• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.48
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• pp.289-332
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• 2012

In this paper, based on the theory of performance studies and community-based theatre, I venture to explicate the socio-political significance of director Yim Jin-Taek's community-based performance called 'madanggut', which is heavily based on elements of indigenous culture. Yim's madanggut utilizes elements of indigenous cultures and searches for 'the Korean ethnic (arche)type' as 'the ideal Korean type' or 'genuine Korean-ness' for the reconstruction of 'the Korean ethnic community.' This paper interrogates the major task of Yim Jin-Taek's madanggut, which ideologically promulgates the idea of ethnocentric patriarchy supported by the traditional (mainly Confucianist) notion of 'community' - inquiring if this type of theatre can provide useful and practical prospects for imagining a more democratic and plural civilian society in Korea today, when the interaction of globalization, nationalism, regionalism, and localism simultaneously impact our everyday life and cultural identification. Regarding the recent global phenomenon of the resurgence of nationalism, I looked at madanggut's use of symbolic resources from the past for imaginative communal bonding as a nation. But, the claimed homogeneity of the national past by means of 'nation conflation' of different social groups is an illusionary conceptualization, and the national historiography silences memories of the marginalized groups and denies their histories. It is certain that in Korea nationalism has historically performed an important function during the colonization and democratization period. Nevertheless, as Yim's Nokdukkot realized, it cannot be overlooked that as a representative of 'the Korean ethnic community,' 'the protecting man/the sacrificial woman' is contradictory to the plural and lateral thinking of participatory democracy in community-building. It is time to think about a new political language that relates individuals to the community and nation. 'The ethnic type' cannot represent the whole nation and the members of the nation should be the examples of the community they belong to for a more democratic society. I have selected Yim's several community-based works mainly from the 1970s to the 1980s since the works provide grounding images, symbols, metaphors, and allegories pertinent to discussing how 'the Korean ethnic community' has been narrativized through the performances of madanggut during the turbulent epoch of globalization. I hope that this paper presents Yim's grounded aesthetics of community-based theatre with fully contoured critical views and ideas.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.60
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• pp.5-27
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to explore the journalist Song Kun-Ho's ideas of Korean Journalism. The journalist Song Kun-Ho was born in 1926 and passed away in 2001. He became a reporter in 1953 when he was a student at department of law of Seoul National University. He has worked for several media and resigned the executive editor at the Dong Ah Ilbo in 1975. At that time, while many reporters of the Dong Ah Ilbo struggled for the freedom of the press, he tried to protect reporters and independence of media. After his resignation of the executive editor, he wrote many columns and several books for Korean nationalism and the democracy of journalism. Instead of working for the authoritarian military regime, he chose a lonely and rough life as an intellectual journalist in action. Finally, he, as a president, established the Hankyoreh daily newspaper which was funded by tens of thousands citizens. He passed away in 2001. His ideas of Korean journalism are nationalism, democracy, and independency. These ideas are very important to restore democratic journalism which has been at risk during the Lee Myung-bak administration.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.36
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• pp.333-374
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• 2009

Korean traditional education emphasizes moral education than any other country or culture. Education is recognized as practical task for self-realization and self-transcendence in traditional Confucian community. This study starts from two questions. First, how moral education in Korea from late in the 19th, when the modernized schooling started, to now can be classified according to social and political circumstances? Second, what is the main issue of moral education in the progress of Korean education after independence from Japanese imperialism? Especially, this study focuses on reflecting and reviewing these issues by context of Eastern moral education. After late in the 19th century, moral education in Korea is divided into three types: "Education for loyalty and filial piety and Moral cultivation", "Citizenship education and Education for anti-communism", and "Moral education and Character education". This study mainly insists these types of moral education distort the sprit by political interests rather than inherit and develop sprit or basic value of moral education. Furthermore, this study discusses characteristic of moral education and way to improve based on important two issues in Korean society; "Nationalism in moral education" and "Western biased education" Making individual's free will into group consciousness in accordance with political power group's interests rather than developing moral community based on each one's character building, nationalism in moral education deepens self-alienation. Western biased education makes self-negation as it considers western as core, and Korea and other traditional ideas as side. This study emphasizes reanalysis Eastern moral education and need effort for understanding of Eastern moral education to overcome Western biased education in Korean moral education.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.20
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• pp.113-148
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• 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 Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.536-547
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• 1995

