East Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

A Reflection On The Challenges And Collaborative Potential In Working With Buddhist Studies Materials In East Asian Librarianship, Matthew Hayes

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This article explores a set of shared challenges that tend to emerge for East Asian Librarians in working with Buddhist studies materials. It outlines how Buddhist linguistic conventions can give rise to an unpredictability in reference work, how its historical textual practices can complicate collections development, and how Buddhist temple archive management can make traditional approaches to research advising unreliable. It also proposes that these challenges provide distinct opportunities for collaboration across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean areas of bibliographic coverage. These challenges offer a chance for librarians to work together and develop a standard, field-wide toolset for working with these …

Nami-Ko: A Realistic Novel, Kenjiro Tokutomi

Zea E-Books Collection

Nami-Ko, also called The Cuckoo (不如帰, Hototogisu), is a tragic story of love and devotion, through sickness, war, oppression, and vengeance. Eighteen-year-old Nami Kataoka hoped her marriage to Baron Takeo Kawashima would bring freedom from her overbearing stepmother. But the couple’s happiness is spoiled by her illness, her mother-in-law’s jealousy, and the schemes of Chijiwa, her husband’s cousin and her own disappointed suitor. Takeo’s naval career takes him away for long periods, and when war breaks out between Japan and China (in 1894), his mother takes advantage of his absence to break up the marriage, sending Nami back …

Conscription In South Korea, Jennifer Rhee

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

South Korea has had a mandatory military service requirement for male South Korean citizens from the ages 18-28 since the 1950's- the government's response to accelerate the establishment of a stronger defense force during post cold-war times. The disposition of conscription has been changed multiple times since it's implementation and continues to be reexamined as South Korea progresses, but it still faces scrutiny and controversies as forced labor conventions are challenged and many young men will try to find exemptions from the obligation to serve their country for several years. This presentation will observe the history, reasoning, and future of …

Suicide And South Korean Youth: How A World Class Education System Affects Its Adolescents, Grace Hendricks

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

This presentation takes a look at the suicide rates among South Korean youth ages 15 to 19, comparing the numbers to those of the same age range in the United States. We will look at the raw numbers, go over similarities and differences, and end with contributing factors for both groups. Particular focus will be on how South Korea is considered to have the best education system in the world and the impact that fact has on the young people going through it.

“A History Of Heartache”: Korean Reunification Through The Eyes Of Giseong Sedae, Johanna Avalyn Cooper

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I analyze answers provided by middle-aged South Koreans (Giseong Sedae, ages 40 to 69) to determine what factors have influenced this generation’s perceptions of Korean reunification. Utilizing a survey and interviews, I first measure the general views of South Korean participants within this age range. The survey results show that the majority of respondents want Peaceful Coexistence reunification without foreign influence. In interviews, participants’ answers are divided into six main factors that affect their views of reunification which include hesitancies toward reunification, the tenacity of Han Minjok, familial ties to division, anti-communist education, political …

Why Renegotiation?: Renewal Of The South Korea-Chile Bilateral Free Trade Agreement, Montserrat Bugueno

International Studies (MA) Theses

This thesis project explores the motivations behind the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) renegotiation between Chile and South Korea. Existing studies have examined the reasons and outcomes of creating the initial Chile-South Korea FTA, but they have not focused on renegotiations between the two countries. A few investigations on renegotiations have focused on diversifying their exports and expanding their markets in each other's regions. However, most research lacks further exploration of both countries' market security concerns. By analyzing official government documents and conducting three semi-structured interviews with government officials and experts in the field, I argue that the current protectionist …

"A Woman's Lot To Suffer" : Recognizing The Intersectionality Of Oppression And Resistance In Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, Elianna Srikureja

Honors Theses

Min Jin Lee's novel Pachinko (2017) portrays the historically based lives of a displaced Korean family during Japan's colonization of Korea from 1905-1945. The novel's attention to the ways that colonial endeavors complicate Confucian family and national structures exemplifies the interrelation between gender and racial oppression facing Lee's Korean women in both the public and private domain.

