• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.46
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• pp.145-177
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• 2001

This paper seeks to analyze how the welfare state has developed both in the Kim Young Sam government and in the Kim Dae Jung government. Among other things, the two governments share some similarities: compared to the previous authoritarian governments, both of them enjoyed a high level of democratic legitimacy; the two were under pressure to win the elections to acquire and remain in power; and finally, the two tried to strengthen welfare system. But there exist more critical differences. The Kim Dae Jung government was a minority government, while the Kim Young Sam government was a majority one. Compared to the latter one, the former came to power in an extremely bad economic condition. Fortunately, however, the Kim Dae Jung government was able to enjoy a relatively high level of state autonomy resulting from an exceptional situation of foreign currency crisis. In addition, it was more reformist in policy orientation and had a more open cooperative network with civil society. All these differences added up to produce remarkable differences with regard to the improvement in welfare development. Especially, it is noted that the Kim Dae Jung government was very successful in several respects: provision of national minimum, integration of national medical insurance, development of productive welfare system, and final1y increase in welfare spending. Recently, criticisms from the opposition party, the press, and middle and upper class people mount against the Kim Dae Jung government which has made significant mistakes in instituting the separation of medical and pharmaceutical businesses. However, the important improvements in welfare institutions and programs by the Kim Dae Jung government need to be maintained to deal with all the negative effects of a naked market economy. They must also be sustained to keep alive democracy that Korean people have fought for nearly half a century.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.34
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• pp.275-305
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• 2006

The main research question of this paper is as follows: How can broadcasting both cause the crisis in democratic participation and yet also offer the solution? The contradiction in broadcast localism has never been adequately resolved in spite of regulation at all in practice, in that localism simply cannot account for the diversity of modern life and for the external forces that incorporate local communities into much larger economic and communications network. The concept of locality in local television, however, has been multiplied and enlarged in order to adjust to "time-space compression". Recently the local television have been "interface" combining and negotiating the globalization of media market and the decentralization of political power, the economies of scale and the activation of local democracy, consequently aiming at the horizontal-cooperative network instead of old vertical-dependent one.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.221-254
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• 2020

This paper finds a solution in the social context which cannot be explained thoroughly by well-timed release date, revival of comedy films, and the attraction of Lee Byeong-heon's comedy etc. while it throws question of how the film, Extreme Job captivated 16 million audience. The incredible hits of Extreme Job cannot be explained by analyzing the text alone. After this essay investigates a function and a role of comedy as a public sphere, it examines people's desires and wishes in the comedy and other genres since 2008 when the conservative government has seized power. Since 2008 a series of dark tone's action thriller, social problem film, and disaster film have emerged, these genres showed absence of public security, crisis of democracy and criticism against rulling class. On the other hand, hit comedy films have showed escapism such as weepie, nostalgia, and fantasy at the same time, generally. Although Veteran (2015) is not full-blown comedy, after this film's big success, "comic mode" has gradually revived. A light tone's films which are truer to genre rules has started representing the wishes of people toward social reforms and changes. Meanwhile, "Candlelight Protest" served as a momentum to recover the democracy which has been in crisis, but it could not lead changes in economic and daily lives. Exreme Job can be read as a question how we will survive since "Candlight Protest." The lives of detectives as self-employed workers who has taken over a fried chicken restaurant for going undercover are appearances of ordinary persons who must survive in the edless conpetition. Furthermore, this film shows a dream of a "great success myth" which becomes well-known as a famous restaurant and a self-management such as brand-naming and an exapansion of franchise business. We can read ganster's chicken franchises as a huge distribution industry which disturbs market system by delivering drugs secretly. While applauses that we give to the police having identities of self-employed workers which sweeps the ganster are giving support to oridinary neighborhood like us, they are also wishes of people who long for the restoration of publicness of police in the market which is becoming increasingly privatized today. A significance of this essay is to examine Extreme Job in terms of the geography of film genres and the revival of comic mode sicne 2008 at the macro level, and is to read the film in the perspective of the problems of economic and daily lives which has been still unsolved since "Candlelight Protest" at the micro level.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.36
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• pp.198-230
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• 2006

