Korean Case Research Articles

Heat vulnerability and spatial equity of cooling center: Planning implications from the Korean case

Over the past decade, the number of patients with heat-related illnesses has steeply increased in South Korea. South Korea's main heat adaptation planning revolves around providing cooling shelters, mostly in the form of elderly centers, to those who cannot afford adequate cooling resources. While implementing such a policy is important, it is also important to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies to derive useful planning implications for future heat adaptation planning. Controlling for the spatial autocorrelation of residuals using the Generalized Least Squares (GLS), we found that the cooling centers in Seoul are overall well-distributed which was attributable to the local heat response policies. However, cooling shelters have been mostly designated in senior shelters lacking mainstreamed discussion that heat vulnerability can be influenced by much diverse factors than age.

Post-conflict economic recovery and land policy in South Korea between 1948 and the early 1960 s

A multiplicity of issues impact upon post-conflict economic recovery, one of which is land policy. Depending on the policy adopted, it could promote post-conflict economic growth, but it could also hinder the economy. This study reviews post-conflict economics and land conceptually and analyses the effect of land policy on post-conflict economic recovery in South Korea. Conceptually, post-conflict economy and land are interrelated in terms of security of land tenure, the land market, land (taxation) reform and revenue. Land tenure is secured through land reform in post-conflict situations. Security of land tenure stabilises and revitalises the land market, which leads to an increase in land tax. In addition, land taxation reform provokes an increase in land tax, and land tenure needs to be secured to maximise land tax collection through land taxation reform. The revenue collected through revitalisation of the land market and land taxation reform is utilised to stimulate post-conflict economic recovery. However, the South Korean case is not completely in line with the conceptual relationship. First, land taxation reform in South Korea resulted in an increase in public revenue, and the government was able to spend this revenue in supporting the war and partially stimulating post-conflict economic recovery. On the other hand, land tax reform could promote post-conflict economic recovery at the national level, while at the same time causing poverty at the individual level. Second, the South Korean case suggests that the foundation for the land market was laid during the post-conflict period and an increase in revenue through the revitalisation of the land market mainly contributed to economic development after the post-conflict period. In South Korea, land taxation reform had been more important than the land market for post-conflict economic recovery.

The reporting quality of acupuncture-related traumatic adverse events: a systematic review of case studies in Korea

BackgroundAcupuncture is known for a harmless treatment when administered by well-trained clinicians. However, multiple case reports of traumatic adverse events (AEs) related to acupuncture treatments continue to be published in literature. In this review, we evaluated the reporting quality and conducted causality assessments of case studies that have reported acupuncture-related traumatic AEs in Korea.MethodsEight databases were searched from their inception to January 2024. Only Korean case studies that reported traumatic AEs following acupuncture procedures were included without any language restrictions. Reporting quality was evaluated based on patient characteristics, AEs, and acupuncture practice. Causality was assessed using the modified WHO-UMC causality criteria.ResultsTwenty-eight studies were included from a total of 1,154 identified studies. The quality of reporting in the included studies was low overall. While the descriptions of patient characteristics and AEs were relatively well detailed, most information on acupuncture practice was not reported at all. During the causality assessment, only three (10.7%) studies were judged to be “certain”. Twelve (42.9%) studies were “unassessable” because they inadequately described the information necessary for decision-making. It was practically difficult to establish the causality between acupuncture and AEs, as well as the appropriateness of acupuncture practice.ConclusionsInsufficient and inappropriate reporting was observed in most case studies reporting acupuncture-related traumatic AEs in Korea. To overcome these limitations, we have suggested tentative guidelines in the form of a set of items that should be reported by future authors who plan to publish case studies on acupuncture-related traumatic AEs in a clinical setting.

Meritocracy as an Ideology for Neoliberalism: A Korean Case

Meritocracy as an Ideology for Neoliberalism: A Korean Case

치료약과 강장제 사이에서

This paper illustrates how South Koreans encountered and adopted vitamin supplements in the 20th century and analyzes what is unique about the Korean case. Koreans were first introduced to vitamin supplements by Japanese pharmaceutical companies during the Japanese colonial period. As beriberi was not as prevalent in premodern and early modern Korea as in Japan and Southeast Asia, the advertising strategy of emphasizing the risk of deficiency was not as successful as in Japan. During the mid-to-late Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, vitamin supplement advertisements shifted their focus from the threat of beriberi to emphasizing potential benefits, such as recovery from fatigue and growth and development in children. This idea of vitamins as a “modern tonic” was so ingrained in the public that, although there was no demand as a remedy, the market for vitamin supplements in Korea kept growing in the age of economic development.