The modernization of the fashion design in our country, like our chaotic modern history, has not been easy for us to grasp its main stream because it lacked historical consciousness and sincere attitude of creating. In trying to find out designs very Korean, designers usually ignore the deeply rooted ideologies and modes of our own, and primarily depend on the scattered fragments of tradition, such as the curled line of the ancient roofs, folk jackets and skirts, and Talcum, our ethnic dance, sometimes making some patchwork like clothes they divan't really intend to make. In the world of modern design, especially of the fashion industrial design, designs more scientific, more rationale and more positively appealing to the consumers, not the unconscious and emotional ones, are being demanded. To win in the fierce competing world of design as well call this age an age of "Design War", it is desirable for us to create our peculiar designs by uniting the internationalism (universality) and nationalism (traditionalism) together under a single rigid purpose. Analyzing the designs mainly of Korean style fashion designers since the 1980s, 1 could see that Korean designs in the aspect of appearance have a strong tendency toward applying or reviving the traditional elements, thus are under a bias toward nationalism rather than in ternationalism. The idea of "very Korean" does not mean a mere harmony or negotiation of the traditional elements with modern ones. It is rather a concept from vivid historical experiences of the conflict between the purely Korean mental, cultural heritages and the demands in mod- eradiation. Therefore, based on this concept of "very Korean" we must create fashions completely Korean and modern at the same time.n and modern at the same time.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.147-170
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• 2011

This paper elucidates the characteristics of transnational adoption, estimates the possibility of beyond-borders identity of transnational adoptees, and tries to analyze Jane Jeong Trenka's The Language of Blood in its context. Though it has been regarded as one of the most humanitarian ways of helping orphans and poor children of the world, transnational adoption, a one-way flow of children from poor Asian countries to rich white countries, has been operated under the market logic between countries. Transnational adoptees, who had been abandoned and forced to be taken away from their birth mother, and later, to fulfill the desire of white parents for a perfect family, perform an ideological labor, serving to make the heterogeneous nuclear family complete. Korean transnational adoptees, forced to transcend the borders of nation, culture, and ethnicity, experience racial conflict and alienation in white adoptive family and society. Their diaspora experience of violent dislocation creates frustration and confusion in establishing their identity as a whole being. When they return to Korea to find their birth mother and their true identity, Korean adoptees, however, are faced with other obstructing issues, such as language problem, culture conflict, and maternal nationalism. Finally, Korean transnational adoptees reject Korean nationalism discourse based on blood, and try to redefine themselves as beyond-borders subjectivities with new and fluid identities. Jane Jeong Trenka's The Language of Blood, an autobiographical novel based on her experiences as a transnational adoptee, represents a Korean adopted girl's personal, cultural, and racial conflict within her white adoptive family, and questions the image of benevolent white mother and the myth of multiculturalism. The novel further represents Jane's return to Korea to find out her true identity, and shows Jane's disappointment and alienation in her birth country due to her ignorance of language and culture. Returning to USA again, and trying to be reconciled with her American mother, Jane shows the promise of accepting her new identity capable of transcending the borders, and thus, the possibility of enlarging the category of belonging.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.22
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• pp.317-344
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• 2014

There are many modern elements in religions appeared in the early Korean modern era. From the nationalism perspective, most religions had tendencies toward anti-feudalism and anti-foreign power. Pak Eun Sik(朴殷植) emphasized the importance to explain those religions as the National Religion in his writing 《Korea Painful History(韓國痛史)》. That is, he realized those as one of Korean spirits or souls keeping Korean identities like the Jew's Judaism or the Turk's Islam. In the paper, I try to analyze religions on Kang Jeung San(姜甑山) with Daesoonjinri-hoe as the central figure from Pak's perspective. In the early Korean modern era when Kang went his own the Savior way, Korea and its society got into uncontrollable confusion because of strong demands both of a feudal-state breaking and against pillaging foreign-power especially Japan. For all countries of the world, it is difficult to change from a feudal state into the modern nation state to keep existing society order. Because the reformation under old social systems means the incomplete reformation. So in this era new religions showed the neglected class of people the vision of new society. Meanwhile Korean society try to become a modern state, and now became a recognized modern state in international society. But it is still insufficient to debate on groups and their roles for Korea modernity in that time especially new religions. Since Korea independence, new religions including Daesoonjinrihoe have not receive good reviews because of a certain religion group expansion and the government's regulation and control toward new religions. Till today, I think, Independence Movement as well as reform of modern awareness have not relatively receive reasonable reviews. So I hope to serve as a momentum that in early Korea modern era new religions receive reasonable and positive reviews.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2010

