• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.50
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• pp.103-130
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• 2018

This research aims to explore the associated linguistic features and functions of Chinese as used for business trading purposes, and which is based on a discourse analysis through a case in which a Korean buyer and a Chinese supplier have exchanged Internet based e-mails. The research questions include first, the linguistic functions and characteristics of Chinese shown as identified in this trade case through e-mails, second, the use of Chinese trade specific terms, and third, the apparent and dynamic negotiation strategies that are identified as followed by the cultural value systems which are used for resolving interest conflicts and issues between the buyer and supplier in the course of negotiating business contracts between two parties. The participants of this research pertain to a Korean buyer, James and a Chinese supplier, Sonya. The associated data consists of 74 e-mails exchanged between the two parties, initiated in an effort to begin and complete a trade item, in this case namely the product of napkin holders. The research for the study is based on the discourse analysis and empirically analyses models of Chinese linguistic functions and features. The findings are the following. First, as identified, the specific Chinese functions used and sequenced in this trade case are of a procedure, request, informing, negotiation and persuasion. Second, the essential trade terms used in this business interaction involve the relevant issues of 1) ordering and price negotiating, 2) marking the origin of the products, 3) the arrangement of the product examination and customs declaration for the anticipated import items, 4) preparation of the necessary legal documents, and 5) the package and transport of the product in the final instance. Third, the impact of the similarities and differences in the cultural value systems between Korea and China on the negotiations and conflict resolution during a negotiated contract between two parties are speculated in terms of the use of culturally based techniques such as face-saving and the utilization of uncertainty-avoiding strategies as meant to prevent misunderstandings from developing between the parties. The concluding part of the study discusses the implications for a practical Chinese language education utilizing the linguistic functions and features of the Chinese culture and language strategies as useful in business associations for trading purposes, and the importance of intercultural communication styles based on similar of different identified cultural values as noted between two parties.

• Strategy21
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• s.34
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• pp.236-261
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• 2014

The future role of nuclear extended deterrence in the security alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea is currently a central concern. The gradually lessening role of reliance on nuclear weapons in US security policies broadly, combined with increasing North Korean nuclear capabilities and belligerence, raise fresh questions about the sufficiency of the "nuclear umbrella" as a pillar of the US-ROK defense posture. This article addresses the current and future role of nuclear extended deterrence in Korea in this dynamic context. The article reviews the longstanding trend toward reducing the overall size of the US nuclear arsenal, and assesses developments in US-ROK outlooks toward extended deterrence in response to the Obama administration's nuclear policies and North Korea's recent smaller-scale aggressions. The analysis finds that the challenges of deterrence credibility and allied reassurance are difficult and long-term. The analysis explains how these challenges emerge less from a shrinking US numerical arsenal size than from the sufficiency of specific nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities to meet emerging smaller-scale threats. The analysis also highlights the importance of broader strategic and political interaction in sustaining allied confidence in any joint security posture. The evaluation concludes that a strong US-ROK alliance relationship can be maintained while the size of the US nuclear arsenal continues to decline, in part because nuclear weapons in any deployment configuration are relatively ineffective means for deterring smaller-scale aggression. Nevertheless, continuing adjustment of the US-ROK extended deterrence posture to the evolving, complex and uncertain Korean peninsula security environment will remain an ongoing challenge. Finally, the article encourages further examination of the potential specific role ROK maritime forces might serve in enhancing deterrence of smaller-scale threats while minimizing risks of conflict escalation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2011