An industry’s international connectedness and knowledge-sourcing behavior: a study of the Korean case

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an industry’s connectedness to foreign countries on knowledge sourcing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine the research model through probit regression techniques to the 472,303-patent data across 16 industries derived from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.FindingsThe results suggest that international connectedness increases the accessibility of foreign knowledge and helps the accumulation of technological capability. Thus, this paper provides a better understanding that international connectedness can be critical for exploiting knowledge dispersed worldwide and influencing intra- and interindustry knowledge-sourcing behavior in the home country.Originality/valueWhile prior studies have mainly paid attention to the relationship between parents and subsidiaries in foreign countries for international knowledge sourcing, the authors attempt to analyze international and local knowledge sourcing with a broader set of knowledge sourcing channels at an aggregate level. By considering an industry’s export intensity and inward foreign direct investment, this study reveals specifically how the extent of an industry’s international connectedness influences knowledge sourcing from both abroad and locally.

Investigating Natural Disaster‐Related External Events at Nuclear Power Plants: Towards Climate Change Resilience

Climate change is causing rapid shifts in the intensity and frequency of natural disasters worldwide, which may have implications for the safety of nuclear power plants. As these natural disasters become more frequent and severe, their potential impact on nuclear facilities is expected to increase. Several instances of nuclear power plants being forced to shut down due to climate change have already been observed. The changing patterns of natural disasters can lead to alterations in external events affecting nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate how climate change could affect the safety and operations of nuclear power plants in order to establish protective measures and mitigation strategies. This study examined external events associated with climate change that could potentially impact nuclear power plants, and both Korean and international cases were summarized. Recommendations for future tasks were proposed based on these findings. Currently, there have been no significant reported cases where climate change has severely impacted the operations and safety of nuclear power plants. However, it is essential to undertake periodic evaluations, long‐term management, and further research to ensure the safety and continued operation of nuclear power plants in the face of climate change.

Dealing with the past and the path to transitional justice: A comparative analysis of South Korea and Albania

AbstractThis article compares the authoritarian regimes of early South Korea and Albania, identifying historical anecdotes of state authoritarianism that resulted in state‐led crimes and human rights violations. It identifies the historical connections between the establishment and maintenance of authoritarian regimes, as well as the consequences of such meticulous upkeep, by comparing and contrasting the efforts made in dealing with the past and lustration, as well as their significance for peace and stability. We compare the South Korean and Albanian cases from these perspectives to find similarities and differences. By comparing two different countries with similar authoritarian pasts, this article analyzes the efforts of both countries towards transitional justice, and unified rhetoric across the political spectrum for lustration and punishment of past crimes, and discovered that when it comes to practice, these laws tend to be unilateral and were strongly challenged in courts and used as political tools against ideological opponents.

A hybrid approach to FinP in the Left Periphery: the cases of Spanish and Korean

A hybrid approach to FinP in the Left Periphery: the cases of Spanish and Korean

A Korean case of CTCF related neurodevelopmental disorders

A Korean case of <i>CTCF</i> related neurodevelopmental disorders

로컬콘텐츠 기획자 뿌리내림 과정과 특성

This study explores the process of embeddedness and characteristics of local content planners, focusing on Chengdu City in China.&#x0D; To achive this, we first examined the contextual differences of local contents planners entering the two countries by referring to the Korean case, and then conducted a theoretical examination of the concept and characteristics of local content creators they create, and embeddedness for closer analysis. Based on this, we selected Caihong Street in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, as the research site and conducted field visits and in-depth interviews with local content planners who are active in the research site.&#x0D; As a result, we found that local content planners in the case area entered the area voluntarily due to low rent and the existence of a network of neighbors working in the same field, and that the locality of the area, which is distinct from other areas, is an attractive factor that attracts local contents planners.&#x0D; In the early stages of embeddedness, we found that informal networking with residents and building rapport with residents in terms of understanding the local culture and context are important, depending on the specific demand characteristics. The role of local content created in this phase is to express and visualize local 'everydayness', contributing to the formation of psychological attachments as well as physical connections with local residents. On the other hand, the local content created in the closeness stage of embeddedness contributed to the expansion of the creative community by building an organic environment of the local community by linking residents and external actors. However, local brand-oriented local content aimed at enhancing the image of the local area may be weighted more toward economic effects than social and cultural effects, and some public-related local content has a limited role in implementation due to the complexity of regulations and systems.&#x0D; This study aims to add meaning to the current debate on the potential of local creators in Korea, which is being actively discussed not only in China but also in Korea, by laying the academic foundation for the direction of policy support for sustainable fostering and support, and for maintaining an ecosystem for self-reliant and long-term activation of local content creators.

