Inequality In Korea Research Articles

The social commentary of Squid Game: reflections on Korean art, space and inequality

This paper discusses how communal spaces of childhood activity in Korea are reimagined in the drama Squid Game as part of a social commentary on class and economy. Many spaces shown in Squid Game are nostalgic representations of common Korean playgrounds, parks, and urban neighborhoods. In the show, however, these spaces of delightful memory are transformed into gory places where the literalized violence of neoliberal capitalism plays out. I argue that the creators of the show participate in a history of understanding communal spaces as focal points of social structure and expression that have been crucial in Korea since the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). The use of such spaces over centuries, including their reenvisioning in modern media, illustrates how political and economic relationships are intimately tied to constructions and perceptions of space. Through a detailed structural, visual, and semiotic analysis of the communal spaces of historical and modern urban Korea, and a comparison with the spaces in Squid Game, I argue that social spaces are intimately tied to social hierarchies and the long history of inequality in Korea.

The South Korean chaebol and myths of green growth: Coloniality and Argentinian lithium production

Observers have celebrated the drive by multinational corporations to develop lithium-ion batteries as a positive step in mitigating climate change. Much of this hype, however, has resulted from corporate leaders propagating green growth narratives that trumpet the capacity of electric cars to initiate an energy transition. Against this backdrop, the paper describes and analyzes significant contradictions of green growth. The South Korean (hereafter, Korea) ‘chaebol’ (enormous, family-owned conglomerates) have deployed green growth myths to build global value chains that transform lithium into batteries that can electrify transportation. I will show how these growth strategies simultaneously produce domestic inequality in Korea and colonial inequities in Argentina, where a large proportion of the world's reserves of lithium lie. Since the 1990s, the chaebol have developed new strategies of accumulation based on a shift toward building global value chains and away from domestic economic growth and expanding employment. The growing electric vehicle industry represents a continuation of these corporate strategies, directing investments to flow abroad in ways that contract domestic employment. These technological innovations require lithium, prompting the chaebols to move decisively to establish control over a significant share of lithium production in Argentina. In seeking to create new pools of value within the much-hyped green transition, these activities have inflicted significant environmental degradation. Moreover, the coloniality of corporate relations with local labor dramatizes how the green transition promised by electric vehicles unevenly distributes the risks and benefits between those parts of the world producing green energy and the industrialized countries consuming it.

Double-Edged Sword? The Impact of Online Misogyny on Female College Students' Digital Activism in the Post-COVID-19 Era.

Using original surveys to investigate how online gender-based harassment marginalizes or empowers female college students, we found increased exposure to misogyny polarizes digital participation. Women aware of gender inequality in Korea encountering online hate speech were more inclined to engage in online movements, unlike women who did not recognize such inequality. This highlights distinct opportunities in relation to digital activism, showing online hate speech can sometimes be a catalyst for online political participation. This study expands current research on digital protest, highlighting the political ramifications of empowering women in the critical context of their unequal democratic rights outside the West.

Aging and the rise in bottom income inequality in Korea

Korea is one of the world’s fastest-aging societies, with poverty and low income prevalent among the elderly population. Unlike other advanced economies, where top income inequality has driven the rise in income inequality, fluctuations in income inequality in Korea in recent decades have been dominated by changes in the bottom half of the income distribution. Using data from the 1998–2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the 2012–2019 Survey of Household Finances and Living Conditions, this study explores the extent to which population aging is associated with changes in the top (P90P50) and bottom (P50P10) income inequalities by applying recentered influence function decomposition technique. Our results indicate that population aging, or the compositional change in age distribution, is the largest contributor to the rise in bottom income inequality during the 21st century. Other factors, including the composition and rate effects of education, rate effect of age, and structural changes in labor markets, account for, at most, a small portion of the changes. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The long-run causal effects of single-sex schooling on work-related outcomes in South Korea

This study explores the lasting impact of single-sex versus coeducational high schools on gender disparities in adult life in South Korea, which is a country characterized by marked gender inequality. Leveraging Seoul’s unique policy of randomly assigning students to high schools, we examine how school type influences attainment of bachelor’s degrees, working full time, and attitudes towards competition, risk taking, and working mothers. Our findings reveal that adult women in their 30s and 40s from all-girls high schools are more likely to earn at least a bachelor’s degree, work full time, enjoy competition, take risks, and hold more positive attitudes towards working mothers compared to those from coeducational high schools. The effects of all-boys schools are not statistically significant across most outcomes. Our research highlights the potential of single-sex schooling, particularly all-girls schools, to help address gender inequality in Korea. This study fills a gap in the research by looking at the long-term impacts of single-sex high-school education on six work-related outcomes and suggests that such schools can help reduce gender disparities. Further research is needed to understand the specific mechanisms through which single-sex schooling influences these outcomes.

