This thesis is situated in the current debate on how Soft power can be utilized in policy making and aims to understand the relations between Soft and Hard power. By analyzing the Expo 2030 in...Show moreThis thesis is situated in the current debate on how Soft power can be utilized in policy making and aims to understand the relations between Soft and Hard power. By analyzing the Expo 2030 in Busan bid, this paper will investigate how Soft power is employed to advance economic Hard power in the Republic of South Korea. With social media analysis, focusing on data and content, as well as content analysis of Yet to Come in Busan concert materials, this work will show that Soft power can be successfully implemented for policy making, thus providing a tool for middle power states to improve their international presence. Hence, by exploring the relations between Soft and Hard power in South Korea, this thesis paper will also contribute to understanding how power relations and new forms of public diplomacy are both of international and regional importance. Throughout the case study this paper will argue that by understanding and interacting with social media audiences, Korea follows a two-way communication approach, thus employing Soft power to increase economic Hard power.Show less
This paper examines South Korea’s approach towards foreign labour immigrants throughout the past 30 years and the current situation of balancing a labour shortage and South Korea’s strong sense of...Show moreThis paper examines South Korea’s approach towards foreign labour immigrants throughout the past 30 years and the current situation of balancing a labour shortage and South Korea’s strong sense of ethnic nationalism. Analysing the available information on Korea’s visa policies in relation to foreign labour immigrants has found various issues with the lacking quantity and datedness of the available information. A further analysis on the integration of long-term foreign residents in regards the labour shortage in 3-D job sectors has led to the conclusion that Korea has various means to better the integration process and prevent cultural difference-based conflict, but does not utilise it to its full extent when it comes to the country’s long-term foreign residents.Show less
The last two decades, the popularity and accessibility of K-Pop have transcended Korean and Asian borders, reaching new audiences and gaining new fans, with K-Pop groups becoming not solely...Show moreThe last two decades, the popularity and accessibility of K-Pop have transcended Korean and Asian borders, reaching new audiences and gaining new fans, with K-Pop groups becoming not solely dependent on having a fanbase in Korea for their continuation. Not only have the music and visuals gone international, but also fan culture, having been adapted by international fans as well. But what makes Korean fandom culture stand out in comparison to other fan cultures? Regarding K-Pop and fans, what has been mostly covered in scholarship and media is the spread of Korean entertainment products as drama series and music, the phenomenon Hallyu, and fans as consumers of these products. The practice of fans making donations in the name of their idols is placed within the framework of gift exchange practices and parasocial relationships. This research looks at what this phenomenon could tell us of the role and position that fans and fandoms have within the Korean entertainment industry in regard to their favourite idols and the changing approach to and dependencies of their fans.Show less
This thesis critically evaluates Google Arts & Culture 'Korean Heritage' and the platform's claims of 'democratizing' heritage and 'blurring the lines between experts and users'. Within...Show moreThis thesis critically evaluates Google Arts & Culture 'Korean Heritage' and the platform's claims of 'democratizing' heritage and 'blurring the lines between experts and users'. Within scholarship, Digital Heritage has often been characterized as a force of democratization as well as a possible threat to traditional authority by enabling more active engagement. However, while GA&C's presentation of content capitalizes on digital technologies' strengths, it remains dialogically closed. As a result, projects such as 'Korean Heritage' actually reinforce the authority of state-sponsored heritage institutions and help reproduce a state-authorized view of heritage. Additionally, through collaboration with heritage institutions, Google is able to strengthen its business image as benevolent tech-giant, while simultaneously collecting data on user activity on the platform.Show less
