Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 2021 KCI Impact Factor : 0.88

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2020, Vol.27, No.1

  • 1.

    A Study on the Future Directions of Cooperative Program for Developing Vocational Skills of North-Korean Workforce: Lessons from the Choson Exchange Case

    JeonghyunLee | 2020, 27(1) | pp.5~49 | number of Cited : 1
    Abstract PDF
    Among overseas support programs to enhance capabilities for North Korean personnel, the Chosun Exchange is considered the most successful. It is surprising that the Singapore-based non-profit social enterprises, the Choson Exchange, has been in and out of North Korea for more than a decade and has been conducting start-up and market economy education for nearly 3,000 people. By analyzing the surprise, this study was conducted based on a case study in order to learn valuable lessons about how our civil and public actors will proceed with cooperation projects for North Korean manpower. The Chosun Exchange has usually visited North Korea three times a year with volunteers, providing start-up education for young aspiring entrepreneurs and women, and market economy education for managers of special economic zones. The success factors of the Choson Exchange confirmed that the founders’ committed activities and volunteer-based operations, the high participation and satisfaction of volunteers, excellent selection and concentration of startup education and market economy education, and the process of building mutual trust with North Korea. The following implications were found regarding future projects for developing job competencies with North Korea First, the North favors NGO-led overseas aid, which can maintain its initiative and enable stable operations. Secondly, North Korea recognizes that education for upper-level workers, such as experts in special economic zones and education for corporate managers, is more urgent than education for general plant-level workers. Third, in terms of the possibility of maintaining mutually beneficial relations, North Korea prefers aid programs from ASEAN, including Singapore, and it needs to move beyond the Korean Peninsula-centricism, which takes inter-Korean cooperation projects excessively for granted. Fourth, an open attitude toward the North’s preferred economic development model and the manpower/industry needed for cooperative projects is needed. Considering these factors, it was deemed necessary to move to cooperate with the North in the employment and labor sectors from a gradual and mid- to long-term and mutually beneficial perspective.
  • 2.

    The Change and Division of North Korean Nationalism(1980-1997): Political Succession and Dual Leadership

    Hyesuk Kang | 2020, 27(1) | pp.51~83 | number of Cited : 1
    Abstract PDF
    This study analyzes the division and change of North Korean nationalism from 1980 to 1997. During the period, the most dramatic changes were made in the details and official status of North Korean nationalism. This study focused most on comprehensively analysing the two interrelated contexts. The first is to understand the political dynamics that have brought about such differentiation and change. This is why we believe that this will allow us to conduct a predictive analysis beyond retrospective assessment. The second is to specify the nature and content of North Korean nationalism in more detail. It is essential to analyze the process in which North Korean nationalism, which has changed and developed amid various political dynamics, affects North Korean politics in reverse. The study, in particular, noted that the 20-year period from 1980 was when North Korea had to overcome the new and threatening conditions of a reversal of the balance of power between the two Koreas under the dual leadership structure of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, accumulating the achievements of its heir apparent and proving its ability to establish the legitimacy of its political succession. As a result, such a political structure has caused North Korean nationalism to diverge and change around the dynamics of political succession.
  • 3.

    The Formation of the ‘City Control System’ in North Korea: Construction of the Panopticon

    IlYoung Jeong | 2020, 27(1) | pp.85~105 | number of Cited : 1
    Abstract PDF
    This paper gives analyses on the formation of The formation of the ‘city control system’ in North Korea. How and When have the city control system in North Korea been formated? This paper provides arguments with the historical formation about the ‘city control system’ in North Korea. North Korean regime had built its social control system as Panopticon from the Korean War. North Korean had been embraced into the structure of routine resocialization in its production unit and living space in the Panopticon. The key analyses in this paper are summarized as follows. The key analyses in this paper can be summarized as follows. First, North Korea’s city control system has the character of one-way vertical control over its atomized citizens. the city control system was formed under the strong control code of ‘juche’. Second, the city control system is based on a horizontally cut structure. The North Korean city was built to block space in other areas and within the region politically and economically. Any movement and migration of its members were strictly controlled. Third, the city control system based on ‘vertical control and horizontal disconnect’ has been reproduced of in the Korean Peninsula. The North Korean authorities could have the legitimacy of controlling citizen in a quasi-war status. However the economic crisis in North Korea, which was maximized in the mid-1990s, resulted in mass starvation and escape from the North Korea. Such an economic crisis has weakened the city control system. For this reason, further research should needed on changes in the city control system.
  • 4.