Subjective inequality in South Korea: Perception, belief, and discontent

This study examines subjective inequality in South Korea, stressing the multi-dimensional and domain-specific nature of subjective inequality with its broader socio-political implications. Based on a comprehensive survey of current inequalities in Korea, three dimensions of subjective inequality (perception, belief, and discontent) are explored over two principal domains of inequality (opportunities and outcomes). In particular, the new measure of subjective inequality, inequality discontent, is first developed and proposed in this study. The results show that Koreans perceive the level of outcome inequalities (income and wealth) as higher than opportunity inequalities (education and employment), but interestingly, they also believe that inequality of outcomes should be higher than that of opportunities. The level of discontent, however, was found to be equally high across all domains and areas. The utility of discontent as a new concept of subjective inequality is empirically tested against regression analysis of redistributive government interventions. This emphasis on the multi-dimensional and domain-specific understanding of inequalities better elucidates the public’s reactions to socioeconomic inequalities and enables the development of more appropriate inequality policies in Korea and beyond.

The Dual Labor Market and Workers' Health Inequality in South Korea.

We investigated how worker health inequality is potentially linked to the dual labor market in South Korea. Using the data from the fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey, we analyzed the data from 21,088 paid workers. We used logistic regression analyses to assess whether employment type or company size had a significant effect on workers' physical and mental health and work-related injuries. Workers' health status was significantly associated with employment type and company size. Nonstandard workers had higher rates of musculoskeletal diseases or injuries, and their self-rated health and psychological well-being were lower than standard workers. Company size showed a significant correlation only for work-related injuries. The structure of inequality in Korea's labor market according to employment type and company size seems to be affecting the health and safety of workers.

The militarized workplace: How organizational culture perpetuates gender inequality in Korea

AbstractThis study advances our understandings of gender inequality in organizations by examining the experiences of young women who leave their jobs even in the absence of family responsibilities. Based on 29 in‐depth interviews with young women who left full‐time employment at large Korean firms early in their careers, complemented by interviews with 16 men who also resigned from these companies, I find that women's experiences and decisions to quit are critically shaped by what I term militarized workplace culture and practices. The militarized workplace is a work organization where core military values and mechanisms have been integrated and are reproduced to such an extent that organizational culture is saturated with military discipline. Within the militarized workplace, rigid hierarchies and male‐only informal networks marginalize and exclude women, and norms of overwork and complete availability undermine women's aspirations of long‐term employment. By demonstrating the roles that male conscription and the military play in shaping organizational culture and its gendered outcomes, these findings provide insight into how external institutions operate as a source of gender inequality at the organizational level.

종교 간 대화 준비도 척도(K-REDIT)의 타당화

Interreligious Dialogue is needed to reduce prejudice and conflicts in Korean society as a multi-religious society. This study examined validated the Korean version of the Readiness to Engage in Interreligious Dialogue Test(REDIT) that measures readiness to engage in dialogue on religious topics and to understand other religious affiliations. Using exploratory factor analysis with 254 participants, it was found that a three factors(curiosity on religious topics, attitude towards mutual understanding, emotion involvement) with 25 items. Confirmatory factor analysis conducted with 245 participants and a three factor model has acceptable model fit. Further, associations with other variables supported criterion, convergent, predictive validity of the K-REDIT. The incremental validity was also supported. The K-REDIT can contribute to address incidents of religious discrimination and inequality in Korea. It has an implication that it provides information on what characteristics are needed as a factor to prepare for dialogue between religions. Finally, there is a limitation in that the possibility of generalization should be increased through sampling including various age groups.

