Political Factors in the Formation of the Entrepreneurial Elite in South Korea

Significance The world's three major shipbuilding countries -- China, South Korea and Japan -- face difficult market conditions due to oversupply in the shipping sector. Although all three face this common problem, the nature of their predicament and their responses vary, reflecting different industrial, financial and political contexts. Impacts Another wave of speculative orders would worsen oversupply, depress freight rates further and put the sector under more financial pressure. Domestic political factors will be an obstacle to addressing overcapacity in China and South Korea. The position of major producers could be challenged by lower-cost suppliers from other Asian countries, notably the Philippines and Vietnam. Japan and South Korea will face stronger Chinese competition as China's firms become more technologically advanced. If demolitions of old tonnage continue, the supply-demand imbalance may correct, as long as new orders remain at their current low levels.

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The territorial dispute in the Sea of Japan and its impact on regional security

Medjunarodni problemi ◽

10.2298/medjp1404265d ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 66 (3-4) ◽

pp. 265-282

Author(s):

Dusko Dimitrijevic ◽

Ivan Dujic

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Sea Of Japan ◽

Regional Security ◽

Territorial Disputes ◽

The Sea Of Japan ◽

Territorial Dispute ◽

Political Factors ◽

Political Analysis ◽

The People ◽

Historical Heritage

In recent years, the Sea of Japan or the East Sea as it is called in South Korea has become the place of territorial dispute. The territorial dispute between South Korea (Republic of Korea) and Japan refers to the question of sovereignty over the Takeshima/Dokdo Islands. This is a preliminary legal question for resolving the issue of demarcation of marine zones between the countries in dispute. The question of delimitation of marine zones is made particularly difficult by the fact that the countries in dispute have taken unilateral legal acts. Although the specific circumstances regarding the resolution of the territorial dispute differ, both countries see them as an opportunity to secure their geostrategic and then economic interests. Therefore, this dispute like other territorial disputes in Southeast Asia (the South and East China Sea) is the cause of instability, which increasingly threatens peace and security in this part of the world. Under certain internal and external political circumstances, most political factors in the countries use this dispute as an instrument to achieve broader support for their governments. Since territorial disputes relating to the question of state sovereignty, which is usually associated with psychological factors (nationalist feelings and dignity of the people) and historical heritage (which is not in a small number of cases coloured by a heavy imperial or colonial past), none of the parties wants to make concessions to the other side indicating that disputes will not be so easy to resolve and overcome peacefully without the infiltration of external political factors. In the study that follows, the author presents an international legal and political analysis of the territorial dispute in the Sea of Japan with explanations on its impact on the regional security.

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The Policy and Politics of the Cohort Participation Rate in Universities

International Journal of Chinese Education ◽

10.1163/22125868-12340068 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 209-225

Author(s):

Hoe-Yeong Loke ◽

S. Gopinathan

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Public Universities ◽

Participation Rate ◽

Youth Unemployment ◽

Skills Training ◽

Political Factors ◽

New Public ◽

Long Time ◽

The Media ◽

The Government

In the media and policy discourses in Singapore, comparisons have often been made with countries like Taiwan and South Korea to validate the Singapore government’s long time policy approach of maintaining the cohort participation rate (cpr) in public universities at around 25% to 30%. Considering the rates of youth unemployment in Taiwan (12.7%) and South Korea (9.5%), where the cpr in universities has hovered around 80% to 90%, it would appear that the problem is one of an over-supply of graduates. While Singapore has maintained a commitment to skills training and to fostering a well-resourced polytechnic sector and the technical and vocational education sector, the government announced in 2012 its plans to raise the country’s cpr in universities to 40% by the year 2020. It established new public-autonomous universities to fulfill this goal, and expanded study places in existing universities, nevertheless with the proviso that internships would central to the curriculum, and that the degrees on offer would be well-tuned to the job shortages in the economy. What policy and political factors explain this change in Singapore’s long-held approach to the cpr for universities, especially when compared to the cases of Taiwan and South Korea? This paper offers an explanation of the policy and politics that underpinned the issue of the number of university places in Singapore, and also an explanation of the Singapore government’s shift in policy in 2012—albeit a policy move that took place within the context and language of the government’s new SkillsFuture programme, in which the education institutions are expected to continue to be well plugged into the needs of industries.

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Globalization and Business Masculinities in South Korea: Top Managers in the Industrial Sector

Social Sciences ◽

10.3390/socsci8120318 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 318 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jaok Kwon

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Transnational Corporations ◽

Industrial Sector ◽

Construction Process ◽

Global Level ◽

The West ◽

Political Factors ◽

Top Managers ◽

Depth Interviews

Along with the growing globalization of business, discussion concerning the “transnational business masculinity” has gained importance in recent years. Previous research on the transnational masculinity has argued for the convergence of business masculinity in a global level. This results partly from the fact that previous studies have concentrated largely on the West. Focusing on the Korean transnational corporations, this paper contributes theoretically by suggesting that the configuration process of business masculinity is neither linear nor straightforward towards convergence. Based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with top managers in the industrial sector in South Korea (hereafter Korea), this paper clarifies that the construction process of the business masculinity is plural, multi-faceted, and divergent despite the emergence of convergence in combination with socioeconomic and political factors in the local, national, and global level.

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