However, by centering female voices all too often silenced, Lee also depicts resistance modes that subvert such oppression. Using feminist and postcolonial theory, historical analysis, and close reading analysis, this project examines both the construction of oppression and the subversive resistance measures taken …

Minari: The Concealed Asian Aspiration Wrapped In The American Dream, Anh Luan Tran-Nguyen, Arthur Nguyen

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

After the success of the Korean film Parasite, Minari – a quasi-autobiographical drama of the Korean-American film director Lee Isaac Chung – has again turned the global public’s attention to Korean culture at large. In this review, we shed light on two themes that we capture from the movie: tensions and compromises in chasing the American dream of immigrants. Although stories about pursuing the American dream are abundant, we know less about how that dream causes tensions at the individual and family levels and how the tensions are resolved. Minari is an excellent example to probe the unfolding issues relating …

Minari: The Invincible, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Hyphenated Globalization: First, Wide Propagation; Then, Gradual Elimination, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Sustaining Korean Studies: Challenges And Prospects In Philippine Higher Education Institutions, Aurea C. Javier, Sarah Jane Lipura, Ma. Kristina Carla S. Rico, Oliver John C. Quintana

Korean Studies Department Faculty Publications

The view and reality of a bifurcated world are brought into stark relief by COVID-19. Those long-standing inequalities in different facets of life are exacerbated by the pandemic that has been widely acknowledged and documented. Scholars recognize that humanity has entered the era of “Covidscapes,” where there is a shared experience of the pandemic; but where segregation is felt at different levels due to its differential impact. While division and its many manifestations are not the makings of the pandemic; COVID-19 is amplifying long-standing binaries between the developed and developing; the affluent and the poor; and even the West and …

Transformations Of Hanbok In The Age Of Hallyu: Fashion, Cultural Hybridization, And The Construction Of Vernacular Korean Nationalism, Katharine V. Smith

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Hanbok is the traditional fashion of South Korea, and literally translates to “Korean clothing.” Once worn every day, today hanbok is reserved for special occasions and holidays; however new “modern” versions of the attire are becoming more and more popular for everyday wear. This new iteration of the traditional clothing created a new vernacular of Korean nationalism and “Koreanness” through the incorporation of modern fashion trends and traditional Korean aesthetics. Modern hanbok represents the unique relationship between nationalism, globalization, and fashion, and can be seen as an example of cultural hybridization. Looking at modern hanbok through the lens of Hallyu, …

Anti-Art In Postwar Korea And Japan, Emma Patterson

MA Projects

Emerging from the traumatic devastation of World War II and the economic upheaval that followed, artists in Japan and South Korea adopted similar creative strategies and addressed parallel themes in their artistic responses to the postwar period. Anti-Art in Postwar Korea and Japan brings together artists from the two nations—which share a complex socio-political history—to introduce a new lens through which to understand contemporary East Asian art. Seung-taek Lee, Ha Chong-Hyun, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Lee Ufan, and Nobuo Sekine were few of a number of Korean and Japanese artists who developed comparable practices across the media of painting, sculpture, installation, and …

The Portrayal Of Queerness In Lee-Song Hee-Il's Films Through Intersectional Lens, Tanin Sangpetch

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research investigates the representation of queerness and how individuals' different social identities produce different kinds of tensions among queer people through the concept of intersectionality. The research analyzes the film No Regret, White Night and Night Flight. The analysis includes two themes: 1) The Violence and Harassment against Queer and 2) The Representation of Gender and Sexuality. The study seeks to understand how intersecting components are represented along with the two themes. The result of the study reveals that queers who have a good academic performance or high SES seem to bear much pressure and high expectation to maintain …

'Gangnam Beauty' Drama: The Representation Of Lookism In South Korea, Nindya Puteri Arum

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Lookism is a new concept related to the discrimination. It is often described as a physical attractiveness discrimination, where as individual that is up to the beauty standard and considered as attractive are being treated differently than those who is considered ‘unattractive’. The purpose of this study is to analyze the lookism in the daily life in ‘Gangnam Beauty’ drama and how the beauty standard reflected in the daily life can be toxic to certain points using the representation theory of Stuart Hall and the critical discourse analysis to analyze the data through scenes, dialogues and characters. The result of …

Influence Of Thai Drama Through Social Media On Popularity Of Thai Culture : Case Studies Of Students Of Busan University Of Foreign Studies, Youngseon Ko

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

With the rapid development of social media in Korea, the influx of dramas from Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, is increasing. During this period, popularity of Thai culture is evidence. This research aims to determine whether Thai drama through social media influence the level of interest in Thai culture among Korean audiences. It analyzes how Thai dramas introduced to Korea through social media contribute to the rise in popularity of Thai culture. In addition, the research attempts to analyze which aspect of Thai culture interest Koreans Koreans and how they experience those cultures in South Korea. Busan is the city with …