Has Globalization Mitigated Regional Income Inequality? : Evidence from Korea

Purpose This study aims to analyze the effect of globalization on alleviating income inequality in Korea by applying the variables of GRDP per capita, FDI, Trade Openness, and Human Capital during the period of 1998-2017 at regional level, not at the national level. Design/Methodology/Approach This study has applied the quantile regression model to analyze the heterogeneous effects of regions with notably large or small regional income disparity, not an OLS model that analyzes the average influence of globalization on the income inequality between regions. Findings The results of this study are as follows. First, the relationship between regional growth and income inequality in Korea’s globalization existed in parallel with Kuznets hypothesis and Baro’s hypothesis. Next, exogenous factors such as FDI and Trade Openness showed the effect of softening the income gap only for some income quintiles in specific regions. Finally, human capital served as a factor that exacerbated income inequality, excluding some income quintiles of the southeastern region. Research Implications The regional income gap should be alleviated by not only expanding the market value but also creating new regional demand by discovering industries with a large ripple effect from globalization and items with a comparative advantage, and fostering high-skilled labor that can absorb externalities.

Spatial distribution of neighborhood-level housing prices and its association with all-cause mortality in Seoul, Korea (2013–2018): A spatial panel data analysis

Housing prices are known to be a relevant indicator of the socioeconomic position of the neighborhood. In a society where the market system mainly drives housing prices, residents' spatial patterning is formulated according to their socioeconomic position. Dividing the 2013–2018 entire study period into three periods, we explored the spatial distribution of housing prices and all-cause mortality and their association in Seoul, the country's capital city. The government authorities' data and 2015 census data were used for the study. We mapped the spatial distribution of housing prices and all-cause mortality and investigated the changes in distribution. We conducted a pooled ordinary least square (OLS) and spatial panel regression analysis to estimate housing prices elasticity of all-cause mortality. We also explored the possible mediating role of housing prices on the educational composition's effect on all-cause mortality. We found the common trends of increasing spatial patterning of housing prices and all-cause mortality. The magnitude of spatial patterning was far greater in housing prices than all-cause mortality. A pooled OLS regression analysis found that a 1% increase in housing price was associated with a 0.11% reduction in all-cause mortality after controlling the explanatory variables. Attenuation in the regression coefficient's magnitude was found after adding the neighborhood's educational composition to the model. As a result of spatial panel analysis, we found a direction and scale similar to the housing price elasticity of all-cause mortality in the final pooled OLS model. The results suggested that spatial health inequality in Korea's urban space mainly stems from socioeconomic inequality.

Trade openness and horizontal agricultural income inequality in Korea: focusing on sectoral income differences

In this study, we investigate the impact of agricultural trade openness on horizontal agricultural income inequality in South Korea during the period 1993–2018 using the Kuznets curve hypothesis of the openness-income inequality nexus and autoregressive distributed lag model. We find an inverted-U relationship between agricultural openness and horizontal agricultural income inequality. Further, our results indicate that financial development reduces income inequality within the sub-sectors of agriculture in the country. From these results, the inverted-U relationship between agricultural openness and income inequality should be monitored, and the agricultural sector should be provided with financial support to sustain domestic agricultural production to buffer price volatilities attributed to world agricultural supply shocks.

1092Questioning health inequality as policy agenda in Korea: using Luke’s three-dimensional theory of power

