To better understand how minjung artists visualized oppression within their artworks, this thesis examines how forces of oppression are represented in artworks created by minjung artists in the...Show moreTo better understand how minjung artists visualized oppression within their artworks, this thesis examines how forces of oppression are represented in artworks created by minjung artists in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.Show less
Social movements often encapsulate people from multiple different social groups. While the participant of a social movement can be identified simply as such—a participant—he or she still maintains...Show moreSocial movements often encapsulate people from multiple different social groups. While the participant of a social movement can be identified simply as such—a participant—he or she still maintains his or her own social group identity. In the South Korean case, the popular minjung movement of the 1980’s shows how social group division can be transcended by propagating an ultimate goal presented as a collective good. The minjung movement, which ultimately upheld democratization as its ultimate goal, encapsulated students and workers, among other social groups. In general, in order to make such a movement prosper, the movement’s participants should make an effort for mobilizing or politicizing the masses if they wish to influence the authoritarian ruling class. However, the fact that multiple social groups are participating presents problems. How exactly does one social group politicize the other within the same movement? Does one group take it upon itself to commandeer the movement, while other social groups are enticed to follow its lead? While members of the minjung movement shared the belief in a collective good—which in the 1980’s first and foremost was the democratization of South Korea and the abolishment of draconian rule—valiant efforts had to be made by both students and the working class in order to propagate the movement’s ideology. This thesis shows that the minjung movement did not simply uphold one leading social group that politicized all others. Instead, students and workers within the movement formed a relationship in which politicization flowed in both directions. Using Bert Klandermans’ mobilization theory, this thesis demonstrates that student activists employed action mobilization to recruit the working class, while the workers themselves unintentionally employed consensus mobilization to influence the students.Show less
In this thesis, I have taken a look at military conscription in South-Korea and how the system intersects with and is influenced by gender and citizenship. To do so, I have used the Korean military...Show moreIn this thesis, I have taken a look at military conscription in South-Korea and how the system intersects with and is influenced by gender and citizenship. To do so, I have used the Korean military variety show 'Real men' as a case study, analyzing this show and the way in which it portrays both masculinity and gender roles. I argue that military conscription in Korea is a system deeply shaped by concepts of hyper masculinity and socially constructed gender in relation to citizenship. At the same time, conscription amplifies these concepts and processes of gender creation, and thus works as an intermediary and magnifier of hyper masculinity and gendered citizenship within Korean society.Show less
In 2015 Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s documentary film Under the Sun was released. Under the Sun was supposed to be a ‘joint venture’ between the Russian director Vitaly Mansky and North Korea’s...Show moreIn 2015 Russian director Vitaly Mansky’s documentary film Under the Sun was released. Under the Sun was supposed to be a ‘joint venture’ between the Russian director Vitaly Mansky and North Korea’s Ministry of Culture represented by the DPRK’s Korea Film Export and Import Corporation, a production company that is credited in the beginning of the film. However, according to Mansky, the contract stated that “every single detail had to be approved by North Korea’s Ministry of Culture.” These details that needed to be approved ranged from decisions made about the script to the kind of cameras Mansky was allowed to use. Mansky, who was “used to having complete creative freedom”, seems to have had problems with this working relationship. Thus Mansky went around the North Korean authorities’ rules to create his documentary film. Mansky says he let the cameras roll all the time, and duplicated his video cards before they were given to the some unspecified North Koreans –Mansky says he did not know who they were- who reviewed Mansky’s footage and had to approve it. The film seems to have been disapproved by North Korea long before the finished product hit theatres. The contract between Mansky and North Korea’s Ministry of Culture was broken in 2014, when Mansky’s access to North Korea was shut down, as well as any communication from his ‘partners’ in North Korea. The film also brought up the topic of safety for those involved. The question was whether people would face repercussions for being linked to Under the Sun. In an interview with The Guardian Mansky says that the Russian Federation wanted to have its name removed from the film’s credits, claiming that they were scared because they “lied to our North Korean partners”, but also because they were afraid of what would happen to the North Koreans who are seen in the film. In that same interview Mansky said he excluded some footage that might have had negative repercussions for the family that is followed in the film. Mansky’s Under the Sun has strayed away from whatever form the initial project was meant to have. Instead of being a ‘joint venture’ Under the Sun is a production made by Vitaly Mansky and it is he who has created the story. In that way it is a Vitaly Mansky documentary film, and not a North Korean documentary film. Moreover, Under the Sun should not be read as a North Korean propaganda piece, but rather a visual document that explores North Korean propaganda. Under the Sun inherently concerns itself with the topic of propaganda; Mansky makes use of a contrast between what is ‘reality’ and what is ‘fabricated’. How does Mansky’s treatment of the topic of propaganda in Under the Sun portray North Korea? This thesis will argue that in Under the Sun Mansky tries to point out and dissolve North Korea’s visual propaganda to emphasize the misery of citizens in the North Korean system, as well as emphasize the cruelty of North Korea as a totalitarian state.Show less
