Cho - Contemporary South Korean society: a critical perspective

The growing importance of the Korean economy in the global arena and the spread of the so-called Korean wave in Asia means there is an increasing desire to understand contemporary Korean society. To this end, this book provides a critical and progressive analysis of the diverse issues that impact on and shape contemporary Korean society at both local and national levels.

The contributors address issues and movements which include:

• the state and regime
• human rights
• gender
• civil society and social movements
• culture
• religion
• domestic and migrant labour
• welfare.

The chapters in this volume provide a critical perspective on Korean society, and draw upon interdisciplinary research from across the social sciences. With contributions from leading Korean scholars and academics from around the world, this is a welcome addition to the growing field of Korean studies, and will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in Korean studies, Korean and Asian culture and society, and Asian studies more generally.

Hee-Yeon Cho is Professor at the School of Social Science and NGO Graduate School, Sungkonghoe University, Seoul, South Korea.

Lawrence Surendra currently holds a Chair in Economics at the University of Mysore, South India.

Hyo-Je Cho is Professor of sociology at Sungkonghoe University, Seoul, South Korea.

1 The Politics of Economic Reform in South Korea
A fragile miracle
Tat Yan Kong

2 Market and Society in Korea
Interest, institution and the textile industry
Dennis McNamara

3 Social and Economic Policies in Korea
Ideas, networks and linkages
Dong-Myeon Shin

4 North Korea in the World Economy
Edited by E. Kwan Choi, Yesook Merrill and E. Han Kim

5 Legal Reform in Korea
Edited by Tom Ginsburg

6 Women, Television and Everyday Life
Journeys of hope
Youna Kim

7 Transformations in Twentieth Century Korea
Edited by Chang Yun-Shik and Steven Hugh Lee

8 The Development of Modern South Korea
State formation, capitalist development and national identity
Kyong Ju Kim

9 Industrial Relations in Korea
Diversity and dynamism of Korean enterprise unions from a comparative perspective
Jooyeon Jeong

10 The Global Korean Motor Industry
The Hyundai Motor Companys global strategy
Russell D. Lansbury, Chung-Sok Suh and Seung-Ho Kwon

11 Korean Workers and Neoliberal Globalisation
Kevin Gray

12 Korea in the New Asia
East Asian integration and the China factor
Francoise Nicolas

13 Foreign Direct Investment in Post-Crisis Korea
European investors and mismatched globalization
Judith Cherry

14 Korea Confronts Globalization
Edited by Chang Yun-Shik, Hyun-ho Seok and Donald L. Baker

15 Koreas Developmental Alliance
State, capital and the politics of rapid development
David Hundt

16 Capitalist Development in Korea
Labour, capital and the myth of the developmental state
Dae-oup Chang

17 Political Protest and Labour Movements in Korea
Solidarity among Korean white-collar workers
Doowon Suh

18 Retirement, Work and Pensions in Ageing Korea
Edited by Jae-jin Yang and Thomas R. Klassen

19 South Korea under Compressed Modernity
Familial political economy in transition
Kyung-Sup Chang

20 New Millennium South Korea
Neoliberal capitalism and transnational movements
Edited by Jesook Song

21 Human Rights Discourse in North Korea
Post-colonial, Marxist and Confucian perspectives
Jiyoung Song

22 Digital Development in Korea
Building an information society
Myung Oh and James F. Larson

23 The Politics of Coalition in Korea
Between institutions and culture
Youngmi Kim

24 South Korean Social Movements
From democracy to civil society
Edited by Gi-Wook Shin and Paul Chang

25 IT Development in Korea
A broadband nirvana?
Lee Kwang-Suk

26 Contemporary South Korean Society
A critical perspective
Edited by Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra and Hyo-Je Cho

A critical perspective

Edited by Hee-Yeon Cho , Lawrence Surendra and Hyo-Je Cho

First published 2013

by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2013 Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra, and Hyo-Je Cho

The right of Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra, and Hyo-Je Cho to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Contemporary South Korean society: a critical perspective/edited by
Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra and Hyo-Je Cho.
p. cm. (Routledge advances in Korean studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Korea (South)Social conditions1988 2. Korea (South)Economic
conditions1988 3. Korea (South)Politics and government2002
I. Cho, Hui-yon, 1956 II. Surendra, Lawrence. III. Cho, Hyo-Je.
HN730.5.A8C67 2012
306.095195dc23
2012017493

ISBN: 978-0-415-69139-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-08437-3 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

Dr. Hee- Yeon Cho is the Professor of School of Social Science and NGO Graduate School at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul. He established the Democracy and Social Movements Institute there, and has worked as its director. Outside campus, he works as Co-representative of National Association of Professors for Democratic Society, and of Korea Council of Progressive Academic Associations. He stayed for teaching at USC in the USA, National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and the Keisen University in Japan. His research area includes social movements, civil society, relation between movements and party politics, and radicalism. He has written many books including Class and Poverty, Social Movement and Organizations in South Korea ; The State, Democracy and the Political Change in South Korea ; Park Chung-Hee and Developmental Dictatorship ; Mobilized Modernization (all in Korean), and Breaking the Barrier: Inter-Asia Reader on Democratization and Social Movements and States of Democracy: Oligarchic Democracies and Asian Democratization (both in English). He belongs to the editorial board of the journal, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies (Routledge) and Globalizations (Routledge).