The results of tracking the symbolism of plants in the introduction factors of Sokhwa(folk painting) are as the following. 1. The term Sokhwa(俗畵) is not only a type of painting with a strong local customs, but also carries a symbolic meaning and was discovered in "Donggukisanggukjip" of Lee, Gyu-Bo(1268~1241) in the Goryo era as well as the various usage in the "Sok Dongmunseon" in the early Chosun era, "Sasukjaejip" of Gang, Hee-mang(1424~1483), "Ilseongrok(1786)" in the late Chosun era, "Jajeo(自著)" of Yoo, Han-joon(1732~1811), and "Ojuyeonmunjangjeonsango(五洲衍文長箋散稿)" of Lee, Gyu-gyung(1788~?). Especially, according to the Jebyungjoksokhwa allegation〈題屛簇俗畵辯證說〉in the Seohwa of the Insa Edition of Ojuyeonmunjangjeonsango, there is a record that the "people called them Sokhwa." 2. Contemporarily, the Korean Sokhwa underwent the prehistoric age that primitively reflected the natural perspective on agricultural culture, the period of Three States that expressed the philosophy of the eternal spirits and reflected the view on the universe in colored pictures, the Goryo Era that religiously expressed the abstract shapes and supernatural patterns in spacein symbolism, and the Chosun Era that established the traditional Korean identity of natural perspective, aesthetic values and symbolism in a complex integration in the popular culture over time. 3. The materials that were analyzed in 1,009 pieces of Korean Sokhwa showed 35 species of plants, 37 species of animals, 6 types of natural objects and other 5 types with a total of 83 types. 4. The shape aesthetics according to the aesthetic analysis of the plants in Sokhwa reflect the primitive world view of Yin/yang and the Five Elements in the peony paintings and dynamic refinement and biological harmonies in the maehwado; the composition aesthetics show complex multi-perspective composition with a strong noteworthiness in the bookshelf paintings, a strong contrast of colors with reverse perspective drawing in the battlefield paintings, and the symmetric beauty of simple orderly patterns in nature and artificial objects with straight and oblique lines are shown in the leisurely reading paintings. In terms of color aesthetics, the five colors of directions - east, west, south, north and the center - or the five basic colors - red, blue, yellow, white and black - are often utilized in ritual or religious manners or symbolically substitute the relative relationships with natural laws. 5. The introduction methods in the Korean Sokhwa exceed the simple imitation of the natural shapes and have been sublimated to the symbolism that is related to nature based on the colloquial artistic characteristics with the suspicion of the essence in the universe. Therefore, the symbolism of the plants and animals in the Korean Sokhwas is a symbolic recognition system, not a scientific recognition system with a free and unique expression with a complex interaction among religious, philosophical, ecological and ideological aspects, as a identity of the group culture of Koreans where the past and the future coexist in the present. This is why the Koran Sokhwa or the folk paintings can be called a cultural identity and can also be interpreted as a natural and folk meaningful scenic factor that has naturally integrated into our cultural lifestyle. However, the Sokhwa(folk paintings) that had been closely related to our lifestyle drastically lost its meaning and emotions through the transitions over time. As the living lifestyle predominantly became the apartment culture and in the historical situations where the confusion of the identity has deepened, the aesthetic and the symbolic values of the Sokhwa folk paintings have the appropriateness to be transmitted as the symbolic assets that protect our spiritual affluence and establish our identity.

• Korean small business review
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.77-93
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• 2011

