Korean Government (korean + government)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Politics of Scale and the Globalization of the South Korean Automobile Industry

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2003
Bae-Gyoon Park
Abstract: This article explains the liberalization and globalization of the South Korean automobile industry, with an emphasis on the multiscalar processes of globalization. In particular, it explores the processes by which the South Korean government shifted its policy for the automobile industry, from a nationalist and protectionist orientation toward liberalization in the late 1990s, which, in turn, attracted inward investments from foreign automakers and facilitated the globalization of the nation's automobile market. While exploring the roles of diverse actors and forces,operating at various geographic scales,in these processes, I placed more analytical weight on examining the ways in which contestation between national and local forces contributed to the government's liberalization policy. I argue that the globalization of the South Korean automobile industry in recent years was not only an outcome of the globalizing strategies of foreign automakers, but also was facilitated by an institutional fix by the nation-state (particularly the liberalization of policy) to a regulatory deficit, which stemmed from the national-local tension with respect to a state-led economic restructuring project. [source]


Economic crisis and social policy reform in Korea

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 2 2001
Soonman Kwon
The economic crisis that broke out in Korea in December 1997 has had a chilling impact on social development in the country. Today unemployment is the highest that Korea has experienced in the past thirty years. This paper aims to examine the impact of the economic crisis on social development and the role of public policy to mitigate the problems caused by the crisis. The economic crisis has hit vulnerable groups harder, increased the proportion of part-time and daily workers, and reversed the trend of steady improvement of income distribution. The economic crisis along with the trend of aging population, globalization, and competition calls for an expanded role of social policy, which the Korean government has neglected for a long time. The main targets of social policy reform in Korea include the expansion of government programs and safety nets for the unemployed and redesigning the national pension and health insurance scheme to provide adequate income security as well as to improve the system sustainability. [source]


A Comparative Analysis of President Clinton and Bush's Handling of the North Korean Nuclear Weapons Program: Power and Strategy,

PACIFIC FOCUS, Issue 1 2004
Ilsu Kim
The purposes of this paper are: 1) to examine and analyze how the two presidents' policy goals in dealing with North Korea actually materialized; 2) to illustrate how these two Presidents implement their policy goals toward North Korea; 3) to discuss the Congressional responses to the president's policy goals toward North Korea; and 4) to provide comparative analysis of the two presidents' handling of North Korea. This study shows that different Presidents have dealt with North Korean issues in different ways. Two such presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, tried at the beginning of their terms as president to ignore the brewing problems in North Korea. However, both were forced to solve the North's nuclear issues early on in their respective administrations. Their decisions in dealing with North Korean nuclear capabilities help to define their early reputations as foreign policy makers. Yet, the domestic as well as international contexts that President Clinton and Bush faced were somewhat different. President Clinton maintains that the North's nuclear crisis arose from North Korea's security fears: Abandoned by its two Cold War patrons, economically bankrupt, and internationally isolated, the North Korean government saw the pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as the only path to survival and security for their regime. In this regard, Clinton's actual efforts to resolve the issues surrounding the North's nuclear program appeared ambiguous and inconsistent. This led to the temporary suspension of the North's nuclear ambitions through an Agreed Framework. However, President Bush stuck to more of a hardnosed approach. He continues to demand a complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of the nuclear program first, before any provision of economic or humanitarian assistance is extended toward North Korea. Bush favors multilateral negotiations, which leads the DPRK to feel more isolated than before. Although the second six-party talks ended without a major breakthrough, it seems that all parties except the North think the meeting was successful in terms of lowering tensions in Korea. This case study demonstrates several observable features that characterize the president's role in shaping North Korean policy. A president who wants to take a new approach to some element of U.S. policy can be caught between the diplomat's desire for flexibility and the power of domestic political forces. The president can achieve success, but only if the new direction in policy finds acceptance on Capitol Hill. [source]


The Role of Government in the Expansion of the Contingent Workforce

ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2010
Jiyoung Kim
This article examines the government's role in expansion of the contingent workforce in South Korea. I argue that the government played a determining role in transforming the South Korean labor market and increasing the number of contingent workers. Through the active adoption of a flexible labor market policy as a part of its globalization movement, the South Korean government directly contributed to a rise in contingent work. Also, the South Korean government indirectly supported the expanded use of non-regular workers through its tacit approval of companies' illegal use of contingent workers. The existing literature on contingent workers has focused primarily on economic factors. This case study highlights the need to include the role of government as an important cause of the growth of the contingent workforce. [source]


Ageing Society Issues in Korea,

ASIAN SOCIAL WORK AND POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009
Sung-Jae Choi
Korean society is facing unprecedentedly higher population ageing, particularly in the first half of the 21st century. The implications of population ageing have a much wider effect than the welfare of the elderly. From a broader and long-term perspective, understanding population ageing may require a new paradigm. Korea has attempted to model its policies for ageing society on those of advanced welfare states, but as these no longer seem viable, Korean policy-makers are searching for more effective and efficient measures to deal with its rapid ageing population. Reflecting a broader and long-term perspective, the Korean government recently produced a comprehensive national policy plan to deal with the consequences of rapid population ageing. This article outlines the phenomenon of population ageing in Korea and the recent development of national policies for population ageing, describing the Korean comprehensive national policy plan for responding to it and examining major issues and problems related to developing and implementing the plan. This article finally suggests a new, age-integrated social system approach to an ageing society. [source]