• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.53-94
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• 2017

Thai political regime is said to have returned to bureaucratic polity or semi-democracy. However this kind of perspective do not find the political interference of Privy Council which is a body of Monarch of Thailand. Therefore this paper tries to discover the unique traits of Thai way of constitutional monarchy which can be defined as the modern form of absolute monarchy. In short Thai way of constitutional monarchy based on network politics is contradictary to the normal constitutional monarchy whose norm is "the king reigns, but does not rule." This means Thai king is in politics not above politics in reality. Thai monarchy has interfered in diversive way in terms of mediating political conflicts and protecting the monarchy as a institution. In this process the king has been worshiped as demigod who practises the Buddhist doctrine and the centre of national integration. Even after the 6 Ocober 1976 massacre which the palace involved King Bhumibol Adulyadej's sacred position was not challenged. Rather $l{\grave{e}}se-majest{\acute{e}}$ law became more draconian for status quo. Since then $l{\grave{e}}se-majest{\acute{e}}$ was cited as one of the major rationale for the military coup. The 2006 coup which was triggered by the clash between network Monarchy and bourgeois polity based on Thakin network marked a surge of the $l{\grave{e}}se-majest{\acute{e}}$ cases. The 2014 coup had consecutively increased the number of $l{\grave{e}}se-majest{\acute{e}}$ prisoners. It can be said that the modern form of absolute monarchy in Thailand including bureaucratic polity, semi-democracy and democracy is bounded by $l{\grave{e}}se-majest{\acute{e}}$ law which network monarchy players such as military, intellectuals, Democrat Party and even some civil society groups support.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.30-48
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• 2019

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.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2021

This study was conducted to derive a model of a sustainable politics and administration system that will enhance human happiness. A new long-term sustainable development model has been established based on the experience of the politics and administration system over the past thousands of years. Currently, the democratic political system and the bureaucratic administrative system dominate, but they are facing many problems. In this study, we analyzed the politics and administration system experienced by human society, and derived a model of a politics and administration system that is ideal for the present and future societies and is sustainable in the long term. The necessary condition should be a model that can solve the problems of the current politics and administration system. It must be a model that is faithful to the characteristics and essence of modern society. And as a sufficient condition to ensure long-term sustainability, it must be based on the common principles of human society. After analyzing the problems of the current system and analyzing the conditions required for the new system, the axioms that are the basis of the politics and administration system were presented. Based on the axioms, the structure and operation model of a new politics and administration system were derived. The derived model was named as a servicism politics and administration system. It is a dynamic model in which two opposing opponents recognize each other's contradictions and balance them dialectically in the space-time dimension.

• Korea and Global Affairs
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.243-270
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• 2017

The purposes of this paper are twofold: First, to discuss ways and limits of studying politics scientifically; second, to examine group theories to the study of political science. To answer the first question, I examine philosophy of science, methods of scientific research, and limits of scientific study of politics. As a subject matter itself, political science involves the study of human beings and the discovery of explanations for the political behavior that they exhibit. This discovery of regularities of behavior in politics inevitably requires that human beings act consistently or discoverable manner. I argue that the best way of studying politics as much as possible is to combine traditional and scientific approaches depending upon issues, The second section of this paper will examine one of important middle-range theory of politics; group theories (approaches). Examining this will show strength and limits of studying politics scientifically. The group approaches examine the importance of role that people hold in the political system as well as the relationship between the action of collective group and its impact on the political behavior. Overall, the group approaches tend to deal with individuals in specific societal contexts and with varying distributions of power between the actors. This group approaches are premised on the belief that political activity involves more than just one individual, political activity occurs instead through individual actors in particular settings. I argued that group theories have some explanatory power and descriptive richness, though it has limitations.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.120-145
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• 2001

Environmental risk is one of major risks in contemporary society which is often conceptualized in terms of 'risk society'. The crisis which retains such environmental risk can be characterized by 'technical hazards', rather than natural hazards in traditional societies, because of potentiality of technical control over its generation and managing process. Environmental crisis tends to be recurred due to certain limitations of response of both government and civil society. Moreover, it can be argued that generation of environmental crisis and limitations of its managing process are inherent in problematic structures in contemporary society, especially in its 4 basic elements and their characters; that is, capitalist market economy which promotes increasing profits and decreasing cost; bureaucratic representative politics which has brought about concentration of power and evasion of responsibility, instrumental science and technology which leads to blind belief on scientific knowledge and its uncertainty; and finally individualistic way of life with exclusive and passive response to crisis. This paper aims to consider the generation and managing process of environmental crisis in terms of these 4 basic elements, with comparative studies on empirical cases of the water crisis by Phenol pollution in Taegu in 1991 and the water crisis by parasites contamination in Sydney in 1998.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.35
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• pp.3-40
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• 2013

Establishment and expansion of a FOI regime is a fundamental basis for modern democracy. Informed decisions and supports by the people are critical to establishment of democratic institutions and policies. The best tool to make informed decisions and to ensure accountability is the FOI. For effective FOI, good records management is necessary requirement. This paper observes and analyses the development of the FOI in the U.S., the Open Government policy, and the government records management reforms under Obama Administration to search viable solutions for Korean FOI and public records management reforms. Major revisions and advancement of the FOIA in the United States are examined, especially the revision of the FOIA as the OPEN Government Act of 2007. The FOIA revision enhanced greatly the freedom of information in the U.S. including the establishment of an independent FOI ombudsman by the Congress. The paper also discusses the Presidential memoranda on the Open Government and the FOI by President Obama, the following directives, Presidential memorandum on government records management and the Government Records Management Directive. Major contents of the directives, plans, and achievement are summarized and analysed. Finally, this paper compares the government records management reforms under former President Roh Mu Hyun with the Obama's reform drive. The comparison found that major difference in the "top-down" government records reforms are the difference in democratic institutions such as weak congressional politics, strong bureaucratic obstacles, and relatively weak social and professional supports for the reforms in Korea, while these reforms were similar in terms that they were driven by insightful political leaders. Independent FOI ombudsman and national records administration are necessary for such democratic reforms.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.224-238
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• 2019

