bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The "Horseriders" in Korea: A Critical Evaluation of a Historical Theory
Authors: Kirkland J. Russell
Published: April 2011

A controversial theory that is current among both Asian and Western scholars holds that the earliest Japanese state was founded by invaders from the Asian mainland around the fourth century A.D. Advocates of this theory believe that the invaders represented a race of horseriding warriors from the borders of the great Eurasian steppe that stretches eastward to Manchuria. Culturally, those "horseriders" are held to have achieved what no other steppe people ever accomplished, by sweeping southeastward through the Korean peninsula and into the Japanese archipelago, conquering as they went. This article will examine several versions of the horserider theory with particular attention to the claims made for the horseriders in relation to Korea.
Tales of the Extraordinary: An Inquiry into the Contents, Nature, and Authorship of the Sui chŏn
Authors: Vos Frits
Published: April 2011

The [ Silla ] Sui chŏn is a lost collection of "tales of the extraordinary," fragments of which have been preserved in works dating from the thirteenth century to the sixteenth century. Its title affords much scope for speculation, and its authorship and date are still uncertain. Presented are annotated translations of eleven fragments from the Sui chŏn and compared are several of its tales with corresponding versions in Iryŏn's Samguk yusa . It is pointed out that the most interesting story, a fictitious episode in the life of Ch'oe Ch'iwŏn (b. 857), was influenced by the Yu hsien-k'u , China's first love story ( circa 700) and an important specimen of the T'ang period literary genre known as ch'uan-ch'i hsiao-shuo (tales of the miraculous). Approaching the problem of title and authorship from various angles, it is concluded that the oldest version of this work dates from the early Koryŏ period, and that the author of the definitive version is undoubtedly Pak Illyang (d. 1096).
The Structure of the Kuun mong [A dream of nine clouds]
Authors: Yun Chang Sik
Published: April 2011

The structural device of a dream vision employed in Kim Manjung's (1637-1692) Kuun mong [A dream of nine clouds] is intended to embody the Buddhist tenet that earthly pleasures are as illusory as a dream. The contents of the hero's dream, which occupies almost the entirety of the work, constitutes a kind of romance allowing phantasmic fulfillment of archetypical libidinous drives and the desire for social esteem. The elements of motivation and characterization that are common to most works of fiction are largely lacking. Instead, the hero's charisma, game playing, convenient coincidences and supernatural miracles conspire auspiciously to fulfill his supreme desires. The trappings of decadent feudalism and mundane Confucianism aid him in his quest to nullify the potential for selfawareness that the tragic vision of Buddhism offers. By adopting the structural device of a dream vision Kim Manjung sets himself the artistically impossible task of creating a romance within the framework of an antiromance without molding these antithetical entities into an artistically viable whole.
P'ansori: The Korean Oral Narrative
Authors: Pihl Marshall R.
Published: April 2011

A study of the Korean oral narrative (p'ansori) and its singers (kwangdae) from the earliest known origins to the state of the art in the twentieth century, based upon historical references, extant p'ansori texts, biographical studies of nineteenth-century kwangdae , interviews with living singers, and contemporary recordings. This Korean oral tradition is treated as related to comparable artforms in other cultures, such as the Chinese chantefable (chu-kung-tiao) , Japanese puppet libretti (jōruri) , and the Yugoslav oral epic. Accordingly, it is asserted that early kwangdae improvised their narratives on the basis of oral formulae, as described by Albert B. Lord in The Singer of Tales . However, it is assumed that the force of the guildlike organization of kwangdae and the master-disciple relationship through which their art was transmitted resulted in a fixing of texts and a loss of this improvisational character. In addition, the study considers the relationship between the p'ansori and the folk tale and also discusses the operatic adaptations and commercially printed versions of the oral narrative that began to appear at the end of the nineteenth century.
Ŭnsegye: Art versus Ideology
Authors: Kim Kichung
Published: April 2011

This essay is intended to introduce the reader to Ŭnsegye [A silvery world], a remarkable novel by Yi Injik that deserves more attention than it has received, and at the same time to illustrate, in terms of this novel, Yi's strengths and weaknesses as a novelist. Although not formally divided into two parts, Ŭnsegye consists of two halves, each distinct in style and theme. The tragic story of Ch'oe Pyŏngdo, a victim of the corrupt officials of the Yi dynasty, comprises the first two-thirds of the novel. This portion of the novel successfully portrays the hopeless and unavailing struggle of one good man against a vicious and corrupt provincial governor. The last third of the novel, dealing with the education of Ch'oe Pyŏngdo's children in the U.S. and their return to Korea in 1907, lacks drama or credibility. This is because its ostensible theme—the need to have young Koreans educated abroad—is introduced through a series of didactic exhortations with no real narrative development. This blend of novelistic success and failure exemplified in the two parts of Ŭnsegye is typical of Yi Injik's whole novelistic output.
Mujŏng: An Introduction to Yi Kwangsu's Fiction
Authors: Kim Kichung
Published: April 2011

