National Identity, National Pride, and Happiness: The Case of South Korea

Abstract In this article, we show that the Dokdo/Takeshima islands issue has become a cultural phenomenon in South Korea, in which the popular desire for national pride has increasingly been intertwined with the government’s efforts for promoting its policy position vis-à-vis Japan. We argue that narratives on Dokdo – created in and through activities in the realms of education, media, and civil society activism – are designed to enhance South Korean territorial sovereignty over the islands. In the process, however, Dokdo has become a symbol of Korean identity or “Koreanness,” as the public, teachers, students, and activists have all engaged in meaning-making activities surrounding the islands. This phenomenon has become salient, in part because these actors sought to respond to Japan’s own activities, including the designation of “Takeshima Day” in 2005. As part of a grassroots movement, their strategy of creating everyday symbols over the islands not just expressed, but also reproduced Korean national identity.

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Four Asian Tigers' Political and Economic Development Revisited 1998-2017: From the Perspective of National Identity

Asian Journal of Interdisciplinary Research ◽

10.54392/ajir2147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol .4 (4) ◽

pp. 54-61

Author(s):

Dong-Ching Day

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Hong Kong ◽

National Identity ◽

South Korea ◽

Developmental State ◽

State Theory ◽

Economic Growth Rate ◽

Asian Tigers ◽

Identity Issue ◽

Better Than

Developmental state used to be and is still regarded as a very practical theory to explain why Four Asian Tigers-Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore enjoyed almost averagely double-digit economic growth rate each year from 1970 to 1990 as well as East Asian economic development. However, developmental state theory couldn’t tell why South Korea and Singapore’s economic development had done much better than Taiwan and Hong Kong’s in terms of GDP per capita after 2003 and 2004 respectively. The aim of the study is trying to use national identity perspective to explain why it happens like this, since Four Asian Tigers’ economic development more or less was troubled by national identity issue. The major difference between these two groups is that South Korea and Singapore have done better in dealing with national identity issue than Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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Neo-Nationalism: Challenges for International Students

International Higher Education ◽

10.6017/ihe.2016.84.9117 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 23-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jenny J Lee

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

National Identity ◽

International Students ◽

South Korea ◽

Global Competition

With increasing internationalization, national identity is being reintroduced and reconceptualized as forms of global competition. Neo-nationalism has the potential to negatively impact an international student’s experience, particularly in studying in one’s region. This article highlights some challenges for regional students in South Korea and South Africa based on neo-nationalism.

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The Origins of the Park Jung-hee Syndrome in South Korea

Issues & Studies ◽

10.1142/s1013251119500036 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 (01) ◽

pp. 1950003

Author(s):

EUNJUNG CHOI ◽

JONGSEOK WOO

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

South Korea ◽

Political Socialization ◽

Empirical Test ◽

Electoral Politics ◽

The Political ◽

South Korean ◽

The Past ◽

System Output ◽

The Empirical Analysis

In the past few decades, post-democratization politics in South Korea have witnessed an upsurge in authoritarian nostalgia, called the “Park Jung-hee syndrome.” This paper examines the origins of public nostalgia for the authoritarian dictator by putting two theoretical arguments, i.e., the socialization thesis and the system output thesis, to an empirical test. This paper utilizes the 2010 Korea Democracy Barometer from the Korea Barometer and the 2010 and the 2015 Korean National Identity Survey from the East Asia Institute. The empirical analysis of the South Korean case strongly supports the political socialization argument, suggesting that citizens’ yearning for Park Jung-hee is not merely an outcome of the negative evaluations of the democratic governments’ performances. Rather, their authoritarian nostalgia is in large part an outcome of their political socialization during the Park dictatorship. The analysis implies that, although a resurgence of the Park Jung-hee syndrome in post-democratization South Korea is not expected to derail the country’s route to democratic deepening, it may continue to be a main source of political division in partisan and electoral politics in the future.