    A Semantic Network Analysis on the Corporate Management System in North Korea: Focusing on the Papers of Gyeongjeyeongu from 1986 to 2018

    Geechan Park | 2020, 27(1) | pp.107~141 | number of Cited : 1
    Abstract PDF
    This paper is intended to comprehend the semantic network of the reform policy of corporate management system in North Korea, through the language network analysis on 204 papers in Gyeongjeyeongu for 33 years. The language network analysis is the quantitative research methodology which analyzes the adjacent key words or concepts in order to identify the contextual meaning from the texts. ‘Socialist Corporate Management System’ became the new main principle of corporate management system in 2010s, substituting the previous ‘Dae-an Corporate System’ and ‘Independent Profit System’. The Socialist Corporate Management System, connecting and leading the various concepts and issues under the corporate management system, has been institutionalized into the core corporate system. The result of this analysis implies that under the Kim Jung Un government the role of supreme leader’s authority in the corporate management system has changed from a direct policy leader’s to a policy connector’s or facilitator’s. This research could provide some important implications on the strategy of Inter-Korean economic cooperation as well as the prediction of the economic reform policy under Kim Jong Un government.
  • 5.

    Sino-U.S. Trade War and Weaponisation of Interdependence: Focusing on China’s Soybean Strategy

    Kim Dohoon | 2020, 27(1) | pp.143~174 | number of Cited : 5
    Abstract PDF
    This paper aims to analyse the background and reasons behind China’s utilisation of soybean as a retaliatory measure throughout the Sino-U.S. trade war. In July 2018, as the trade war began in earnest, U.S. and China put political and economic pressure on each other through various diplomatic means. While the U.S. utilised a variety of measures, including imposing additional tariffs on Chinese products, tightening sanctions on Chinese companies and designating China as a currency manipulator, China engaged in negotiations with the U.S. through a strategy focusing on agricultural products, especially soybeans. This paper analyses China’s negotiation strategy from the perspective of Sino-U.S. interdependent trade structure. A shift in the U.S. dominated asymmetric interdependence trade structure between U.S. and China can be attributed to three aspects. First, due to the change in the global trade structure, the global soybean market has been transformed into a buyer’s market, and it reversed the market dominance of the U.S. and China. Second, China’s influence in the global soybean value chain has been expanded with its overseas agricultural investment and M&A strategy. Third, China’s food security policy increased its soybean self-sufficiency rate, and the domestic soybean crushing industry structure was reorganised around domestic companies, which drastically reduced China’s dependence on U.S. companies.
  • 6.

    An Empirical Study on the Influence of Inherited Capital and Social Status of Chinese Tourists on Perceived Risk and Return Visit Intention: Focusing on the Moderating Effect of Perceived Value

    Guo, Chao , Seong Hwan Lee | 2020, 27(1) | pp.175~210 | number of Cited : 4
    Abstract PDF
    This study examined whether the perceived risk plays a mediating role in the influence of the inherited capital and social status of Chinese tourists visiting Korea and the moderating role of perceived value. The sample of the study used the partial least square method (PLS) of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) based on a 355-part survey of Chinese tourists who visited Korea using Gimhae Airport. As a result of the test, first, the components of the inherited capital did not affect the return intention. Second, social status did not affect re-visit intention but positive influence on perceived value. Third, the perceived risk between social status and return visit intention was found to play a mediating role. Fourth, the hypothesis that perceived risks and perceived values ​​would affect revisit intention was supported, and the interaction between social status and perceived risk was supported by revisit intention, and the perceived value played a role in controlling. As a result, social status plays a very important role in perceived risk, and perceived value is a decisive factor in revisit intention. In this way, I would like to suggest the implications for improving the path of Chinese tourist behavior to Korea and developing various variables of tourism management.
  • 7.