In commemoration of the 1,100th anniversary of the foundation of the Goryeo Dynasty, the National Museum of Korea and the National Institute of Korean History are working together on a project to reveal memorial inscriptions(墓誌銘) in the Goryeo Dynasty. So far, It founded that four newly identified memorial inscriptions of Goryeo Dynasty. Among them, I would like to introduce two memorial inscriptions in overseas and a memory inscription that was first identified as being housed in the National Museum of Korea. Kim Yong Sik's memorial inscription is currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum's FreerSackler Gallery in the U.S.A.. Kim Yong Sik(金龍軾, 1129~1197) is a bureaucrat in the middle time of Goryeo Dynasty. He came from a family of influential people in the Andong province. In Goryeo times, provincial figures have been able to make inroads into central politics through the bureaucratic select examination(科擧). Kim's family came from the capital of Goryeo in that way. However, Kim did not rise very high. This inscription is meaningful in that it shows this ordinary middle class's life to study Goryeo history further. Sangdanghyeongoon(上黨縣君) Gwak Ssi's memorial inscription is currently housed at the Kyoto university museum in the Japan. Sangdanghyeongoon Gwak Ssi(郭氏(Mrs. Gwak), ?~1149?) is a bureaucrat class woman in the middle time of Goryeo Dynasty. There is not much information about her. But the method of marking the location of the her tomb is unique. Her tomb is located at the northern foot of the temple, Baekhaksa(白鶴寺, White Crane's temple). That marking method is sometimes confirmed in Goryeo period's historical text. This inscription is significant in that it shows practical example of that methods. Min Su's memorial inscription is missing after Japanese occupation time, but confirmed that currently housed in the National Museum of Korea. Min Su(閔脩, 1067~1122) is a bureaucrat in the middle time of Goryeo Dynasty. Although his track record is partly recorded in Goryeosa(高麗史, Historia of Goryeo Dynasty), the discovery of this inscription has made new research possible. I hope that more and more memory inscription of Goryeo will emerge from somewhere and contribute greatly to the study of Goryeo history.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.1
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• pp.66-81
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• 2009

From a new perspective of "humans and the culture of forming and conserving the environment", the sustainable forest management can be reformulated under the concept of "cultural sustainability". Cultural sustainability is based on the emphasis of the high contribution to sustainability of the culture of forming and conserving the environment. This study extracts the implications to cultural sustainability for the modern world by investigating a historical case of the culturo-social pine forestry in the Joseon period of Korea. In the legendary and recorded acts by the first king Taejo, Seonggye Yi, Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) was the "Royal tree" of Joseon and also the "Sajik tree" related intimately with the Great Sajik Ritual valued as the top rank within the national ritual regime that sustained the Royal Virtue Politics in Confucian political ideology. Into the Neo-Confucian faith and royal rituals of Joseon, elements of geomancy (Feng shui), folk religion, and Buddhism had been amalgamated. The deities worshipped or revered at the Sajik shrine were Earth-god (Sa) and crop-god (Jik). And it is the Earth god and the concrete entity, Sajik tree, that contains the legacy of sylvan religion descended from the ancient times and had been incorporated into the Confucian faith and ritual regime. Korean red pine as the Royal-Sajik tree played a critical role of sustaining the religio-political justification for the rule of the Joseon's Royalty. The religio-political symbolism of Korean red pine was represented in diverse ways. The same pine was used as the timber material of shrine buildings established for the national rituals under Neo-Confucian faith by the royal court of Joseon kingdom before the modern Korea. The symbolic role of pine had also been expressed in the forms of royal tomb forests, the Imposition Forest (Bongsan) for royal coffin timber (Whangjangmok), and the creation, protection, conservation and bureaucratic management of the pine forests in the Inner-four and Outer-four mountains for the capital fortress at Seoul, where the king and his family inhabit. The religio-political management system of pine forests parallels well with the kingdom's economic forest management system, called "Pine Policy", with an array of pine cultivation forests and Prohibition Forests (Geumsan) in the earlier period, and that of Imposition Forests in the later period. The royal pine culture with the economic forest management system had influenced on the public consciousness and the common people seem to have coined Malrimgat, a pure Korean word that is interchangeable with the Chinesecharacter words of prohibition-cultivation land or forest (禁養地, 禁養林) practiced in the royal tomb forests, and Prohibition and Imposition Forests, which contained prohibition landmarks (Geumpyo) made of stone and rock on the boundaries. A culturo-social forestry, in which Sajik altar, royal tomb forests, Whangjang pine Prohibition and Imposition forests and the capital Inner-four and Outer-four mountain forests consist, was being put into practice in Joseon. In Joseon dynastry, the Neo-Confucian faith and royal rituals with geomancy, folk religion, and Buddhism incorporated has also played a critical humanistic role for the culturo-social pine forestry, the one higher in values than that of the economic pine forestry. The implications have been extracted from the historical case study on the Royal-Sajik tree and culturo-social forestry of Joseon : Cultural sustainability, in which the interaction between humans and environment maintains a long-term culturo-natural equilibrium or balance for many generations, emphasizes the importance that the modern humans who form and conserve environment need to rediscover and transform their culturo-natural legacy into conservation for many generations and produce knowledge of sustainability science, the transdisciplinary knowledge for the interaction between environment and humans, which fulfills the cultural, social and spiritual needs.