• Cross-Cultural Studies
• /
• v.20
• /
• pp.113-148
• /
• 2010

This paper examines the American role in shaping South Korean nation-building during the early Cold War by considering how the United States attempted to form South Korea's education and how Koreans responded to these efforts. It looks at education as an arena where "American" ideas such as democracy and liberalism were received, transformed, and utilized by Koreans. This study pays particular attention to the gap between American intentions and Korean expectations, as well as to the competition between American and Japanese systems, which explains the contradictory role America played in South Korean nation-building. In order to better assess the role of the United States in shaping South Korean education, this article considers the complex dynamics between the Japanese legacies, American influence, and Korean actors. Americans had exerted a great effect on Korean education since the beginning of their relationship. American missionaries, U.S. military government, and educational mission teams had all contributed to the expansion of educational opportunities for Koreans. Through the educational institutions that they established or helped establish, Americans tried to spread "their" ideas. In this process, Americans had to struggle with two obstacles: Korean nationalism and the legacies of Japanese colonialism. Many Koreans used American missionary schools for their own purposes and resisted U.S. military government's policies which ignored their desire for self-determination. American education missions had limited effect on Korean education due to the heterogeneous Japanese system that was still influencing South Korea even after liberation. The ways in which Americans have influenced the democratization of South Korea have not been simple. Although "American" democratic ideas reached Koreans through various routes, Koreans understood the "American" idea within their own historical context and in a way that fit their existing socio-political relations. Oftentimes suspicious of "American" democracy, Koreans developed their own concept of democracy. The overall American influence on Korean democratization, as well as on Korean education, was important but limited. While Americans helped Koreans build educational infrastructure and tried to transfer democratic ideas through it, Koreans actors and Japanese colonial legacies limited its impact.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.175-184
• /
• 2019

To improve productivity in the architecture, construction and engineering industry, it is critical to understand both current and historic trends in construction productivity. This study analyzes and compares construction productivity trends of South Korea, the U.S., the U.K., and Japan 1995 to 2015 using the following three measures: construction labor productivity, construction duration per floor, and construction duration per 1,000 m2 floor area. As the results, the international competitiveness of each country varied according to which measures were used to analyze them. Among the four countries, the construction labor productivity of the U.S. was the highest, followed by that of South Korea. South Korea also had the second highest productivity growth rate, following that of Japan. On the other hand, when analyzed from the perspective of construction duration, the construction productivity in South Korea appeared relatively lower than those of other countries. There were differences in the location of construction competitiveness of each country analyzed by various measures. Therefore, to accurately diagnose and improve the construction competitiveness in South Korea, strategies based on various measures are need to established simultaneously.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.183-195
• /
• 2022

Purpose - The study attempted to analyze how the U.S.-China trade dispute affects a highly trade-dependent South Korea. Currently, major domestic and international institutions have issued a number of conflicting predictions that the trade dispute between China and the United States will have a positive and negative impact on South Korea. Accordingly, the present study attempted to analyze using actual data. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis was conducted using actual import and export data from the United States and China and actual import and export data from the United States and China from South Korea. The analysis measured the number and amount of imports and exports by year and month, and the rate of increase and decrease. We also looked at trade dispute days, import and export outcomes and what the impact was. In addition, as a result of the US-China trade dispute, the amount of change in Korea's imports and exports was analyzed. Findings - Empirical analysis shows that South Korea's exports to the United States and China have increased. The analysis results are as follows. First, exports to the United States increased by 5.65% in 2018 and 6.45% in 2019 compared to 2017. Second, exports to China surged 12.34% in 2018 compared to 2017. This increase in South Korea's exports to the United States and its mass exports to the United States shows that South Korea has benefited from the trade dispute between the United States and China. Research implications or Originality - South Korea, which is highly trade-dependent, has been heavily affected by the U.S.-China trade dispute. Various predictions are made about this. The analysis showed that South Korea's export volume has increased. In the end, the effect of the trade transition to the 3rd country did not occur. Rather, the U.S.-China trade dispute appears to have helped South Korea.

