• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.34
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• pp.147-172
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• 2014

The Guatemalan government and guerrilla forces(the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteco, URNG) signed peace accord in 1996, and ended civil conflict(1960-1996). The bloodiest governments of the 36-year-lond armed conflict were those of Lucas Garc?a, R?os Montt and Mej?a V?ctores, between 1978 and 1983. The war that Guatemala underwent resulted in more than 200,000 casualties, more than 83% of them Mayan, according to the report of the CEH(Comision para de Esclarecimiento Historico). 'Victoria 82' and 'Opreation Sof?a' were the strategy of military dictatorship to destory indigenous Mayan communities. This paper is to demonstrates that the Guatemalan state perpetrated a genocide against the indigenous population using racism to strengthening modern nation-state and this was because, historically and structurally, it possessed, in its intrinsic naturem the repressive, ideological and legal apparatus. To distinguish Maya from ladino is often linked to cultural and social discrimination and a system of racial ranking. Militaty dictatorship used the system of racial ranking to exterminate indigenous populations.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.31-63
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• 2018

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes and practices of life demanded for authentic existence in adversity, focusing on Toni Morrison's Home which was published in 2012. Home portrays the journey of Frank Money, an African-American veteran of the Korean War who strives to extricate his sister Cee from inhumane violence. Through this work, Morrison criticizes prevalent racism in the 1950s which is regarded as a time of affluence and peace through this sibling's agony. In this paper, firstly I attempt to examine the aspects of racism which Frank and Cee face and their distorted survival strategies. Secondly I try to find the right direction of brother and sister relationship based on Frank and Cee who are compared to Hansel and Gretel. Thirdly I try to point out the importance of self-reflection required for the healing process of Frank and Cee who overcome adversity and restore their identity with the help of Samaritans. And I investigate the possibility of ethical practice going beyond my family to strangers.

• American Studies
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.35-65
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• 2021

U.S. lawmakers tend to organize sub-party groups focusing on regions, ideologies, policies, and foreign affairs. Examples include the conservative Freedom Caucus loyal to Trump and the Congressional Black Caucus promoting the interests of African Americans. Then how do these legislative groups affect the making of U.S. foreign policy? Paying special attention to the Korea caucus in U.S. Congress, we have analyzed the sources and processes of congressional caucus and foreign policy and have learned that structures and activities of the caucuses differ from one another. The Korea caucus seems to be a bipartisan group that focuses on issues such as trade, travel, and troubles provoked by Pyongyang. However, the Korea caucus is not really a solid voting bloc for policy alternatives; it is instead more of a constituency-oriented legislative group that prioritizes local interests. This research underscores the need for systematic and comprehensive study of U.S. legislative politics and foreign policy.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.149-171
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• 2017

This article examines the image of the nation of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) by comparing the history textbook and the civic textbook prescribed in state schools during the period of independence from 1948 to 1958. After the Second World War, the political conditions gave the way for the formation of the Union of Myanmar composed of ethnic nationals in Myanmar. To shape the national identity, the newly-founded independent nation in 1948, introduced textbooks in history and civics for the purpose of nation building. The paper concludes that the history textbook illustrated the golden ages of the Myanmar kingdom by way of national consolidation and portrayed ethnic nationals as homogenous; on the other hand, the civic textbook defined a citizen as one who is born and raised in Myanmar; it also included migrant Asians such as Chinese and South Asians in the fold. The history textbook aspired for the national consolidation of ethnic nationals for the strength and prosperity of the country while the civic textbook required cooperation from both ethnic nationals and migrant Asians for peace and development of the country and the world.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.281-285
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• 2024

Within five years of Kim Jong-un's rise to power, North Korea conducted four nuclear tests and launched the Hwasong-15, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in 2017, declaring the completion of its nuclear forces. During the period when Kim Jong-un completed nuclear forces to maintain the regime, foreign policy factors of the United States, China, Russia, and South Korea drove North Korea's accelerated nuclear development. The main motivating factors were the hostile policies and external threats as security factors. The completion of nuclear forces is also the result of the interplay of domestic political factors, normative factors, and hereditary factors. North Korea has been developing nuclear weapons and missiles for the survival of its regime. To achieve lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula, a new modus vivendi must be sought. It is necessary to set the ultimate goal of North Korea's complete denuclearization and engage in strategic thinking for a realistic and effective phased approach.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.205-228
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• 2024

The ASEAN and ROK have played a crucial role in fostering regional peace and economic development. Nevertheless, the recent strategic competition between the US and China has turned the region into a contested arena. The relationship faces challenges due to the ROK's growing alignment with the US, prompting a rising interest in minilateralism as an alternative collaboration model. This paper scrutinizes the impact of ROK's foreign policy behavior, with a focus on minilateralism as a preferred cooperation model with ASEAN. The study centers on BIMP-EAGA, investigating its effectiveness in sustaining collaboration amid geopolitical rivalry. The paper concludes that BIMP-EAGA, as a manifestation of minilateralism, serves as an alternative platform for ROK and ASEAN cooperation. However, the study reveals that the implementation of BIMP-EAGA falls short of expectations. This paper emphasizes the need for greater subregional focus and comprehensive coverage of BIMP-EAGA to truly reflect the shared interests of ASEAN member states.