Beginning with Mujŏng published in 1971, Yi Kwangsu (1892-?) published four major novels dealing with contemporary themes, each appearing at seven or eight years interval. The last novel, Sarang appeared in 1939. Each of the four novels develops two separate, though related, narrative strands, one of patriotic love and the other of love between a man and a woman. Through a discussion of Mujŏng I hope to demonstrate a direct relationship between this dual-narrative technique and the dual goals of Yi's fiction, the "awakening of our people through writing and education" on the one hand and "unfolding vividly and truthfully ... the imagined world of the author" on the other. We note that these two goals often conflict, the one leading to didacticism, and the other to art.
The Identity of the Pŏpchip pyŏrhaeng nok [Dharma collection and special practice record]
Authors: Buswell Robert E.
Published: April 2011

Chinul's magnum opus, the fundamental text of the Korean Sŏn (Ch'an) tradition, draws upon excerpts from a work by Tsung-mi unknown as titled in China, the Dharma Collection and Special Practice Record , which is parallel in content and structure with Tsung-mi's Ch'an Chart . After outlining the conclusions reached concerning the Record and its title by Yi dynasty commentators and modern buddhologists, the author discusses letters by the Sung-dynasty T'ien-t'ai master Chih-li that suggest that both the Record and Tsung-mi's massive Ch'an Collection (Ch'an-yiian chi ; not extant) favored the Ho-tse school. These quotations also confirm the authenticity of Tsung-mi's Ch'an-yiian chi , the existence of which has been disputed. Chih-li's remarks indicate that the proto-Record was intended to summarize the arguments favoring the Ho-tse school in the Ch'an Collection . The author concludes that the phrase "dharma collection" refers to the Ch 'an Collection , abridged in the Record to cover only the four most representative schools of Chinese Ch'an; "special practice" refers to the Ho-tse school —in particular, the sudden awakening/gradual cultivation approach it followed —favored by both Tsung-mi and Chinul. The earliest recension of both the Record and the Ch'an Chart , which probably circulated untitled, included sections on the doctrine and practices of the four Ch'an schools. Later, a historical section on Ch'an lineage was added to what became known as the Ch'an Chart , producing a comprehensive summation of the superiority of the Ho-tse school as regards lineage, understanding, and realization. Hence the Record apparently represents an earlier recension of this parallel text done before the historical sections were added which continued to circulate in Korea, but was supplanted in China by the more complete Ch 'an Chart .
Chosŏn's Founding Fathers: A Study of Merit Subjects in the Early Yi Dynasty
Authors: Clark Donald N.
Published: April 2011

In the late fourteenth century, against a background of crumbling Mongol power and the rise of the Ming dynasty in China, the government of Korea changed hands. The state of Koryŏ, its power structure already weakened by the demise of its Yüan overlords, was pushed to the point of collapse, and a new group of leaders took charge. At their head was Yi Sŏnggye, a distinguished military commander who had made his reputation in campaigns against the Japanese pirates ( wakō ) and Jurchen raiders in the Korean northeast. Between 1388 and 1392 he led his group through a series of steps to his own enthronement as founder of the state of Chosŏn and became the founder of the dynasty we call the Yi. In many respects the founding of the Yi dynasty was a corporate venture. Each step along the way involved political risks: Yi needed support, and his followers needed a popular leader. When Yi was not sufficiently ambitious, his supporters pushed him; they acted in his name to overcome obstacles. Yi became king (temple name T'aejo, r. 1392-1398) because his supporters exercised good timing and were willing to take risks. After he mounted the throne, he rewarded his supporters with enfeoffment titles as merit subjects ( kongsin ). This article investigates the personal and social ties that bound the merit subjects to their patron and to each other. 1
The Royal Lecture and Confucian Politics in Early Yi Korea
Authors: Kwŏn Yŏnung
Published: April 2011

The royal lecture was an institution of Confucian indoctrination that purported to make the king a better ruler by teaching him the moral principles of government. Introduced into Korea in the twelfth century from Sung China, this institution remained little more than a ritual in the Koryŏ period. With the founding of the Yi dynasty, the royal lecture began to develop into full maturity thanks to the rise of Neo-Confucianism. By the last quarter of the fifteenth century, it became an institution of intensive indoctrination and a major forum of political consultation. Its curriculum encompassed the Confucian classics and histories. The king attended three sessions every day. At the end of each, he discussed important matters of government with an assortment of officials, ranging from senior officials to academicians and censors. Its format and operation faciliated wide consultation on state affairs and contributed to increasing conformity to Confucian political doctrines. The new apparatus also upset the balance of power in government and disrupted the decision-making process of the Yi government.
Race Relations and the Capitalist State: A Case Study of Koreans in Japan, 1917 through the mid-1920s
Authors: Abe Kazuhiro
Published: April 2011