Abstract Focus of Presentation Health inequality is an important public health concern in Korea. However, policies to reduce health inequalities still falls behind. This research focus on political agenda making process of health inequality. To achieve this aim, we utilized Lukes’ three-dimensional theory of power to explain current state of ‘health inequality’ as political agenda in South Korea. Findings We conducted 12 in-depth interviews with 6 policymakers and 6 practitioners, and focus-group interview with 5 researchers in 2016. From the qualitative analysis, we constructed 3 main themes. First theme, the perception, participants’ perspective on health inequality varied widely. Some participants assumed health inequality in Korea as an inevitable social condition, not even a problem to be tackled. Despite differing views on the condition, most participants attributed health inequality as result of accumulated result of socio-economic inequality. Second theme, the barriers, many claimed health inequality too abstract, complex, and ambiguous concept to be politicized. Policy actors saw current political apathy to paucity of empirical evidence, which was the complete opposite to the researchers. Third theme, the supression, was analyzed using luke's theory of power. On first dimension, the pluralistic power, conservative government has been marginalizing overal inequality issue. On second dimension, two major obstacles of growth-first policy and result-ased management of bureaucratic organization were found. On third dimension, the governmentality, 3 mechanisms that suppress health inequality were found. Those were medicalization of health, neoliberal discourse that individualize health as personal asset, and policy monopoly by 'health insurance' that absorbe every health-related issue. Conclusions/Implications In conclusion, we derived five propositions for making health inequality a policy agenda in Korea. Strong political leadership to tackle structrual inequality is needed, more decentralized, democratic governance system should be founded, intersectoral approach and comprehensive intervention for health inequality should be implemented, alternative health regime to reorganized current medicalization of health should suffuse, finally, more knowledge and experience to denaturalize health inequality should be followed. Key messages To tackle health inequality, power that supress health equity becoming policy agenda should be anlalized.

Analysis of factors contributing to occupational health inequality in Korea: a cross-sectional study using nationally representative survey data

BackgroundDespite the consensus that higher occupational classes tend to have better health and lower mortality rates, one study has reported reversed occupational gradients in mortality rates among Korean men after the economic crisis in the late 2000s. To examine these patterns of health inequality in more detail, we investigated the tendency of occupational gradients in socioeconomic position and multiple pathway indicators known to affect mortality in Korea.MethodsWe used data from 4176 men aged 35–64 in Korea derived from the 2007–2009 and 2013–2015 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. We compared the age-standardized prevalence and age-adjusted mean values of each contributing factor to health inequality among occupational groups, which are divided into upper non-manual workers, lower non-manual workers, manual workers, and others. Contributing factors included childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position indicators, biological risk factors, health behaviors, psychosocial factors, and work environment.ResultsUpper non-manual workers had prominently higher levels of education, income, parental education, and economic activity than lower non-manual and manual workers. The rates of smoking and high-risk alcohol consumption were lower, and the rate of weight control activities was higher, in the non-manual classes. Further, the rates of depression and suicidal ideation were lower, and perceptions of the work environment were more favorable, among non-manual workers than among their manual counterparts.ConclusionsWe detected occupational inequality in a wide range of socioeconomic positions and pathway indicators in Korea with consistently favorable patterns for upper non-manual workers. These occupational gradients do not support the previously reported reversed pattern of higher mortality rates in non-manual groups versus in the manual job class in Korea.

Inequality in Korea in the 21st century

Inequality in Korea in the 21st century

Monetary policy and income inequality in Korea

This paper analyzes the relationships between monetary policy and income inequality in Korea. We calculate Gini coefficient for various income range using data from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey and then estimate a block-exogeneity VAR representing Korean and US economies to examine the effects of monetary policies on income inequality. The results show that following a one-standard deviation contractionary (expansionary) monetary policy shock, market income Gini coefficient increases (decreases) significantly after one year, reaching its peak to 0.0014 (0.14%p) while GDP and CPI decrease (increase) significantly by 0.48% and 0.15%, respectively. The contributions of monetary policy shocks to income inequality are found to be small as shown by forecast error variance and historical decompositions. In addition, earnings heterogeneity channel is most important among various channels through which monetary policy affects income inequality. Finally, a counterfactual analysis implies that if Bank of Korea held the call rate constant at 5.13% from 2008:Q3 and thereafter, the average of market income Gini coefficient would be higher by 0.009 (0.9%p) during 2008:Q4–2015:Q1 under the assumption of static expectations.

자산가격 변화가 경제적 불평등과 대외경제 변수에 미치는 영향 분석 (Analysis of the Effects of Asset Price Changes on Economic Inequality and External Economic Variables)

자산가격 변화가 경제적 불평등과 대외경제 변수에 미치는 영향 분석 (Analysis of the Effects of Asset Price Changes on Economic Inequality and External Economic Variables)

An Exploratory Study of Health Inequality Discourse Using Korean Newspaper Articles: A Topic Modeling Approach.