    The Effects of Agricultural R&D Investment and Environment Subsidies on Agricultural Production and Income in China

    Lin Jin , Lee Ki-Seong | 2020, 27(1) | pp.211~232 | number of Cited : 1
    Abstract PDF
    Research and Development (R&D) investment in the agriculture has contributed not only to agriculture but also to economic growth across the country. In particular, it became the basis for national economic growth by providing labor to other industries through increased productivity of the agricultural sector. The importance of R&D in the agricultural sector is also being emphasized in preparation for the fourth industrial revolution, which has been highlighted recently. Agricultural R&D is directly related to the fourth industrial revolution in agriculture that utilizes big data, robots, artificial intelligence, and clouds. On the other hand, subsidies are considered the most widely used policy means. These subsidies affect domestic resource allocation, income distribution structure, and expenditure productivity regardless of specific policy areas, and also affect international competitiveness between trade and economic entities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamic analysis of variables by establishing a quantitative model in terms of agricultural environment subsidies that represent the government’s role and agricultural gross agricultural product in light of the importance of R&D investment in Chinese agriculture. In conclusion, the agricultural R&D investment and agricultural environmental subsidies not only have a long-term positive effect on agricultural income, but also increase the agricultural income positively affect the level of agricultural mechanization. In other words, today’s agriculture is transforming into a science and technology-oriented agriculture, unlike the past resource-oriented agriculture, and agricultural technology will act as a catalyst that can replace the scarce resources that are obstacles to agricultural growth with abundant resources.
  • 8.

    Contribution of Logistics Infrastructure to Industrial Development in China

    Yaping Yu , Hojung Shin , Fakulie Alfred Jawara | 2020, 27(1) | pp.233~264 | number of Cited : 0
    Abstract PDF
    Logistics is considered the “accelerator” of economic development and a steppingstone for sustaining national or regional economic strength. This study explores the impacts of logistics infrastructure on industrial development in China from the following four dimensions: the empirical associations between logistics infrastructureand 1) economic growth, 2) household consumption expenditure, 3) distribution of human resources,and 4) labor productivity within the three strata of industries. We analyze secondary time-series data collected by the National Bureau of Statistics of China and selected variables such as value-added of the logistics industry, freight traffic, freight ton-kilometers, and investment in fixed asset in the logistics industry. We then conduct regression analysis to show the impact of logistics infrastructure on industrial development in China. We find that the logistics infrastructure plays a positive role in promoting the performance of the three strata of industries. However, the value-added logistics had no effect on the labor flow to the secondary and the tertiary industries although the workforce of the primary industry has declined gradually with the increase of the value-added logistics. Finally, the logistics infrastructure also greatly affected the labor productivity since logistics has improved efficiency in material flows.
  • 9.

    Research on Enhancing Talent Gathering Capacity in Shaoxing City: A Comparative Analysis Based on Relevant Prefecture-Level Cities in the Yangtze River Delta

    Tiantian Zhu , Jiatong Wang , Hyunchul Kim | 2020, 27(1) | pp.265~279 | number of Cited : 0
    Abstract PDF
    Since the competition between cities is the competition for talents, the altitude of future development for a city is determined by the strength of the city’s attraction to talents, which is in turn determined by the pros and cons of the talent environment in the city. At present, Shaoxing, relying on the strategic positioning of “full integration into the Yangtze River Delta”, is working hard to build a city of talent gathering, but many shortcomings in terms of specific implementation still exist. By constructing an evaluation system for talent gathering in the Yangtze River Delta, this paper uses the approach of factor analysis and extracts three major factors affecting regional talent gathering, namely, the prospects for urban economic development, the urban culture and education environment, and the income security situation. Based on the disparities between Shaoxing and other prefecture-level cities in the Yangtze River Delta in view of different factors, as well as the analysis of the current situation of the three major pressures on talent gathering in Shaoxing, namely regional location, economic dynamics and urban infrastructure, the research was carried out with the result showing: 1) By systematically sorting out the scores of the talent attraction factors of counties in Zhejiang Province, it is found that counties (municipalities) with strong talent attraction are concentrated in the regions of northern Zhejiang, Hangzhou and Ningbo municipalities. 2) Compared with other cities in the Yangtze River Delta,the comprehensive index of talent concentration in Shaoxing is lower than the average level, with the economic development prospects and urban cultural and educational environmental factors’ influential effect on talent concentration being lower than average, and slightly higher than average when it comes to income status factors. Currently, the concentration of talents in Shaoxing Municipality is under the pressure of both regional location and economic momentum. According to the results of the study, suggestions form four aspects to improve the concentration of urban talents in Shaoxing were put forward, namely, diversity in routes, integration of industry, science and education, optimization of living environment, and protection of talent income.
  • 10.

