Movement In South Korea Research Articles

“I feel free and comfortable”: The Escape the Corset Movement in South Korea and the question of women's agency

Women's conformity to beauty standards are influenced not only by external pressures but also by internalized beliefs, creating some complex issues with regard to women's agency question. Considering the Escape the Corset Movement (ECM) in South Korea as a critical case, this study examines how female college students who loosely participated in the ECM articulate its impact on their daily lives, especially the extent to which they assess its role in their attainment of freedom, liberation, and independence from societal beauty standards. The findings suggest that young female students experienced heightened self-enlightenment and recognition of beauty ideals, as well as a sense of comfort and safety from societal expectations and the male gaze. However, the accounts of women's ambiguous and critical reflections on the perceived transformations also serve to indicate whether the movement has led to fundamental changes in the prevailing power dynamics of gender systems and social structures. We contend that a nuanced perspective on women's adherence to beauty standards should be integrated into scholarly discourse, as women's perceptions present a complex issue regarding their agency in conforming to or resisting societal beauty standards.

Subalternity under neo-colonial division system and re-launch of intellectual movements: inter-referencing between Taiwan and South Korea

ABSTRACT This paper starts with the introduction of the “neo-colonial division system” as a core problematic, which both historically and geographically inscribes subalternity in South Korea. Then it explains the subalternity in Taiwan, Chen Yingzhen’s literary practice as an intellectual movement, and the significance of referencing Taiwan to South Korea. With this it revisits the setbacks of the South Korean intellectual movements in the 1980s and explores a new starting point for the intellectual movements in South Korea. Within this framework of reference, the thesis on people’s literature proposed by Park Hyun-chae in the 1980s is re-evaluated. Although Park Hyun-chae was deeply restricted by the asymmetry of knowledge within the neo-colonial anti-communist system, as one of the few surviving left-wing intellectuals, he insisted on loving the people and consistently reflected on the ethical issue of intellectuals. However, he was unable to escape the constraints of the intellectual asymmetry in knowledge and the pitfall of the absence of reference points within the Cold War/division system. Thus, rereading Park Hyun-chae illuminates the starting point, method, and direction of restarting the intellectual movements in South Korea, that is, “people, region, and culture.”

Moving Apart, Coming Together: The Formation of an LGBTQ Movement Community in South Korea

ABSTRACT This study examines the emergence and development of a social movement community among LGBTQ population. Drawing on the case of the LGBTQ movement in South Korea between 1993 and 2019 from a longitudinal perspective, we identify the relational dynamics of how different movement groups avoid internal frictions and successfully develop a movement community. Our findings suggest that, as a response to repeated repressive external events, LGBTQ groups have formed and maintained collaborative networks based on a common identity as “sexual minorities.” By examining the networks of movement coalitions, we also identify key movement groups that played a critical role in connecting other groups with disparate sexual and gender identities within the community. These bridging actors were either the pioneering gay and lesbian groups that have collaborated since the 1990s or the new groups founded around inclusive collective identities such as “sexual minorities” or “queers.” Implications for the studies on social movements and homosexuality are discussed.

THE SHIFTING FROM THE MALE GAZE TO THE FEMALE GAZE IN K-POP GIRL GROUPS AS THE IMPACT OF #METOO MOVEMENT IN SOUTH KOREA

This research analyses the shift from the male gaze to the female gaze in K-pop girl groups impacted by the #MeToo movement in South Korea. The shift is marked by the thriving of women empowerment ideas by girl groups. This research uses the Transnational Advocacy Network (TAN) and postfeminism, examined using qualitative research methodology with secondary and textual analysis. This research finds that the shifting from the male gaze to the female gaze in K-pop girl groups occurred through the shift from objectification to subjectification of women, focusing on individualism, choice, and empowerment, as well as showing irony and knowingness. Therefore, the #MeToo movement has impacted the K-pop industry because the gaze has shifted, and Korean society has started to accept idols supporting women's empowerment and gender equality

‘An San’s hair is short, therefore she is a feminist:’ Women athletes’ hair, feminist movements, and nationalism

At the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, South Korean archer An San received national attention for her short hair, when anti-feminists accused An of being a feminist. The anti-feminists’ online assaults made national headlines and evoked a strong feminist countermovement. In this paper, we ground this incident in the context of Korean nationalism and its relation to sport, and South Korean feminist movements. Using social media and news sources as our data, we analyze the meanings of women athletes’ hair length and styles, revealed in the case of An San. We explore meanings of hair in Korean women’s elite sport, and within the context of the tal-corset feminist movement. We argue that the An incident sheds light on the complex interplay between nationalism, feminist movements, and physical cultures of hair, and see the An incident as one that drew increasing public attention and support for the feminist movement in South Korea.