Expansionist Japanese capitalism developed racist ideologies toward Korea and the Koreans. In 1910 Japan annexed Korea. After 1917, Korean labor was imported on a large scale into Japanese society, where racist attitudes were rapidly taking shape. However, cheap Korean labor produced a wage differential that caused a split in the labor market along ethnic lines. Thus, competition for jobs between Japanese workers and Korean immigrants transformed racial prejudice into overt ethnic antagonism. Under the circumstances, the Japanese government was forced to intervene, because it was primarily concerned with maintaining a social context conducive to the effective functioning of the economy. The government attempted to integrate Koreans into Japanese society through assimilation. Ironically, however, attempts at assimilation by the state served only to reproduce and crystalize the hierarchical ethnic order. Thus, our central theoretical task is to locate race relations in a capitalist society at the intersection of racial dynamics generated through the split-labor market on the one hand, and the state on the other. The interface is historically defined. More broadly, we must examine the unique historical configuration of economic, political, and ideological forces that produce racist ideologies and ethnic antagonisms. However, the economic element is the most fundamental to our theoretical scheme.
Women's Speech in Korean and English
Authors: Sung-Yun Bak
Published: April 2011

Women's speech in Korean and English is described and compared in the areas of grammar, phonology, lexis, semantics, and speech acts. It is assumed that women's speech may be described in terms of two behavioral notions: politeness and expressiveness. The observed linguistic variations in men's and women's speech in the two languages are also explained with reference to the sociocultural norms of the societies in which they are used.
Demographic and Social Mobility Trends in Early Seventeenth-century Korea: An Analysis of Sanŭm County Census Registers
Authors: Ro Jin Young
Published: April 2011

A nationwide census was taken every three years during the Yi dynasty in Korea, producing thousands of census registers ( hojŏk ) for each county. The present study uses the 1606 and 1630 registers for Sanŭm County to study the extent and direction of social mobility in the county during the twenty-four-year period between the two registers. Analysis of Sanŭm County census registers shows that the overall direction of social mobility in the county between 1606 and 1630 was downward, though a small percentage of households was recorded as having undergone upward mobility during the period. Some of the upward mobility may be attributed to government policies enacted during the Hideyoshi invasions of Korea to allow citizens to purchase higher status with grain contributions. The study suggests that the rigid stratification of Yi-dynasty society could no longer be maintained following the Hideyoshi invasions, and that social mobility was predominantly, though not exclusively, downward.
Language as a Set of Shared Expectations
Authors: Martin Samuel E.
Published: April 2011

As a special feature, Korean Studies is privileged to present Professor Martin's stimulating informal comments before the Second International Conference on Korean Linguistics (University of Hawaii, 10-14 August 1982).
The Life and Thought of the Korean Sŏn Master Kyŏnghŏ
Authors: Sorensen Henrik Hjort
Published: April 2011

During most of the Yi dynasty (1392-1910), Buddhism was suppressed, both politically and spiritually, by the Confucian government. Partly through the anti-Buddhist measures and partly through the internal deterioration of the sangha, Buddhism entered a long period of decline that was especially marked during the last two hundred years of the Yi dynasty. However, at the end of the nineteenth century, a great personality emerged among Korean Buddhist monks. This was Kyŏnghŏ Sŏng'u who was born into a poor peasant family in 1849. After losing his father at an early age, Kyŏnghŏ joined the sangha, where he received instruction in traditional Buddhism and classical Confucianism. By age twenty-three his mastery of the scriptures had earned him high ecclesiastical rank, but he eventually became disillusioned with the limited understanding he had acquired through study and decided to seek a practical realization of the innermost truth of Buddhism through intensive Sŏn meditation. After a long and grueling retreat, he had a major spiritual awakening in the autumn of 1879, at age thirty-one. Following his awakening he taught widely across the country, successfully contributing to the revival of Buddhism in Korea. Kyŏnghŏ's thought as revealed in his extant writings and recorded dharma talks follow traditional Sŏn doctrines, highlighted by his thorough knowledge of the Mahāyāna scriptures. He appears to have been particularly fond of the great Chinese Ch'an masters Hui-neng (638-713) and Kuei-feng Tsung-mi (780-841), as well as the Koryŏ Sŏn master, Pojo Kuksa (1158-1210). Viewed from a doctrinal standpoint, Kyŏnghŏ's Buddhism contains nothing new or extraordinary. That he was a powerful spiritual teacher, however, can be seen in his more informal addresses and mundap exchanges with his disciples. Precisely because he followed a well-trod path, Kyŏnghŏ was able to reassert the Buddhist roots of Korea and bring fresh impetus to an old and weak, but still living, Korean tradition.
Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn: His Rise to Power
Authors: Shultz Edward J.
Published: April 2011