A Roadmap for Applying Digital Technology to Improve the Efficiency of Construction Supervision in Building Projects: Focusing on Korean Cases

Construction supervision is a key task that can confirm and inspect the project execution and support the creation of successful results. For the efficient performance of construction supervision, collecting various information necessary for the supervisor’s decision-making is a prerequisite, and the use of digital technology has recently been proposed as an alternative. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to present a roadmap for the step-by-step use of digital technology to improve the efficiency of construction supervision. This study was limited to the supervision of construction projects, which have a high proportion of contract volumes in the Korean construction industry and can directly affect people’s lives. This study reclassified Korea’s construction supervision works, collected data on the urgency and effectiveness of detailed works from various stakeholders, and derived a final roadmap using importance–performance analysis. The results of this study are expected to serve as basic guidelines that can be used when reviewing digital technologies that can be applied step by step to improve the efficiency of construction supervision work.

Policy agenda toward a hydrogen economy: Institutional and technological perspectives

The South Korean government aims to become a global leader in the hydrogen economy. However, policymakers and experts remain concerned about the gap between the institutional and technological perspectives. Based on socio-technical system theory, the transition to a hydrogen economy can be achieved through the co-evolution of both technology and institutions. Through expert surveys, this study explores core keywords and clusters using semantic network analysis. Consequently, four and six clusters are identified as vulnerable from technological and institutional perspectives, respectively. Overall, hydrogen-related institutions must develop and support the fast-growing hydrogen technologies. The South Korean case offers practical policy implications for the co-evolution of the socio-technical system toward a transition to a hydrogen economy.

Characteristics of heavy metals in road dust: An overview of South Korean cases

The urbanization and industrialization of our society necessitate the extension of road traffic systems. Road dust generated by road traffic is harmful to the human respiratory system. In particular, heavy metals adsorbed on road dust can pose substantial risks to human health owing to their toxicity, environmental longevity, and ability to accumulate in the human body. Although the evaluation of the concentration of heavy metals in road dust is essential for understanding their sources and risks to human health, there is a lack of comprehensive information on the heavy metal content in road dust in South Korea. In this review, sampling methods and analytical techniques for characterizing the contents of various heavy metals in road dust collected from different regions of South Korea are discussed. Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, As, and Hg are the most frequently found heavy metals in road dust, and their concentrations are strongly associated with the sampling locations (e.g., industrial vs. residential sites and rural vs. urban areas) and particle size of the road dust. Road dust samples collected from more industrialized regions tend to contain more heavy metals. Further, smaller dust particles are likely apt to contain more heavy metals. The application of non-destructive analytical techniques is also necessary for the accurate characterization of heavy metals in road dust.

Job insecurity, economic resources, and democratic backsliding: evidence from South Korea

ABSTRACT This study explores demand-side stories of democratic backsliding among citizens. We argue that individual job insecurity is associated with higher levels of support for strong leaders who are not committed to being subject to legislative checks and balances. Furthermore, we contend that this relationship is mitigated by higher asset levels and household income. In our analysis of Korea, we utilize data from the 2018 World Values Survey and the 2021 Korean General Social Survey. These results provide robust evidence for this hypothesis. Specifically, we find that assets as private alternatives to the welfare state moderate the effect of job insecurity on public support for undemocratic leaders. The findings from the Korean case have implications that can be generalized: enhancing job security and expanding public welfare provisions could bolster citizens’ democratic attitudes and behaviours.

From intercultural engagement to intercultural communicative competence: The case of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean

AbstractAs the objective of language teaching is shifting from producing so‐called “native‐like” speakers to fostering speakers competent in intercultural communication, it has become necessary to identify the kinds of learning resources that may be related to the learner's development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in today's context of globalization and technological innovation. Employing a mixed‐method approach with focus group interviews (n = 46) and a survey (n = 342), this study examines Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language learners' out‐of‐class intercultural experience and examines how interpersonal engagement and media usage are associated with the three dimensions of ICC: approach, analyze, and act. The study found that while both interpersonal interactions and media usage related to target language were positively associated with self‐reported gains in all three dimensions of ICC, media use consistently had a greater effect on ICC than interpersonal interactions. The implications of these findings for language educators are discussed.

Cultural Governance and New Forms of Governmentality Focus on the South Korean Case

The paper discusses the reasons behind the dominance of governance in contemporary societies. The techniques of government cannot be understood apart from a critical genealogy of governmentality. This article references Michel Foucault’s analysis of governmentality to analyze the role of governance in arts and cultural management. It argues that, following the governmental state described by Foucault, the contemporary governance state is defined by a new spectacle governmentality. The globalized context of this governmentality produces a simulacrum of governance that tends to substitute for actual outcomes. The South Korean case is used to illustrate this new form of ubiquitous cultural governance.

