This study investigates why anti-democratic laws persist in democratic societies, focusing on South Korea's National Security Act (NSA). Enacted in 1948, the NSA restricts freedom of expression and... Show moreThis study investigates why anti-democratic laws persist in democratic societies, focusing on South Korea's National Security Act (NSA). Enacted in 1948, the NSA restricts freedom of expression and movement to deter pro-North Korea behaviour. Despite being at odds with the tenets of liberal democracy, the act remains in place. Existing public opinion data indicates modest to strong support for the law, but measurement concerns leave much to be desired. Using a choice-based conjoint, we test the impact of democratic norms and national security rationales on various policy propositions related to the NSA, including its abolition. Results show widespread support for the Act, driven by both democratic norms and security concerns. Progressives are more likely to support revisions limiting the scope of the Act on the basis that it safeguards democracy, but they agree with conservatives that it should not be abolished. This research contributes to understanding South Korea's post-democratic transition and the balance between national security and democracy more broadly. Show less
What can public attitudes towards the integration of co-ethnic migrants teach us about social integration in newly diverse societies? Research finds that South Koreans prefer co-ethnic migrants... Show moreWhat can public attitudes towards the integration of co-ethnic migrants teach us about social integration in newly diverse societies? Research finds that South Koreans prefer co-ethnic migrants from culturally similar or desirable origins, but it says little about the integration of migrant groups. Existing data and qualitative studies suggest considerable barriers to fully incorporating otherwise preferred migrants. Focusing on integrating North Korean migrants in South Korea – a relatively privileged migrant group that enjoys substantial resettlement support but encounters barriers to full integration – this paper addresses the research gap by testing competing explanations of migrant incorporation. Informed by Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT), the study examines how threats defined as realistic or symbolic shape native attitudes toward these migrants. Using a conjoint survey experiment to measure preferences for economic, political, and social integration, we find South Koreans favor North Korean migrants with extended residence in South Korea, which is a marker for diminishing realistic and symbolic intergroup threats. Conversely, migrants signaling stronger affiliations to North Korea or lacking diverse social ties in South Korea fail to alleviate intergroup threat concerns and consequently face discrimination. Our findings offer insights into integration policy and contribute to the migration and citizenship literature and contemporary Korean Studies. Show less
Migrant entrepreneurship is viewed as a pathway to substantive social integration, one that makes host countries more prosperous in the process. Accordingly, scholars have studied the social... Show moreMigrant entrepreneurship is viewed as a pathway to substantive social integration, one that makes host countries more prosperous in the process. Accordingly, scholars have studied the social context in which migrant entrepreneurs operate, and considered at length the range of policy options that governments can use to support their activities. Conversely, the issue of public attitudes to policies that support migrant entrepreneurship has been largely neglected. Leveraging the case of North Korean migrant entrepreneurs in South Korea, this article fills this gap in the literature by examining how the structure of government support within a broader “policy mix” for migrant entrepreneurship policies acts on public attitudes. Overall, it finds South Koreans are most supportive of migrant entrepreneurship policies endorsed and paid for by large companies through corporate taxation or loans to the individual, rather than the state, and which have a target goal of employment support for profitable migrant-run firms or joint ventures run by teams of natives and migrants. Notably, policies explicitly justified as tools to address discrimination actively discourage support. The specifics of the Korean case show that determinants of native hostility toward migrants apply to migrant entrepreneurship even when ethnic differences and many of the institutional barriers that apply in other cases do not exist, suggesting that ethnicity is not a major motivating factor; economic rationality and what is “good for South Korea” are. Show less
This paper asks whether welfare chauvinism applies to co-ethnic migrants. Existing research on welfare chauvinism, the view that welfare provision should be restricted to native-born citizens and... Show moreThis paper asks whether welfare chauvinism applies to co-ethnic migrants. Existing research on welfare chauvinism, the view that welfare provision should be restricted to native-born citizens and that migrants should be excluded from provision, has largely focused on ethnic difference as a main motivation, but little attention is given to whether native-born citizens discriminate among co-ethnics. Using a choice-based conjoint experiment and various framing interventions, this paper considers whether South Koreans discriminate against co-ethnic migrants in providing social housing. It also considers whether public cost and recipient contribution requirements affect discrimination. We find that co-ethnics are subject to welfare chauvinism, with applicants from more developed and culturally similar origins more preferred, but we do not find that the cost structure motivates discrimination based on origins. Accordingly, this paper expands the literature on migration and welfare states to better consider non-Western societies with high levels of co-ethnic migration. Show less
With societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can... Show moreWith societies around the world tackling the Coronavirus pandemic, the role of digital technology has come into focus as a means of augmenting efforts to manage disease and its impacts. What can apps, big data, and digital analytics contribute to such efforts, and what risks do they pose? Asia provides important lessons. Not only have societies in the region long been at the forefront of technological development, but they have also proactively adopted digital solutions as they confront COVID-19. Importantly, Asia has a history of managing highly contagious diseases, and outbreaks like SARS in 2002 or H1N1 in 2009 have provided experiences in risk management and health provision that now powerfully inform both digital and non-digital responses to the current pandemic. The result is a diverse range of different approaches that can teach us much about the advantages and disadvantages of designing tech solutions to fight pandemics. Show less
This dissertation examines the governmental policies through which people’s food practices were intervened in, controlled and modified in twentieth-century South Korea. The main focus is on the... Show moreThis dissertation examines the governmental policies through which people’s food practices were intervened in, controlled and modified in twentieth-century South Korea. The main focus is on the wars that occurred in twentieth-century Korea, as it acted as an important stimulus in increasing state interference in the daily diet of the people and contributed to the transformation of Korean foodways. Despite constant changes in the administration – from the Japanese colonial authorities (1910-45) and the US Military Government (1945-48) to the South Korean government (1948-) – food-related policies have remained at the core of the country’s politics due to the overwhelming importance of food as a political tool. The Japanese measures of food-control instituted during the Asia-Pacific War set the overall tone for the country’s food policies through which the authorities exercised vast control over the food c onsumption of its people. They were reinforced by post-colonial authorities as part of stabilization policies under the circumstance of the Korean War and the Cold War tensions surrounding the country and of economic policies. Modern Korean foodways have been great influenced by state policies that were formulated against a backdrop of war (and the threat of it), colonialism and industrialization, all of which were entangled with each other in complex ways Show less