Koryŏ military officers revolted in 1170. The subsequent twenty-six years were disastrous: the new military leaders, unable to create a stable political environment, resorted to coups and countercoups. Assassination became common. This uncertainty at the top fomented discontent below. Buddhist monks, disaffected civilian officials, peasants, and slaves took up arms. Newly promoted generals tried to take charge, but their efforts consistently were frustrated by widespread corruption and greed. Ch'oe Ch'unghŏn, another general, came to power through a coup d'etat in 1196. To establish his authority, and check the drift toward anarchy that had characterized Myŏngjong's reign (1170-1197), he forced the king to abdicate, purged many leading military officials, and immediately launched a far-reaching reform program. Ch'unghŏn ruled Koryŏ primarily through his position as the dominant military power, but after purging potential military rivals, he looked to civilians, and civilian institutions, to assist him in restoring order to Koryŏ. He also developed his own institutions, responsible to him alone, to streamline the administration. Ch'oe increasingly worked through this new system to manipulate the dynasty. By the time of his death in 1219, much of the discontent, rebellion, and corruption that had destabilized the dynasty had disappeared.
Rural Development and Leadership Patterns in South Korea
Authors: Ahn Byong Man , Boyer William W.
Published: April 2011

Key to the success of South Korea's government-induced, top-down, rural development program has been the elective village leader, whose training for selfsacrifice and authoritarian leadership established the momentum for development. Findings from our research, however, suggest that after more than ten years of the program the government's very success in inducing self-help among villagers has created a demand for new training designed to produce democratic village leaders and for change to a grassroots, bottom-up, participatory rural development program.
Korean and Dravidian: Lexical Evidence for an Old Theory
Authors: Clippinger Morgan E.
Published: April 2011

Since 1905 when, on the basis of syntactic and typological similarities, Homer Hulbert first suggested a genetic relationship between Korean and Dravidian, there has been no systematic attempt to examine his theory in light of the lexical evidence available. This paper presents over four hundred sets of Korean-Dravidian cognate pairs, including many basic vocabulary items, in an attempt to uncover links between the two language groups. The evidence suggests that at a very ancient period Dravidian and Korean probably shared a common heritage and that this heritage might have been reinforced much later by migrations to the Korean peninsula, perhaps in the later years of the first millennium B.C.
Sentiment and Ideology in the Nationalism of the Independence Club (1896-1898)
Authors: Chandra Vipan
Published: April 2011

The development of nationalism in Korea received its greatest impetus during the latter part of the nineteenth century through the activities of the Independence Club. The Club sought both to foster a new nationalistic consciousness in the Korean population, by invoking among the citizenry a strong emotional attachment to the state, and to create an ideology befitting Korea's new nation-state status. Due, perhaps, to the Club's relatively brief existence, its emotional impact was greater and more lasting than its ideological one. However, the sentiment of patriotism which the Club was instrumental in nurturing played a vital role in the development of Korean nationalism in the twentieth century.
Nationalism and the Korean Tradition, 1896-1920: Iconoclasm, Reform, and National Identity
Authors: Robinson Michael E.
Published: April 2011

Modern Korean nationalism emerged from a process of reform and reexamination of Korean society and history sparked by the confrontation with Western powers in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The evolution of a nationalist ideology involved an iconoclastic reevaluation of accepted political theories and institutions. In particular, the Confucian social system, the Korean folk tradition, and the traditional Korean relationship with China were subjected to extensive criticism and reevaluation. In the writings of nationalist intellectuals between 1896 and the early 1920s can be traced the development of a new Korean nationalism which attempted to blend Western political theories and indigenous Korean political patterns.
Comparative Colonial Response: Korea and Taiwan
Authors: McNamara Dennis L.
Published: April 2011

A comparison of the responses of Korea and Taiwan to Japanese colonization during the early years of the twentieth century does much to clarify the distinctiveness of the Korean reaction to Japanese rule. The presence and strength of structural bases for ethnic autonomy in Korea, at least through 1919, encouraged the survival of an indigenous racial identity, despite the imposition of colonial structures. This survival reflected a history of political and economic autonomy in Korea, and was central to the subsequent evolution of Korean nationalism.
Sung Dynasty Music Preserved in Korea and China
Authors: Lee Hye-ku
Published: April 2011

The music of the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) presents scholars with many intriguing problems because of the scarcity and incompleteness of extant materials. In China the poetic text and melody of several examples of one type of music, tz'ŭ music, have been preserved, but all performance instructions relating to rhythmic setting have been lost. Contemporaneous pieces, however, have been preserved in Korea, where they have survived complete with a mensural notation and performance history which enables them still to be played today. By analyzing the structure of tz'ŭ music as preserved in Korea, it is possible to suggest solutions to some of the more puzzling questions concerning the basic structure of this type of Sung Dynasty music.
The Rise of Nationalism in Korea
Authors: Lee Kwang-rin
Published: April 2011

The development of nationalism in Korea in the twentieth century must be seen in the light of late nineteenth century theories and movements. In response to confrontation with Japan and Western nations during the latter half of the 1800s, three prominent ideologies developed in Korea: the "defend orthodoxy, ban heterodoxy" [ wijŏng ch'ŏksa ], "enlightenment" [ kaehwa ], and "Eastern learning" [ Tonghak ] movements. These ideologies focused attention on issues of national identity and the appropriate response to the challenge of foreign penetration. The evolution of these three movements through the first decade of the twentieth century created the framework for the subsequent Korean response to colonialism and the later development of nationalism.
The Korean Minority in China: A Model for Ethnic Education
Authors: Lee Chae-Jin
Published: April 2011

