Korean Cultural Context Research Articles

Shifting from top-down to bottom-up nationalism: an analysis of YouTube speeches from the 2016/17 candlelight revolution in South Korea

ABSTRACT While the ‘top-down’ variant of nationalism is engendered by elites and emphasizes loyalty to the state and ethnic solidarity, little is known about the ‘bottom-up’ variant, which focuses on people’s interest in the state’s and political leaders’ care for the masses. South Korea’s ‘Candlelight Revolution’ of 2016/17 ignited a national protest against the abuse of power by then-President Park Geun-Hye, the unfair distribution of wealth, and changes to Korean culture. This article explores grassroots’ expressions of bottom-up nationalism by analysing YouTube speeches from the Candlelight rallies. Protesters criticized the corruption and abuse of power by Korean leaders, which were seen to perpetuate the structure of injustice for decades. Some aspects of the Korean cultural contexts were politicized by national leaders, such as conservative leaders labelling their critics ‘commies’. By contesting the structure and culture of Korean society, protesters transformed themselves into social actors at the personal level and then called for long-term rather than temporary remedies at the societal level. By espousing ‘calculated nationalism’, protesters illustrated their interest in what they can get from the Korean nation-state, rather than what they can do to the state.

The structure of emotion regulation strategies among Korean adults

Emotion regulation is a fundamental process that involves monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional responses to achieve personal goals. Recently, a growing body of research has challenged the exclusive focus on individual emotion regulation strategies due to conceptual and empirical overlaps among them. This study explored the higher-order factor structure of emotion regulation strategies within the South Korean cultural context. Through a survey of 450 Korean adults and utilizing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we examined the structure of emotion regulation strategies. Our results indicate that a four-factor model fit the data best. Regarding maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, our study identified two higher-order factors: disengagement and cognitive perseverance strategies. Notably, we also found two higher-order factors of adaptive strategies in the South Korean context: acceptance-based regulation and effortful cognitive regulation factors. Through the examination of the fitness of the structure of emotion regulation strategies from a Western sample to a South Korean sample, this study adds to the body of research on emotion regulation, highlighting the significance of targeting higher-order emotion regulation factors in cognitive behavioral therapy.

South Korean Nurse Residency Program for New Graduates: A Posttest Study.

Turnover rates among newly graduated nurses are high, increasing the workload for other nurses and hampering organizational productivity. This study investigates the effects of a nurse residency program (NRP), examining clinical competence, job satisfaction, organizational socialization, turnover intention, and turnover rates. This study was conducted among newly employed graduate nurses in South Korea. Participants (N = 167) included nurses with less than 6 months of experience (NRP group, n = 52; control group, n = 115). The current results were measured 1 year after initiation of the NRP. The NRP group showed significantly lower turnover intention and turnover rates and substantially better clinical competence, job satisfaction, and organizational socialization. Even when applied in the unique South Korean cultural and medical context, the NRP improved job performance and satisfaction as well as organizational socialization and reduced turnover rates and turnover intention among new nurses. Therefore, a systematized NRP should be actively used when new nurses are onboarded. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2024;55(8):393-397.].

Cultural validation of situational DIAMONDS in South Korea

This study aimed to determine the cultural appropriateness of the DIAMONDS (Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, and Sociality) model as a situational taxonomy within the South Korean cultural context. Using a sample from the local population, we validated the Riverside Situational Q-Sort-8 (RSQ-8), designed to measure the DIAMONDS model. The study included 445 adult male and female participants aged 25–39 years. We gathered the data using two distinct methods, each subjected to separate scale-validation processes. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an acceptable model fit. We established convergent and criterion validity through correlations with the Situation Six Questionnaires and NEO Adult Personality Assessment System Short Form. We did not observe any differences in the factor structure between the two data collection methods. Our results support the applicability of the DIAMONDS model as a situational taxonomy in the South Korean cultural context. Finally, we considered the significance and limitations of this study.

