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This paper examines South Korean media coverage of migrant workers from 1990 to 2015 and analyzes how multiculturalism is intertwined in discussions of migrant workers. I find that South Korea, once an avid supporter of multiculturalism, is slowly retreating from it, like other countries, but not in the same direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a century of contentious politics in South Korea. I argue that there have been three distinctive eras of contention in modern Korea. The first two eras saw institutional arrangements limit the success of contentious campaigns. However, expanded repertoires in the third era allowed movements to succeed. I end by examining the role of social media in future movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2023, South Korea faced turbulence under the Yoon Suk-Yeol administration, which was marked by democratic challenges, foreign policy shifts, and high political tensions. This report examines South Korea's transformative year, with a focus on ongoing leadership transitions, emerging diplomatic horizons for freedom and human rights, economic challenges stemming from "Peak Korea," and key social issues, including a high suicide rate, low birth rate, and the controversy over the dog meat ban. It also discusses President Yoon's challenges as the leader of a global pivot state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea has shifted from a relatively well-educated but poorly remunerated workforce to a highly skilled and compensated one in high-value-added industries. This paper analyzes the South Korean government's science and technology policy and the supply of scientists and engineers in emerging industries. We note a potential shortfall of skilled talent in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 generated significant anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea. Domestic elite-level narratives regarding China at the pandemic's onset were highly polarized: conservative parties advocated border shutdowns, emphasizing China as originating the virus, while progressive parties warned that this would incite xenophobia. Did these narratives shape anti-Chinese sentiment, and what are their foreign policy effects? Using social media data, I show that despite the polarized narratives at the elite level, attitudes of both conservative and progressive voters became unfavorable toward China following COVID-19's onset. Furthermore, statistical analyses of survey data show that this blame is strongly associated with negative perceptions of China. Although substantively not directly linked to foreign policy, blame of China is strongly associated with rejection of foreign policy alignment with China and a shift toward supporting alignment with the US. These results have implications for understanding public support of South Korea's foreign policy amid US--China bifurcation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do natural disasters affect presidential approval ratings? In this study, we argue that in South Korea this relationship is conditional on regional partisan cleavages. Since partisanship induces perceptual biases among distinct social groups, we expect that (1) the president's co-partisans will not blame their president even if the government fails to prevent or mitigate damage from natural disasters, and (2) human and economic losses from disasters, or delivery of disaster relief aid, may boost approval ratings in partisan strongholds. We test these hypotheses using South Korea's Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in administrations. The results of vector auto-regressions show that regional partisanship toward the incumbent significantly influences job approval ratings in the wake of natural disasters. While public opinion in metropolitan areas was not affected by disaster losses, both presidents' approval rose after disasters--typhoons and windstorms, in particular--struck their strongholds in the southeastern part of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the presidential and local levels, progressives were replaced by conservatives in 2022. But the National Assembly is still dominated by the opposition Democratic Party, so the government is more divided than ever. As a conservative government came into power in South Korea, North Korea fired the most missiles ever, and inter-Korean relations were very strained. The economy is in serious condition due to inflation, interest rate hikes, and slowing growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Russia invaded Ukraine, South Korea's initial response was cautious. While criticizing Moscow's actions, the Moon administration also indicated it would join any multilateral sanctions effort but would not impose its own unilateral sanctions as the United States, the European Union, and other Western democracies had done. After receiving internal and external criticism along with the likelihood of economic repercussions for not imposing its own sanctions, South Korea changed course and altered its hedging strategy toward a more robust response to Russian aggression. The war forced South Korea to reassess its relationship with Russia, and despite landing on Moscow's list of "unfriendly" states, determined that its long-term interests were better served by altering its ties with Russia in favor of greater alignment with other liberal democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a donor, the Republic of Korea emphasizes five sectors as primary targets for official development assistance--education, health, governance, agriculture, and industry and energy--which contributed to its own rapid economic growth; that is, the country uses its own development experience as a development assistance model. This study examines the determinants of Korean ODA allocation for each of these sectors. We hypothesize that Korea