The aim of the this study is to observer paradoxal phenomenon in media election. The media, especially Television, was traditionally a journalistic operation representing political events on the outside of political camp. But recently, it intervenes to 'the political camp' as the most important method for election campaign. A centripetal of electronic medias making the dominant political space offer an alternative plan which get over the modern crisis of representative democracy. Even though, to the production of the political symbol and the operation of symbol which constitute substantial system of political action, the human being subject is excluded and the technical system of communication make up a govern structure. So it makes the contradictory situation. TV broadcast for election campaigning show well this paradoxal situation. The institutionalization of electoral broadcasting oriented by the State strengthens an immensification, an economical and political efficiency and a transparency of electoral campaign. But the means which controls the mind of public is also strengthened. It relates the production and circulation of the political symbol and the symbolic image restricted by dominator. In conclusion, this study argues that the media election is institutionalized by the instrumental reason(procedural rationality of politics and technological rationality of broadcasting), therefore the candidate take a fragment roles for the production of transcendental political symbol and the voters accommodate to the symbolic images which are foreseen and they judge.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.301-308
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• 2009

This paper studied the scheme to realize the manifesto as the method of resolving the side effects after the introduction of the superintendent's election system, a direct election by local residents, in order to implement participative democracy in the educational field. When the superintendent's election system playing an important role in protecting the identity of a state is intruded by the political logic, ideology or factional interest, it leads to the educational crisis such as the damaged independence of the policy and the like. The local educational autonomous system is the institutional arrangement to secure the independence and neutrality of education based on morality and guarantee the democratization and decentralization of educational administration. The scheme to resolve the corrupt aspect of the election of the superintendent is to lead election to the policy-based election. This paper presents the scheme to realize the manifesto movement of the superintendent's electoral campaign to resolve this side effect. All political agents and candidates should be allowed to make free access to diverse information to draw up the manifesto and raise the reliability of the manifesto itself, be guaranteed neutrality, speciality, objectiveness, fairness and the like. In particular, it can be seen that the core task is whether citizens can be involved in the manifesto movement through a shift in their thinking about educational autonomy.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.55
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• pp.205-230
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• 2003

This article examines the continuity and change of Korean welfare regime during 1990s. Democracy, globalization and the financial crisis changed the landscape of Korean society as a whole and provided a catalyst for the change of the Korean welfare regime. In order to show how and what changed in Korean welfare regime, this study concentrates on the transformations of income maintenance programmes and social welfare services. The changed aspects are as follow: (1) The ratio of social expenditure to GDP has increased during 1990s and now stood at ten percent level. (2)Rather than backing up the company welfare, government strove to build and expand income maintenance devices for all citizens. (3) The poverty and inequality reduction effects of income maintenance programs are very weak in early 1990s, but they are gradually getting stronger impact on poverty and inequality. But, there are also continuance. (1) In spite of the relative development of income maintenance programs, social welfare services are still poorly designed as before. (2) The expenditure level of social welfare services shows sharp contrast to income maintenance programs and lagged behind the other OECD countries. (3) The expansion of social service sector employment are also not so salient. In 2002, social service employment is only at close to 2.5 per cent of the total employment. Accordingly, korean welfare regime is now characterized by a model which is to curb poverty and inequality by engaging in direct government provision of income maintenance programs, but refrain from expanding social service by relying on net welfare which encourage the provision of services within the family. A implication of our analysis is that the expansion of social welfare Korea saw after 1997 was not really an regime shift. According to the arguments of Peter Hall, first and second order changes in policy do not automatically lead to third order changes which imply regime shift. Policy changes which occurred during 1990s was not accompanied by a shift in policy paradigms. Family dependency in welfare is not yet changed.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.27-59
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• 2023

This study aims to serve as a critical comparison of the currently controversial 'new cold war' discourse. It took three triggers for the 'new cold war' discourse to emerge as a major issue in the media and academia and to have real political impact. With the launch of China's 'Belt and Road' project and Russia's annexation of Crimea leading to the 'Ukraine crisis,' the 'new cold war' discourse has begun to take shape. Trump's U.S.-China trade spat has brought the 'new cold war' debate to the forefront. The 'new cold war' debate is currently being intensified by the Biden administration's framing of "democracy versus authoritarianism" and Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Currently, there is no consensus among scholars on whether the controversial 'new cold war' is a new version, or a continuation of the historically defined concept of the Cold War. The term 'New Cold War' is less of an analytical concept and more of a topical term that has yet to achieve analytical status, let alone a theoretical validation and systematization, and the related debate remains at the level of assertion or discourse. Through this comparative analysis, I will argue that the ongoing discourse of the 'New Cold War' does not have the instrumental explanatory power to analyze the transitional phenomena of the world order today.

