[KS] New issue of the Korean Journal (autumn 2003)

[Korea Journal]

New issue of the Korea Journal (autumn 2003) has published. This issue features two special topics: cyberculture and North Korean refugees

1. Emergence of Cyberculture in Korea

Over the past ten years, information technologies, such as the Internet and cellular phone, have become popularized in South Korea at an unprecedented rate. The following statistics fully demonstrate the alarming level of informatization in South Korea: 32 million mobile phone service subscribers, 26 million Internet users, and 10 million households with broadband Internet service.
       The autumn 2003 issue of the Korea Journal examines the process of cultural transformation, focusing on the phenomenon of cyberculture. Although cyberculture cannot be separated from the existing "real space" culture, it is possible, when relying on the concept, to gauge the cultural impact of the Internet or cyberspace on South Korean society. 
       Narratives on cyberspace are susceptible to hype, and articles in this issue are not an exception. But since all of authors critically examine some aspects of cyberculture using their own theoretical frameworks, readers will be able to find sophisticated and systemic analyses that cannot be found elsewhere, especially in the mass media.

• Leo Sang-Min Whang (Psychology, Yonsei Univ.)
Online Game Dynamics in Korean Society: Experiences and Lifestyles in the Online Game World
• Chang Pilwha (Women's Studies, Ewha Womans Univ.)
Cyberspace and Sexuality
• Lee Insook (Education, Sejong Univ.)
E-Learning in Korea: Its Present and Future Prospects
• Kim Hyunhee (Sociology, Hanshin Univ.)
Consumption Culture in Cyberspace
• Baek Seung Ik and Kim Byoung Suk (Business Administration, Hanyang Univ.)
Virtual Organizations in Korea
• Yun Young Min (Sociology, Hanyang Univ.)
An Analysis of Cyber-Electioneering: Focusing on the 2002 Presidential Election in South Korea

2. North Korean Refugees in China: Their Life and Suffering as Border-Crossers

This issue also addressed the topic of North Korean Refugees in the Chinese-North Korean border, under the title of “North Korean Refugees in China: Their Life and Suffering as Border-Crossers.” Since the issue of North Korean refugees has been closely connected to the human rights in North Korea and China, an issue of frequent concern in the West, a multi-layered, thoughtful analysis must be offered to approach to the problem. 
        While keeping the delicate political and diplomatic problem at a distance, each of the three authors, who conducted collaborative field research in the region, explores the structural factors of the border-crossing, describes the situation facing the North Korean refugee, and suggests the future tasks for them, using anthropological methodology.   

• Pak Sunyoung (Anthropology, Seoul National Univ.)
The Growth Status of North Korean Refugee Children in China
• Chung Byung-Ho (Anthropology, Hanyang Univ.)
Living Dangerously in Two Worlds: The Risks and Tactics of North Korean Refugee Children in China
• Jang Soo Hyun (Anthropology, Kwangwoon Univ.)
Living as Illegal Border-crossers: Social Suffering of the North Korean Refugees in China 

3. Article

In addition, this issue contains an article focusing on the mother/daughter relationship found in Bak Wan-seo's two novels, Namok (The Naked Tree) and Eomma-ui malttuk (Mother's Stake). 

• Woo Eunjoo (Literature, Ewha Womans Univ.)
“Mother, Living Things Change!”: The Korean Mother/Daughter Conflicts in Namok and Eomma-ui Malttuk.



Korea Journal

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Home page: www.ekoreajournal.net
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