AI in cultural production in the Korean cultural industries

By critically analyzing the convergence of AI and popular culture in the Korean cultural context, this article attempts to offer critical insights into the local cultural industries that vehemently work with AI and digital platforms. It examines the critical collaboration between popular culture and AI technology in cultural production, meaning it discusses the ways in which cultural creators develop AI-supported cultural programs, both systematically and textually. It maps out how Korean cultural industries firms have partnered with AI companies to determine the reasons why they pursue AI-supported cultural content. Finally, it discusses the critical understanding of AI-embedded popular culture in terms of creativity and audience reception.

Resilience of family caregivers of PwD in Korea: A scoping review

AbstractBackgroundFamily caregivers play a important role in living the journey of life of person with dementia through their involvement in caregiving as in informal carers in South Korea. The aim of this scoping review was to examine research theory, measurement instruments, correlates, interventions, and outcomes of resilience for family caregivers of persons with people with dementia (PwD).MethodThis scoping review was conducted according to Arksey and O'Malley’s scoping review framework and Joanna Briggs Institute’s manual for scoping reviews. Multiple databases, including Ovid‐MEDLINE, Ovid‐EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Korean databases were searched using controlled vocabulary and text words. Two review authors independently screened and selected relevant studies.ResultMultiple database search identified 18 studies, published between January 2000 and February 2022. Most studies (72.2%) used theoretical framework, such as modified McCubbin and McCubbin’s Family stress, adjustment, and adaptation model and Walsh’s Family resilience model. Eight measurement instruments have been applied to measure the resilience for family caregivers of PwD. However, all the used instruments were not conducted the cross‐cultural adaptation and construct validation in Korean family caregivers of PwD. Moreover, some studies (4 of 18 studies) were used resilience tool focused the individual level rather than family and community levels.ConclusionThis review findings indicate that more rigorous research is needed to measure family resilience using cross‐cultural adapted and validated tools and to test the guided theory for family caregiver of PwD, considering Korean cultural and social context. Moreover, family resilience enhancement programs, considering identified correlates in this review are needed to develop and implement to help family caregiver achieve coping and adaptation with persistent distress in caregiving for their PwD.

“What’s your name?”

Abstract This study investigates the role of identification and frame mismatch in Korean telephone call openings using conversation analysis on a series of problematic telephone calls made to the emergency center from a Korean governor (Moon-Soo, Kim) in 2011. Close examination of the problematic interaction indicates how delivering emergency care as a public service may evolve into a dispute in the Korean cultural context of kwandungsengmyeng (“identifying oneself by official status”). A mismatch between frames (Tracy, 1997) can be identified when the governor asks for the name of the answerer instead of presenting the reason for the call. Comparable examples from Korean conversational telephone calls are noted in which the answerer provides their name in the opening moments of the interaction, thereby depicting a strong expectation for identification and recognition in Korean openings. This paper argues that the governor’s actions can be explained by a mismatch between the public and private frames in relation to identification practices. The study findings may highlight the important role that identification and recognition plays in Korean culture and suggest methods through which future problematic emergency calls can be prevented.

Development of the Korean Version of the Drooling Infants and Preschoolers Scale

Objective. This study is aimed at translating and cross-culturally adapting the Drooling Infants and Preschoolers Scale (DRIPS) into Korean cultural context and examine the content validity and reliability of the Korean version, which is referred as K-DRIPS. Methods. An iterative forward-backward translation sequence of the DRIPS was performed by 20 Korean health professional experts (i.e., occupational therapists (OTs) and professors) with more than 10 years of experience. The study subjects were 77 children with cerebral palsy (CP) exhibiting drooling symptoms aged 2-7 years. They were recruited from two children’s rehabilitation hospitals in Korea and completed the K-DRIPS. The content validity and internal consistency of the K-DRIPS items were examined. Results. An assessment with 20 K-DRIPS items was adequately and cross-culturally adapted into Korea. All the items exhibited good content validity (content validity ratio range 4.00-4.95) and good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.98 ). Conclusion. The study findings indicated that the K-DRIPS was successfully adapted to the Korean cultural context and demonstrated good psychometric properties. This instrument could be used for drooling assessment tool in Korean children with disabilities.