With the rising numbers of migrant workers in South Korea, it is important to look into the policies and laws that regulate this migration and labour. This thesis will put the focus on Filipino low...Show moreWith the rising numbers of migrant workers in South Korea, it is important to look into the policies and laws that regulate this migration and labour. This thesis will put the focus on Filipino low-skilled migrants under the Employment Permit System where the question is: What shaped the South Korean migrant policies and how does this affect the rights and lives of Filipino low-skilled migrant workers? By looking at the Employment Permit System, the policies that are effective under it, activist groups, the realities of (Filipino) migrants and their situation in their home country, a picture is painted of the current consequences and challenges that the EPS poses. It became clear through this research that the EPS was lacking in labour and human rights for migrants and granted a lot of power for the employer. The policy was brought on as the Ministry of Justice wanted the migrant workers to leave the country after 3 years to preserve the South Korean social cohesion, increasing the discrimination. The case of the Filipino worker is a particular dire one as the Filipino government sends many of their citizens to work abroad, to the extent of a large monetary dependency on remittances. This urgency further skirted the migrants’ rights for economic gain, leaving them vulnerable for exploitation. It is thus important to not only look at the migrant policy of one country (in this case South Korea), but also the home country’s situation to pose effective solutions against the discrimination and exploitation of migrant workers.Show less
What determines beauty? What determines that a grandmother leans down to her granddaughter, affectionately pats her cheek and tells her that she would be pretty, were she a little bit lighter? Who...Show moreWhat determines beauty? What determines that a grandmother leans down to her granddaughter, affectionately pats her cheek and tells her that she would be pretty, were she a little bit lighter? Who determines that a young man or woman do not get the job because their face does not exuberate enough youthful cheerfulness? Who determines that at 173cm tall and 58.9kg, Miss Korea 2018, Soo Min Kim was called “too fat and not pretty enough” to represent Korean beauty by the public? The main goal of this thesis is to discover if advertisement of skin whitening products and cosmetic surgery created a homogeneous beauty ideal in South Korea.Show less
Alcohol commercials are a universal phenomenon. In Asian countries such as South Korea however, given the cultural and societal emphasis on traditional gender roles, the way alcohol is sold and...Show moreAlcohol commercials are a universal phenomenon. In Asian countries such as South Korea however, given the cultural and societal emphasis on traditional gender roles, the way alcohol is sold and consumed differs from other countries. Commercials often show the consumer how the producers believe people will use their product in a natural environment or otherwise how they want the consumer to view this certain product. This paper, therefore, analyzes different alcohol commercials in order to answer the following research question. How are South Korean women portrayed in Korean alcohol commercials and how does this differ from cultural and societal reality? The gender differences that can be noticed in all of these researches contain an important message within them, which is that gender inequality in South Korea is still an ongoing issue. Through commercials in which these female actors are portrayed as if they are truly part of the Korean culture, there is a dissonance between the truth and what people want to believe. People want to believe that, as a woman in South Korea society, they can take part in any activity they want. Truthfully, however, they are portrayed through these commercials as a marketing object that sells and as someone who is in any case still the inferior half of society.Show less
This essay argues that due to victimization by Japan, Korea as a community created a national identity that differentiates itself from Japan, resulting in a collective memory of anti-Japanese...Show moreThis essay argues that due to victimization by Japan, Korea as a community created a national identity that differentiates itself from Japan, resulting in a collective memory of anti-Japanese sentiment. This competitive nature towards Japan comes together in the Dokdo Museum Seoul that enhances the collective memory of anti-Japanese sentiment and hinders improvement of Korean-Japanese relations. This essay goes into this as it analyzes how the Dokdo Museum Seoul constitutes the collective memory of anti-Japanese sentiment through the main research question: What is the role of the Dokdo Museum Seoul in reproducing the collective memory of anti-Japanese sentiment, placed within the territorial dispute between Japan and Korea over Tokto?Show less
This thesis examines the societal implications for subcultural participation, looking at tattooed individuals in Japan as a specific case study through the lens of previous subcultural studies...Show moreThis thesis examines the societal implications for subcultural participation, looking at tattooed individuals in Japan as a specific case study through the lens of previous subcultural studies understandings and the varying implications each perspective has on the understanding of subculturalists.Show less
