in developing South Korea's public procurement process and policy direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the trajectory, ambitions, and practices involved in the official national and provincial planning for Jeju Island from 1963 to 1985 as it became reimagined as the so-called 'Hawai'i of East Asia'. Jeju Island has been constantly built, left unfinished, demolished, and rebuilt at each wave and ebb in regional tourism trends. Jeju has thus become a complicated geography of heavy contradictions as South Korea's prime tourism experiment. Before the 2002 'Free International City' project, the larger region of Jeju Island was identified as a 'specified region' from 1963 for experimentation in tourism. By virtue of its historic marginality, Jeju has been portrayed as a pristine internal frontier ripe for tourism and utopian transformation 'like Hawai'i'. Surprisingly, however, 'Hawai'i' does not actually appear in official planning documentation, even while it is a frequent talking point in public discourse. In this paper, I discuss the specter of 'Hawai'i' in Jeju tourism development and address the discrepancy between official development planning strategies and colloquial references to Hawai'i, observing that reference to 'Hawai'i' was not from initial design but followed the late 1950s to 1960s zeitgeist in which tourism itself became a mark of distinction for modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the way in which South Korean biologists developed their conservationist minds and practices through a long tradition of academic expeditions to mountains that predate the 1960s cooperation with US conservationists. By focusing on mountain expeditions carried out by Korean alpinists and scientists from the late 1920s to early 1960s, this paper illuminates how Korean biologists developed forest and natural monument conservation practices they were able to incorporate into the governmental conservation activities while taking part in the Corean Alpine Club's postwar "academic alpinism" (akademik alpinijeum). I argue that their conservation activities, and specifically their military linkages, could be well understood as a transwar product rather than a Cold War outcome. Through this case study, I suggest that this transwar approach helps both historians of Korean science and Korean environmental historians study their research subject while avoiding the widespread analytical dichotomy of Japanese colonial legacies and Cold War ruptures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the information practices and information literacy (IL) skills of South Korean elementary school students from the perspectives of working teachers. Key to this investigation was the notion of information practice, and how this is shaped by the practice architecture found in an educational setting. A sequential mixed design was undertaken to investigate these ideas which consisted of exploratory interviews with 4 elementary school teachers and was followed by a questionnaire which analysed the responses of 314 elementary school teachers. Findings indicate that in this setting, teachers, students and pre-set curricular content serve as the most frequently used information sources for students during their everyday classes. We pay specific attention to the ongoing centrality of the textbook, in its traditional paper format, to the ways in which teachers design learning activities, and suggest that this limits the diversity of informational approaches to which young South Korean learners are exposed. While these learners are engaged, they are limited in terms of informational genre since teachers and textbooks were found to be dominant information proxies. Activities in which students engage in active seeking or scanning are rarer. Contexts with such a configuration may be hindering the development of critical information literacy skills that are vital in dealing with the abundance of information faced by individuals today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India and the Republic of Korea (RoK) are, respectively, the second and sixth largest economies of Asia with significant trade ties since the historic past. India is currently negotiating to upgrade the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the RoK, which was operationalized on January 1, 2010. A key area of concern for India has been its increasing trade deficit with the RoK which has more than doubled since 2009–10. This paper aims to analyze the flow of goods, services and investment between the two sides in major sectors of interest in the last decade. Further, it aims to identify barriers to trade and investment for the Indian exporters and areas of improvement in the CEPA and beyond to enhance economic gains for both sides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Hexatoma Latreille, 1809 is a large group of aquatic crane flies, with almost 600 species worldwide. The largest subgenus is Eriocera Macquart, 1838, which includes all nine species known from the Korean Peninsula. Molecular methods were used to associate Hexatoma larvae with their putative adult species from South Korea. Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene fragment sequences (DNA barcodes) of recently collected adults of H. (E.) gifuensis, H. (E.) ilwola, H. (E.) pernigrina, and H. (E.) pianigra were compared with twelve sequences of Hexatoma larvae. The larvae of H. (E.) pernigrina, H. (E.) pianigra, and H. (E.) gifuensis were associated with their putative adults. The larvae of H. (E.) gifuensis and H. (E.) pianigra and the larvae and pupae of H. (E.) pernigrina are described and illustrated. The larvae of two species not associated with any adult are described, and their COI gene fragment sequences (DNA barcodes) are presented. This paper presents the morphological characteristics suitable for distinguishing larval species. A key for the identification of larvae of the genus Hexatoma on the Korean Peninsula has been compiled. H (E.) sachalinensis is recorded from the Korean Peninsula for the first time. Our study is the first contribution to the Hexatoma larvae taxonomy using phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial COI fragment (DNA barcode) and one of the first attempts to reveal phylogenetic relationships between Hexatoma species using molecular markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The healthcare systems of almost every country have been facing an unprecedented crisis since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. In response, numerous countries have designed and launched their unique applications to inform their citizens about COVID-19 and to follow their health situation. While South Korea has been showing an effective fight against COVID-19, Turkey is one of the most affected ones by the virus. This paper aims to identify key differences and similarities between the contact tracing apps that are used by Turkey and South Korea during COVID-19. In this way, it addresses how two members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one developing (Turkey) and other developed (South Korea) countries, integrated their public policies and crisis management responses with the mobile phone applications and at what scale they are successful. Also, this paper investigates how these differences/similarities between their applications have affected their paths in the pandemic. Comparing their applications, it discusses policy-making processes, technological differences, and contact tracing strategies with policy recommendations for other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes Hwang Sok-yong's visit to North Korea in 1989 and his associated travelogue to examine the popular view of South Korean society toward North Korea in the 1980s as well as changes in inter-Korean relations. The novelist Hwang became the first South Korean writer to visit the North since the division of Korea. His unauthorized visit to North Korea was a culturally and historically significant event that showed how the new détente created in the 1980s was projected on the Korean Peninsula in a transformative way. Additionally, his travel journal contributed to changing the way South Koreans perceived the cultural signs of North Korea and how they pictured their northern counterpart. Hwang's travelogue warrants serious research in that it brought a new perspective to the discourse on North Korea through the previously unimaginable concept of "visiting North Korea" and laid a foundation upon which the genealogy of the North Korea travelogue could be rewritten after the lengthy hiatus following the establishment of our independent government in 1948. This paper aims to delve into the case of Hwang to illustrate how the South's perception of the border between the two Koreas was being reconstructed based on the politics of encounter and the imagination of actual contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the border as an assemblage of surveillance technologies that exert a contentious claim to algorithmic accuracy based on raceembedded biometric data processing. I offer the term surveillance racism--a regime of normalization in which the technical reification of race for the biometric database configures anti-migration and anti-refugee discourses for the well-being of a population or nation. I put forward the border as a biopolitical enclosure in which biometric monitoring through security and risk calculations of threat to the state generates, propagates, and maintains discourses of racism. A discussion of South Korea's Integrated Border Management System uncovers the workings of a biopolitical enclosure that is committed to constructing a claim about the survival of the Korean nation pitted against the peculiar racial category of unhealthy immigrants from non-Western, developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the ways in which feminist activism has, since 2015, gained new momentum in South Korea in terms of its scope, reach, and range of agendas. Building on existing scholarly discussions of feminist movements and gender politics, I first situate the resurgence of feminism within the broader historical and socio-political context of Korean society, including the diversification of social movements generally in post-authoritarian Korea, women's precarious status, and the rise of misogyny. I then discuss the main characteristics of feminist activism on digital media and their implications, in particular, the broad range of feminist subjects, the extension of sites for and methods of struggle, and the emergence and centering of gendered issues within digital environments. Lastly, I assess the limitations of the term "young young feminist" and the diverse politics and controversies associated with contemporary feminist activism, with a focus on the critiques of raetpem (self-identified 'radical feminists'). The paper concludes with an argument for intersectional and transnational feminism and suggestions for future research into feminist activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes South Korea's foreign policy strategy towards China during the administrations of Park Geun-hye (2013-2016) and Moon Jae-in (2017-2022) through South Korea's Defense White Papers and official documents during the aforementioned period. The objective is to understand whether South Korea employs a hedging policy in its relations with China to ensure strategic stability and economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the dynamics of supply chain diversification in a contested East Asia and their implications for India–South Korea cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era. Major powers have sought to restructure supply chain by designing a strategy to reduce their reliance on China-controlled supply chain. The United States–China trade and technological war, Asian regional powers' escalating conflicts with a rising China, and pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions have played key roles in driving the restructuring process. India and South Korea, Asia's two major economies, have also re-evaluated their supply chain strategies. As this paper explains, on the one hand, India has been striving to emerge as a supply chain hub for key industries by ending China's control. On the other hand, South Korea has also been aiming to diversify its supply chain beyond China under the New Southern Policy. Against that backdrop, critical developments concerning supply chain cooperation have occurred between the two countries amid the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has not only facilitated the opening of high-level political exchanges on supply chain but also brought tangible outcomes, as Korean companies have become active participants in India's quest to build an India-centric supply chain. I conclude this study by contending that the two countries are "natural partners" in reshaping the supply chain dynamics in East Asia in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effect of a new maximum work hour restriction introduced in South Korea in 2018 that limited maximum working hours from 68 h/week to 52 h/week. I use difference-in-differences analysis with continuous treatment measuring the prevalence of those working longer than 52 h/week prior to the policy change across industry-occupation-education groups. I find that the policy reduces work hours while increasing monthly earnings and hourly wages for male full-time workers. However, I find that the policy does not significantly affect total work hours, total employment, and total worker pay at the industry-occupation-education group level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates North Korean patriotism. It seeks to establish whether a state that has overwhelmingly failed to provide basic public goods can nevertheless produce and sustain the devotion and support of some or all of the population--in other words, arouse patriotic sentiment--and if so, on what terms. The paper approaches the topic using a modified version of the International Social Survey Programme's national identity survey, specifically those questions that deal with national pride. Using survey findings and selected follow-up interviews, we examine the presence or absence of patriotic sentiment among more than 650 former residents of North Korea. The paper also takes a comparative approach, comparing North Korean patriotism findings with those from former socialist countries to determine whether any patterns exist. We find evidence that, despite enormous state failures, the North Korean state has managed to generate a sense of patriotism and accomplishment for selected components of its state and society, notably in the cultural sphere (e.g., arts and sports). Data from other former socialist states produce similar findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses survey‐based data for 16 South Korean regions to refine the application of Flegg's location quotient (FLQ) and its variant, the sector‐specific FLQ (SFLQ). These regions vary markedly in terms of size. Especial attention is paid to the problem of choosing appropriate values for the unknown parameter δ in these formulae. Alternative approaches to this problem are evaluated and tested. Our paper adds to earlier research that aims to find a cost‐effective way of adapting national coefficients, so as to produce a satisfactory initial set of regional input coefficients for regions where survey‐based data are unavailable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the pandemic has brought in a paradigm shift in the way we educate and interact with our students, it has also had profound impacts on the practicum of pre-service teacher education. Focusing on the case of 14 South Korean student teachers who completed their teaching practicum in Spring 2020, this paper explores how the new form of teaching practicum, triggered by the current outbreak, affected student teachers' professional development and their views on teaching practice and profession. In particular, it examines the ways by which teaching practicums conducted under unpredictable circumstances negatively or positively affect student teachers' professional identities as teaching practitioners and their motivation to become a teacher. The findings of this study show that the teaching practicum conducted in times of crisis enabled pre-service English language teachers to develop a positive image toward teachers and teaching profession, and realize their potential as innovative and inspiring teachers in the post COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexatoma Latreille, 1809 is a large genus of short-palped crane flies with a worldwide distribution. Accounting for more than 60 percent of global species, 362 extant species occur in Asia. Prior to our study, Hexatoma crane flies on the Korean Peninsula (both the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea) had been studied for 90 years starting in 1930, but only three species had been recorded, with one of them being a misidentification. This study adds six species to the fauna of the Korean Peninsula, all of which belong to the subgenus H. (Eriocera) Macquart, 1838. General information on genus and subgenus morphological characters is presented in this paper, with a redescription of each species based on Korean specimens, as well as illustrations of both sexes, the elevation range, the period of activity, habitat information, general distribution, and a distribution map for the Korean Peninsula. Three species H. (E.) ilwola Podenas, sp. nov., H. (E.) pianigra Podenas, sp. nov. and H. (E.) serenensis Podenas, sp. nov. are described as new to science. Hexatoma (E.) lygropis (Alexander, 1920) is deleted from the Korean species list as a misidentification. This publication is a continuation of our previous work on short-palped crane flies (Limoniidae) from Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether gender-matching school environments