Inscriptional Repertoires and the Problem of Intra- versus Interlingual Translation in Traditional Korea

This article brings together a series of examples demonstrating the wide range of inscriptional practices in premodern Korea and the ways in which they force us to reconsider modern and Eurocentric notions of translation. The premodern inscriptional spectrum in Chosŏn Korea was not a simple binary of cosmopolitan orthodox Literary Sinitic versus vernacular Korean in the form of ŏnhae exegeses but was a range of inscriptional styles that included idu and kugyŏl. The ways in which texts were inscribed, reinscribed, and transliterated between these different inscriptional styles, as well as the ways in which Chosŏn literati themselves understood the notion of yŏk (譯, “translation”) challenge modern-day notions of translation, on the one hand, but also invite an understanding of them as rather more intralingual than interlingual. They also force us to ask whether LS was conceived as a “foreign” language for literate Koreans in Chosŏn. The premodern Korean cases forces us to add script and inscriptional repertoire (including notions of orthography, notational system, munch'e 文體, etc.) to the list of the main factors that influence intralingual translation.

독일어권 학습자를 위한 한국어 부사격 조사 ‘에’, ‘에서’, ‘(으)로’의 독일어 대응 표현 고찰

Objectives This study aims to present the educational direction of the Korean adverbial case markers ‘에’, ‘에서’ and ‘(으)로’ for German speaking Korean learners by examining their corresponding expressions in German.&#x0D; Methods In order to examine the various semantic functions of the Korean adverbial case markers ‘에’, ‘에서’ and ‘(으)로’, several dictionaries were consulted. They are based on the classification criteria and explored their corre-sponding expressions in German. While the Korean adverbial case markers ‘에’, ‘에서’ and ‘(으)로’ often have multi-ple corresponding German prepositions, the grammatical functions of the Korean adverbial case markers and German prepositions are different.&#x0D; Results The Korean adverbial case markers ‘에’, ‘에서’ and ‘(으)로’ are mostly matched with German prepositions, but due to differences in grammatical functions between Korean adverbial case markers and German preposi-tions, the actual structures and forms realized in sentences are different. It has also identified cases where they are realized not only as German prepositions but also as conjunctions and adverbs. A single preposition corre-sponds to one specific meaning function of the adverbial case markers, while it can correspond to two or more adverbial case markers, showing various patterns. In particular, the preposition ‘zu’ corresponds to multiple meaning functions of Korean adverbial case markers. Some of the German prepositions that correspond to the adverbial case marker ‘에’ combine with Korean nouns indicating place (direction) and time expressions. German adverbs corresponding to ‘에’ and ‘(으)로’ combine with Korean nouns and adjectives indicating place (direction).&#x0D; Conclusions In this study, considering the characteristics revealed through the correspondence between the Korean adverbial case markers ‘에’, ‘에서’ and ‘(으)로’ and their German corresponding expressions, it is important to teach and learn efficiently. In this regard, Korean instructors should guide German learners to understand the various meaning functions of adverbial case markers in different situations and contexts. Especially since adver-bial case markers can be realized not only as German prepositions but also as conjunctions, adverbs, and so on, education should be provided to prevent errors of corresponding expressions.

Public Support for Migrant Entrepreneurship: The Case of North Koreans in the Republic of Korea

Migrant entrepreneurship is viewed as a pathway to substantive social integration, one that makes host countries more prosperous in the process. Accordingly, scholars have studied the social context in which migrant entrepreneurs operate, and considered at length the range of policy options that governments can use to support their activities. Conversely, the issue of public attitudes to policies that support migrant entrepreneurship has been largely neglected. Leveraging the case of North Korean migrant entrepreneurs in South Korea, this article fills this gap in the literature by examining how the structure of government support within a broader “policy mix” for migrant entrepreneurship policies acts on public attitudes. Overall, it finds South Koreans are most supportive of migrant entrepreneurship policies endorsed and paid for by large companies through corporate taxation or loans to the individual, rather than the state, and which have a target goal of employment support for profitable migrant-run firms or joint ventures run by teams of natives and migrants. Notably, policies explicitly justified as tools to address discrimination actively discourage support. The specifics of the Korean case show that determinants of native hostility toward migrants apply to migrant entrepreneurship even when ethnic differences and many of the institutional barriers that apply in other cases do not exist, suggesting that ethnicity is not a major motivating factor; economic rationality and what is “good for South Korea” are.