The educational system in China's Yanbian Prefecture presents a relatively successful model for Korean ethnic education. Koreans in China have a much higher percentage of literacy and middle school and college graduation than the national average or any other minority nationality. Despite the integrationist impulses of the Chinese nationality policy during the Rectification Movement and the Cultural Revolution, the Korean minority has successfully sustained its ethnic identity. Central to the well-being of the Korean minority in China is its continuing achievement of the highest level of educational attainment. Within the moderate nationality policy currently enunciated by Beijing, the ethnically based education system of the Korean minority in Northeast China presents a program to be studied and emulated by other minority nationalities.
Political Culture and Ideology of the Korean Minority in China
Authors: Park Han Shik
Published: April 2011

The Korean minority in China has developed an ideology and belief system different from those found elsewhere in China or in North or South Korea. Due in part to the accommodating nature of the nationality policies of the Chinese government, the Koreans have maintained a strong sense of ethnic identity, observable most clearly in the numerous Korean publications and cultural activity found in northeast China. The local Korean culture is seen by some of the residents of Jilin Province as having even a greater purity than the culture of either North or South Korea, being unaffected by Western influence or political dogmatism. The belief system most apparent in the Korean minority community combines factors adapted from Marxist ideologies, such as a favoring of atheism and socialism, with traditional Korean authority patterns and a strong sense of nationalism. Based on the author's trips through the region, it appears that the Koreans in northeast China have a mixed opinion of the situations in North and South Korea, favoring the North Korean insistence on selfreliance but rejecting the personality cult of Kim Il Sung, and applauding the economic achievements of South Korea while opposing the presence of American troops. The need for reunification of the peninsula is widely seen to be imperative, based on both pragmatic and humanitarian grounds.
The Kwangju Uprising: An Inside View
Authors: Warnberg Tim
Published: April 2011

The Kwangju Incident of May 1980, although one of the crucial events in the post-Korean War history of South Korea, remains a subject of great controversy and confusion. A variety of contradictory accounts and analyses of the incident have appeared, but a day-by-day recounting of the uprising, drawn from previously unpublished eyewitness accounts, contradicts both the official government report and many of the contemporary press accounts. The experiences of eyewitnesses, including Peace Corps volunteers and resident missionaries, suggest that the events in Kwangju represented an indigenous, immediate response to military and police violence, rather than a planned provocation manipulated by outside political forces. The incompatibility of these eyewitness accounts with the Korean government report, as well as the reluctance of the government to respond at all, reflects a lack of clarity surrounding the Kwangju incident which will ensure its continuing impact on the contemporary political scene in Korea, and establishes the need for an even-handed report and analysis of the incident incorporating all available information and accounts.
Some Rarely Used Chinese Materials for the Study of the Yi Dynasty
Authors: Chieh-hsien Ch'en
Published: April 2011

Materials abound on the Korean Yi dynasty. In addition to the vast store of official documents and private libraries in the Republic of Korea, collections in Japan, America, and Europe also offer a wealth of information. Chinese sources are especially fruitful, as the Yi dynasty roughly paralleled the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties of China. Scholars in the field have long recognized that the Ming and Ch'ing Shih-lu [Veritable records], the Hui-tien [Precedents of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties], and the tremendous assortment of Ming and Ch'ing manuscripts and private works are indispensable in researching the Yi dynasty. In this research note, I wish to highlight a number of Chinese sources which hitherto had been ignored or misunderstood but which yield considerable information and insight into the Yi dynasty.
Sirhak Medicine: Measles, Smallpox, and Chŏng Tasan
Authors: Baker Donald Leslie
Published: April 2011

The author examines the place of Tasan Chŏng Yagyong in the sirhak tradition. He focuses on Tasan's medical work, particularly as it related to Neo-Confucian medical theory and to the smallpox and measles epidemics that periodically ravaged Korea in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Baker traces Tasan's contact with Chinese and Western medicine, and discusses the manner in which he approached the two traditions. The author concludes that Tasan was not an empirical scientist in a modern sense, but was a rationalist seeking to appropriate successful Western medical practices within the framework of a conservative understanding of the Confucian tradition.
A Linguistic Analysis of North Korean Newspaper Usage
Authors: Shin Hyon-Sook
Published: April 2011

The author examines the characteristics of the cultural language (CL) of North Korea, by analyzing the daily newspaper Lotong sinmwun , and compares it to the standard language (SL) of South Korea. The article compares data from the two languages on the basis of form, meaning, and usage, and examines linguistic hierarchies and units ranging from phonemes to morphemes, words, and sentences. The data on form, meaning, and usage support a claim of homogeneity rather than heterogeneity between the two languages, and the comparison of phonemes, morphemes, words, and sentences reveals greater similarities than differences, although some phonological rules apply differently in the North Korean data, particularly the rule preserving initial liquid distinction. In addition, morphemic combination is more free in the North Korean data, which also shows a wider boundary of word acceptance and a use of longer sentences.
Culture and Institutions in the Economic Development of Korea
Authors: Lee Chung H.
Published: April 2011