can foster girls' interest and motivation in science. Using the 2015 PISA data for South Korea, the findings show that single-sex schooling and female teachers have positive effects on high-performing girls' attitudes in science studies. By attending an all-girls school and being taught by female science teachers, girls who are ranked in the highest quartile of the science test become as motivated and interested in pursuing studies and careers in STEM fields as boys in the same rank. In addition, female teachers also enhance competitive attitudes of average- and low-performing girls. But single-sex schooling has no positive effect on them. These heterogeneous results propose gender-matching schooling as a useful policy instrument to recruit female talent among high-performing girls into STEM fields. Yet, this effect is not universal and therefore cannot be generalized to everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Universal Peace Federation or UPF is a United Nations-affiliated NGO launched in 2005 by the late Mun Sŏn-myŏng, self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the South Korean Unification Movement. Mun considered the UPF as the pinnacle of Unificationist political and interfaith engagement. Envisioned as a complement to and, eventually, a future replacement of the United Nations, the globally operating UPF spearheads Unificationist millenarianism. This paper first traces the formation history and genesis of the UPF as a merger of decades-long international political and interfaith activities under the banner of multiple Unificationist organisations and initiatives. Subsequently, it examines the Korea-centric millenarian purpose assigned to the UPF by Mun. It is ultimately argued that embracing globalism is not only doctrinally crucial to Unificationist millenarianism, but systemically relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the historical trajectories of South-South and triangular cooperation and its dimensions in Latin America. Based on this information, the paper intends to assess the framework’s role as an instrument of public diplomacy in developing countries, which enables participating countries to strengthen their international presence and establish strategic alliances with other countries. Building on the theoretical perspective of the framework, the study analyzes specific Cuban cases of South-South cooperation, linking them with the characteristic elements of public diplomacy, and assesses their impact on international development cooperation. In conclusion, the paper contends that Cuba and South Korea should explore the possible concrete links between the elements of international development cooperation and those of public diplomacy, and seek opportunities to foster South-South cooperation as part of public diplomacy. This will help developing countries to discover and establish new forms of exchanges between them and strengthen their cooperative relations with partner countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Four new species, Edaphus haenamensissp.n., E. odaesanensis sp.n., E. suyuensis sp.n., and E. ulsanensis sp.n., are described in the Korean Peninsula. Additional two species, E. koreanus and E. lederi, are redescribed, and the latter species is recorded for the first time from Korea. The cosmopolitan euaesthetine genus, Edaphus Motschulsky, 1857, with about 90 Palaearctic species, was formerly known by a single species, E. koreanus Puthz, 2011, of which 2 specimens were collected in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. In this paper, the knowledge of the Korean Edaphus fauna is expanded to include six species, including four described here based on a rich material collected in recent years. A key to all six species of Korean Edaphus, illustration of the habitus and diagnostic characters, and a distribution map are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates what role Sweden, by participating in the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) since 1953, has played to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula. What specific contributions has the NNSC done? How important are they in comparison to other factors that have preserved peace? These issues are analyzed by comparing the tasks of the NNSC, as defined by the Armistice Agreement, and the Commission's work. Consideration is also given to the Commission's composition and whether its role has changed throughout the years or not. North Korea's policy to dismantle the NNSC in the 1990s is included, as are the Commission's responses and the subsequent reorganization of its work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North Korea has long pursued "unification by federation." This has been a non-kinetic option of dominating the entire Korean Peninsula under North Korea's Kim Family Regime's totalitarian rule and creating a socialist society. Kim Jong-un even described this as the "One state, Two Systems" formula that China uses for Hong Kong. In Kim Il-sung's Three Great Charters for Motherland Unification, the Koryo Federation Unification Scheme is one of the charters. The prerequisites to "unification by federation" include abolishing the National Security Act, dismantling the National Intelligence Service, legalizing pro-North Korea groups, and withdrawing U.S. Forces Korea--all to occur in South Korea. Kim Ilsung's other two charters have a similar theme of expelling the U.S. military from South Korea. Over the years, North Korea has used different terms, such as Koryo Federation and Low-Level Federation. Surprisingly, South Korean Presidents Moon Jae-in, Rho Moo-hyun, and Kim Dae-jung have supported "Low-Level Federation." This paper explains in detail what unification by federation entails, its history, and its ramifications. Unification through federation is dangerous, because it is about a unified Korea that is not free. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 21st century, conservative evangelicals in South Korea have actively engaged in contentious politics, playing a central role in organizing the right-wing social movement in civil society. At first, such politicized evangelicals, who may be dubbed as the Korean version of the Evangelical Right, conjured up the old specter of the Korean War and stood against those who, in their minds, went against the Cold War dogmata of anticommunism and pro-Americanism. Over the last two decades, however, the Korean Evangelical Right has expanded its battle line to confront other types of perceived enemies on the Culture War front, especially Islam and LGBTQ persons. By tracing the genealogy of their social movement, this paper explores the ways in which the Korean Evangelical Right finds itself in the predicament of wavering between the geopolitics of the Cold War and the global politics of the Culture War, insofar as these two wars operate on different sets of the friend-foe distinctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U.S. administrations have opted to negotiate with North Korea in an attempt to curb its nuclear ambitions. Rather than producing their intended effect, past negotiations have inadvertently served as a vehicle for North Korea to methodically achieve its nuclear objectives. This paper presents evidence of North Korea's decades-old drive to maneuver through negotiations while also advancing its nuclear development, including its resistance to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement and its subsequent demands under the Agreed Framework which allowed Pyongyang to advance the clandestine portions of its nuclear program. The paper also explains, more specifically, how North Korea has used the negotiating process with the U.S. to achieve its objectives. Nuclear negotiations have followed a repeating cycle, with North Korea: (1) getting to the negotiating table; (2) agreeing to a freeze under a system of verification; (3) obstructing the verification process intended to monitor the freeze and then (4) blaming the U.S. for the ultimate collapse of thc agreement while continuing to advance its weapons program. Finally, the paper uses the 'repeating cycle' framework above to assess events that have occurred during the Trump administration in order to predict probable future outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has initiated a series of "economic sanctions" against South Korea, affecting Korean pop stars visiting China and Korean investments in China. Sanctions were imposed on South Korea in response to the decision of South Korea to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in 2016. Furthermore, the Global Daily assembled local population to boycott Korean products and investments in China. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has never positively confirmed these activities as economic sanctions to South Korea related to the THAAD installation. In other words, the Chinese government singled a relatively weak message via these sanctions to South Korea. As a result, the THADD implementation continued in South Korea. In the paper, I interpret China's rationale to impost puzzling economic sanctions, which have a weak resolution, to South Korea and Taiwan. As signaling theory argues, economic sanctions with insufficient resolution, which are more likely to fail, is a more provocative foreign policy. By reviewing China's sanctions usage to South Korea and Taiwan, I propose arguments of bureaucratic competition to answer why China launched such sanctions to other countries: those are caused by domestic institutions who are seeking reward from the Communist Party of China. By comparing shifts of leadership between domestic agencies, the paper provides evidence to support the proposed argument. I also include two alternative explanations to strengthen the proposed argument, albeit connecting the paper with other two larger streams of research, which address analyses of China's aggressive foreign policies as well as the domestic politics of economic sanctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Command is the multinational headquarters that led the allied forces in the Korean War. The command's Military Armistice Commission supervises the Armistice Agreement. While the United Nations Command and its activities are common knowledge in the Republic of Korea, the command's long-standing organization and functions in Japan are less well known. This relationship began in 1950 and is codified in the 1954 United Nations-Japan Status of Forces Agreement. The command's rear area headquarters, the aptly named United Nations Command-Rear Headquarters, has managed this relationship since 1957. After decades of few changes, the United Nations Command and its Sending States broadened traditional roles and missions from Japan beginning in the early 2000s. This led to expanded activities within the legal framework and security mandate governing the United Nations Command's relationship with Japan, strengthening Japan's ties with the command's member states, and supporting the "maximum pressure" campaign against North Korea. This paper examines the relationship between the United Nations Command and Japan, beginning with the institutions and interests underpinning the relationship. Next, it describes the Status of Forces Agreement and how the relationship functions. The paper concludes with a discussion of relevant policy issues, limitations to greater cooperation, and opportunities for expanded roles within the framework of the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines North Korea's dispatch of pilots, psychological operations, and tunneling specialists to aid the Democratic Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Growing American and South Korean involvement in Vietnam provided an opportunity for North Korea's increasingly assertive military leaders to better understand their adversaries. Pyongyang's secret deployment was facilitated by the "Partisan Generals," who sought to fight the Americans in the sky, demoralize