is likely to allocate more targeted ODA to countries with less achievement in these sectors, and that this tendency is stronger for low-income countries. Using disaggregated Korean ODA allocation data for 2006 to 2015, we find that while the income of recipient countries generally has a significant effect on the allocation of ODA to each sector, the level of development of that particular sector does not appear to have systematic effects on allocations. This null finding may be due to the lack of coordination among the country's many ODA institutions and the alignment of ODA with the demands and preferences of the recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on South Korean elections has shown that voters' region, ideology, and generation shape their preferences at the polls. Few studies, however, have investigated the long-term effects of these variables or the difference in the effects of ideology and generation between regions. In this article, we generate theoretical expectations of Korean voters' voting behavior, analyzing cleavage structures in the party system since democratization, and we then examine the interactive effects of region with ideology and generation across voters from Gyeongsang and Jeolla, in six presidential elections from 1992 to 2017. We find that ideology and generation have stronger effects among Gyeongsang voters than among Jeolla voters. To be specific, ideology and generation often divide Gyeongsang voters, especially when the Democratic Party nominates a presidential candidate from Gyeongsang; Jeolla voters are more homogeneous in their support for the party, regardless of their ideology and generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What explains South Korean public opinion on nuclear weapons development? Despite the US security commitment, most South Koreans consistently support independent nuclear weapons development. To solve this puzzle, we investigate the mechanisms of security threat and security commitment under which individuals develop their opinion on nuclear proliferation. An original survey of 1,988 South Korean adults shows empirically supported correlates of South Korean public opinion on nuclear proliferation. Public support for proliferation is largely shaped by external security threats: nuclear threats from North Korea and China, but also the latent nuclear superiority of Japan. Public opposition to proliferation is fostered by the perceived credibility of the US security commitment, but not by its perceived effectiveness. The results provide insights into South Korean public opinion on nuclear proliferation and can inform the design of a nonproliferation policy tailored to South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars argue that democracy tames religious fundamentalism. This inclusion-moderation theory holds that when radical religious movements are incorporated in the democratic system, they have incentives to adhere to institutional frameworks to influence politics and access power. But despite these claims, we have witnessed a growing influence of religious fundamentalism in Asian democratic politics, with immoderation becoming prominent. Why have religious fundamentalist movements become influential in various democracies in Asia? How have they shaped policies? Using a most-different-systems approach, I investigate religious fundamentalism in two dissimilar democracies: Islamic fundamentalism in Indonesia and Christian fundamentalism in South Korea. In both cases, I argue that religious fundamentalist movements facilitate immoderate politics through strong mobilization capacity, agenda-setting power, and framing. The study contributes to the inclusion-moderation literature through its discussion of religious fundamentalism and its cross-religious comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did Japanese Prime Minister Abe impose controversial export restrictions after rulings by the South Korean Supreme Court on wartime forced laborers? This article answers this question through the lens of domestic symbolism in economic sanctions studies. We argue that domestic political calculations led the Japanese government to adopt hawkish measures against South Korea. Abe wanted to ensure continued support from his constituents and to win the upcoming election. A series of political reforms since the early 1990s have empowered the prime minister and made LDP politicians pay more attention to public opinion than to factional topography. Strong anti-Korean sentiment among the Japanese public reduced the leadership's concerns about the audience costs of economic countermeasures. Through an examination of the interplay among various domestic actors over the policy measure, this study provides insights on how domestic symbolism can serve as an origin of foreign policy decision-making in democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the relationship between international economic and political relations has produced no consensus on the pacifying effects of trade. Rapid trade growth and enduring tensions characterize post--Cold War Asia's paradox. This study assesses the political effects of China-centered interdependence based on the China-South Korea case since 1992. Although trade may inhibit conflict in line with liberal expectations, its coercive potential limits its pacifying effects. When disputes arise, asymmetric interdependence generates strategic leverage and vulnerability, and amplifies the identity dimensions of conflict that shape societal preferences. China's combination of economic pressure and nationalist discourse induces accommodation primarily through coercion. By blending state-led and society-led retaliation, economic and accountability costs are minimized. China-South Korea political interactions have increased in quantity but not quality. The Asian case underscores qualitative changes in political relations (rather than just instances