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The history of the kingdom of Parhae (Ch. Bohai, J. Bokkai, 698-926) has been studied and debated in East Asia since the early twentieth century. Despite the scarcity of textual sources, over the past few decades, sophisticated analyses of a range of aspects of Parhae politics, society, and culture have been produced by scholars writing in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. Only very recently, however, have significant efforts- led by Korean scholars-been made to expand the history of Parhae into English language scholarship. This article serves to place these more widely accessible contributions into the context of the international and multilingual negotiation over how the history of Parhae should be understood. Readers from other disciplines who encounter this scholarship are in effect hearing only a single speaker who in practice is engaged in a lively conversation with many participants. The present study is intended to address specifically the needs of such readers, and suggests that the emphasis on "multiculturalism" in contemporary Korean society may aid Korean scholars' engagement with international audiences on the Parhae issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heritage settings potentially play a significant role as a specific social space within which individuals are able to conceive, define, and reconstruct elements of national consciousness. This study involves an ethnographicbased examination of ways in which elements of the past are utilized to redefine and reaffirm national (cultural) identity within the context of contemporary South Korean society, where traditional norms and values are arguably influenced by globalized processes, norms, and values. It theoretically addresses and empirically substantiates the need for comprehensive and analytical insights concerning heritage and articulations of national identity, focusing on the intermediating roles of heritage tourism in establishing and facilitating the individual and contextual processes of identity reconstruction. Critical focus is placed on contextualizing ways in which South Korean nationals, particularly younger generations, encounter emotional attachments to the nation during heritage tourism experiences in Changdeokgung palace in Seoul. This study employs a range of ethnographic strategies including in-depth interviews and friendly conversations as an efficient tool to gain intimate and insightful knowledge of the specific social setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the discourse of the migrant worker advocacy movement in South Korea to examine how activists' strategic framing can expedite the mobilisation of international norms despite significant cultural barriers. Korean activists argue on behalf of migrant workers that adopting international norms will help the Korean nation gain more respect from other nation-states and that international norms are not antithetical to the true nature of the Korean nation. These framing strategies have enabled Korean activists to mobilise international norms despite cultural barriers. However, such a framing strategy does not cultivate a truly inclusive nationhood; Korean activists have circumvented cultural barriers, but have not overcome or transformed them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civil religion refers to a country's beliefs, symbols, and rituals that bolster national unity and strengthen its citizens' sense of identity and belonging. However, the literature on civil religion is divided between those who attribute it to bottom-up cultural spontaneity and those who see it as an ideological top-down construction. Moreover, there has been a relative lack of scholarly attention to Korean civil religion. This paper addresses both issues by arguing that a strong civil religion indeed exists in the country and that it has been an important part of the "nation-building" process since the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948. The paper highlights how a succession of authoritarian regimes (1948–1987) successfully mobilized a strong civil religion for political purposes. The resulting civil religion targeted economic growth as the national goal to overcome all social ills, focused on the country's ethnic and cultural homogeneity to boost national confidence and pride, exalted its traditional religions, especially Confucianism, as repositories of Korean traditional culture, and rendered sacred meanings to national symbols such as the flag and national anthem. Even after democratization, Korean civil religion remains largely ideological, as the Korean government is heavily involved in framing, planning, sponsoring, and promoting the country's civil religion. Nevertheless, the paper concludes by observing that this civil religion is entering a period of crisis due to political fragmentation among Korean elites and deeply rooted cultural and societal change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]