Democratization in Korea: The United States Role, 1980 and 1987
Author: William Stueck
“Transition” is surely the most hackneyed concept among commentators on Korea over the last decade. In this post-modern world of increasingly rapid change, it is fair to say that the Republic of Korea (ROK) is in a constant state of transition from one thing to something else. The two broad areas that most frequently appear in
discussions of Korea’s transition are economic and political development. In the first case, analysts trace the transition of the ROK from a backward, largely agrarian economy to an industrial and now even post-industrial powerhouse that competes at a high level in the world marketplace.
(Pages 1 – 26)
Korea’s Relations with China and Japan in the Post-Cold War Era
Author: Ilpyong J. Kim
The visit of Jiang Zemin, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to the United States to meet with President Bill Clinton in October 1997, and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto’s meetings with Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang, on November 10, changed the international environment. Hostilities among the major powers surrounding the Korean peninsula are being transformed by an atmosphere of reconciliation and confidence building.
(Pages 27 – 44)
North Korea’s “New” Nuclear Site: Fact or Fiction?
Author: C. Kenneth Quinones
Sensational stories in the American and international press since mid-August have abruptly transformed North Korea from a feeble, impoverished nation on the verge of famine and political collapse into an awesome, secretive, irrational nuclear power. The New York Times on August 17 reported that “spy satellites have extensively photographed a huge work site 25 miles northeast of Yongbyon,” North Korea’s nuclear research facility.
(Pages 45 – 51)
Presidential Elections and the Rooting of Democracy
Author: David I. Steinberg
Since 1987 presidential elections have been the defining political moments in Korea. Although local elections may be more illustrative of the democratic process, for it is that level at which citizens are in intimate contact with their government and gauge its effectiveness, presidential elections command more attention because of the nature of Korean political culture. The Korean president has been half king, half chief executive. The cabinet has been his plaything, changeable at his whim; the legislature to date at most a modest thorn in his side.
(Pages 52 – 68)
Democracy and Economic Development in South Korea and its Application
Author: WheeGook Kim
The South Korean economy has been highly praised by foreign economists as a successful model of development and proudly joined OECD in late 1996 as the world’s eleventh-largest economy, with per capita annual income of over $10,000. Since then, a series of business bankruptcies and a financial crisis resulting in the imposition of IMF supervision on December 3, 1997, has caused a shift in political power. The new administration began to work for systemic reforms, which have been interrupted by the political opposition, the entrenched chaebols, and labor unions.
(Pages 69 – 99)
Change and Continuity in Korean Political Culture: An Overview
Author: Hong Nack Kim
The South Korean political system has undergone drastic changes since the establishment of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in 1948. Following the authoritarian Syngman Rhee regime (1948-1960), South Korea had to endure over a quarter-century of military rule, from 1961 to 1987. In the wake of massive student demonstrations against the Chun Doo Hwan regime in 1987, the historic June 29th declaration was issued to accommodate popular demands for the democratization of the political system.
(Pages 100 – 120)
Democratic Political Culture vis-a-vis the Challenges of Global Competitiveness and Lean Government: A Case Study of South Korea
Authors: Dong Suh Bark and Ilpyong J. Kim
After three decades of military rule in South Korea, civilian democratic government was inaugurated in 1992 with direct election of the president. The political culture in South Korea, therefore, is still in the process of developing; and the transformation from authoritarian to democratic politics may take a long time.
In the five years following 1993, the Korean government under the leadership of Kim Young Sam introduced more than two hundred bills and measures to transform the government from an authoritarian system to a democratic one.
(Pages 121 – 128)
The Economic Crisis of South Korea and Its Political Impact
Author: Hang Yul Rhee
The spectacular performance, until recently, of East Asia’s emerging economies, popularly known as the Asian tigers, has fueled wild speculation in the West about the so-called “Asian Century.” “Never before in world history,” noted the Economist in March 1997, “has any region sustained such rapid growth for so long.” The GDP per capita of Taiwan ($13,200) and South Korea ($11,900) were already impressive enough in 1997 to place them at the gate of the advanced industrialized nations of the world. Japan, of course, has long been an acknowledged super-economy, often said to have led the flock of economic “flying geese” before they turned into what Chung-In Moon ten years ago called the “swarming sparrows” in Asia.
(Pages 129 – 146)
The Intergenerational Gap in Korean-Americans’ Attitudes Toward Unification of Korea
Author: Gon Namkung
To provide a better picture of Korean-American attitudes toward the unification of the two Koreas in this essay, I have employed a more definitive assessment of the generation gap in Korean Americans’ attitudes toward Korean unification issues. By using a regression analysis of survey data, this study reports and explores the intergenerational gap in perceptions of Korean unification among Korean-Americans. In operational terms, I seek to understand the generation gap by employing a multi-regression analysis of Korean American postures on various issues concerning Korean unification.
(Pages 147 – 178)