of conflict), the material and nonmaterial repercussions of asymmetric trade, and the regional security implications of China-led interdependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many democracies start with aspirations to rectify wrongs that occurred under the preceding authoritarian regime. To what extent can a new democracy address political repression and violence by dictators, given that key actors from the past often remain politically powerful? What determines the success of those efforts? We construct and analyze a novel data set on 102 retrials of allegedly fabricated espionage cases in South Korea to explain the political conditions under which a democratic judiciary reverses past errors. We find that the time since democratization, a leader's policy drive for transitional justice, and the degree of fabrication in the past all affect retrial acquittal rates. We also find that judges who were appointed under the authoritarian regime are less likely to nullify past verdicts. Furthermore, national survey analysis suggests that the overturning of past fabricated verdicts significantly enhances citizens' overall trust in the judiciary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the concept of soft power was introduced, there has been debate about what it is and how it works. We join the debate by studying how the success of Korean cultural products in Taiwan has improved the relationship between South Korea and Taiwan. The two countries normalized their relationship in 1948 and maintained cooperation until the severance of formal ties in 1992 because of South Korea's rapprochement with China. Beginning in early 2000, however, South Korea's cultural products have enjoyed great success in Taiwan. Since that time, the relationship between the two countries has significantly improved, including trade and tourism expansion, increased Taiwanese direct investment in South Korea, and policy changes by Taiwan's government. These changes provide empirical evidence of soft power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea and Taiwan are former Japanese colonies that have undergone similar processes of state-building since WWII. But they have chosen different rhetorical frameworks in their maritime disputes with Japan. In South Korea, negotiating with Japan can be viewed as threatening the country's independence and pride, whereas in the Taiwanese government, cooperation with Japan is considered mutually beneficial. Why have these two countries taken such divergent stances toward Japan? This article examines the territorial disputes between South Korea and Japan over Dokdo, and between Taiwan and Japan over the Senkaku Islands. It sets forth a rhetorical framework of comparison, and it proposes a constructivist perspective in understanding South Korea's and Taiwan's legitimation strategies toward Japan from the late 1990s to 2018. This comparative study suggests that the differences between their legitimation strategies can be traced to their different colonial experiences with Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use spatial econometrics on a unique data set covering 229 Korean regions to analyze the outcome of Korea's 2017 presidential election. We see strong statistical evidence of spatial correlation, suggesting that neighboring regions vote similarly, which is in accord with findings in the international context. Our findings are distinct in that we see little evidence that Korea's 2017 outcome was driven by the economic disparities between the southeast and the southwest, a highly sensitive political issue in the country. Voters' region of origin and age are the two most important factors in vote choice, irrespective of the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of their regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the public's popular beliefs about politics is that politicians engage in rent-seeking behaviors, such as accumulating property, using their political power. By applying a regression discontinuity design, this study examines whether members of the National Assembly of South Korea gained assets during three elective terms (2004-2008, 2008-2012, and 2012-2016). The results contradict the public's claim. In general, there is minimal evidence that election winners accumulate more assets than runners-up. And observing the winners' premium for newly elected politicians in the 2012-2016 term, I find that it is related to a political support fund, which is a legitimate channel for politicians' funding. The results suggest that an information disclosure policy can play a pivotal role in restricting politicians' rent-seeking behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, Japanese Prime Minister Abe grappled with domestic dilemmas and diplomatic strains, highlighted by inflamed relations with South Korea. The economy continued to grow slowly, the depopulation bomb continued ticking, and demands for gender equality grew louder. The year also brought the enthronement of a new emperor and genesis of a new imperial era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study takes a cultural approach to examine the unstable and contentious nature of Korean democracy. Analyzing an original nationwide survey conducted in 2015, we find that the democratic and participatory culture of the Korean people underlies Korean democracy. This finding suggests substantial tension between the participatory orientation of the public and Korean representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contends that South Korea's behaviors toward China since 1992 can be fully understood when the structural variables of the strategic environment-i.e., economic interdependence, the US-centered hub-and-spoke system, and the North Korean threat-are combined with the domestic variable of Seoul's leadership change and its perception of threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]