• Korean journal of communication and information
• /
• v.78
• /
• pp.206-242
• /
• 2016

This study dealt with the U.S. government's book translation project as a part of its public diplomacy to gain the Korean people's 'minds and thoughts' in the midst of cultural Cold War from the end of World War II to the late 1950s. It was found that the U.S. book translation project was begun during the U.S. military occupation of South Korea, though with minimum efforts, and reached its peak in the late 1950s, In general, the purposes of the U.S. book translation project in South Korea was as follows: to emphasize the supremacy of American political and economic systems; to criticize the irrationality of communism and conflicts in the communist societies; to increase the Korean people's understanding of the U.S. foreign policies; to publicize the achievement of the U.S. people in the areas of arts, literature, and sciences. In the selection of books for translation, any ones were excluded which might contradict to U.S. foreign policy or impair U.S. images abroad. It must be noted that publications of a few Korean writers' books were supported by the project, if they were thought to be in service for its purposes. Even some Japanese books, which were produced by the U.S. book translation project in Japan, were utilized for the best effects of the project in South Korea. It may be conceded that the U.S. book translation project contributed a little bit to the compensation for the dearth of knowledge and information in South Korea at that time. However, the project may have distorted the Korean people's perspectives toward the U.S. and world, owing to the book selection in accordance with the U.S. government's policy guidance.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.33-59
• /
• 2010

South Korea has the defense burdensharing agreement with the United States in reference to the U.S. troops stationed in Korea since 1991, based on Special Measure Agreement(SMA). Due to the growth of Korea's economic power and the U.S. provision of the security environment on Korean penninsula, the U.S. government steadily demanded the rise of contributions to common defense from South Korea and South Korea accepted most of the U.S. requests without proper principles of negotiation concerning the cost sharing. This paper analyzes the systems of the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program through a systems thinking, that yields desirable results with a little effort. The three policy leverages are: 1) the development of negotiation principles; 2) the policy making closely linked with National Defense Reform Basic Plan; 3) the policy making with responsibility burdensharing than cost burdensharing. This paper findings will contribute to the developing the Korea－U.S. cost sharing program by providing policy－makers and policy-practitioners with systematic understanding and insight into the dynamics of the program. Also, this will enable the program to execute more effectively with a concrete formula.

• Convergence Security Journal
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.89-100
• /
• 2017

Last January 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. He actively claimed a priority for the United States, which is referred as America First, during his presidential campaign. However, his political assertions turned out to be as Isolationist in terms of foreign policy. It becomes a serious problem for South Korea because South Korea is solely dependent on the U.S. "Extended Deterrence" of North Korea's nuclear threats. In other words, there will be a higher likelihood for North Korea to misinterpret the relationship between South Korea and the U.S. Due to his foreign policy, there is a possible provocation by North Korea. Therefore, ROK-U.S. Alliance, the model of Asymmetry Alliance in order to prepare for North Korea's nuclear provocation, will be evaluated through America's perspective based on "Autonomy-Security Trade-off Model". For this purpose, this research will evaluate ROK-U.S. Alliance with regards to a threat perception, policy coordination, and a value as an ally. Based on the evaluation, it will deduce tactical implications of South Korea's alliance.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.169-184
• /
• 2016

Smartphone use is rapidly spreading due to the advantage of being able to connect to the Internet anytime, anywhere--and mobile app development is developing accordingly. The characteristic of the mobile app market is the ability to launch one's app into foreign markets with ease as long as the platform is the same. However, a large amount of prior research asserts that consumers behave differently depending on their culture and, from this perspective, various studies comparing the differences between consumer behaviors in different countries exist. Accordingly, this research, which uses online product reviews (OPRs) in order to analyze the cultural differences in consumer behavior comparatively by nationality, proposes to compare the U.S. and South Korea by selecting ten apps which were released in both countries in order to perform a sentimental analysis on the basis of star ratings and, based on those ratings, to interpret the sentiments in reviews. This research was carried out to determine whether, on the basis of ratings analysis, analysis of review contents for sentiment differences, analysis of LDA topic modeling, and co-occurrence analysis, actual differences in online reviews in South Korea and the U.S. exist due to cultural differences. The results confirm that the sentiments of reviews for both countries appear to be more negative than those of star ratings. Furthermore, while no great differences in high-raking review topics between the U.S. and South Korea were revealed through topic modeling and co-occurrence analyses, numerous differences in sentiment appeared-confirming that Koreans evaluated the mobile apps' specialized functions, while Americans evaluated the mobile apps in their entirety. This research reveals that differences in sentiments regarding mobile app reviews due to cultural differences between Koreans and Americans can be seen through sentiment analysis and topic modeling, and, through co-occurrence analysis, that they were able to examine trends in review-writing for each country.

