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141. Neither Mountain Nor Marketplace: Placing the Buddhist Nun in Contemporary Korean Literature

Author:
Hyangsoon Yi
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
Despite its distinct presence in Korean society for nearly one and a half millennia, the world of Buddhist nuns has remained closed to the "gaze" of outsiders. Even the hagiographies on renowned nuns are available to the public only in snippets and mostly as legends. The dearth of serious treatments of Buddhist nuns in Korean literature thus reflects and at the same time perpetuates the sense of mystery with which the life of a female renunciant is veiled in popular perception. In modern poetry, there is a tendency to lyricize the mystique of the nun, as is illustrated by two well-known poems from the 1930s: Paek Sok's "Yosung" (The Nun); and Cho Chi-hun's "Sungmu" (The Nun's Dance). From the late 1980s, however, the female monastic community has come under increasing scrutiny by a handful of writers and filmmakers, most notably represented by Han Sung-won, Nam Chisim, and Im Kwon-taek.
Political Geography:
Korea

142. Overcoming the Cold War Legacy in Korea? The Inter-Korean Summit One Year Later

Author:
Young Whan Kihl
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
The move toward rapprochement between the leaders of North and South Korea, symbolized by their well-documented embrace at the June 2000 summit, gave reasons for hope and new expectations for reconciliation between the two Koreas. The enthusiasm and euphoria generated by this summit, however, failed to move forward to concrete steps toward genuine peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. The reason has less to do with the enthusiasm of the summer as the hard realities of the political and economic issues confronted by each Korea and the geopolitical situation surrounding the Korean peninsula. So far Seoul's engagement policy toward North Korea has given an impression of one side giving and yielding without due reciprocity by the other side. This work will address the post-summit developments in inter-Korean relations, marking the one-year anniversary of the June 2000 Korean summit. It will reassess the meaning and significance of the summit talks by reevaluating the sunshine policy of ROK President Kim Dae Jung, analyzing the progress and problems for implementation of the June 15, 2000, joint declaration, and speculating about the DPRK's possible opening and its reform policy measures.
Political Geography:
South Korea, North Korea, and Korea

143. Russian Policy toward the Korean Peninsula, 1991-2001

Author:
Jane Shapiro Zacek
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
In July of 2000, Russian Federation (RF) President Vladimir Putin spent two days in Pyongyang, North Korea, the first Russian (or Soviet) head of state ever to visit that country. Newly elected President in his own right in March 2000, Putin wasted no time promoting his East Asia foreign policy agenda, including presidential visits to South Korea, China, and elsewhere in the region within the past year.
Political Geography:
Russia, China, East Asia, South Korea, North Korea, Soviet Union, Korea, Sinai Peninsula, and Pyongyang

144. In Search of New Patterns of Rivalry and Interdependence: China-Japan Relations in a Changing Northeast Asia

Author:
Taeho Kim
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
The future of China-Japan relations will have a decisive impact on post-Cold War East Asia's economic and political order. Japan and China embody the world's second- and, by PPP-based calculations, third-largest economies, respectively, and wield growing political clout in regional affairs. Militarily, despite the different nature and sources of their national power, both countries are the major factors to be reckoned with in any East Asian strategic equation.
Political Geography:
Japan, China, and East Asia

145. Peace and Arms Control on the Korean Peninsula

Author:
Yong-Sup Han
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
South Koreans did not recognize the importance of "the positive peace" until the Kim Dae-jung Administration came to power in 1998. Before then, the concept of "the negative peace" had long been engrained in the minds of South Koreans and Americans. The United States and South Korea have been successful in deterring war up to now. Although North Korea insisted that they should conclude a peace treaty with the United States, their true intent was not to establish "the positive peace" on the Korean peninsula. Herein, the positive peace means that there is neither a war nor a competition, and there is cooperation toward similar or common goals between different states. The Kim Dae-jung Administration began its reconciliation and cooperation policy to create conditions favorable to making positive peace on the Korean peninsula.
Political Geography:
United States, America, South Korea, North Korea, and Korean Peninsula

146. Power Dynamics of Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Korean Peninsula: Problems and Remedies

Author:
Hyun-Kun Yoon
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
A decade after the Cold War ended, the world still seems to be in a transitional period. It is a dynamic time with drastic changes. There are opportunities that can consolidate sustained peace and future stability. There are also risks that could generate new instabilities and even conflicts in a fast-changing world. Northeast Asia, and the Korean peninsula in particular, is perhaps the best place to illustrate the uncertain situation.
Political Geography:
Northeast Asia and Korean Peninsula

147. The Making of the Korean Financial Crisis: Financial Liberalization without Regulations

Author:
Shalendra D. Sharma
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
In 1950, Korea was among the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita income of under US$150.1 Ravaged by a brutal war between 1950-53, a divided Korea was predicted to remain a "basketcase" for the foreseeable future. However, South Korea (hereafter Korea), defied the dire predictions — becoming in less than a generation the quintessential developmental success story — and a model for other developing countries to emulate. With the exception of a relatively short-lived recession in 1979-80, Korea enjoyed continuous economic growth between 1960 and 1997. With the economy expanding at an annual rate of over 8%, Korea's per capita income grew to US$10,973 by mid-1997, earning it membership in the exclusive OCED (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) group of nations.2 Already the world's eleventh largest economy in 1996, Korea publicly stated its ambition to outperform Japan technologically in the new millennium. Indeed, as the world's largest supplier of computer memory chips, the second largest shipbuilder, the third largest producer of semiconductors, the fourth largest maker of electronics and the fifth largest automobile maker, Korea hardly made an idle boast in its ambition.
Political Geography:
Japan, South Korea, and Korea

148. The Role of U.S. Forces in a Unified Korea

Author:
Ralph A. Cossa
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
The geopolitical landscape in East Asia has changed dramatically, and one would hope permanently, as a result of last year's sudden and largely unexpected thaw in North-South Korean relations. The appearance of North Korea's formerly reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il, in the international spotlight through the much-heralded June 2000 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang and his high-profile meetings with Chinese leaders in Beijing and Shanghai and with Russian President Putin in Pyongyang have resulted in a remaking of both the North Korean leader's and his nation's international image. As one senior U.S. official noted at the time, North Korea has gone, almost overnight, from the "hermit kingdom" to the "hyperactive kingdom."
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Shanghai, Beijing, East Asia, North Korea, and Korea

149. Political Future of the Korean Peninsula: A New Challenge to Unification Strategies

Author:
Kook-Shin Kim
Publication Date:
09-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
The launching of the Kim Dae-jung administration in February 1998 signified drastic changes in the erstwhile ROK policy toward North Korea. President Kim adopted a flexible policy toward North Korea, the so-called sunshine policy. The policy is based on three principles: 1) deterrence of armed aggression, 2) rejection of unification through absorption, and 3) realization of reconciliation and cooperation. President Kim Dae-jung has been consistent in carrying out his sunshine policy despite the provocative actions of North Korea (DPRK), such as the submarine incursion and missile launch a few years ago. The purpose has been to create a favorable environment for the government-level talks between the two Koreas to take place.
Political Geography:
North Korea and Korean Peninsula

150. The Korean War after Fifty Years: Challenges for Peace and Prosperity

Author:
George H. Quester
Publication Date:
03-2001
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Journal of Korean Studies
Institution:
International Council on Korean Studies
Abstract:
The Korean War, as a model for the possibilities of limited war which hovered in the background for the entire Cold War, has inevitably drawn conflicting interpretations. Now that the Cold War is over, now that a half-century has passed since the Korean War, we ought to be able to sort and evaluate these interpretations.
Political Geography:
Korea