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.
This thesis discussed the similarities and differences between the views of western academia and North Korean leadership on issues surrounding North Korean agriculture. Ideological, cultural and...Show moreThis thesis discussed the similarities and differences between the views of western academia and North Korean leadership on issues surrounding North Korean agriculture. Ideological, cultural and technological changes in the North Korean agricultural landscape were discussed through texts written by or attributed to Kim Jong-un himself.Show less
The Korean government became highly concerned for the danger of IGD and has taken many preventive and curative actions to protect its youth as it is especially the young Koreans that are vulnerable...Show moreThe Korean government became highly concerned for the danger of IGD and has taken many preventive and curative actions to protect its youth as it is especially the young Koreans that are vulnerable to IGD compared to other age-groups. The main intervention method in Korea for curing IGD is using boot camp clinics. Outside Korea using boot camp for IGD is something unheard-of as in most countries boot camp is used as a correctional facility where juvenile delinquents are forced to endure a rigorous routine or intensive training program. But in Korea this is a popularly used method for handling game addictions of its youth. At these camps children follow rigorous training programs to deal with their obsessive online gaming. In worldwide media, these camps have become a topic of much discussion and many have visited the camps to document the program and interview the participants, counsellors and instructors. Outside Korea many do not understand why Koreans use boot camp to cure IGD. This paper will therefore contribute in the research of intervention methods by giving an explanation why Korea uses boot camp for IGD.Show less
After WWII, between 500,000 and 600,000 Koreans remained in Japan because of social, economical or political reasons. The Koreans who remained in Japan became known as zainichi, which literally...Show moreAfter WWII, between 500,000 and 600,000 Koreans remained in Japan because of social, economical or political reasons. The Koreans who remained in Japan became known as zainichi, which literally means “residing in Japan.” In this thesis, I argue that the representation of the zainichi identity of adolescents in cinema helps us appreciate the complexities of zainichi identity. Through film, we are able to see how the characters change throughout the story and how they interact with their social environment. , I discuss scholarship on the formation of zainichi identity, how zainichi were able to secure the legal recognition of their existence in Japan and how different social and legal changes caused a change in zainichi identity.Show less
This thesis investigates how sociocultural factors influence Koreans’ preference for alternative services instead of professional biomedical mental health services for disorders such as depression...Show moreThis thesis investigates how sociocultural factors influence Koreans’ preference for alternative services instead of professional biomedical mental health services for disorders such as depression and anxiety in present-day South Korea. The starting point of enquiry is the claim that there are low biomedical mental health service utilization rates and the suggestion that people may prefer informal services over institutionalized, psychological care. This research investigates the possible conditions for this disparity, and the historical, socio-cultural reasons that may undergird such differential access. On the basis of a public discourse analysis, this thesis argues that a possible reason for this disparity could be that the access of professional services may be more stigmatized than alternative services. Due to a competitive landscape of possible alternatives, Koreans have a variety of options consisting of shamans, fortune tellers and pastors to choose from. Consequently, the following chapter shifts attention to the pull factors of shamanic ritual practices as a possible alternative for professional mental health care. This research suggests that as a result of a relatively more cultural sensitive approach, the flexibility of the shamanic ritual of kut furnishes feelings of reassurance, joy and unity for the client by providing means to individualize the ritual through language and materialization and a certain amount of playfulness.Show less
This thesis aimed to provide a critical review on gender bias within the structural analysis method of Vladimir Propp, through the analysis of the Korean fairy tale of Changhwa and Hongnyon
