Global Transformation, the Rise of Asia, and the Role of South Korea

This study examines the dynamics of cultural politics in reality television shows featuring North Korean resettlers (NKR2) in South Korea. As existing studies focus on the role of media representation reproducing a dominant ideology for the resettlers, this paper focuses on the specific media rituals of NKR2 programs, which can be seen as a product of the neoliberalist localization process of the global media industry. In doing so, this paper demonstrates how NKR2 programs interrupt the current dynamics of emotions in regard to North Korean resettlers in South Korea. We argue that in shaping civic identity as an effect of the NKR2 show, cultural politics of citizenship in South Korea on North Korean resettlers serve the formation of relatively conservative and sexist civic identity.

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Role of SES on the association between childhood parental death and adulthood suicidal ideation: a mediation analysis using longitudinal dataset in South Korea

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-021-03146-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jaehong Yoon ◽

Ja Young Kim ◽

Ji-Hwan Kim ◽

Seung-Sup Kim

Keyword(s):

Suicidal Ideation ◽

South Korea ◽

Mediation Analysis ◽

Household Income ◽

Parental Death ◽

Middle Adulthood ◽

Late Adulthood ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Direct Association

Abstract Background We sought to examine the association between childhood experience of parental death (CEPD) and adulthood suicidal ideation, and the mediating role of adulthood SES in the association. Methods We analyzed a nationally representative dataset of 8609 adults from the Korea Welfare Panel Study, which is a longitudinal cohort dataset in South Korea. CEPD was measured using a question: “During your childhood (0-17 years old), have you experienced the death of parents?” We classified responses of CEPD during 2006–2011 into ‘yes,’ and the others into ‘no.’ Suicidal ideation over the past year was assessed annually during 2012–2019. As a potential mediator, adulthood educational attainment and household income in 2011 were included in the analysis. Logistic regression was applied to examine the association of CEPD with adulthood suicidal ideation across age groups (early adulthood, 19–39 years old; middle adulthood, 40–59 years old; late adulthood, ≥60 years old), after excluding people who reported lifetime suicidal ideation in 2011. Causal mediation analysis using a parametric regression model was applied to examine the mediating role of adulthood SES in the association between CEPD and adulthood suicidal ideation. Results After adjusting for potential confounders including childhood SES, CEPD was significantly associated with adulthood suicidal ideation among the late adulthood group (OR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.13–1.81), while the association was not statistically significant among the early; and middle adulthood groups. In mediation analysis of adulthood household income, both indirect association (ORNIE: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02–1.09) and direct association (ORNDE: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.09–1.73) were statistically significant among the late adulthood group. In the mediation analysis of adulthood education attainment among the late adulthood, only a direct association was statistically significant (ORNDE: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.14–1.80). Conclusions These results suggest that CEPD could be a risk factor for adulthood suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the findings imply that income security policy might be necessary to reduce suicide among the late adulthood group.

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A Study on the Impact of R&D Intensity on Business Performance: Evidence from South Korea

Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity ◽

10.3390/joitmc7020135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 135

Author(s):

Hun Park ◽

Jun-Hwan Park ◽

Sujin Lee ◽

Hyuk Hahn

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Research And Development ◽

Business Performance ◽

Decision Makers ◽

The Other ◽

Research Groups ◽

Innovative Firms ◽

The Impact ◽

Knowledge Services

The role of R&D (research and development) intensity on the effect of knowledge services on the business performance of firms has been discussed by using PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA methods. Research groups were divided into two groups, innovative and non-innovative. Respondents were classified into innovative firms if their R&D intensity was over 3% and vice versa. PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA results were compared for two groups and valuable insights were extracted. For innovative firms, knowledge services seemed to be verified and processed by the decision makers and utilized to achieve their business performance. On the other hand, a large number of non-innovative firms seemed to have a stronger tendency to utilize knowledge services directly for their business without sufficient verification by the decision makers.

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The Relationships among Self-Worth Contingency on Others’ Approval, Appearance Comparisons on Facebook, and Adolescent Girls’ Body Esteem: A Cross-Cultural Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18030901 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 901 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Prieler ◽

Jounghwa Choi ◽

Hye Eun Lee

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Large Scale ◽

Body Esteem ◽

Asian Country ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

European Countries ◽

Self Worth ◽

Appearance Comparison

The present study examined the relationship between appearance-related social comparison on social networking services (SNSs) and body esteem in a cross-cultural context (three European countries, i.e., Austria, Belgium, and Spain, versus one Asian country, i.e., South Korea). The role of self-worth contingency on others’ approval was considered to be a psychological and cultural factor. Utilizing a large-scale cross-national survey of early and middle adolescents in 2017, the responses of female adolescents (N = 981) were analyzed. The results generally support the findings from previous studies but also reveal cultural differences. Appearance comparison on Facebook negatively influenced girls’ body esteem in all European countries, but not in South Korea. Self-worth contingency on others’ approval negatively influenced girls’ body esteem across all four countries. Finally, a positive relationship between self-worth contingency on others’ approval and appearance comparison on Facebook was found in all European countries, but not among Korean girls. These findings suggest the importance of self-worth contingency on others’ approval and cultural contexts can be used to study the effects of body image-related SNS use.

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