the South Koreans on the ground, and perfect the techniques of underground warfare. North Korea provided material assistance that was significant given its limited resources. Additionally, North Korea detained South Korean Prisoners of War captured by the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong. English, Korean, and Vietnamese language materials are used throughout this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many different approaches and databases have been developed for the evaluation of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and free trade agreements (FTAs). This paper is devoted to the EU-South Korea agreement, which is the first 'second-generation' FTA of the EU, addressing a wide array of non-tariff policies. We review the evolution of NTM types applicable to the EU-South Korea trade relationship and the role of NTMs in ex-ante and ex-post analyses of the agreement. Subsequently a structural gravity model is employed to assess the value added of information on different aspects of FTAs and types of NTMs by evaluating their ability to predict the trade effects of the EU-South Korea FTA. Our results show that, when accounting for information on the components common in modern deep trade agreements, no additional trade effect is attributable to the EU-South Korea FTA. The evolution of NTMs differs considerably across indicators used, but trade predictions are hardly affected. Most specifications point towards a negative effect of bilateral differences in the number of technical barriers to trade (TBT) applied and sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) against which trading partners issued complaints at the WTO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The public must routinely practice precautionary behaviors to control the spread of COVID-19, as no vaccines and antiviral treatments are currently available. This paper examines the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to COVID-19 and their relationships and identified the pandemic's vulnerable populations to provide recommendations for behavioral interventions and policies.Methods: Data collection took place over 3 days (June 26-29) via an online survey 5 months after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed the first COVID case in South Korea; 970 subjects were included in the statistical data analysis.Results: Knowledge directly affected both attitudes (e.g., perceived risk and efficacy belief) and practices (e.g., personal hygiene practices and social distancing). Among the influencing factors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, efficacy belief was the most influential and significant practice factor. It mediated the relationship between knowledge and all three preventive behaviors (wearing facial masks, practicing hand hygiene, and avoiding crowded places). The level of knowledge varied by sociodemographic characteristics. Females (β = 0.06, p <  0.05) and individuals with higher levels of education (β = 0.06, p <  0.05) demonstrated higher levels of knowledge.Conclusion: To increase precautionary behaviors among the public, health officials and policymakers must promote knowledge and efficacy belief. Future interventions and policies should also be developed in a 'person-centered' approach, targeting vulnerable subgroups, embracing them, and closing the gap of KAP toward COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the study of the enchytraeid fauna of South Korea, specimens were found, which were identified as Bryodrilus ehlersi based on their morphological characters. This was an unexpected result since this species is common in Northern and Central Europe but has not yet been found in the Far East. Furthermore, sequence analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, the nuclear histone 3 gene and the nuclear ribosomal ITS region showed unambiguously that the specimens collected in South Korea represent a different evolutionary lineage. In this paper, the detailed morphological and molecular comparison of Bryodrilus ehlersi specimens collected from various sites and countries are presented. Although the Korean specimens could not be formally described as a different species due to the lack of studied specimens from the type locality, clear evidence of cryptic genetic diversity was found within Bryodrilus ehlersi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the development strategy of the information and communication technology industries of the Republic of Korea from the point of view of governmental policies --which derives in its position as one of the vanguard countries in terms of electronic government and which places the sector as central to the growth of its economy--, and also addresses the export of systems or components of electronic government --this understood within a wide range that includes: consultation, design, software, hardware, among others-- to Latin American countries. It is argued here that intergovernmental cooperation aims to facilitate the entry of South Korean companies into Latin American markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the appropriateness of island spatial development policies that are initiated and managed by mainland actors. Jeju is an autonomous subnational island jurisdiction (SNIJ) of South Korea. Over the past decades, Jeju has been developed as a tourist destination, international free city, and special economic zone as part of a spatial development policy led by South Korea's central government. These developments have improved Jeju's economy, but they have also rendered the island's economy increasingly open, making the island vulnerable to external shocks, weakening its self-sufficiency, and occasioning cultural and social tensions. Jeju's top-down economic and spatial development policy has led to a vicious cycle of accepting central government-led development policies, thereby decreasing the island's de facto economic and political autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the relationship between sleep and obesity in young adults, particularly college students. This study examined the relationship between sleep (i.e., sleep duration and quality) and obesity in a large and diverse binational sample of college students.Methods: Analyses were based on a 40-item paper survey from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018 academic years, with a 72% response rate. The samples were 1578 college students aged 18-25 years from five universities (two in the U.S. and three in South Korea). Weight and height were measured objectively; other measures (e.g., health behaviors) were self-reported. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between sleep duration and independent variables (race/nationality, gender, and BMI). Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between sleep quality and independent variables.Results: Overall, blacks had a higher adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of short sleep (< 7 h/night) than whites (AOR = 1.74, P < .01); overweight participants had a higher AOR of short sleep than normal weight participants (AOR = 1.52, P < .01); and obese participants had a higher AORs of both short and long sleep (> 9 h/night) (AOR = 1.67, P < .01; AOR = 1.79, P < .05, respectively). Among men, being black, overweight, and obesity were associated with short sleep (P < .05), whereas only obesity was related to short sleep among women (P < .05). In analyses stratified by race and nationality, overweight and obesity were related to short sleep among blacks only (P < .05). Overall, sleep quality (getting enough sleep to feel rested in the morning in the past 7 days) was worse in blacks and South Koreans than whites (P < .05), worse in women than men (P < .05), and worse in participants with obesity than normal weight participants (P < .05).Conclusions: Obesity was associated with both short (< 7 h/night) and long sleep duration (> 9 h/night) and poor sleep quality among all participants. In comparison with whites, blacks were more like to have short sleep, and blacks and South Koreans had worse sleep quality. Further investigations using a larger sample of college students in multiple countries may be helpful to identify target populations who are at a greater risk of obesity and sleep problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID19 has led to a global health and economic crisis. Although no approved treatment exists to date, vaccine prototypes, antiviral medication, preventive measures, and treatment strategies are studied by scientists and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The objective of this paper is to examine the COVID19 death cases in South Korea in order to identify the distinct features of the deceased, such as sex, age, underlying medical conditions, which can be targeted when searching for a COVID19 treatment strategy. Material and Methods: Data regarding sex, age, and underlying conditions of the deceased and current cases was obtained from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and the Korean Statistical Information Service (data retrieved on May 21, 2020). The data were examined to identify any trends between the parameters using direct statistical analysis. Personal variables of COVID19 patients were studied, such as their sex, age, and preexisting health conditions. The data were analyzed in terms of possible factors leading to COVID19 complications and resulting in patients' deaths. Results: As of May 21, 2020, 11142 confirmed cases and 264 deaths were reported in South Korea. Sex has not had an impact on the death rate, but it directly correlates with age. No deaths were reported for cases of individuals under 30 years old, and only five deaths were reported between the ages of 30 and 50. Additionally, 98.5 % of victims suffered from an underlying condition. The primary underlying condition in deceased cases was related to circulatory system disorders. The results of the statistical analysis were further used to devise a classification of COVID19 risk factors. It consists of three categories ranging from low to high-risk levels. Conclusion: Treatment targeted at patients over 60 years old and with circulatory system disorders can reduce the death rate of COVID19 infected patients in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new taxonomy of green innovators. Using firm-level data from the Korea Innovation Survey, this paper investigates different types of eco-innovations, how these relate to each other, and what their main determinants are. The empirical methodology builds on a combination of factor, cluster, and multinomial logit analysis. The taxonomy identifies four groups of green innovators: (1) carbon dioxide reducing; (2) waste-reducing; (3) recycling innovators; (4) and pollution-reducing. Research and development (R&D) policies emerge as relevant factors for enhancing innovation in waste-reducing firms, whereas environmental taxes and regulations are found to be more important drivers of technological change for pollution-reducing firms. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it points out the firm-specific characteristics and policy instruments that are more relevant for different types of green innovation. Second, it provides new firm-level evidence for South Korea, thus expanding the geographical scope of econometric research on green innovation, which has so far largely focused only on European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea is ranked as 4th among 34 nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development with 102 deaths in road accidents per one million population. This paper aims to investigate the factors associated with road accidents in South Korea. The rainfall data of the Korea Meteorological Administration and road accidents data of Traffic Accident Analysis System of Korea Road Traffic Authority is analyzed for this purpose. In this connection, multivariate regression analysis and ratio analysis with the descriptive analysis are performed to uncover the catastrophic factors involved. In turn, the results reveal that traffic volume is the leading factor in road accidents. The limited road extension of 1.47% compared to the 4.14% per annum growth of the vehicles is resulting in road accidents at such a large scale. The increasing proportion of passenger cars accelerate road accidents as well. 56% of accidents occur by the infringement of safety driving violations. The drivers with higher driving experience tend to have a higher accident ratio. The collected data is analyzed in terms of gender, driver experience, type of violations and accidents as well as the associated time of the accidents when they happen. The results indicate that 36.29% and 53.01% of accidents happen by male drivers in the day and night time, respectively. 