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This study explores how the Japanese and Korean governments use multi-bi aid to complement their bilateral aid and compares their allocation behaviors. As opposed to traditional multilateral aid, multi-bi aid is earmarked for a specific country, project, region, sector, or theme. Japan—a traditional leading donor—and Korea—a small but growing donor—are considerably different in terms of their ODA history and size; although, they are comparable in meaningful manners in terms of their level of cooperation with multilateral organizations. Over the past 10 years, both countries used the multilateral system to a significantly lesser extent yet showed a higher proportion of earmarked funding within multilateral aid compared to the average DAC donor. This study identified more similarities than differences between Japan and South Korea—both countries commit a large proportion of their multi-bi to fragile and conflict-affected states, countries under-represented in their bilateral aid programs. Accordingly, a large proportion of their aid has been channeled through multilateral organizations leading the sectors that are not prioritized with their bilateral aid. Overall, this study identified strong complementarities between the composition of Japan's and Korea's bilateral and multi-bi aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daphne pseudomezereum A. Gray var. koreana (Nakai) Hamaya is a shrub distributed in high mountains in Japan and Korea and is used as a medicinal plant. The complete chloroplast genome of D. pseudomezereum var. koreana is 171,152 bp long with four subregions consisting of a large single-copy region (84,963 bp), a small single-copy region (41,725 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (2739 bp). The genome includes 139 genes (93 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 38 tRNAs). Phylogenetic analyses show that D. pseudomezereum var. koreana is nested within the Daphne clade in the narrow sense and that it forms a distinct lineage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collective memory inscribed in Korean history books recalls when the Japanese colonial state requisitioned brassware from Korean households during World War II. This study explores the complex mechanism behind these campaigns. Copper was a scarce commodity in the Japanese empire. The colonial brassware industry expanded but struggled due to fluctuating copper prices before the war. To overcome the reluctance of Koreans to part with their brassware, the colonial state had to coordinate various actors across multiple organisations, provide ceramic replacements, and establish a system of financial payments. The Japanese also ultimately created a 'brass bureaucracy' capable of carrying out the sensitive task of removing copper from Korean households. The Korean case reminds us that institutional frameworks are necessary for wartime salvage. Finally, brassware collections also resulted in fundamental changes in Korean society and everyday material culture that require careful analysis. (141 words) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]