The Poetics of Body: Representing Cultural Imaginations in Yang Jung-Ung’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

This article explores the psychology that motivates Yang Jung-Ung and his actors in the process of translating Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream into a Korean style. By focusing on the ways of showing the theme of the play in modern styles fused with traditional modes of theatrical practice, the director attempts to develop his own ways of expression to communicate with the modern Korean audience. In this process, Yang reconstructs the dialogues between the characters rather than rely heavily on Shakespeare’s text and language. For this reason, his production has often been criticised for missing Shakespeare’s poetry. However, the beauty of poetry is not only in Shakespeare’s language itself, but rather it is in the mental process of how the artist and audiences understand and translate its meaning in their cultural contexts. Shakespeare’s language includes a great deal of imagery that provides the artists with concrete information for constructing the stage mise-en-scène. In Yang’s production, Shakespeare’s poetry is expressed through the visual images created by the performer’s physical bodies, which reflects the director’s interpretation of the play in his cultural context. By analysing the performers’ physical movements, this article studies how Yang perceives the theme of Shakespeare’s Dream in relation to a Korean cultural context and presents his unique vision on the play.

Developing and Validating a Korean Version of the Assessment of Children's Emotional Skills.

In this study, a Korean Assessment of Children's Emotional Skills (ACES) was developed by modifying the original ACES which was initially introduced in the United States. Specifically, the original ACES was translated into Korean and revised to better fit the Korean cultural context. The content validity of the revised Korean ACES was established via expert reviews. To test its reliability, the revised Korean ACES was conducted on 286 six-year-old children. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that our newly developed Korean ACES can be used as an appropriate tool to measure Korean children's emotional skills. The Korean ACES can stimulate further studies on these emotional skills and contribute to various international collaborative studies that seek to compare the emotional skills of children from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Resilience of family caregivers of people with dementia in South Korea: protocol for a scoping review

IntroductionThe prevalence of dementia among the elderly population in South Korea was 9.94% in 2017, and the number of people living with dementia is estimated to increase up to one...

Comparison of infant mortality and associated factors between Korean and immigrant women in Korea: an 11-year longitudinal study.

PurposeThis study compared infant mortality and its associated factors between Korean and immigrant women using vital statistics gathered by Statistics Korea.MethodsBirth and death statistics from the period between 2009 and 2019 were extracted from the census of population dynamics data of the Microdata Integrated Service, Korea. Statistical data were derived from a complete survey and infant mortality was analyzed from mortality statistics data. Descriptive statistics were used for comparison.ResultsThe average infant mortality rate (IMR) of Korean women was 2.7 in Koreawhich, did not change significantly between 2009 and 2019; however, the IMR of immigrant women increased significantly in 2018 to 4.2 and subsequently decreased to 2.6 in 2019. Moreover, the age of Korean and immigrant women at the time of infant death gradually increased from 31.1 years and 25.9 years in 2009 to 32.8 years and 30.9 years in 2019, respectively. The gestational age was lower for deceased infants born to immigrant women (mean, 31.04 weeks; standard deviation [SD], 6.42; median, 30.00 ) compared to those born to Korean women (mean, 31.71 weeks; SD, 6.48; median, 32.00). Immigrant women (91.7%) received slightly fewer antenatal care visits compared to Korean women (93.1%).ConclusionIt is vital to devise a plan to lower the IMR of immigrant women in Korea. Moreover, it is necessary to explore the factors related to infant mortality among immigrant women within the context of Korean societal situation, culture, and home environment.