29.15% of crashes happen due to safety infringement and violations of 41 to 60 years old drivers. The results demonstrate that population density is associated with the accidents frequency and lower density results in an increased number of accidents. The necessity of the state-of-the-art regulations to govern the urban road traffic is beyond dispute, and it becomes even more crucial for citizens’ relief since in our daily lives road accidents are getting more diverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the interaction between human population genetics and the reconstruction of national identities and histories. Since the first use of mitochondrial DNA analysis of human origins in 1987, scientific research on population history using genetic technologies, or genetic history studies, has flourished, engaging with diverse politics of social identity and national belonging across the globe. Previous scholars have stated that a distinct feature of genetic history studies is the globalized research and commercial network enabled by technological innovations and social transformations during the 1990s. This paper contributes further to this literature by analyzing how local geneticists became part of the global research network and how globalization at large-e.g., economic liberalization and the rise of multiculturalism- functioned in the development of genetic history studies in South Korea. By focusing on a leading population geneticist, Kim Wook and his genetic origin research on Koreans, I will show the role that Korean geneticists had in reconfiguring Korean national identity-from an ethnically homogeneous group to an ethnically diverse one-while their research practices, questions, and methods were inspired and supported by domestic globalization policies and discourses and a transnational network of genetic history studies. I will also reveal the essential, albeit equivocal, part genetic knowledge played in the debate on national belonging in this county. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) variations over the low-middle latitude South Korean region using dual frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations from 14 permanent stations with the data spanning approximately eight years (January 2010 to December 2017). Although, significant work has been conducted in the Korean territory on high-precision positioning, surveying, natural disaster mitigation, and reference frame and datum definition; however, there is substantial scope for modeling of the low-middle latitude ionosphere over the region, which would provide further navigational and communicational benefits. Therefore, in this study, we investigated spatial and temporal TEC variations in GNSS observables through Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) modeling and substantiate our findings against existing empirical International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016) and NeQuick-2 models. In addition, observation and modeling studies conducted during a geomagnetic storm period (3–9 September, 2017), when the vertical TEC (VTEC) value was almost double that of its regular level, confirm the superior performance of the EOF model in the percentage deviation and correlation plots. To ascertain the performance of the EOF model, the geomagnetic coordinates and PCN index were considered in this study along with other solar and geomagnetic indices (F10.7, Ap and Dst). Analysis of results emphasizes the superior performance of the EOF model compared to other regional and global models with respect to its accuracy and quality relating to quick convergence of decomposition modes and discrimination of temporal as well as spatial components. Image 1 • We presented a modified method of TEC modeling based on EOF approach. • EOF model assumed to be functions of both latitude and longitude. • PCN Index has been used instead of the AE index showed better indicator of storm. • EOF model showed better estimates TEC than the existing IRI and NeQuick models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conceptualizes the emerging detente within inter-Korean relations as evidence of tangible transformations within North Korea's domestic and foreign policy, establishing how this phenomenon represents a unique and conclusive opportunity for peace and engagement. It contextualizes the inter-Korean and Singapore summits as foundations for the detente, before expanding upon the nature of the detente through the contrasting objectives of North and South Korea, and the transitional nature of domestic affairs in North Korea. The article establishes the bona fide nature of North Korea's detente, as revealed by a direct connection between North Korea's international diplomatic gestures vis-av-vis transitional domestic circumstances; involving incremental economic modernization and political liberalization under a shift in focus within Kim Jong-un's Byungjin Line policy. This analysis departs from and orthodox Western interpretation of inter-Korean relations, providing a holistic analysis of inter-Korean affairs and North Korean domestic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]