KJC Korea
Journal Central

This study aims to present challenges that Korea should consider in the next 5 years and future directions to take as the changeover of wartime operational control authority was delayed on July 26, 2010. This delay was intended to contnue to uphold the existing agreement as it only adjusted the time of the changeover in consideration of the present security environment and the strategic conditions of the Korean peninsula. So far this has been based on our military level according to 『 Strategic Transition Plan(STP)』, but 『 Strategic Alliance 2015』, a new plan, is somewhat different in that it intends to agree with main alliances in the changing of wartime operation control authority. To develop stable conditions for the changover our challenges for the next five years are summarized as follows: ‘military stability’ at the level of the Joint Chiefs and ‘a guaranty of progressive conditions’ and ‘improved security environment’ at the government level. The main challenges for ‘military stability' are: securing the Korean armies' independent ability to deal with war, enhancing alliances based on a new security system, supplementing an allied emergency management system during war and peace time , enhancing collaboration of land, sea, and air forces, and introducing an external assessment system. The governments' challenges are: allocating a budget for national defence to secure advanced military might, maintaining a stable security environment, and overcoming the dilemma of alliances and diplomacy. Korean armies must have wartime operational control authority. Under the perception that no more adjustment is allowed in addition to this change, the army and the government should pay more attention to maintaining the agreement. Also, through preparation for the changeover in authority, we should have a completely independent defense ability.

This article examines how far democracy has been practiced by the political parties in Korean political society. Moreover, it discusses what civil society means since it is the actual practice ground for democracy, and the roles it needs to take in order to carry out justification. Therefore, we can come up to the conclusion that what influences the social capital, which functions as the political and social infra and as a network formed by voluntary cooperation, bring to our society. The purpose of this article is to propose the roles and assignment that the civil society of Honam area has to pursue in order to improve the democracy practice in the area. In order to carry out, first, the centralized authoritarian rule and the market-oriented social structure need to be substituted to regional identity and social community structure. Second, it needs to overcome the political cynicism and pursue toward to settle the social and economical bipolarization problem. Third, the value of the 5.18 Gwang-Ju pro-democracy movements needs to be spread to the entire Korean society and the international society.

North Korea has developed diplomatic relations focusing on diplomacy that is opposed to the US since its national foundation and such an external base has been consistently maintained during the cold war and post-cold war period. It created the idea of Juche as a national ideological government system to survive the split between China and Russia when they both requested North Korean support. As a result, the external base was turned into independent diplomacy for North Korea. North Korea sided with anti-American countries for strategic development of weapons through enhancing international solidarity, exchanges, and cooperation and had consistent military exchange agreements with countries of the third world during the Cold War period. Military exchanges between North Korea and countries of the Middle East have centered on strategic weapon systems. Anti-American countries of the Middle East imported North Korean missiles as a baseline means of defense against the US. Such military exchange activities have been monitored by more powerful countries as an international issue. Enhanced military exchange between North Korea and the countries of the Middle East was a frontal challenge to the status of the US as a Police State. Military diplomacy between them threatened the United Nations Security Council system by resisting the authority of the permanent members including the US and there is a possibility that this phenomenon will aggravate them further. Military exchanges between North Korea and countries of the Middle East will focus on the development of strategic weapon systems and directions for disarmament agreements. Better relations with them will be more effective than unilateral restraints.

North Korea officially started a hereditary power succession on Sept. 28 when its leader Kim Jong-il named his youngest son a military general and its ruling party gave him key political posts during the 3rd WPK's Representatives Convention, the biggest party convention in decades. North Korea appointed its leader's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea. As a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Kim Jong-un will strengthen his grip on the military that operates 1.2 million troops and forms the basis of the Kim dynasty's power. Kim Jong-il has apparently accelerated his hereditary succession plan since he suffered a stroke in 2008. This study in the perspective of historical institutionalism provides the hypothesis that establishes external circumstances, governing ideology, leadership, and economic development strategy as independent variables and analyzes characteristics in the science and technology policy under Kim Jong Il’s era as dependent variables. North Korea's economic dependence on its strongest ally China is growing as its economy slips further into deeper isolation from the international community for its nuclear ambition. In result, focusing on the introduction of advanced science, the development of high technology and revitalizing external science and technology collaboration, Kim Jong-il’s regime strived science and technology development and economic reconstruction at the national level. However, external circumstances, governing ideology, systemic limitation on economic development strategy, and path dependence, which is comparably not different from Kim Il-song’s era, made the science and technology policy in Kim Jung-il’s era and the Kim Jong-un's hereditary power succession period remain in the range of Juche science in the past.

The trend toward multi-cultural society has been rapidly grown in many aspects. Nevertheless, the tendency of globalization are ubiquitous and sweep almost every corner of the world. However, the governmental efforts to make good combinations with the foreign culture have been rare that create some of the contradictions. The United Nation has recommended Korea having an inclusive attitude toward foreigners and the foreign cultures. To be a global leader, it is necessary for the Korean to generate multi-cultural societies by absorbing not only foreign labors, but also the foreign cultures. In this perspective, this paper have dealt with some of the issues of multi- cultural society. The Korean government should play a pivotal role in building a global community by establishing the network systems with other cultures. This paper suggest some ways of improving the globalization by structuring the multicultural policy communities. The establishing multi-cultural policy network means obviously making linkages with other cultures. This trend would, we hope, lead us to realization of a global leader in the very near future.

The debate on Sino-African relations remains a contentious topic especially when there has not been much breakthrough as to which generally acceptable theoretical perspective, can such a dissimilar relationship offer. Interdependent as they may be, yet the disparities among them from asymmetric view point has led to the diverse differences in perspective between a more powerful China and less powerful Africa, hence the strong presence of misperception and misunderstanding that may lead to conflict of interest. Consequently however, China adopts a soft power approach with a continent that have had centuries of engagement with Western powers, to an extent of been preferred over her Western counterparts. This work therefore analysis a mutually beneficial relationship with a rising China and Africa’s cautious path to follow.

Strong turbulence occurred in Korean Peninsula after “Cheonan Warship Event”. President Announcement by UNSC seemed to have ceased the event, but actually caused more political and military struggles among some Northeast Asian countries. ROK, the USA and Japan strengthened the control over DPRK, and the USA, by means of a series of joint military maneuvers, tried to establish Asian‐Pacific Military Alliance to control China and edge the Sino‐USA relationship to military conflict. At the same time, there has been more frequent interaction between Sino‐DPRK leaders and economic cooperation and strategic communication after “Cheonan Warship Event”. How to strengthen the relationship among ROK, the USA and Japan and how to develop Sino‐DPRK relations will affect the geo‐politics of Northeast Asia.

With the further development of economic globalization, regional economic cooperation have become the trend of economic development in the 21st century, one can not have isolated itself from the rest of the world to develop its economy. Although Northeast Asia Region Cooperation has dropped behind, relative to the European Union, the North American Free Trade Area, but it is one of the most active economic region of the world. Of course, economic cooperation in the region has a certain development. In such environments this paper studies cooperation in Northeast Asia, analysis of Restricting Factors that affects cooperation in Northeast Asia, and explores prospect for cooperation in Northeast Asia, as well as the Northeast of China's policy choice participating in regional economic cooperation.