• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.70-93
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• 2019

The contemporary educational system in South Korea is built on high-stakes standardised tests, a manifestation of the national project of social reconstruction and reform. One recent outcome is the emergence of an unfamiliar yet ubiquitous phenomenon: the "pig mum"; a Korean parent who is fully involved in organising, scheduling and managing the educational process from primary to secondary school for a group of children in a neighbourhood. Based on a quasimixed method utilizing a survey of a group of students and parents, this pilot study explores the "pig mum" phenomenon and its linkage to education policy. The authors conclude that the current educational policy fails to achieve the ideals it professes to value. This creates deep and negative societal norms that endanger a growing generation of students by creating a parallel private education market environment where "pig mums" thrive.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.153-174
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• 2019

South Korea's energy policy has been historically established through an energy production structure that relies on thermal and nuclear power generation in relation to a centralized 'Hard Energy System'. However, climate change issues are forcing the transition to renewable energy, and it is crucial for local governments to enable this. This study analyses Seoul city's local energy governance, which is known as One Less Nuclear Power Plant Initiative, by applying the collaborative governance framework inspired by Ansell and Gash (2008) and the Reflexivity framework of Confucianism. It is considered that the local energy governance model of Seoul city can be used as a model by other local governments, and it will eventually lead to a decentralized energy system in this era of energy transition.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.175-188
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• 2019

This study investigates public receptivity to celebrity's climate change advocacy on YouTube through a semantic network analysis. The results of this study suggest that the YouTube video generated a number of viewers' responses. Celebrity endorsement not only leaded public voices on climate change issue, but also their opinions on the celebrity endorser. This study found that most of viewers were polarized in their judgment and attitude toward the celebrity advocate either positively or negatively. This study offers an exploratory examination of the perceived star power and the role of celebrities as spokespersons for social causes. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation of the role of celebrity advocacy using social media. In addition, this study offers methodological insights into how to detect public perceptions and attitudes toward celebrity endorsement of social causes by analyzing public comments.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.237-253
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• 2018

In order to understand China's internet governance, this paper examined 1,931 Internet policies of China by bibliometric techniques. Specifically, the bibliometric techniques include simple document counting, co-word analysis, collaboration network analysis and citation analysis. The findings include: (1) China's Internet legislations mainly emphasized e-commerce and Internet governance, and, to some extent, neglected personal data protection; (2) China's Internet is under intensive multiple regulatory controls by central government. A large number of government agencies are involved in Internet policy-making. The Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Information Leading Group of the State Council, enforced fewer policy documents, but occupy higher positions in the Internet governance hierarchy; (3) China's Internet legislation system is primarily composed of industry-specific administrative rules, rather than laws or administrative regulations. Nevertheless, laws and administrative regulations received significantly more citations owing to their superior force. This paper also discussed current gaps in China's internet governance and how the country's internet policies are situated in the broader global context.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.47-68
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• 2022

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (East Java, Indonesia) are one of the businesses that drive developing nations' economies with various challenges, particularly in finance and digitalization. The impact of financial literacy and the use of digitalization can affect the recording and reporting of company performance. This is quantitative research, and the population in this research is SMEs in East Java, with 401 SMEs from various businesses for the sample used. This research uses the primary data method of SMEs in East Java with the Structural Equation Model as a data analysis tool. The results showed a significant relationship between financial literacy and financial performance, and digital literacy was based on financial performance. However, digital literacy could not moderate financial literacy with the financial performance of East Java SMEs. Much of the untapped potential in this study was adopted from financial governance and digitalization. It is hoped that the subsequent study will examine other phenomena on the variables used in the post-pandemic.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.13-26
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• 2022

This study explores the following research question to address issues linked to emotions, identity, and institutions: how has the cult (institution) of the three Kims affected North Koreans' strong sense of nationalism (emotion), which is based on their Juche ideology (identity)? This paper investigates four fundamental elements of historical institutionalism: time boundedness, path dependency, institutional changes, and the shadow of the past. First, time boundedness illustrates how culture and education have been used to build trust and loyalty in the general public to construct individual and family cults. Second, path dependence reveals how the Songbun system has resulted in strong nationalism throughout Rodongdang's institutionalization. Third, institutional changes highlight the significance of age divides, as different age groups do not always support the three Kims' cult. Finally, the shadow of the past helps us understand the primary processes for generating mass ardent nationalism in the form of powerful impulses for self-sacrifice.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.169-178
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• 2020

Thomas L. Friedman's "Our New Historic Divide: B.C. and A.C. ― The World Before Corona and the World After" column is becoming the talk of the times. Whoever talks about the post-Corona world mentions "BC/AC" as a new concept. However, people seem to be overusing the term "BC/AC" while overlooking the specific context that Friedman emphasized. So, taking into account the cultural differences and contexts of the East and the West highlighted in Friedman's column, we devised the "BC/AC" ten-paradigm hypothesis. We hope these ten cultural shifts will be the first step in examining the post-Corona world.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2020

Trends toward an influx of new migrants have been pronounced in East Asia through a development we call the third round of migrant incorporation. At the same time, other features of East Asian societies, such as strong levels of ethnic nationalism, have changed little, posing challenges to multiculturalism. In this introduction to this special issue, we review the latest research trends broadly concerning multiculturalism, migrant groups that have received little attention, racism and xenophobia. We first discuss the state of migrant incorporation in East Asia and the limits of multiculturalism in this region, where various features of the developmental state persist. We then introduce research on voices opposing multiculturalism in East Asia. This introduction highlights what is peculiar―and ordinary―about migrant incorporation and the associated challenges in East Asia.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.104-124
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• 2020

This paper investigates whether white-collar masculinity can play a role in the life of a far-right activist. The current study employs the methods of psychosocial analysis devised by Wendy Hollway and Tony Jefferson. Using the case of a Japanese far-right activist, it explores how the hegemony and decline of "salaryman masculinity" in Japan interacted with his life. It draws attention to the suffering of white-collar men in their struggle to comply with hegemonic masculinity. These men's suffering tends to be overlooked due to their stable socio-economic status, but it can potentially play a role in their investment in far-right discourse.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.216-233
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• 2020

Over the last 70 years, South Korea has gone through countless provocations from North Korea. Provocation is something that must be delicately calculated before the actual action, since it can be extended to a serious conflict. Among the possible factors, this paper focuses on the leader's characteristic, because 1) under North Korean dictatorship, the leader's thoughts are critical influence to policies and 2) personal characteristic, especially if it is the dictator's, hardly changes even when the external circumstances change. The purpose of this paper is in analyzing the correlations between North Korean leader's characteristics and provocation pattern. First, three generations of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un's personal characteristics will be described. Next, particular provocation features in respective leader's period will follow. Lastly, how each leader's characteristic and concerns were reflected on the provocations will be analyzed.