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South Korea Film-Induced Tourism

10.4018/978-1-7998-9071-3.ch003 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 27-45

Author(s):

Mazni Saad ◽

Nor Azilah Husin ◽

Nur Zafirah Ramlee

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

South Korea ◽

Heritage Tourism ◽

Young Generation ◽

The South ◽

High Quality ◽

South Korean ◽

Repeat Visit ◽

International Distribution

This study surveyed 150 Malaysian tourists regarding the South Korean drama (K-drama) factors that drew them back to South Korea. The analyses revealed that K-drama was highly successful in enticing the young generation and discovered a clear scenario for Malaysians' response for a repeat visit. The results show that collaboration for the development of heritage tourism should be linked to the national identity and replicated through dramas similar to K-dramas. Universities should work closely with other stakeholders to produce high-quality films for international distribution.

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Reassembling Heritage after the Disaster: On the Sungnyemun Debate in South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12093903 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 3903

Author(s):

Seunghan Paek ◽

Dai Whan An

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

South Korea ◽

Cultural Heritage ◽

Network Theory ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Actor Network Theory ◽

The South ◽

The World ◽

Public Meanings ◽

Post Disaster

This article explores the changing values of heritage in an era saturated by an excess of media coverage in various settings and also threatened by either natural or manmade disasters that constantly take place around the world. In doing so, we focus on discussing one specific case: the debate surrounding the identification of Sungnyemun as the number one national treasure in South Korea. Sungnyemun, which was first constructed in 1396 as the south gate of the walled city Seoul, is the country’s most acknowledged cultural heritage that is supposed to represent the national identity in the most authentic way, but its value was suddenly questioned through a nationwide debate after an unexpected fire. While the debate has been silenced after its ostensibly successful restoration conducted by the Cultural Heritage Administration in 2013, this article argues that the incident is a prime example illustrating how the once venerated heritage is reassembled through an entanglement of various agents and their affective engagements. Methodologically speaking, this article aims to read Sungnyemun in reference to the growing scholarship of actor-network theory (ANT) and the studies of heritage in the post-disaster era through which to explore what heritage means to us at the present time. Our synchronic approach to Sungnyemun encourages us to investigate how the once-stable monument becomes a field where material interventions and affective engagements of various agents release its public meanings in new ways.

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Lyudmila Zhivkova and the Paradox of Ideology and Identity in Communist Bulgaria

East European Politics and Societies and Cultures ◽

10.1177/0888325404263413 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 278-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ivanka Nedeva Atanasova

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

Cultural Politics ◽

National Character ◽

Rational Approach ◽

Unexpected Death ◽

National Pride ◽

Significant Conflict ◽

Political Figure

This article argues that Lyudmila Zhivkova is the most controversial political figure in Communist Bulgaria. Zhivkova’s ideas and initiatives that have been overlooked so far are used as a background for exploring a significant conflict between ideology and national identity in modern Bulgarian history. After outlining briefly Zhivkova’s early and unexpected death, the author analyzes the Communist paradoxes of utopia, modernization, and return to feudalism that produced the idiosyncratic phenomenon of Zhivkova as “the uncrowned princess” of Communist Bulgaria. The author explains Zhivkova’s cultural politics as a rational approach worked out with the help of some of the most outstanding Bulgarian intellectuals at that time. Because of its heavy emphasis on national identity, Zhivkova’s cultural politics reveal clearly several sets of contradictory components of the Bulgarian national character and in some cases challenge the conventional wisdoms about Bulgarians. These sets are the quest for cultural achievements versus limited state resources; excessive national pride versus “shameful national identity”; Russophobes versus Russophiles; East versus West or how to escape the geopolitical trap; and mysticism versus atheism.