The author examines the effect of Confucian cultural and institutional influences on the economic development of South Korea. He suggests that culture influences the institutions that societies adopt to minimize the cost of transactions among the decision units of the society, and thus must be considered in explaining economic development. The relationship in Korea between the public and private systems is described as a partnership. Lee connects the efficiency of the institutions of government-business relationship to the impact of the Confucian cultural foundation. The government-business relationship in Korea is described as a quasi-internal organization, with the government in the role of senior partner and large private enterprises as junior partners. The acceptance of the quasiinternal organization in Korea is attributed to both government authority and cultural conditioning.
The Imjin nok , or the Record of the Black Dragon Year: An Introduction
Authors: Lee Peter H.
Published: April 2011

The author discusses the Imjin nok , the first tale inspired by the Japanese invasions of Korea between 1592 and 1598. He concentrates on four versions of the tale, examining their differences in content, structure, and style. The stories presented in the four different versions are outlined. Then the author discusses eleven recurring motifs shared by the four narratives. The article concludes with an analysis of the Imjin nok as a narrative fiction that incorporates elements of heroic fiction, popular tradition, meditations on history, and considerations of morality and politics. An appendix describes twenty-two texts of the Imjin nok .
The Comings and Goings of a Korean Grandfather: The Yŏngdŭng Kut Sequence of a Cheju Island Village
Authors: Tangherlini Timothy R. , Park So Yŏng
Published: April 2011

The authors describe the Yŏngdŭng kut held in Sunshine Village, on Cheju Island. The kut ceremonies are described in light of the narrative myth of the Yŏngdŭng grandfather legend. Both the welcoming and farewell kut are described, together with oral narratives provided by several village informants. The authors conclude that the Yŏngdŭng kut play a central role in the ritual life of the village, and through their annual myth of separation and reintegration, thereby affirm the village's place in the Cheju Island community.
The Letters of Yu Kil-chun
Authors: Lee Kwang-rin
Published: April 2011

The author has collected nineteen letters written by Yu Kil-chun, the first Korean student to study in Japan and the United States. Written over the thirteen year period from June 7, 1884, to June 7, 1897, the letters are addressed to Edward S. Morse, director of the Peabody Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and the person responsible for arranging Yu's education in the United States. The letters discuss a variety of topics, including Yu's thoughts on American schools and students and on Christianity, and his reactions to many seminal events and figures in the history of late nineteenth century Korea, including the Kapsin coup of 1884 and the murder of Queen Min.
A Personal Introduction to Korean Poetry
Authors: McCann David R.
Published: April 2011

The author discusses his approach to translating poetry, as it fits in the general context of reading and writing poetry. In describing some of the challenges and rewards of translating poetry, he explains how he first encountered Korean poetry. In particular he describes his relationship with the poetry of So Wŏl, Kim Chi Ha, Sŏ Chŏngju, Yŏ Yŏngt'aek, Ch'ŏn Sangbyŏng, and Kim Namjo, providing representative translations of each of the poets.
A Preliminary Estimation of an Econometric Model for North Korea
Authors: Suk Bum Yoon
Published: April 2011

This article lays the groundwork for the creation of a macroeconometric model of North Korea. The author devises eight structural equations to be used in the model construction that show the North Korean economy to be a completely recursive system. He considers five series of statistics in arriving at an estimate of the North Korean gross national product; establishes a precipitation-based weather variable for annual agricultural production; and develops a series of consumption figures based on estimates from the People's Republic of China. The structural equations suggest that a fully developed econometric model would show a strong stability with recursive specification.
Soviet Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s
Authors: Mikheev Vasily V.
Published: April 2011

This article examines the possible directions of Soviet policy toward North and South Korea in the 1990s. That policy is seen to depend primarily on two factors: the continued expansion of perestroika and changes or lack of change on the Korean peninsula. Soviet policy toward North Korea in the near future will be based on the assumption that economic or political reform there, if any, will be slow to come. The South Korean model used by Soviet policy makers predicts continuing democratization and the need to undergo technological restructuring. Little prospect is seen for unification, and Soviet policy assumes the existence of two Koreas for the near future. Soviet-North Korean relations in the 1990s will seek new bases, structured around more effective economic assistance. The author foresees the establishing of Soviet-South Korean diplomatic relations and policy independent of Soviet-North Korean and Soviet-U.S. relations. The 1990s is seen to be a decade when the new political thinking in the USSR leads to a pragmatic overhaul of both Soviet-North Korean and Soviet-South Korean relations.
Some Perspectives on Recent D.P.R.K. Policy Toward Japan
Authors: Suzuki Masayuki
Published: April 2011

