*** The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Australia-Korea Foundation at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for providing financial support for the project from which this article evolved along with the other articles appearing in the special issue of the Korea Observer. *** William T. Tow is Professor in the Department of International Relations, College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University, a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and Director of the ANU security component of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Policing and Security (CEPS). His recent publications include Security Politics in the Asia-Pacific: A Regional-Global Nexus? (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, edited) and ASEAN-India-Australia: Towards Closer Engagement in a New Asia (Singapore: ISEAS, 2009, co-edited). E-mail: william.tow@anu. edu.au. *** Ajin Choi is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University and Research Fellow in the International Security Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. Her recent publications include “To Fear the Enemy or Allies? Military Operations among the Grand Allies and their Lessons for the ROK-U.S. Alliance” (2008) and “Constructing the Theories of East Asian International Relations in Korea: Challenges and Tasks” (2008). E-mail: Ajin_Choi@hks.harvard.edu.

Facing the crucible: Australia, the ROK, and cooperation in Asia

This study examines stakeholders’ cultural bias and its impact on the acceptance of a new public information system. Different attitudes toward the same information technology, the National Educational Information System (NEIS), brought out social conflicts in Korea. This article argues that social relations and cultural biases influenced stakeholders’ positions in this policy conflict. Our analysis begins by reviewing Cultural Theory, developed by Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky. Then we show how, to a large extent, four cultural biases (hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism, and fatalism) are supported by five stakeholder groups (three teacher groups, bureaucrats, and private system developers). Finally we find that, having different cultural biases, the five groups show different attitudes toward technology acceptance and risk perception as well as different emotional responses. Our analysis is based on empirical survey data from 628 employees sampled from five stakeholder groups.

Cultural construction of what?: stakeholders' cultural bias and its effect on acceptance of a new public information system

This thesis presents a late-Durkheimian theoretical framework on civil society as a sphere of solidarity and applies it to the development from modern society to an „information society‟. The framework is used to identify the cultural codes that exist in different information societies and to show their role in integrating or dividing the members of civil society. The framework is applied to South Korean civil society entering an information age coincident alongside processes of democratisation. Three policy debates relating to information are used as case studies to show the coexistence of, and conflicts between, a „developmental code‟ based on economic growth and anti-communism deriving from the authoritarian period of state-sponsored capitalism, and a later „democratic code‟ based on human rights. The three cases are: the Electronic National Identification Card, the National Education Information System and the credit information system. The thesis argues that the values of a „democratic‟ code are becoming more dominant in recent South Korean society, despite continuous challenge for its validity. The cases provide evidence that democratisation and informatization can operate in tandem to establish the dominance of the democratic code in public discourse in South Korean civil society.

/pdf/discourses-of-civil-society-in-south-korea-democratisation-537zzz9z4j.pdf

Discourses of civil society in South Korea: democratisation in an emerging information society

Based on the constructivist international relations (IR) approach, the authors study Sweden’s engagement with the DPRK as a unique case to understand motivations for engaging in a so-called fragile state. Besides having its embassy in Pyongyang and serving as a protecting power for the U.S., Sweden has provided capacity building programs for North Korean government officials and scholars. It has also made a consistent commitment to aid and human rights advocacy. In a nutshell, Sweden has been a facilitator between the DPRK and the outside world. Its motivations are mixed and multiple,including the expectation of gains, the convenience of repeating the work and the logic of appropriateness. This case expands our understanding of engagement that is often understood to a great degree as a rationalist affair between the engaging and target states. It also affirms the usefulness of constructivist IR approach in accounting for today’s engagement practices involving more stakeholders and less strict cost-benefit calculation. (Less)

