Rethinking Hegemony and Neutralization in Korea: Multinational Diplomatic Engagements in the Run-Up to the Russo-Japanese War (1903–1904)

This article demonstrates that the Russo-Japanese rivalry, far from being just another example of imperialist competition during the Age of Imperialism, can also serve as a useful case study of a diplomatic contest over a periphery between hegemonic powers. During this diplomatic tug-of-war, the Korean peninsula became the focal point of a contest between Japan and Russia. The present study illuminates the interactive processes of major diplomatic engagements between multiple actors through careful use of multi-lingual archives, as well as locates the significant implications of these exchanges for contemporary geopolitical landscapes in the Far East. Ultimately, this research provides an analytical framework for a more in-depth understanding of diplomatic interactions and the impacts of hegemonic struggles in modern Korean history.

Candlelight for Our Country’s Right Name: A Confucian Interpretation of South Korea’s Candlelight Revolution

The candlelight protest that took place in South Korea from October 2016 to March 2017 was a landmark political event, not least because it ultimately led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Arguably, its more historically important meaning lies in the fact that it marks the first nation-wide political struggle since the June Uprising of 1987, where civil society won an unequivocal victory over a regime that was found to be corrupt, unjust, and undemocratic, making it the most orderly, civil, and peaceful political revolution in modern Korean history. Despite a plethora of literature investigating the cause of what is now called “the Candlelight Revolution” and its implications for Korean democracy, less attention has been paid to the cultural motivation and moral discourse that galvanized Korean civil society. This paper captures the Korean civil society which resulted in the Candlelight Revolution in terms of Confucian democratic civil society, distinct from both liberal pluralist civil society and Confucian meritocratic civil society, and argues that Confucian democratic civil society can provide a useful conceptual tool by which to not only philosophically construct a vision of civil society that is culturally relevant and politically practicable but also to critically evaluate the politics of civil society in the East Asian context.

Analysis of the Characteristics of Stone Signposts in Korean Rural Landscapes

Korean rural landscapes have been influenced by major events in modern Korean history, and have undergone many sociocultural and lifestyle changes. This study examines the characteristics of stone signposts, which physically represent the landscape entrance to Korean rural villages, and provide comprehensive information for the sustainable management of rural landscape elements having heritage value. We conducted field surveys and interviews in 313 rural villages in Korea and cross-tabulated the collected data with five question items. We designed one descriptive variable for the cause, set four question items for dependent variables, and analyzed the relationship among the variables. This study reveals that the installation times of stone signposts are related to the major issues of modern Korean history, and discusses how the signposts evolved into rural landscape elements. In addition, the study reveals that stone signposts can be considered a tactic designed to preserve regional identities in modern society and improve the quality of rural village landscapes. Over time, due to the complex long-term interactions that occurred between the landscape and the sociocultural environment of such regions, stone signposts evolved into elements of cultural heritage and representations of regional knowledge and history. Therefore, in order to improve Korean rural landscapes, their value must be assessed and managed independently based on historical, regional, and landscape considerations.