The vegetarian movement in Korea seems to be on the rise. From what has been a relatively small movement the past century has spiked in the last two decades. Along with the personal difficulties...Show moreThe vegetarian movement in Korea seems to be on the rise. From what has been a relatively small movement the past century has spiked in the last two decades. Along with the personal difficulties vegetarians and vegans often face when changing their diet, there are also social and cultural difficulties that might arise. In Korea, this is no different. This thesis looks at the socio-cultural challenges vegetarians and vegans might face in South Korea. Individual (Korean and non-Korean) experiences of what it means to be a vegetarian in Korean society are explored through a survey and other forms of anecdotes. Finally, the ways these individuals manage their alternative diet are sought out.Show less
South Korea still differentiates itself from many democracies in that it retains the death penalty. Thus, the research question guiding this thesis is the following: Why has South Korea still not...Show moreSouth Korea still differentiates itself from many democracies in that it retains the death penalty. Thus, the research question guiding this thesis is the following: Why has South Korea still not abolished capital punishment? Using discourse analysis, I examine the current state of the capital punishment issue and the factors prolonging retention in recent context. I suggest that political elites’ passive attitude and reliance on common retentionist arguments—public opinion, deterrence and retribution—can be regarded as the primary reason for the failure to abolish in recent years.Show less
This thesis examines how the Korean poet Yun Tong-ju (1917-1945) has been framed as a resistance poet in contemporary South Korean society through the process of collective memory and cultural...Show moreThis thesis examines how the Korean poet Yun Tong-ju (1917-1945) has been framed as a resistance poet in contemporary South Korean society through the process of collective memory and cultural production. What role does national memory and cultural production actually play in the framing of Yun Tong-ju’s image as a resistance poet in contemporary South Korean society? This thesis uses critical analysis, literature and genre analysis as research method on both Korean and English sources to examine these concepts in relation to the resistance image of Yun Tong-ju. Existing studies on Yun Tong-ju have mainly focused on the interpretations of his poetry, this thesis instead focusses on the process of memory construction and the reinforcement of it in its society. It seems that the image of Yun Tong-ju as a resistance poet can be traced back to the defensive creation of a national memory of the ‘Han minjok’ (the Korean nation). This memory was never questioned by the general public but only strengthened through the elaboration of cultural heritage and cultural productions in contemporary South Korean society.Show less
This thesis aims to suggest that the Korean K-league football match-fixing scandal in 2011 occurred because of an organizational structure that normalized corrupt practices. The second aim is to...Show moreThis thesis aims to suggest that the Korean K-league football match-fixing scandal in 2011 occurred because of an organizational structure that normalized corrupt practices. The second aim is to determine if the measures taken by the Korean governing institutes to ban match-fixing have the desired effect. I will argue that match-fixing in the K-League was organized in a form in which a key player makes a corruption network with other players on behalf of a corrupt broker. Furthermore I argue that the governing institutes should be focusing on senior players when making their regulations to ban match-fixing, as they are the most prominent in this match-fixing case.Show less
Park Geun-hye, the daughter of South Korea's former president Park Chung-hee, won the presidential elections of 2012 with the majority of the votes. December 2016 she was impeached from her...Show morePark Geun-hye, the daughter of South Korea's former president Park Chung-hee, won the presidential elections of 2012 with the majority of the votes. December 2016 she was impeached from her position as president, and her biggest rival from the 2012 elections, Moon Jae-in, went on to win the 2017 elections by a landslide. This thesis aims to provide an insight on the generational differences in the presidential elections of 2007, 2012, and 2017 by using public opinion surveys and election polls. This thesis finds that a generation gap is highly present in South Korea. In presidential elections older age cohorts are generally on the conservative side, however, younger age cohorts are neither conservative nor progressive. Instead, they should be labelled as swing voters. Whether this will change in the future due to the life-cycle effect is something that needs to be studied further.Show less
This BA thesis researches the representation of three Western TV personalities in South Korea through critical discourse analysis of four recent popular Korean TV programs starring foreigners. It...Show moreThis BA thesis researches the representation of three Western TV personalities in South Korea through critical discourse analysis of four recent popular Korean TV programs starring foreigners. It examines how the Korean media creates images of Western expats and how these images are adopted in other programs to fit their discourses. This research argues that the Korean media intends to convey positive discourses of multiculturalism in which notions of friendship and hospitality are central by adapting the images of Tyler Rasch (United States), Daniel Lindemann (Germany) and Alberto Mondi (Italy). It criticizes the Korean media for its lack of diversity in its recent surge of programs featuring foreigners. Even though programs featuring foreigners are becoming more popular and familiar among its Korean audience, this research argues that they are Eurocentric by illustrating how the media uses images of Western expats.Show less
This work analyzes the South Korean foreign policy commonly known as "Nordpolitik", and reveals how it is reflected in the negotiation process surrounding the Olympic Games of 1988, hosted in Seoul.