/pdf/why-stay-engaged-with-a-state-deemed-fragile-the-case-of-1bj759bf22.pdf

Why stay engaged with a state deemed fragile? : the case of Sweden toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)IntroductionAs a foreign policy, it has become more common to engage in the affairs of other states-especially those exhibiting multiple conditions of fragility-via channels such as political dialogue, peace-building missions, and development aid. This article focus on what keeps an external state engaged in the affairs of another state despite its multiple conditions of fragility. It aims to understand how the concept of engagement is perceived and operationalized in the engaging state from studying the case of Sweden's engagement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).In the first section, this article's theoretical approach-the constructivist approach-is discussed. Section two explores academic literatures on engagement and on state fragility. After briefly introducing the case to be studied, section three provides a historical overview of the Sweden-DPRK relations pre-millennium as contextual background. Analysis of Swedish engagement efforts in view of the DPRK's three gaps are discussed in the section four. Section five concludes by discussing the prospect of Swedish engagement and reflections from this research.Constructivist International Relations ApproachConstructivism has gained theoretical prominence as a complementary critique to the realist logic in explaining a state's approach to international relations (IR). Realists see the state's interest as defined in terms of power. They highlight security and survival as every state's principal concerns, and focus on discovering objective laws to explain state behavior in international politics. Realists believe the anarchic structure of the international system constrains states to either compete for dominance or to balance power or threat.1 Together with liberals, they argue that the basis for such competitive nature of states is the logic of rational choice.2Constructivists provide complementary insights. Their ontological standpoint views that the social world is constructed via "intersubjectively and collectively meaningful structures and processes"; even the realist premise of an anarchic world is viewed as a constructed condition.3 Contrary to the neorealist argument that structures constrain actors and not vice versa, constructivists believe such influence works both ways.4 Actors collectively assign meanings to the structures they belong to, and these meanings constitute and constrain the structures. Based on this reasoning, constructivists claim the international system is shaped by reasons other than the struggle for power. They view ideas, norms, and shared understandings as important drivers of state actions in IR that traditional realists have overlooked. Constructivists have also revisited key realist IR concepts such as anarchy and self-help.5Conceptualizing EngagementThe constructivist IR approach is useful when accounting for complex political changes often overshadowed by broadly defined catch-all terms such as "engagement." The term engagement has frequently appeared in foreign policy and international relations discussions but often without clever conceptualization.6 Some scholars broadly define it as a foreign policy strategy to affect a change in the target state's behaviors (i.e., Johnston and Ross 1999; Haass and O'Sullivan 2000; Kahler and Kastner 2006).7 It is also viewed as a post-Cold War project to integrate an isolated country peacefully into the international order and the global economy (i.e., Shambaugh 1996; Gill 1999).8 Some scholars frame the engagement as a counterconcept to containment or as an effort to shift away from foreign policies that aimed to contain a target state (Lord and Lynch 2010).9 A skeptical version assumes that a target state will not fundamentally change so engagement should aim to offer carrots for compliance while simultaneously pursuing an engaging state's own military build- up.10Lately, the term engagement has been adopted beyond its bilateral foreign policy context. …

Sweden's Engagement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The National Education Information System (NEIS), initiated by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Korea, is an electronic system that manages diverse administrative and academic affairs of all the nation's schools and students through the Internet. In 2003, NEIS touched off a fierce conflict between the MOE and the Korea Teacher's and Education Worker's Union (KTU), and it was not until early 2004 that the case was resolved. The main issues were administrative and economic efficiency vs. personal information protection. The conflict could have been minimized if both the MOE and KTU had taken the participatory problem-solving method during 2002 and if a proper agenda (Agenda 3 in the paper) was developed in early 2003.

/pdf/conflict-resolution-case-study-the-national-education-3gd5mc0lux.pdf

Conflict Resolution Case Study: The National Education Information System (NEIS)