This article examines North Korea's policy toward Japan in the 1980s and prospects for policy changes in the 1990s. The author describes the generally negative images that Japan and North Korea held of each other in the 1980s, including a pattern of sanctions and countermeasures. The beginning of a more favorable DPRK policy toward Japan in the 1980s is also revealed. The author examines the personnel who have been and may reasonably be expected to continue to be influential in making DPRK-Japan policy, as he traces the growing independence of that policy from the North's South Korea policy. Finally the author presents recent North Korean actions that suggest a growing desire to improve relations with Japan.
Form and Correspondence in the Sijo and the Sasŏl Sijo
Authors: Choe Ikhwan
Published: April 2011

The author examines two forms of Korean poetry, the classical sijo form and the later development, the sasŏl sijo . The article examines how these literary forms present aspects of the societies which engendered them, and argues that the differences between the forms reflects changing class and ideological structures in Yi dynasty Korea. The well-ordered rationality of the sijo form and its language of clarity and balance are shown to capture the temperament and ideology of the yangban class, while the exuberance, homely diction, and material images of the sasŏl sijo are presented as part of a deliberate, popular challenge to the existing class structure. The sijo form is linked to the prevailing Neo-Confucian ideology, while the enumerative technique of the sasŏl sijo is associated with the p'ansori and traced to traditional shaman chants.
Democratization of South Korea's National Universities
Authors: Boyer William W. , Boyer Nancy E.
Published: April 2011

This article examines the process of democratization in South Korea as it affects the national university system. The authors discuss the traditionally tight control the central government wields over the university system, primarily by controlling funds and student enrollment. They examine the growing demand for autonomy, as reflected in the recent selections of several national university presidents, and the relationship between greater university autonomy and increased local government authority. The authors conclude that an irreversible trend has begun toward democratization and increased autonomy among South Korea's national universities.
Some Problems in the Reconstruction of Old Korean
Authors: Binghao An
Published: April 2011

This article examines the sound qualities and lexical meanings of some representative Chinese characters that were used by Koreans during the Three Kingdoms period to transcribe personal and place names. The author concludes that the consonant and vowel systems of ancient Chinese were more complex than those of Korean. Consequently two or more related consonants that had been distinguished in Chinese were used in Korea to indicate the same consonant, and many Chinese diphthongs and triphthongs were used in Korea to indicate monophthongs. In addition, the final consonant of many Chinese characters frequently was either ignored in Korea, or simple Chinese syllables were made disyllabic for purposes of transcription. In determining the lexical meanings of the personal and place names of the Three Kingdoms period, the author exploits comparisons with surviving words from neighboring languages like Mongolian and Manchu.
Pyongyang's Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change
Authors: Koh B. C.
Published: April 2011

This article examines the possible courses of North Korea's foreign policy in the 1990s. Pyongyang's traditional and current foreign policy is shown to pursue related goals of legitimacy, security, and development. In examining the operational environment of Pyongyang's foreign policy decisions in the next decade, the author emphasizes that changes in the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, and South Korea may force North Korea to soften its hardline foreign policy. Similarly domestic pressures, particularly from a weakening economy and a changing military balance on the peninsula, also suggest that North Korea will move toward supporting meaningful inter-Korean dialogue. Finally changes in the North Korean decision-making elite should also encourage a readjustment of foreign policy priorities. The author suggests there will be incremental change in North Korea's foreign policy in the 1990s, rather than the continuity of previous decades.
Musical Composition in Twentieth-Century Korea
Authors: Killick Andrew P.
Published: April 2011

This article explores the nature of musical creation in Korea and traces the development of the Western notion of composition through the main figures of twentieth-century Korean music. Korean composers have long been divided into composers of kugak (traditional music) and yangak (Western music). There have been attempts to cross the barrier between these two groups, and the extension of the Western concept of composition to traditional music has led to the development of what is referred to paradoxically as "new traditional music." Kugak composers such as Kim Ki-su came to adopt a fully modern approach to composition for traditional instruments. On the other hand, the emergence of a generation of kugak composers in the 1960s has encouraged yangak composers to utilize traditional music as a source of inspiration and material. These developments have led Korean composers to concern themselves increasingly with achieving a synthesis of Korean and Western music.
The Logic and Practice of Literary Nationalism
Authors: Kwŏn Youngmin
Published: April 2011

The Korean original of this article was first published in March 1988 and in December of that year won the Seoul Cultural Arts Criticism Award, sponsored by the Seoul shinmun newspaper. The author is Professor of Korean Literature at Seoul National University and a frequently published literary critic. He is also Editor of Munhak sasang (Literary thought) magazine. In this article, he accounts for the turn-of-the-century roots of Korean literary nationalism and sketches its development into the present. He argues that the nationalist literature of 1970s should be recognized as a distinct period in contemporary literary history and critically traces the emergence of literary populism in the 1980s.
Mother Russia: Soviet Characters in North Korean Fiction
Authors: Myers Brian
Published: April 2011