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Pro-european orientation and perception of European integrations as a threat in Serbia and Croatia - the importance of sociodemographic variables and different forms of national attachment

Primenjena psihologija ◽

10.19090/pp.2021.1.53-77 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 53-77

Author(s):

Vladimir Mihić ◽

Dragana Jelić ◽

Margareta Jelić

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

National Identity ◽

European Integration ◽

Sociodemographic Variables ◽

National Pride ◽

The Past ◽

The Social ◽

National Attachment ◽

And Gender ◽

The Eu

For the past few decades, European integration has been one of the primary issues not just in politics, but also in the social sciences. This issue becomes even more important when research takes place in countries where the population is ambivalent in their support for the EU and European integration. The main aims of the study presented in this paper are to determine differences in Serbia and Croatia in pro-European orientation and the perception of European integration (EI) as a threat, and to determine the factors underlying both constructs by focusing on sociodemographic variables, the importance of religion, and different forms of national attachment. The results show that citizens of Croatia have a stronger pro-European orientation, but there is no difference in the perception of EI as a threat. Pro-European orientation is determined by the respondents’ national identity (in both countries) and gender, the importance of religion, and national pride in the state (only in Serbia). The significant predictors for the perception of EI as a threat were constructive patriotism and national pride in successful individuals (in Serbia), blind patriotism (in Croatia) and the importance of religion (in both countries).

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National Identity Expressed in Chinese and Korean Clothing

Asian Culture and History ◽

10.5539/ach.v12n1p17 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Chenhao Sun ◽

Jisoo Ha

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

Literature Review ◽

South Korea ◽

Theoretical Background ◽

Religious Philosophy ◽

Clothing Design ◽

Korean Wave ◽

The World ◽

Traditional Arts

The purpose of the study is to observe historically national identity expressed in Chinese and Korean Clothing. The literature review and the case study both in China and South Korea were conducted at the same time. The outcomes from the studies are as follow: National identity has been reflected in clothing mainly via the adoption of ethnic elements and civic elements. Chinese and Korean visible-symbolized ethnic elements are from their traditional arts, costumes and lifestyles, invisible-spiritual ethnic elements mainly from religious philosophy. But the Korean wave, which is the modern ethnic invisible-spiritual element, is growing popular all over the world. Chinese and Korean visible-symbolized political elements refer to national or governmental sign, marks or national logo. The invisible-spiritual political elements contain the specific political atmosphere. Chinese are Socialism and anti-capitalism. Meanwhile Korean are Patriotism, Collectiveness, anti-communism and Military ideology. It provides a comprehensive and complete theoretical background for investigating how national identity has been shown in China and Korea’s past and current fashion. It is expected to promote the diversified development of both Chinese and Korean clothing design expression in the future.

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Water and national identity in the Netherlands; the history of an idea

Water History ◽

10.1007/s12685-020-00263-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Erik Mostert

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

National Identity ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Water History ◽

Stimulate Action ◽

National Pride ◽

External Threats ◽

History Of ◽

Political Turmoil ◽

Roman Catholics

AbstractAccording to a popular Dutch theory, water has shaped the Dutch national identity. The Dutch fight against the water would have stimulated perseverance, ingenuity, cooperation and an egalitarian and democratic society. Despite the long water management history of the Netherlands, water became an important part of the self-images of the nation only in the eighteenth Century. In the 1780s the idea that the Dutch had wrung their country from the sea became popular. Initially, this idea was especially popular among the (proto-)liberal opposition, who emphasised the importance of the nation and its achievements. By the end of the nineteenth Century, water had become a national symbol for orthodox Calvinists, Roman Catholics and Socialists too, despite their different views on the nation. Whenever there was fast social change, political turmoil or external threats, as in the late eighteenth Century, the 1930s and 1940s and since the 1990s, the link between water and the Netherlands was used to promote national pride and unity and stimulate action. This link has also been used to promote specific hydraulic works, but it is a topic for further research how widespread and effective this practice was. As this paper is part of a special issue, Water History in the time of COVID-19, it has undergone modified peer review.

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