This study is to discuss the content of Posangkimun on the whole and to report the understanding of Seokgok Lee Gyujoon on western civilization. Through the overall analysis of Posangkimun, it is found the following facts: 1. Posangkimun aroused interest of academic circles as it covered theories of western civilization. Most of the introduction to western civilization contained in the book is related to astronomy and geography. Seokgok criticized all the western theories on revolution of the earth, astronomy, continents and oceans on the ground that these theories were not congruous with the teaching of the Oriental sages. 2. Seokgok found the reasons why the West had led the East from 'nationalism' of the West. The nationalism mentioned here were more similar to 'democracy' in modern sense, or rather 'democratism'. What is specially noteworthy is that he did not find the reasons of western advancement from the spiritual issues not from the machine civilization. In this way, Seokgok could avoid the fallacy of throwing away traditional ideas to concentrate in western machine civilization. 3. The content of Posangkimun shows that Seokgok was a person with a very conservative view. Notwithstanding his inclination, he had good knowledge about western theories, most of which were gathered from newspapers and magazines at that time. It means that newspapers and magazines should be treated with more importance when studying Korean intellectuals in late Joseon period or during the time of Japanese forced occupation.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.24_1
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• pp.255-289
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• 2014

This study's aim is to identify modern and post-modern values and transnationalism embodied in Daesoon Thought and to seek for the new value to overcome irrationality of modern values in this society we live in. Several previous studies discussed about these issues, but most of them studied them on the basis of Korean new religions or Jeungsangyo, or in sociological theory perspective. Therefore, this study focused on Daesoon Thought encompassing ideological perspective as well as historical perspective of Daesoonjinrihoe. As for nationalism, while Eastern learning(Dong-Hak) is prone to ethnocentricity, Daesoon Thought shows trans-ethnic perspective. As for historical perspectivel, Mugeuikdo, a precursor to Daesoonjinrihoe showed non-relationship with any politics as contrasted with other new korean religious movement at that time. As for aspects of modern values, 3 perspectives (political system, social system, abolition of premodern values) were discussed. As for political system perspective, while Eastern learning advocates democratic modernity but accepted monarchy, Jeungsan denied monarchy. And While western political philosophy advocated rationality-based absolute person, Daesoon Thought proposes ideal human who can have political power and do religious indoctrination all together. As for social system perspective, while western humanism is based on all of he people's equity in front of God, Eastern learning on humans are Heaven (人乃天), Daesoon Thought is based on Injon thought(人尊思想) which encompasses spiritual world, human world and all of the universe. Daesoon Thought also proposes abolition of discrimination by gender, social position. As for abolition of premodern values, Daesoon Thought critics pre-modern formalism and advocate acceptance of other nations' culture, pragmatism, and humanism. As presented above, Daesoon Thought has not only modern values but also aspects of post-modernity and transnationalism. In the future, further studies are needed which tackle these issues and search for new values of Daesoon Thought which can overcome limitation of modern values.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.48
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• pp.127-170
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• 2012

The primary concerns of this thesis simply stems from the curiosity of how the playwright Kim Jihoon lookouts a peculiar change of our spiritual, physical world. His lately work, , deals with a tribe of mixed blood who are either not shared by, or excluded from a national system, putting the writer's emphasis on some hints that informs us his outlook on the world. And these hints summon the following doubts. What is the significance of constituting a national community in this age, particularly in the time when the end of national people is frequently being referred? In strengthening national compositions, can the national identity be a pivotal element and central mechanism? Can the identity be able to exercise the hegemonic functions containing the political rights of decisions? Does the identity still dominate the various collective bodies such as genders, races, regions, professions, generations and classes etc? Finally, as the manifests, can the national identity be a desirable alternative that may cease both confusions and disorders evoked by the collision of heterogeneity? To find the answer, the study starts from a search for the origin of the complexities immanent in the mixed blood. The terror syndrome and the ambiguous identity, both residing outside the border of normality, will characterise the origin. Then I will focus both on the tribe's desperation itself and their present hope, in order. A myth of creating a country, making history and nationalism, all these are converged in their resistant ideology. This thesis ends with no clear conclusion, and yet suggesting the three presumptions the text insinuates: nomadism, a new barbarism, and the heterogeneity that awaits for our re-reading, and hoping that the three will lead the 'being-to-come' of the tribe, as an alternative of their future.