Transforming the Unsaid into Action in Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

It is often the act of listening that can transform silence into speech. Nam Joo Cho’s 2016 novel Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 sparked a feminist movement in South Korea. Instead of creating a character who is clearly articulating a feminist cause, Cho finds ways to speak of gendered injustices by using alternative modes of communications such as silence, howls, psychotic breaks, and footnotes. Jiyoung’s omission of speech externalizes what is thought and felt by many Korean women but left unsaid. The novel ultimately asks readers to hear the unsaid, react to Jiyoung’s experienced injustices, and turn what Jiyoung struggled to articulate into a collective act of solidarity, collective voice, and feminist action.

Left-wing nationalist-populist movement and identification: A psycho-political analysis of the “comfort woman” statue movements in South Korea

Sonyosang (girl statue in Korean) is a bronze statue symbolizing “comfort women,” the estimated 80,000 to 200,000 women physically, mentally, and sexually exploited by the Japanese Empire during WWII. As a backlash against the 2015 ″comfort women” agreement between the South Korean and Japanese governments, Koreans have installed 384 girl statues across South Korea. Based on ethnographic research that I conducted in South Korea between 2019 and 2021, including in-depth interviews with Korean activists who raised funds for or participated in creating, installing, and managing girl statues in South Korea, this research examines how the girl statue movement in South Korea has developed into a left-wing nationalist-populist movement and how affective identification with the statue generates a populist identity. To this end, this research firstly discusses how former President Park Geun-hye's undemocratic political measures recall the memory of minjungism (Korean populism) that led the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s, enabling Korean nationalist leftists' demands to form a chain of equivalence in the girl statue movement. Secondly, relying on Melanie Klein's theory of identification, this article examines how the ‘people’ is constituted through affective forms of identification with the girl statue. By doing so, this article demonstrates that the growth of the girl statue movement into a left-wing nationalist-populist movement blurs boundaries between the psychological, the personal, the national, and the (geo)political.

Severity Predictions for Intercity Bus Crashes on Highway Using a Random Parameter Ordered Probit Model

As intercity buses are a mode that moves large-scale occupancy between regions, it accounts for the mode share-means for mid- to long-distance movement in South Korea. However, the study of intercity bus safety needs to be more extensive, and safety policies are carried out based on traditional probability models without considering the data characteristics of bus accidents. Therefore, in this study, the Random Parameter Ordered Logit model was applied to derive fixed parameter factors that have the same effect on the severity of intercity bus accidents and Random Parameters that consider the heterogeneity of unique attributes by accident. It also analyzed the marginal effect of intercity bus accident severity. As a result of this study, the influencing factors that reflect heterogeneity with random parameters were driver’s condition: drowsiness, vehicle size: medium, crash type: vehicle–pedestrian accident, road condition: wet pavement, and log form of AADT. The random parameter ordered logit model was traditionally found to be more suitable than the ordinal logit model, which only reflects fixed factors and more reliable predictions considering the heterogeneity of accident characteristics for each observation.

Showcasing Case Studies of Artists and Artistic Movements That Have Sparked Transformative Social Movements in South Korea

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the showcasing case studies of artists and artistic movements that have sparked transformative social movements in South Korea.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low-cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings revealed that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to the artists and artistic movements that have sparked transformative social movements in South Korea. Preliminary empirical review revealed that the there is a high potential of art therapy in addressing mental health challenges. It was a longitudinal study with participants in art therapy programs, pre- and post-program assessments, and qualitative interviews. Art therapy promotes self-expression, emotional healing, and personal transformation among participants.
 Recommendations: The Social Movement Theory, Cultural Sociology and Visual Sociology may be used to anchor future studies on the artists and artistic movements that have sparked transformative social movements in south Korea. The South Korean government should support and promote artists from diverse backgrounds and give them platforms to showcase their work. Integrating arts education in schools and communities allows individuals to develop critical thinking skills, empathy, and an appreciation for diverse perspectives.

Recalling the Past Within a Social Network’s Collective Memory Work: How Did Korean Twitter Users Shape #Equal_Punishment_for_Equal _Crime From Their Experiences?

On 19 May 2018, more than 12,000 women gathered at Hyehwa subway station in Seoul, South Korea to protest discrimination against Korean women and spy camera involved crimes. This rally was a response to an incident in which a male nude model in a class was secretly photographed by a female model at Hongik University. This study examined how discourses on Twitter regarding the incident led to the demonstration and what was the memory working that shaped significant discourses through critical discourse analysis. First, a discourse that “women have long been victims” emerged through personal remembrances. Second, photographs of the female suspect standing with police officers directed a discourse that “women have been treated unfairly by public authorities” through collective witnessing. Third, many women contextualized the incident as a gendered event by connecting the past feminist movements. Finally, through appropriating past slogans and accumulated hashtags on Twitter, the main slogan of the rally #Equal_punishment_for_equal_crime was established. This study provides an under-researched context of digital mnemonic practices and the logic of connective actions by analyzing feminist movements in South Korea.