    China’s Peasants as ‘Second-Class Citizen’: Perspective from Political Citizenship

    Lee, Dongjin | 2020, 27(1) | pp.281~315 | number of Cited : 0
    Abstract PDF
    This study examined the political citizenship of Chinese peasants, looking into the background and actuality of their citizenship and the government’s policy on it. Firstly, the background, from macroscopic aspects, can be found in the structure of ‘fragmented state’; from microscopic aspects, in the structural and institutional element of the peasants’ vulnerable position in the ‘local governance.’ Then, the actual political citizenship of Chinese peasants can be looked at through their organization power and political rights respectively. The peasants are the only group among the nation’s major occupational ones that does not have a nationwide organization. They also have weak political rights with their suffrage being only one eighth or one fourth of that of urban residents. Due to this frail political citizenship of theirs, any rights protection law for peasants was not enacted while a series of ‘rights-protection’ acts for ‘vulnerable groups’ were legislated. Lastly, the Chinese government tries to appease their complaints and resistance, on one hand, by lightening ‘peasants’ burden’ through ‘village self-government’ and, on the other hand, by increasing their income through ‘rural development’ policy. This study pointed out that above all else, institutional change of breaking down the ‘fragmented state,’ that is, ‘dual urban-rural structure’ is needed to invest peasants with political citizenship.
  • 11.

    The Development Cooperation of ROK in ASEAN Region with the View of Post-Development Theory through the Research Trend Analysis

    Yeon, Kyungsim | 2020, 27(1) | pp.317~347 | number of Cited : 0
    Abstract PDF
    This study analyzed the research trend on development cooperation of ROK in ASEAN region with the view of Post-Development Theory. It aimed at investigating the extent to which ROK has made a commitment to the partner country-oriented development cooperation from the experience of receiving aid support. In this context, this study targeted the ASEAN’s member states which are categorized as the partner countries in development cooperation and also recognized as the strategic partners of ROK. This study reviewed the key implications about the Post-Development Theory, which has been discussed as the alternative to existing donor-oriented development and presented an analytical principle for analyzing the perspectives and performance of development cooperation of ROK. With the proposed framework of content analysis, this study conducted the trend analysis on domestic research outputs in terms of development cooperation between ASEAN and ROK. In result, this study reached that ROK has implemented development cooperation policies and projects by emphasizing its national-level development goals and economic factors in ASEAN region. It hardly seemed that ROK’s approaches have embraced the positions and demands of the partner countries. However, the latest research trend revealed that the areas of development cooperation between ASEAN and ROK have been diversified and non-economic affairs such as social and cultural issues could get attention as well. Thus, this study suggested that ROK would encourage the partner countries to define their own concept of development, set the development goals and attain them from its experience as a partner country. It would be a way to highlight the ROK’s specialized approaches to conduct development cooperation.
  • 12.

    A Exploratory Research of Economic Effects on Wellness Tourism Industry in Korea: Exogenous Specified Input-Output Model

    Shin, Mi Young , Na Ju Mong | 2020, 27(1) | pp.349~378 | number of Cited : 9
    Abstract PDF
    The purpose of this study is to analyze the impacts of the sub-industries of wellness tourism on the national economy and to analyze the effects of medical services, personal services and tourism services. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of Wells Tourism on the national economic impact by comparing the economic effects between industries. In this study, wellness tourism is defined as a fusion of medical service and individual service, tourism service through similar concept survey, and the detailed composition industry of each service is defined. The analysis is based on the Korean Input-Output Table, which is based on the demand driven model and the industry linkage effect. As a result, the production inducing effect was 0.5508 won for medical industry, 0.9268 won for personal service, 0.7738 won for tourism industry, and 0.6861 won for wellness tourism. The add-value inducing effect was 0.2171 won for medical industry, 0.3137 won for personal service, 0.2512 won for tourism industry, and 0.2224 won for wellness tourism. The medical and personal service industries are analyzed as the raw industrial of final demand, and the tourism and wellness tourism industries as the raw indistrial of intermediate demand. The private service industry is expected to generate more production and value-added inducing effect than medical and tourism industries and to find a way to link up with the personal service industry when setting up the development of wellness tourism. The economic ripple effects of wellness tourism will increase when the tourism industry is linked with the medical and personal service industry contents that can induce domestic production and attract consumers. In order to increase the localization rate of the medical industry and the personal service industry, R&D and technology development support measures should be prepared.