From the early 1950s to the Sino-Soviet split in the mid-1960s a salient type of North Korean literature was the "friendship story"—a work that cast individual Soviet men and women as mentors and saviors of Koreans. That most of these characters were women in the medical profession suggests that North Korean writers perceived the relationship between the USSR and their country as a political version of the mother-child bond. The selflessness and courage of the Soviet heroines contrasts with the childlike helplessness and passivity of their (usually male) patients. The depiction of these patients, however, violates the traditional emphasis of socialist realism on the ability of the human will to transcend all. The explanation seems to lie in the propensity for reform-minded Korean intellectuals to denigrate the backwardness of the homeland in contrast with the "advances" of foreign countries. It is likely that cultural policy makers in the North, such as Han Sŏr-ya, decided to wholeheartedly adopt the mother-and-child motif upon its first appearance in Yi Ch'un-jin's 1948 story "Anna."
From Raiders to Traders: Border Security and Border Control in Early Chosŏn, 1392-1450
Authors: Robinson Kenneth R.
Published: April 2011

The compromising of the country's border areas by decades of Jurchen and Japanese depredations presented the new Chosŏn government with an immediate policy challenge. Having obtained legitimacy after investiture by China in 1401 and 1403, the Chosŏn court moved to secure its northern and southern border areas through a combination of diplomacy, naturalization of border peoples, and trade policies. With the borders secured, the court shifted to a policy of maintaining security by limiting access to and travel within the country. At the same time, the court regularized its foreign relations by implementing a hierarchy consisting of Ming China at the top and then Chosŏn, the Japanese, and the Jurchen, in that order. By the early fifteenth century, these policies had enabled Chosŏn to realize its objectives of border security and border control.
North Korea and the Changes in Eastern Europe
Authors: Izumi Hajime
Published: April 2011

The sweeping changes in Eastern Europe since 1989 have had no counterpart in the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, the North Korean leadership downplays the impact of these changes on their country. North Korea is not about to abandon socialism. Nevertheless, the North is on the defensive, for the gap in national strength between North and South is widening as never before. North Korea is finally attempting to improve its people's standard of living while calling for unification with the South through a confederation. Under these circumstances, it seems best for Japan, South Korea, and the West to adopt a policy of accommodation toward the North, encouraging peaceful change there, improving relations with Pyongyang, and hoping that North Korea will open itself to the outside world.
U.S. Policy Toward North Korea in the 1990s
Authors: Lee Chae-Jin
Published: April 2011

Since the Korean War, the United States has maintained a one-sided approach toward the Korean peninsula—pro-Seoul and anti-Pyongyang. Its policy toward the North has been one of military containment, diplomatic isolation, and economic sanctions. In the 1990s, though, with the changing political climate in South Korea and the Communist bloc, together with the fruition of the South's policy of rapprochement with Eastern Europe, Russia, and China, the United States will probably have to reassess that policy. While retaining its security commitment to South Korea, the U.S. may find it advisable in the long term to adopt a gradual process of multilateral diplomatic and economic accommodation toward the North.
North Korea in the 1990s
Authors: Suh Dae-Sook
Published: April 2011

This article discusses the prospects for the future of North Korea after Kim Il Sung leaves the scene, and considers the tasks that will face his successors. The first task of the new leaders will be to restore the Korean Communist revolutionary tradition by placing the exaggerated claims by Kim and his guerrilla comrades in proper historical perspective. Second, Kim Jong Il, the heir-apparent, should adopt a system of collective leadership. Third, Kim Jong Il should reward the North Korean people for their toil, produce more consumer goods, and minimize political mobilization as a means to achieve economic goals—and all the while try to improve the North's economic image abroad. Last, the new leaders in the North should pursue unification of the peninsula not through terrorism or liberation of the South, but through a policy of reconciliation involving visits to the South, establishment of a liaison office in the South, domestic changes in the North, and a reevaluation of foreign-policy goals.
Asian-Pacific Feminist Coalition Politics: The Chŏngshindae/Jūgunianfu ("Comfort Women") Movement
Authors: Yun Chai Alice
Published: April 2011

This article examines the Chŏngshindae/Jūgunianfu issue from an Asian-Pacific feminist perspective. The Chŏngshindae/Jūgunianfu were women (primarily Korean) who were drafted by the Japanese military during the Pacific War, ostensibly to serve as laborers, but mostly to serve as sex slaves. They are referred to euphemistically as Jūgunianfu (military "comfort women") in Japanese, and Chŏngshindae (Women's Volunteer Labor Corps) in Korean. This article discusses (1) historical links between Japan's Pacific War military sex slaves and their contemporary parallels, (2) reasons why the military sex slavery issue has been buried for almost half a century, (3) the social context for politicization of the issue, and (4) global feminist and grassroots coalition politics: the Chŏngshindae/Jūgunianfu movement in Korea and Japan that has recently spread to other East and Southeast Asian countries.