The effect of domestic violence experience on academic stress among Korean children

ABSTRACT This study examines whether or not a child experiencing domestic violence affects their experience of academic stress in the South Korean cultural context. We used a nationally representative sample from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS) to examine the association of domestic violence with academic stress. The results revealed a significant positive association between domestic violence experience and academic stress. As such, this study discuses mitigating strategies against domestic violence in the South Korean cultural context. Moreover, the findings of this study suggests that effective intervention must be developed to prevent academic stress.

The Influence of Maternal Factors and Child Self-regulation on Peer Initiative: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Peer initiative refers to a child’s personal characteristic relevant to instigating play with peers, and it can be classified as friendly or unfriendly. This study used structural equation modeling to examine the contributions of mother’s coaching competence, parenting behavior, and child self-regulation to peer initiative. Participants comprised mothers of children aged 3 to 5 years (n = 343) in Korea and their teachers (n = 39). Structural equation modeling indicated that the relationship between mothers’ coaching competence and friendly peer initiative was fully mediated by maternal affection and child self-regulation. Furthermore, the relationship between mothers’ coaching competence and unfriendly peer initiative was partially mediated by maternal rejection and child self-regulation. These findings highlight the importance of children’s self-regulation for their social and adaptive development in a Korean cultural context and emphasize the need of maternal affection, which is reinforced by higher coaching competence, required for mothers. It is also worth noting that this study was conducted with a cultural group that collectivism and communality are highly valued.

Biblical Interpretations of the Korean Emotional Attachment

This paper aims to explore biblical interpretations of Jeong, Korean emotional attachment and to seek for its pastoral implications in the Korean cultural context. For this study, I employ a literature review method as a research methodology and I bring the Asian paradigm reading biblical texts that the Dr. Kwok Pui-Lan, a Chinese-American theologian emphasizes on universal authority of the Bible and autonomy in interpreting the Scripture. The intimate and compassionate relationship between Ruth and Naomi and between the father and the prodigal son can be interpreted as Jeong-filled relationships because of their experience of attachment, in-group identity, co-existence of gentle and hateful emotions, and the sharing of Simjeong. An positive association of Jeong and empathy might be an effective resource in offering pastoral counseling and in caring people. Korean the balanced and integrated understanding of the association of Jeong with empathy matters for Korean pastoral counselors and care-givers.

Webcam modelling in Korea: censorship, pornography, and eroticism

ABSTRACT The South Korean government enforces strict censorship against pornography. In spite of such regulations, there is a vibrant webcam modelling industry in Korea that operates under the radar. I examine how censorship influences perceptions of Korean webcam models and their viewers. The central questions that drive this article are: how does censorship against pornography impact the ways that individuals engage with their sexual desires in online spaces; and what are the broader sociocultural consequences of such censorship? I explore these questions in conversation with feminist scholarship on webcam modelling, censorship, and erotics. I argue that webcam models and their viewers form an illicit eroticism whereby they derive pleasure from defying the norms of sexual propriety. I argue that the illicit eroticism that forms as a result of censorship against pornography may have negative outcomes for how women’s sexuality is conceptualized in the Korean cultural context.

Globalization in art therapy education: Multicultural training in South Korean context

This article offers initial strategies to develop a multicultural training model for graduate-level art therapy students within a learner’s cultural context, using South Korea as an example. All helping professions, including art therapy, have emphasized multicultural competence a mandated ability concerning ethical practice. However, scholarship has neglected the importance of developing multicultural education within its application’s cultural context. Accordingly, the researchers introduce the concept of multiculturalism within Korean cultural contexts, followed by a qualitative online survey exploring the meanings and experiences of multiculturalism among Korean graduate-level art therapy students and alumni in Korea (N = 44). Lastly, they outline a preliminary education model based on the collected data that frames the major components and levels of multicultural training within art therapy in South Korea. The findings direct researchers to consider developing multicultural education within Korea’s cultural context, collectivism, and socio-political conditions.