• Convergence Security Journal
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.55-66
• /
• 2019

For the past 66 years, the Korea-U.S. alliance has been a typical asymmetric alliance in which the U.S. supports South Korea's security during the Cold War and South Korea gives some of its policy autonomy to the U.S. But Lee Myung-bak government military alliance the 'comprehensive strategic alliance' of the character, 'value of alliance', Park Geun-hye ' a global, 'Frontier of cooperation', the government.'reciprocal, comprehensive alliance' Moon Jae-in, the government and partnerships developed with ' euroui the development of national security strategy said. The purpose of this study is to explore ways to build a reciprocal and comprehensive Korea-U.S. alliance for the development of the Korea-U.S. alliance policy in order to ensure South Korea's policy autonomy following changes in the Trump administration's alliance policy. The results of the research show the need for Korea to participate in the U.S.-led 'India-Pacific Strategy' continue diplomatic efforts for the mutual economic benefits of the two countries and strengthen public diplomacy in order to build the Korea-U.S. alliance in a reciprocal and comprehensive manner.

• Strategy21
• /
• s.39
• /
• pp.5-46
• /
• 2016

North Korea's 4th nuclear test on Jan. 6 and following developments once again awakened the world into seriousness of the nuclear matters on the Korean peninsula. On March 2, UNSC adopted Resolution 2270 which is complemented by Seoul government's measures such as withdrawal from the Gaesung Industrial Complex (Feb. 9) and announcement of unilateral sanction (March 8). Seoul government also strongly urged the international community to strangle North Korea's 'financial resources.' The U.S., Japan, China, and other countries have issued unilateral sanctions to complement the UNSC measure. South Korea and the U.S. conducted their annual joint military drill (Resolve-Foal Eagle) in the largest-ever scale. North Korea, however, responded with demonstration of its nuclear capabilities and announcement of de facto 'nuclear-first' politics. North Korea test-fired a variety of delivery vehicles, threatened nuclear strikes against South Korea and the U.S., and declared itself as an 'invincible nuclear power armed with hydrogen bombs' at the 7th Workers 'Party Congress held in May, 2016. Considering the circumstantial evidences, the North's 4th nuclear test may have been a successful boosted fission bomb test. North Korea, and, if allowed to go on with its nuclear programs, will become a nuclear power armed with more than 50 nuclear weapons including hydrogen bombs. The North is already conducting nuclear blackmail strategy towards South Korea, and must be developing 'nuclear use' strategies. Accordingly, the most pressing challenge for the international community is to bring the North to 'real dialogue for denuclearization through powerful and consistent sanctions. Of course, China's cooperation is the key to success. In this situation, South Korea has urgent challenges on diplomacy and security fronts. A diplomatic challenge is how to lead China, which had shown dual attitudes between 'pressure and connivance' towards the North's nuclear matters pursuant to its military relations with the U.S, to participate in the sanctions consistently. A military one is how to offset the 'nuclear shadow effects' engendered by the North's nuclear blackmail and prevent its purposeful and non-purposeful use of nuclear weapons. Though South Korea's Ministry of Defense is currently spending a large portion of defense finance on preemption (kill-chain) and missile defense, they pose 'high cost and low efficiency' problems. For a 'low cost and high efficiency' of deterrence, South Korea needs to switch to a 'retaliation-centered' deterrence strategy. Though South Korea's response to the North's nuclear threat can theoretically be boiled down into dialogue, sanction and deterrence, now is the time to concentrate on strong sanction and determined deterrence since they are an inevitable mandatory course to destroy the North' nuclear-first delusion and bring it to a 'real denuclearization dialogue.'

• Journal of National Security and Military Science
• /
• s.3
• /
• pp.169-196
• /
• 2005

The point of Bush administraion’s foreign policy is to support the promotion and stability of Democracy in Iraq and counter terrorism and spread of WMD with his strong propulsive force caused by his reelection. In such an environment, there are his leadership, his team, himself, Kim Jung Il, and a new understanding of North Korea after September 11 as the effective factors of Bush administration’s policy toward Pyongyang. Bush administration’s foreign policy of North Korea also shows the process of North Korea’s nuclear weapon program and the future scenario of the Korean Peninsula with "the persistence of solving North Korea’s nuclear weapon program such as the method having done in Lybia", "the holding unconditional talks with Pyongyang, and "the continual concerns with human rights in North Korea." The purpose of Bush administration’s foreign policy of North Korea is to make North Korea do not support terrorism rather than remove the nuclear weapon in North Korea. The process of outlining South Korea’s policy toward North Korea must be considered for "national interest" with reasonable analyses not just hopes For this, South Korea must access systematically human rights of North Korea, prepare projects for a daring approach on North Korea, and strengthen South Korea’s defense ability toward North Korea with deep alliance with U.S and systematize the mutual understanding channel between U.S and South Korea. In conclusion, South Korea must try to get specific methods and practices about Bush administration’s foreign policy of North Korea with national wisdom