• Journal of National Security and Military Science
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• s.5
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• pp.203-239
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• 2007

The current problems with the changing nature of the battlefield of the future point up the serious need for more and better research on the nature of effective military leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine effective leadership traits and behaviors of junior officers in combat situation. During times of peace, leader study battles and imagine themselves in all sorts of combat situations while at the same time, they must cope with numerous challenges and fill a variety of roles that they perceive are not battle related. This illustrates one of the fundamental paradoxes of the peacetime environment. Early studies, showing that combat leadership and noncombat leadership needed different talents, produced some clusters of traits which good combat leader were said to possess. Good combat leaders, for example, were described as possessing courage(e.g., bravery, fearlessness, daring, prowess, gallantry, guts, intrepidity, undaunted courage, fighting spirit, aggressive action), personal integrity(e.g., sincerity, flair, calmness, modesty), adaptability(e.g., flexibility, rapidity in action, speedy decision-making, clarity of thought) and so on. Behaviors found to be important in both combat and noncombat situations bore some relation to role requirements common to both situations. Behaviors important in one situation but not the other could be explained in terms of situational differences in role requirements for effective leadership. In order to achieve this purpose, a number of literature reviews were analysed. These results, though obtained in a somewhat rough and ready fashion, were useful not because they pointed to different leaders in war and in peace, but because they showed leaders the different things that were expected of them in different situations. It was also worth knowing how develop combat leadership. While these findings clearly suggest combat and noncombat differences, they do not necessarily confirm the complete study on effective leadership in combat situation. In conclusion, this study would be useful basis for further improvement on effective combat leadership and some further researches were recommended.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.75-110
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• 2018

This study is to figure out the Filipino cultural identity by analyzing the image of the Philippine comfort woman statue, which was created as a representation of memories of the Filipino comfort women during the World War II. As a new approach to the field of area study, this study introduced the concept of 'intertextuality', which is a method of understanding texts in the field of literature. Since the comfort woman statue represents the grieved memories of the comfort women during the international war time, the analysis of the image was focused on 'femininity' and 'nationalism'. As for comparison, the Korean comfort woman statue, the Statue of Peace, was taken into the analysis. Upon analyzing, it can be seen that Filipino perception of femininity emphasizes 'beauty' rather than 'purity' that expressed in the Statue of Peace. And the Philippine nationalism expressed through the comfort woman statue can find 'elitist and inclusive' characteristics, unlike the 'popular and resisting' characteristics of Korean.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.45-62
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• 2022

Purpose - Using unexpected changes in geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula as a quasi-natural experimental setting, we examine whether and how geopolitical risks travel across borders through firm-level imports and exports linkages. We also test whether the effects are driven by either imports or exports and assess whether firms can effectively hedge themselves against geopolitical risks. Design/methodology - We focus on a series of unanticipated geopolitical events taken place in Korea in 2018. Making use of the shocks to geopolitical climate, we identify five milestone events toward peace talks. We employ the event studies methodology. We examine heterogenous firm-level stock price reactions around key event dates depending on firms' exposure to geopolitical risks. As a measure of firms' exposure to geopolitical risks in Korea, we utilize a text-based measure of firm-level trade links. When a firm announces and discusses its purchase of inputs from Korea or sales of outputs to Korea in their annual disclosure filings, we define a firm to have a trade relationship with Korea and have exposure to Korean geopolitical risks. Similarly, we use a measure of a firm's hedging policies based on a firm's textual mention of the use of foreign exchange derivatives in their annual disclosure. Findings - We find that U.S. firms that have direct trade links to Korea gained significantly more value when the intensity of geopolitical risks drops compared to firms without such trade links to Korea. The effects are pronounced for firms purchasing inputs from or selling outputs to Korea. We find that the effectiveness of foreign exchange hedging against geopolitical risks is limited. Originality/value - We document the international transmission of geopolitical uncertainty through trade linkages. Export links as well as import links serve as important nexus of transmission of geopolitical risks across borders. Hedging strategies involving foreign-exchanges derivatives do not seem to insulate firms again geopolitical risks. With the recent movements of localization and reshuffling of the global value chain, our results suggest a significant impact of geopolitical risks in Korea on the construction of the global value chain.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.57-75
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• 2019

Soundscapes have the potential to help people experience the historical background and cultural traditions by the scenery of a local area and to be used as a cultural and tourism resource. This concept was first explained in detail by M. Schafer and has been developed as a new way of experiencing landscapes using various senses. This research studied the soundscape of Kyodong Island, the so-called "Island of Peace" and designed new cultural acoustic content for education and tourism. Kyodong Island is located right below the Northern Limit Line and the whole island is in the Civilian Controlled Area. The political and economic status of the island has been changed dynamically by the Korean War and the division of the country. These days, the island needs to realize the vision of the "Island of Peace" in a more creative way using local resources, including its "cold war landscape" and the natural scenery of the region. This research applied the concept of a soundscape to document the island, and to reproduce it in an artistic way. A workshop was conducted to learn concepts and techniques of soundscapes with a sound artist. Listening, recording, conducting interviews, and literature research was used to study the soundscape of the island. After that, this research reconstructed the soundscape of the island through a soundscape composition. The main theme of the composition story was the "Hope and Wish for the Harmony and Peace" to show the vision of the "Island of Peace". The initial sub-theme for the introduction part was "First Encounter with Kyodong Island" arranging the representative soundscape, which could be the first impression of the region. The second sub-theme was "War and Tension" using several soundscapes as a metaphor for the tragedy of the Korean War. The third sub-theme was "Everyday Life of Kyodong Island" which described the energy of the present day, after the wounds of the war have healed. The final sub-theme was "Harmony and Peace" using traditional music and keynote sounds of the region as a reminder of the peaceful past, before the war. The recording files were documented as two types of sound maps. One was a two-dimensional map to show the soundscapes from one point of view, and the other used the online application called "Sound Around You". The final artwork was displayed at an exhibition and uploaded on YouTube to be shared publicly. Through this project, we discovered the potential of soundscapes as a medium to preserve the history and local identity, as well as presenting a new vision. The artwork will be exhibited at historically and culturally meaningful places on the Island to utilize the underused places as local tourist attractions and educational resources.