Development and Application of Advance Care Planning Workbooks to Facilitate Communication with Children and Adolescent Patients: A Pilot Test.

This study presents the process of designing workbooks for advance care planning appropriate for the Korean cultural setting and describes actual case studies. This study focused on single inductive case studies of the utilization of an advance care planning workbook and recruited individual participants. The workbook for adolescents contained six sessions and the workbook for children contained seven sessions. The workbook sessions led to four major discoveries 1) considering the Korean cultural context, discussions on life and death must be held indirectly; 2) the role of the counselor as a supporter is crucial for the workbook to be effective; 3) the workbook must be accessible regardless of the seriousness of the illness; and 4) patients must be able to make their own choice between the workbook versions for children and adolescents. Six facilitating factors improved engagement 1) the role of the counselor as a supporter; 2) building trust with the patient; 3) affirming freedom of expression on topics the patient wished to avoid talking about; 4) having discussions on what private information to keep secret and to whom the information can be disclosed; 5) discovering and regularly discussing relevant topics; and 6) regular communication and information-sharing with the patient's medical service providers. It is necessary to build on actual case studies regarding workbooks for children and adolescents in order to expand the usage of these workbooks to all relevant medical institutions in Korea.

다양성 특성(Diversity Characteristics)은 어떠한 경로로 이직의도에 영향을 미치는가? - 소속감 및 다양성 조직풍토 인식의 매개 및 조절효과를 중심으로 -

This study investigates how the workforce diversity characteristics in the Korean social and cultural context and unique industrial background affect the perception of inclusion and diversity climate, as well as the turnover intention using a structural equation model. The research results are as follows. First, among diversity characteristics, gender marital status , age, working area and department had a significant effect on the perception of inclusion and diversity climate. Second, among the diversity characteristics that did not have a direct effect on turnover intention, there was a path that lowered turnover intention by mediating the climate for diversity and inclusion in married men than married women. An indirect path was found for those in their 20s, who had a high turnover intention, to mediate inclusion and lower the intention to turnover. In addition, working area and department lowered turnover intention by mediating the two perceptions, where there was no direct effect. Third, the perception of climate for diversity has the effect of controlling the perception of inclusion, and in the high perception of climate for diversity, inclusion steeply lowered the turnover intention. It is urgently necessary to prepare an effective diversity management system in accordance with the characteristics of diversity identified in the Korean cultural context and unique organizational background. It was suggested that a cultural approach for all members is important beyond the focused diversity management of a specific minority group.

Addressing the Needs of Mothers with Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Secondary Analysis

PurposeMothers of infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) need to be recognized as essential partners of the care team as their presence and involvement are key to infants' health and developmental outcomes. Addressing mothers' perceived needs is beneficial for the improvement of supportive nursing care; however, little qualitative research on their unmet needs has been conducted in South Korea. This study assessed mothers' perspectives on their NICU experiences and their unmet needs within the South Korean cultural context. MethodA cross-sectional, multicentered, secondary analysis study was conducted using the written responses to an open-ended questionnaire. Of the 344 NICU-experienced mothers, 232 throughout South Korea (seven cities and five provinces) voluntarily completed the questionnaire via smartphone-based or web-based surveys. Their narrative responses were analyzed using thematic content analysis guided by the critical incident technique. ResultsFour themes emerged. NICU-experienced mothers of preterm infants referred to the “family-friendly environment” (16.4%) as a positive experience. The greatest unmet need was “relationship-based support” (58.2%), followed by “information and education-based support” (20.0%) and “system-level challenges” (5.4%). ConclusionThe importance of creating a family-friendly NICU environment should be emphasized by ensuring 24-hour unrestricted access and encouraging active parental involvement in infant care, as well as actively supporting NICU families through supportive words and actions. The assurance of antiinfection management and better staffing levels should be fundamentally guaranteed to NICU staff.