• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.82-92
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• 2017

The Korean state evolved as a distinct entity in a region of major power convergence and conflict. All states, as human constructions, seek sovereignty and life security of their subjects/citizens, and are rotted in organic society. In the Republic of Korea, constitutional order has provided a framework for political action and a succession of regimes - authoritarianism, military dictatorship, and constitutional democracy. Since 1960 two paradigms have undergone a cycle of growth and decline, and a third, since the 2016 candlelight demonstrations in Gwanghwamun, may be the beginnning of a third generation paradigm - populist constitutionalism.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.110-144
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• 2017

Unlike most languages, written Chinese has no spaces between words. Word segmentation must be performed before semantic network analysis can be conducted. This paper describes how to perform Chinese word segmentation using the Stanford Natural Language Processing group's Stanford Word Segmenter v. 3.8.0, released in June 2017.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.278-297
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• 2021

Despite competing strategical interests over Southeast Asia that have emerged in the last decade, with the launch of wide scope geopolitical strategies Chinese and Japanese initiatives have been characterized by a certain degree of implicit coordination, particularly in offering support to the Myanmar state's territorializing strategies for economic development. The case of the Thilawa Special Economic Zones (SEZ) is exemplary, as it was a Japan-led project which became a model and benchmark example for similar development initiatives supported by the People's Republic of China.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.35-39
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• 2021

This article discusses the importance of investigating risk and crisis communication in the context of Asian digital societies. It introduces the remaining articles in this special issue.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

Since its defeat in the Second World War, Japan has been fostering good ties with Western countries, especially the United States. However, some East Asian leaders emboldened by their countries' economic success have proclaimed that the future belongs to Asia and have put forward the "Asian values" argument. It is interesting to note that some elements of the "Asian values" argument resemble ultranationalist discourse that was dominant in Japan before the war. The Japanese Government had a great opportunity to reappraise its role in international politics and take stock of its economic and diplomatic relations with East Asian countries after the end of the Cold War. To meet future challenges, Japan should fully overcome anti-Western sentiment and participate in establishing a truly democratic East Asian regionalism based on the "universal values" of human rights, democracy and freedom. This may prove to be one of the biggest challenges for Japan's East Asia policy in the new century.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.27-45
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• 2012

Among political scientists, Japan's free trade agreements (FTA) with member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been considered to be a political tool that can compete against China for regional leadership in East Asia. However, this paper demonstrates that Japan's so-called FTA diplomacy towards ASEAN nations serves the broad interests of Japanese actors in both the political and economic sectors. Given the attention to Japanese domestic political issues, it is argued that diplomacy primarily facilitates a need for free trade with ASEAN and ASEAN markets for Japanese corporations to compete in the global economy and for the government to nurture Japan's stagnant economy by assisting these corporations. This work also contends that the unclear function of FTA as an economic good is due to the lack of the government capacity to effectively manage FTA diplomacy. This partly results from the conventional view with regard to Sino-Japanese rivalry.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.13-25
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• 2012

In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Internet's role in aiding dramatic political transformation has come to the fore. Throughout the Middle East, protestors have employed Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other popular websites to organize and spread news at home and to the outside world. Chinese authorities have been increasingly nervous about the Arab uprisings, and fear that similar events will inspire unrest in China. The new information and communication technologies make it possible for social movements to initiate novel forms of collective actions. The Internet provides new opportunities for political liberalization. In Chinese society, citizens can now participate in politics uninvited. With each passing day, the online community gets stronger. The digital revolution has the potential for broadening democratic principles and could bring democracy to the collective Chinese mind.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.57-69
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• 2015

This paper explores some of the ways in which social games - games played with others through social network sites such as Facebook - are situated within the everyday. It argues that social games are more than just games; they perform a range of interactive and integrative functions across and within people's lives and therefore need to be investigated as such. Social games en-able spaces for and practices of creative expression, and identity management. They also form a mechanism through which relations can be enacted and maintained across and outside of the game environment. This argument requires the researcher to consider the panoply of ways in which people integrate social games within their lives and everyday practices. Part of a larger project, this paper explores some findings from an exploratory survey of Australian game play-ers about their management and integration of game play within the everyday with a particular focus on gender.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2015

This paper examines the diffusion of smartphones with a special emphasis on the diffusive interactions between Apple iOS and Google Android in a global context. Since the two mobile platforms were first introduced in the market, the use of smartphones has skyrocketed, suggesting that the dramatic diffusion of smartphones may be explained in part by the growth and competition of these two platforms. To study this, an extended Bass model is applied to a data set of quarterly smartphone sales between 2008 and 2013 for 15 countries. Our findings suggest that the innovation effect was more salient for iOS than for Android in developed countries, whereas the imitation effect was more striking for Android than for iOS in developing countries. Furthermore, our results from the co-diffusion model suggest that the diffusion of Android negatively affected by the diffusion of iOS, but not vice versa.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.123-143
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• 2020

This study examines the interplay between the reactions of YouTube users and North Korean propaganda. Interesting enough, the study has noticed changes in the strict media environment under young leader Kim. Messages delivered by the communist regime to the outside world appeared to resemble those of 'normal' countries. Although North Korean YouTube was led mainly by the account operator, visitors from different nations do comment on the channel, which suggests the possibility of building international communities for propaganda purposes. Overall, the study observed a sparsely connected social network among ordinary commenters. However, the operator did not exercise tight control over peer-to-peer communication but merely answered questions and tried to facilitate mass participation. In contrast to the many news clips, the documentary content on North Korea's YouTube channel did not explicitly advocate for North Korea's current political positions.