Since 2000, the employment rate of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has dwindled while the creation of new jobs and the emergence of healthy SMEs have been stagnant. The fundamental reason for these symptoms is that the economic structure is disadvantageous to SMEs. In particular, the greater gap between SMEs and large enterprises has resulted in polarization, and the resulting imbalance has become the largest obstacle to improving SMEs' competitiveness. For example, the total productivity has continued to drop, and the average productivity of SMEs is now merely 30% of that of large enterprises, and the average wage of SMEs' employees is only 53% of that of large enterprises. Along with polarization, rapid industrialization has also caused anti-enterprise consensus, the collapse of the middle class, hostility towards establishments, and other aftereffects. The general consensus is that unless these problems are solved, South Korea will not become an advanced country. Especially, South Korea is now facing issues that need urgent measures, such as the decline of its economic growth, the worsening distribution of profits, and the increased external volatility. Recognizing such negative trends, the MB administration proposed a win-win growth policy and recently introduced a new national value called "ecosystemic development." As the terms in such policy agenda are similar, however, the conceptual differences among such terms must first be fully understood. Therefore, in this study, the concepts of win-win growth policy and ecosystemic development, and the need for them, were surveyed, and their differences from and similarities with other policy concepts like win-win cooperation and symbiotic development were examined. Based on the results of the survey and examination, the study introduced a South Korean model of win-win growth, targeting the promotion of a sound balance between large enterprises and SMEs and an innovative ecosystem, and finally, proposing future policy tasks. Win-win growth is not an academic term but a policy term. Thus, it is less advisable to give a theoretical definition of it than to understand its concept based on its objective and method as a policy. The core of the MB administration's win-win growth policy is the creation of a partnership between key economic subjects such as large enterprises and SMEs based on each subject's differentiated capacity, and such economic subjects' joint promotion of growth opportunities. Its objective is to contribute to the establishment of an advanced capitalistic system by securing the sustainability of the South Korean economy. Such win-win growth policy includes three core concepts. The first concept, ecosystem, is that win-win growth should be understood from the viewpoint of an industrial ecosystem and should be pursued by overcoming the issues of specific enterprises. An enterprise is not an independent entity but a social entity, meaning it exists in relationship with the society (Drucker, 2011). The second concept, balance, points to the fact that an effort should be made to establish a systemic and social infrastructure for a healthy balance in the industry. The social system and infrastructure should be established in such a way as to create a balance between short- term needs and long-term sustainability, between freedom and responsibility, and between profitability and social obligations. Finally, the third concept is the behavioral change of economic entities. The win-win growth policy is not merely about simple transactional relationships or determining reasonable prices but more about the need for a behavior change on the part of economic entities, without which the objectives of the policy cannot be achieved. Various advanced countries have developed different win-win growth models based on their respective cultures and economic-development stages. Japan, whose culture is characterized by a relatively high level of group-centered trust, has developed a productivity improvement model based on such culture, whereas the U.S., which has a highly developed system of market capitalism, has developed a system that instigates or promotes market-oriented technological innovation. Unlike Japan or the U.S., Europe, a late starter, has not fully developed a trust-based culture or market capitalism and thus often uses a policy-led model based on which the government leads the improvement of productivity and promotes technological innovation. By modeling successful cases from these advanced countries, South Korea can establish its unique win-win growth system. For this, it needs to determine the method and tasks that suit its circumstances by examining the prerequisites for its success as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each advanced country. This paper proposes a South Korean model of win-win growth, whose objective is to upgrade the country's low-trust-level-based industrial structure, in which large enterprises and SMEs depend only on independent survival strategies, to a high-trust-level-based social ecosystem, in which large enterprises and SMEs develop a cooperative relationship as partners. Based on this objective, the model proposes the establishment of a sound balance of systems and infrastructure between large enterprises and SMEs, and to form a crenovative social ecosystem. The South Korean model of win-win growth consists of three axes: utilization of the South Koreans' potential, which creates community-oriented energy; fusion-style improvement of various control and self-regulated systems for establishing a high-trust-level-oriented social infrastructure; and behavioral change on the part of enterprises in terms of putting an end to their unfair business activities and promoting future-oriented cooperative relationships. This system will establish a dynamic industrial ecosystem that will generate creative energy and will thus contribute to the realization of a sustainable economy in the 21st century. The South Korean model of win-win growth should pursue community-based self-regulation, which promotes the power of efficiency and competition that is fundamentally being pursued by capitalism while at the same time seeking the value of society and community. Already existing in Korea's traditional roots, such objectives have become the bases of the Shinbaram culture, characterized by the South Koreans' spontaneity, creativity, and optimism. In the process of a community's gradual improvement of its rules and procedures, the trust among the community members increases, and the "social capital" that guarantees the successful control of shared resources can be established (Ostrom, 2010). This basic ideal can help reduce the gap between large enterprises and SMEs, alleviating the South Koreans' victim mentality in the face of competition and the open-door policy, and creating crenovative corporate competitiveness. The win-win growth policy emerged for the purpose of addressing the polarization and imbalance structure resulting from the evolution of 21st-century capitalism. It simultaneously pursues efficiency and fairness on one hand and economic and community values on the other, and aims to foster efficient interaction between the market and the government. This policy, however, is also evolving. The win-win growth policy can be considered an extension of the win-win cooperation that the past 'Participatory Government' promoted at the enterprise management level to the level of systems and culture. Also, the ecosystemic development agendum that has recently emerged is a further extension that has been presented as a national ideal of "a new development model that promotes the co-advancement of environmental conservation, growth, economic development, social integration, and national and individual development."