From King Hyegong to Suh Dongjin: the evolution of LGBT and homosexual rights in the Korean community, according to historiographical texts

Even though homosexuality and other sexual minorities have never been considered illegal by the Korean government, people identifying as non-heteronormative were and are still vastly ostracised. Furthermore, the LGBT community was and is still facing social stigmatism. What cultural conditions influenced the way non-heteronormative minorities are perceived by most South Korean society? How has the LGBT minority developed over the centuries? When did the attitudes of South Koreans change for the better? The following article covers the answers to the above-stated questions based on a particular query of texts related to the topic based on historiographic records. In the first section, the influence of the Confucian ideas of Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues (三綱五倫, 삼강오륜 [samgangoryun]) on the image of 'correct relationship' and the Taoist division of gender roles based on energy adversity (yin (陰, 음 [eum]) and yang (陽, 양 [yang])) will be explained. This will serve as a basis for understanding cultural opposition to same-sex relationships. The following subchapter consists of a chronological overview of the most important historical records regarding same-sex relationships. The third subchapter presents the sexual minority groups formed in the 1990s, such as Chodong Society (초동회 [chodonghoe]), Between Friends (친구사이 [chingu sai]) and Maeum 001 (마음001 [maeum gongongil]), which had the most significant impact on the development of the contemporary LGBT movement in South Korea. The last section presents current changes and problems that the South Korean LGBT society faces.

What causes house prices to fluctuate? Evidence from South Korea

AbstractIn this study, we build a structural vector autoregressive model of the housing market with supply and demand shocks to determine the main causes of house price movements in South Korea. We include housing permits, basic housing demand, and the growth rates of real housing prices in the model. Changes in house prices are decomposed into three structural components: housing supply shocks, shocks to basic housing demand, and shocks to housing market‐specific demand. We find that the main driver of the movements in house prices is housing market‐specific demand shocks, and these are associated with beliefs regarding future house prices and the real estate market, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Indices for the housing market, rather than credit conditions or financial variables such as interest rates or stock returns.

Teachers empowered by shame: the politics of compressed modernisation and democratisation in South Korean education in the 1980s

ABSTRACT This paper examines the formation of the teachers’ movement in South Korea, focusing on the publication of the short-lived magazine Minjung Gyoyuk (People’s Education) in 1985. Progressive teachers published this magazine to systematically critique the education practises of the time and seek a new direction for education under repressive conditions, which led to dismissals and arrests of the contributors. This incident became central to the formation of the Korean Teachers’ Union (KTU) in 1989, which emerged in the milieu of compressed growth and the struggle for democratisation. By looking at the cultural notions of shame as a source of struggle, the paper examines the complexity of political and social values inherent in the progressive movement, undergone in the process of compressed modernisation and democratisation.

In Strongman We Trust: The Political Legacy of the New Village Movement in South Korea

AbstractThis study explores how authoritarian distributive policies may not only generate political support for the autocrat but may also help sustain powerful and lasting authoritarian legacies. We use microlevel data from South Korea's New Village Movement, a 1970s rural development program implemented under dictator Park Chung‐hee and widely touted as contributing to the country's rapid economic development. Our analysis shows that townships in receipt of larger cash transfers cast more votes for Park's incumbent party in the subsequent election. More importantly, we show that the effects of the subsidies still appeared almost four decades later in 2012, when the dictator's daughter was democratically elected as the president of South Korea. We show that these effects were not driven by villagers’ long‐term income gains or enhanced social capital due to the program but by the unwavering support of the beneficiary villagers for the dictator, whose legacy remained strong long after democratization.

The Gender Equality Movement in South Korea: The Semiotic Analysis of Blackpink Ddu-du Ddu-du