A Study On Government Lottery Buying Behavior : The Cases Of Thai Consumers In Bangkok And Korean Consumers In Seoul Using Online Questionnaire, Korakoj Tongboriboon

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The research investigates the important factors influencing the government’s lottery buying behavior. The objectives of this research are to study the behavior of the lottery consumers between Thai and Korean consumers. The number of participants of Thai and Korean consumers should be separated. Among the total of 864 consumers, 445 consumers are Thai and the other 419 are Korean. This research employs a quantitative research design, and the data is collected by a questionnaire as a research tool. The data is statistically analyzed by percentage, means, standard deviation, Chi-square and Logistic Regression.The results show that the differences between Thai and …

The Influence Of K-Pop Thai Fan Loyalty On The Image Of Korean Male Idol: A Case Study Of Lim Youngmin, Nattanon Wongsantimeth

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

K-pop boyband artist AB6IX from South Korea, Lim Youngmin, has won the hearts of Thai fans that have developed into loyalness to him. However, Lim Youngmin has faced situations that affected the artist's idol image, and this resulted in the inability of performing as an artist in the meantime, from an incident in 2020, after being arrested for DUI - driving under the influence of alcohol. He had his driving license revoked in the same year which might force him to decide to enlist himself in the military, which is a requirement for all male citizens of South Korea without …

Hallyu’S Media Hybridization: A Case Study Of A Korean Series Remake For Thai Audiences, Nutchapon Nimitphuwanai

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Korean culture has currently spread to many countries and benefited both the economy and society, but it also has the potential to integrate with those cultures. Hallyu is centered to the export of cultural products in order to further the spread of its culture throughout the world. Thailand is one of the countries that has been influenced by Hallyu, and the impact on Thai television has not exemplified cultural imperialism but hybridization. Hallyu, on the other hand, is not a single direction, but a composite of mixed and local reconstructions. Korean media imports are also incorporated into the local. Certain …

Political Astronomy: South Korea Space Development Under The International Political Dimension, Nutnarin Ueasukpakdee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Human Knows about space technology development since 1950s era during that time U.S. and Soviet Union were main actors in “Space race” war. Space technology development of U.S. and Soviet Union in proxy war era were emphasized to develop for competition of political ideology and power of military. At the present time the purpose of space technology development different from the past, many countries that try to develop space technology for economic benefit, technology benefit, communication benefit or hidden connotation others. South Korea was the one that have potential and interesting to develop space technology because of the conflict with …

Juxtaposition Images Of Two Koreas Portrayed In Crash Landing On You And Its Effect On Thai Audiences' Perspective, Phonpraphai Chanthanee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This study examines the historical and political contexts of the two Koreas in terms of different ideologies that affect various elements of society by exploring insights into the backgrounds of South Korea and North Korea from a literature review. To analyze the disparities between the two nations, the research focuses on the scripts, visuals, and hidden agendas depicted in the renowned Korean series Crash Landing on You, along with investigating the production process and relevant interviews. In addition to exploring the narration, the study also surveyed the impact of the drama on the international perspective of the two Koreas through …

Korean Migration And Hallyu: The Emergence Of Korean Celebrities In The Philippine Entertainment Industry, Rose Carmelle Lacuata

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The Philippines is home to many Korean migrants, who started migrating to the Philippines in the 1990s for economic purposes, and later for educational purposes. As the Korean community in the Philippines continued to grow, they brought with them their own culture, with businesses catering to Koreans also increasing. Meanwhile, Hallyu or the Korean wave has been spreading like wildfire all over the world since it first became popular in China in the early 2000s, and the Philippines is one of the countries where Korean culture has become popular. Eventually, the Korean community in the Philippines, in one way or …

Picturing A Storm Center In The Far East: Geopolitical Image And Representation Of Korea In Early American Newspaper Visuals, Jihyung Kim

Master's Projects and Capstones

This Capstone Project explores the image and representation of Korea in early modern American newspaper visuals during the period when Korea and the U.S. first began to engage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The American newspaper visuals, which interact with headlines, captions, and texts, are represented with specific patterns and features in close links to the newspaper's geopolitical discourse production, specifically the “Far Eastern Question,” which was produced by western powers and Japan. The visuals were intended to show Korea as a dangerous and uncivilized place, “a storm center in the Far East.” Such geopolitical visuals in …

"Writing Unspeakable Things: Speechlessness, Abjection, And The Ethics/Aesthetics Of (Not) Representing Sexual Violence In Three Korean American "Comfort Women' Novels", M Laura Barberan Reinares