This article analyzes broadly defined economics-related knowledge partnership (KP) between North Korea and the international community. Knowledge partnership with North Korea was prominent during 2001-2004 but decreased drastically after 2005 due to the heightening of tension over the North Korean nuclear issue. Some organizations, however, have been very successful in continuing their KP programs. Based on an examination of ninety-one KP projects during 1997-2006, this article outlines the trends in knowledge partnership with North Korea, and suggests dos and don'ts in this important initiative. Key words: North Korea, NGO programs, economic development in East Asia Introduction Since the February 13, 2007 agreement on North Korea's nuclear issues, expectation has mounted for the Democratic Peo- ple's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) to adopt a more open and decentralized economic model. Indeed, Pyongyang attempted to shift in such a direction before the nuclear issue rose to prominence. The first meaningful sign after 2000 was the DPRK's application for membership in the Asian Development Bank (ABD) in May 2000.1 After the June 15th Joint Declaration of the inter-Korean summit meeting in 2000, North Korean chairman Kim Jong Il visited Shanghai in January 2001, and stressed the importance of "a new way of thinking and attitude in the 21st century to enhance national competitiveness."2 There followed the announcement on July 1, 2002 of the New Economic Management Measures, which were largely hailed as a striking transformation in policy by North Korea. A couple of months later, the DPRK went as far as to announce the Shinuiju Special Administrative Zone, which the leadership envisioned to be similar to Hong Kong. Regrettably, the second nuclear crisis, which began in October 2002, signaled a stop to this trend. Since then, North Korea's policy transformation has not evolved significantly. However, the February 2007 nuclear agreement-though only a beginning in what is likely to be a long process-is expected to revive this dormant initiative. North Korea is well aware of the fact that economic development is the most urgent item on its national agenda. As the official Rodong Sinmun announced at the start of 2007, "We will have to concentrate all our national energy on solving economic problems." How should the international community prepare for the possible near-term economic policy change in North Korea? The answer to this question is economic knowledge partnership (KP) with the DPRK.3 To ensure the economic transformation and the sustainable development of North Korea, the importance of human resource development cannot be overemphasized. As suggested to former socialist countries, "economic transition also calls for a process of retraining many professionals to enable them to work in the market environment."4 Therefore, KP is expected to benefit not only the North, but also the rest of the world since it provides the world opportunities to learn about North Korea, a country that we still know very little about. North Korea has also been active in working with the international community to acquire knowledge necessary for its economic transition and development. For example, in 1997 fifteen economic officials from the DPRK were dispatched to Shanghai, China for training, a program supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In February 1998 when the World Bank visited North Korea, the North even asked for help from the bank to establish an Economic Research Institute for International Finance.5 Though not an official request, it indicated the North's thirst for knowledge of market economies. The need for this kind of knowledge partnership with the DPRK is not a new revelation, as many specialists have called for it before.6 Earlier studies have acknowledged KP's role in the economic development of the country,7 and its positive effect on improving relations between divided countries. …

Ten Years of Knowledge Partnership with North Korea

This paper analyzes the knowledge partnership (KP) between North Korea and the international community between 1997-2006. The paper focuses on broadly-defined economics-related projects, which are expected to help the DPRK start economic transition and development by providing the country with necessary information and knowledge. North Korea's knowledge partnership were very active during 2001-2004 but decreased after their announcement of nuclear weapons in 2005. Despite this, some countries and organizations have been very successful in continuing their efforts for KP, including during the post-announcement years of 2005-2006. The paper outlines the history of these processes, recommends that the international community continue to approach North Korean with patience, and proposes an international consortium for this mutually beneficial KP with the DPRK.

Ten Years of Economic Knowledge Cooperation with North Korea: Trends and Strategies

Korea’s public employees have made significant contributions to the country’s rapid economic growth and social development. In recent years, however, there has been growing concern that the competitiveness of Korea’s public employees is lagging behind Korea’s private sector employees as well as the public employees of other countries. This paper uses the OECD PIAAC (Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) data to empirically analyze Korean public employees’ skill level, skill-use, and learning, with emphasis on comparison with public employees of OECD countries and the domestic private sector. Also, we analyze the skill-wage gap and the returns to skills of public employees to observe whether the wage system of public employees provides sufficient incentives for human capital investment.

Skills and Wages of Public Employees: Investigating Korean Bureaucracy Through PIAAC

This paper aims to evaluate IKCF (Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund) based on the ODA/DAC standard. For this purpose, the ODA expenditure in IKCF is investigated, after which the trend for the past 20 years is analyzed. By comparing with the ODA guideline suggested by the DAC, this paper suggests the future direction of IKCF as follows. First, S. Korea’s humanitarian aid ratio to the North is too much compared to that of the DAC recommendation, therefore, much of it should be converted to development assistance. Second, the grant ratio is already high enough, and it is advised to use loan strategically to facilitate market economy of the North. Third, multilateral aid to the North is relatively low, and should be encouraged to grow up to the DAC standard. Fourth, untied aid ratio should be enhanced, but not to that of the DAC standard but to Korea’s untied aid ratio to the other countries.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1803982_code353188.pdf?abstractid=1803982&mirid=3

The Direction of Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund Based on ODA Standard

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