• Journal of Ethics
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• no.74
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• pp.35-62
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• 2009

This study purports to explore the possibility of establishing the theory of ethics education based on the concept 'Gyeong(敬)' in Early Confucianism. There was a negative viewpoint on Confucianism directly after the modernization of Korea. However, a positive trend for Confucianism has emerged in almost all sorts of studies even though the results of the studies in Moral education are not always successful. West moral education theories and traditional ethics education theories should be integrated dialectically so that traditional ethics education may be updated. Recently a reappraisal of traditional values has been undertaken as a replacement of liberal democracy values. Faced with the modern civilization's crisis and a decline in morals in Korea, reverence needs to be dealt with in ethics education. This study is primarily concerned with the nature-transcendental relation whose concrete concept is 'Gyeong(敬)' in Confucianism. And the study attempts to put forward the theory of reverence-centered ethics education. The contents of the study consists of the substance of 'Gyeong(敬)' in Early Confucianism, and practical principles and methods of reverence-based ethics education. Some tasks of moral education are also suggested for the scientific establishment of reverence-centered ethics education.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.81
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• pp.189-224
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• 2017

The case of 'Paik Jong-moon's Taped Conversation,' has presented "an important and serious challenge to the freedom of the press and democracy" in South Korea. Nevertheless, this case has not been reported by the mainstream news media. It has also been forgotten without a proper fact-finding or investigation by regulatory agencies, like The Foundation for Broadcast Culture, The Korea Communications Commission, or The National Assembly. This study aims to examine why the above has happened through in-depth interviews of reporters and TV producers, senior journalists, former and incumbent commissioners of the broadcasting regulatory agencies, and experts of the industry, as well as literature research. Here, I present three answers. First, I found two reasons the mainstream press has ignored this incident. 1) It serves for political interests instead of reporting truth. 2) Public broadcasters' watchdog role has been neutralized. Second, regulatory agencies like The Foundation for Broadcast Culture, The Korea Communications Commission and The National Assembly are ruled by political tribalism. The ruling party's members of the National Assembly and these agencies were reluctant to investigate allegations surrounding Paik Jong-moon, such as illegal dismissals, illegal intervention in programming or production, illegal recruitment and illegal business deals. That's because they considered CEO Paik an ally. Using their majority power, they have rejected the request from opposition-affiliated commissioners or from opposition lawmakers to investigate the allegations. Third, there were no alternative forces within the public broadcasters to unveil the truth. In conclusion, the legal and institutional shake-up of corporate governance is urgently needed for public broadcasters and broadcasting regulatory agencies.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.43
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• pp.7-46
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• 2008

The purpose of this essay explores a critical review of the Korean critical communication studies focused on the problematic of cultural studies and political economy in 2000s. The findings are as follows; The 'consumer turn' or 'audience turn' in new revisionism modelling John Fiske's cultural studies has been interpreted not to complement but to substitute the necessary criticism of the post-authoritarian media establishment of Korea at that time, arising identity crisis of Korean cultural studies as one of the critical camp. On other side, however, some political economy studies close to the unilinear theses of orthodox marxism has been appraised to neglect the complex process and structure of media and cultural production as well. While the press war between the market-dominant dailies and some progressive dailies has given rise to a whole debate as expected in consolidating period of Korean emerging democracy, the conjucturalism as modelled by Hall's 'authoritarian populism' failed to initiate a new theo tical practice in Korea. Finally, this review essay propose the some new research issues that would converge cultural studies and political economy, modernism and postmodernism; citizenship vs 'cultural citizenship'(valuing the private identity and gender) or Habermasian public sphere vs 'cultural public sphere', the culture of production, (modern)citizen/(postmodern)consumer(recently debated in English media policy), 'differentiation' in capitalist production and 'difference' in consumer sovereignty, 21c future vision of public service broadcasting as one of the 20c institutions.