Although women in South Korea today are actively engaged in a wide variety of fields and thus making significant contributions to society. This begun during the late 19th century. Looking through their history, South Korean already recognize the concept of female empowerment. The effect of modernization and globalization, people began to generate several discussions and new views. Especially where the world has begun to recognize Korean pop culture, Hallyu or K-Pop which led Korean culture to continue to experience the change to be accepted globally. Some views or social movements have begun to influence the cultural content produced in South Korea, one of it is Blackpink. They proudly have a strong and unapologetic stage presence, unique sound, and style. They are seeking to empower females and their fans in an incredibly upfront and obvious way. Their single in 2018, Ddu-Du Ddu-Du artistic music video which convey a deeper meaning about empower female using symbols that depict about power and women. With semiotics by Roland Barthes, this research discusses the awareness of power by engaging in dialogue and theory uses to interpret or explain social action that intends to encourage people to interact and learn about empowering female. Despite the strong culture of confucianism and patriarchy, South Korea already recognizes the concept of female leaders or women empowering from their history and in addition to the effect of modernization and globalization. Blackpink described being a strong and proud person who has the identity of a woman and conveys a message to become a strong woman to build one's own identity and be proud of it. Blackpink motivates women to actively contribute in various parts of society and proofing that women with all their talents and ambitions could be an inspiration and a new figure of a tough woman in the modern era and be the part of the feminism act in the postmodern feminism.
 Keywords: women empowerment; semiotic; Roland Barthes; Blackpink; Ddu-Du Ddu-Du music video

여성사박물관과 공공역사 - 쟁점과 대안들

Women’s history museums are the contending site in which women, history and museum as a public space are entangled. is paper starts to examine the relationship between public history and museum, and reviews the feminist critics of the problems involved in museum exhibitions which are not likely to represent women’s experience. It also suggests woman’s public history as a new approach to women’s history museums in South Korea. While it reviews the recent process of national women’s history museum movement in South Korea, it examines the two women’s history museums, National Women’s History Exhibition Hall and War& Women’s Human Rights Museum in terms of displaying structure, exhibition narrative and limitions. This examination draws out the important issues concerning constructing a women’s history museum; the limitations of representing women’s experience by applying periodization of national history, expanding women’s diverse memories and experiences during the modern and contemporary period through oral history, and establishing the collection policy in collaboration with gender history historians. ese issues are followed by suggestions for alternative exhibition strategies to make a women’s history museum as gender-cognitive space which will be the site for women’s public history.

The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens global food security and has created an urgent need for food conservation. This article presents a review of clean plate campaigns around the world. It aims to fight food waste and reveal the factors that may influence food waste. The Clean Plate Club in the US developed during wartime and relied heavily on political power for compliance, whereas the Clean Plate movement in South Korea was based on religion. China’s Clean Your Plate Campaign (CYPC) has gone through two stages: CYPC I and CYPC II. The latter occurred during the unstable period of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was large-scale and more strongly enforced than CYPC I. In China, CYPC has relied more on personal virtue than on politics or religion. Culture, policy, COVID-19, and behavior are all important social factors that influence food waste. Specifically, two cultural values are drivers of food waste in China: hospitality and face-saving (mianzi). In terms of policy, China’s food waste law mainly relies on persuasion; it lacks any power of enforcement. Laws in France and Italy, by contrast, focus on re-using food and involve both coercion and incentives. COVID-19 may have led to panic purchasing and stockpiling, but, in general, it has resulted in a reduction in food waste.

Disseminating Daesoon Thought: A Comparative Analysis

The author examines three new religious movements in South Korea: Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Unification Church, and the Daesoon Jinrihoe, and aims to identify the factors that are conducive to the growth of each. All three organisations believe in a coming paradise, and the article explores their respective attempts to interest the populace in their appeal. Discussion is given to membership statistics and the problems of measuring allegiance and moves on to consider methods of propagation. Most obviously, evangelisation strategy is important: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Unificationists have tended to engage the interest of strangers, while followers of Daesoon Jinrihoe are more inclined to evangelise family and friends. Additionally, there are other factors that determine an organisation’s progress: cultural appropriateness, engagement in social and educational work, and attitudes to conflict and peace, the latter being particularly important in a society that has experienced war and occupation. Reference is made to the ways in which these three organisations finance themselves, and it is argued that financial resources merit greater attention in the scholarly study of religion, since monetary assets are needed to secure a spiritual movement’s existence. Of the three organisations under discussion, the Daesoon Jinrihoe has been the most successful, being South Korea’s largest new religion, while Jehovah’s Witnesses are in steady state, and the Unification movement is experiencing slight decline.

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean Literature

Routledge Handbook of Modern Korean Literature

A Recycling of the Past or the Pathway to the New? Framing the South Korean Candlelight Protest Movement

AbstractThis essay supplies brief historical context on the Candlelight Protest movement in South Korea (2016–17) and provides the thematic and theoretical framing for the forum “The South Korean Candlelight Protest Movement and Its Discontents.” It lays the groundwork for approaching the study of the protests and assessing their historical and contemporary value for the push for political change, challenging economic norms and social renewal in Korea. In particular, this essay helps frame the forum as a platform for interrogating the connections between revolution, democracy, and capitalism and the limits of and potential for political change within the political economy of Korea and elsewhere.