Publications and Research

This article analyzes “comfort women” novels by the Korean American authors Therese Park, Nora Okja Keller, and Chang-rae Lee in terms of the ethics and aesthetics of representing sexual violence through language. I specifically look at these authors’ stylistic strategies to describe rape in writing and how they (more or less successfully) avoid voyeuristic portrayals of the “comfort women” by controlling the narrative point of view and relying on traumatic “speechlessness” and abjection. Building on relevant notions from the fields of photography, cinematography, philosophy, and psychoanalysis, this analysis suggests that in-progress representations of rape in language become a futile project …

Towards A Decolonial Feminist Aesthetics: Gender, Race, And Empire In Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’S Dictee, Juwon Jun

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Defining revolutionary struggle as a struggle between fictions, Trinh T. Minh-ha asserts that art in revolution is a spiritual presence which widens the conception of freedom. Political struggle is constituted by clashes in differently written and conceived realities—hinged on the creation and realization of multiple liberatory fictions. Liberation then requires us to attend to creating new myths and conceptions of freedom which can free us from the current structures of domination that produce current subjects and realities. If culture is indeed an “essential element in the history of a people,” mapping decoloniality in cultural and aesthetic fields may be essential …

The Professional Struggles Of Contemporary Korean Women: Origins And Consequences Of The Glass Ceiling, Liat Miller

Master's Projects and Capstones

The status of women globally, though improved in recent decades, remains an unresolved issue. The labor market, in which women must contend with the glass ceiling phenomenon, is an indicative microcosmos of a larger issue—the persistence of discriminatory attitudes toward women. The case is even more profound in East Asian contexts, such as South Korea. The existing literature is limited and focuses on either specific aspects of the glass ceiling or particular industries in Korea. This paper explores the origins and interconnected causes of the glass ceiling in Korea, which include Confucian philosophy and values. Moreover, by analyzing testimonials of …

A Comfort Women Redress Movement Without Comfort Women, Jenna Shin

Student Work

A 2020-2021 Williams Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Jenna Shin (Morse '21) for her essay submitted to the East Asian Studies Program, "A Comfort Women Redress Movement without Comfort Women” (Yukiko Koga, Associate Professor of Anthropology, advisor).

While the comfort women issue is often framed within contested relations between the victims and the perpetrators, such as South Korean survivors and/or South Korea’s relationship with Japan, Jenna Shin’s essay, “A Comfort Women Redress Movement without Comfort Women,” shifts her reader’s attention to the relationship between the surviving comfort women and their main advocacy group, the …

Making Meaning Of The Family's Immigrant Experience, Distress, And Help-Seeking: A Critical Inquiry Of Mental Health Support For Second-Generation Korean Americans, Kristin Kim-Martin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Korean American community is a predominantly immigrant population with a long history of historical and cultural trauma, including the continued losses, hardships, and violence endured through the immigration process, that continues to impact the well-being and functioning of individuals and families today. Second-generation Korean Americans play critical roles in establishing and maintaining the livelihoods and security of their immigrant families; however, they have been underrepresented and under-researched within the literature on immigration and its effects on the mental health and help-seeking patterns of this population. Although there is strong evidence for the influence of culture in the intergenerational patterns …

Online Cultural Contention And China-Korea Relations: Interpreting Netizens’ Narratives On Social Media, Roselyn Wang

Master's Projects and Capstones

In this era of social media, popular narratives have increasingly important implications on domestic policy and bilateral relations. In part based on the video of making Kimchi published by a famous Chinese YouTuber, this study analyzes Chinese and Korean netizens’ opinions of each other by examining around one thousand social media posts, which offer a glimpse of the unique

cultural confrontation between China and South Korea. By revealing the complexity of China- Korea relations through a social media lens, my analysis provides new insights into the

implications of these popular narratives on China’s policymaking. The Chinese government has started to …

Cool Japan And The Hallyu Wave: The Effect Of Popular Culture Exports On National Image And Soft Power, Gillianne Lux

East Asian Studies Honors Papers

Japan used its export of pop culture in the post-war era not only to boost its economy but also as a means to improve its national image and project its soft power. Japanese pop culture exports emphasized a positive, non-threatening image of national culture. Though Japan’s pop culture export boom has been enormously successful, it has not been able to completely overcome its problematic past and erase historical tensions with Korea and other Asian nations. The pop culture boom has redefined Japan’s national image but not entirely. Contradictions between Japan’s curated image and actual reality, especially in the case of …