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the health inequality discourse in the Korean press by analyzing newspaper articles using a relatively new content analysis technique.MethodsThis study used the search term “health inequality” to collect articles containing that term that were published between 2000 and 2018. The collected articles went through pre-processing and topic modeling, and the contents and temporal trends of the extracted topics were analyzed.ResultsA total of 1038 articles were identified, and 5 topics were extracted. As the number of studies on health inequality has increased over the past 2 decades, so too has the number of news articles regarding health inequality. The extracted topics were public health policies, social inequalities in health, inequality as a social problem, healthcare policies, and regional health gaps. The total number of occurrences of each topic increased every year, and the trend observed for each theme was influenced by events related to its contents, such as elections. Finally, the frequency of appearance of each topic differed depending on the type of news source.ConclusionsThe results of this study can be used as preliminary data for future attempts to address health inequality in Korea. To make addressing health inequality part of the public agenda, the media’s perspective and discourse regarding health inequality should be monitored to facilitate further strategic action.

Perceived inequality and modes of political participation in South Korea

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the individual perceptions on income inequality and the inequality of opportunities affect two different modes of political participation, institutional and non-institutional, in South Korea. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzes the Korean General Social Survey 2009 and 2014 and estimates logit and OLS models. Findings The authors find that neither the perceived inequality of income distribution nor the perceived inequality of opportunities affects the likelihood of individuals’ vote participation. The authors, however, find that the perceptions of inequality, both in terms of outcomes and opportunities affect citizens’ engagement in non-institutional forms of political participation. Originality/value This study provides a new discussion point about the political consequences of inequality in Korea. This paper distinguishes and analyzes the relative importance of perceived inequality of the outcomes and opportunities in democratic engagements. By considering various types of participation, institutional and non-institutional, this study contributes to deepen our understanding of the factors that drive citizens’ democratic political engagements.

Household Income Inequality in Korea and the Role of Labour Income

이 논문은 가계금융·복지조사의 원자료를 이용하여 가계의 소득불평등에 대한 근로소득의 역할을 살펴보는데 그 목적이 있다. 이 논문에서는 가계금융·복지조사의 금융자산과 부동산에 대한 자료를 이용하여 재산소득을 보정하였다. 재산소득을 보정한 후 가계소득 불평등에 대한 소득원별 기여도를 분석한 결과 근로소득이 전체가계의 소득불평등에서 상대적으로 가장 중요한 역할을 하는 것으로 나타났지만 가계동향조사를 이용한 기존연구에 비해 근로소득의 기여도는 상대적으로 작고 사업소득과 재산소득의 기여도는 더 큰 것으로 분석되었다. 특히 재산소득의 기여도는 11-12% 정도로 가계동향조사를 이용한 기존연구에 비해 상당히 높은 것으로 나타났다. 또한 근로소득의 기여도는 2012년 이후 증가하는 추세인데 비해 사업소득의 기여도는 감소추세인 것으로 나타났다. 한편 가계소득 불평등에 대한 각 소득원의 기여도는 소득계층에 따라 다르게 나타났다. 하위 90% 소득 집단의 경우 근로소득 불평등이 소득 불평등의 대부분을 설명하는 반면, 상위 10% 소득 집단에서는 사업소득과 재산소득이 중요한 역할을 한다. 특히 상위 집단의 소득불평등에 대한 사업소득의 기여도는 감소추세이지만 재산소득의 기여도는 고소득계층 일수록 크고 증가하는 추세인 것으로 나타났다.The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role of the labour income in explaining the household income inequality in Korea. We use the households panel data from the Households Finance and Welfare Survey from 2012 to 2016. Before decomposing the household income inequality in accordance with the income components, we estimate the households finance and rental income using the household finance and property assets in the Households Finance and Welfare Survey in order to supplement the under-reported household property income. We show that the labour income plays the biggest role in the households income inequality in Korea. In particular, the contribution of the labour income is getting larger since 2012. The role of the second contributor, the business income, to the households income inequality is getting smaller. We also find that the property income accounts for about 11-12 percent of the household income inequality. The extent of the property income contribution is much higher than the findings from the previous researches. In particular, we show that the household income inequality is mainly associated with the labour income for the lower income group. In contrast, we find that the business and property incomes play more important role in explaining the household income inequality for the higher income group, and the role of the property income is getting more important than the role of the business income.