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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k2Zzkw_-0I

The song ‘Into the New World’ by Girls Generation is a song about moving into a new era and marching forward. The song was made in 2007 and at the time it was not related to or had any political connotations but in recent years it has been used at protests demanding the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye (CBC 2017). The protests were widespread and against the corruption that was within the government at the time. Park had used her power to get a friend’s daughter into a prestigious university amongst other things (Habib 2019). Protests at the university occurred and this song was sung by the students at the faculty members (CBC 2017). One of the reasons that the students may have been so upset is the class and income inequality that is prevalent in South Korea. And the reason that the song was sung was because it talks about moving forward into a new world where presumably very thing is equal (Shin 2012). The choice of song was not only for the lyrics and symbolism, but the group has international recognition. This is due to the Hallry which was a wave of Korean pop culture into the western world in the 2000s (Marinescu 2014). Due to this the use of this song would it would have helped spread awareness about the issues that people were protesting about.

Some of the lyrics of the song that promotes what the protests wanted were ‘Don’t wait for a special miracle, There’s a rough road in front of us’. They encourage people to forge their own path and not to wait for someone else to do the work them. ‘It’s something we’ll do together to the end

Into my new world’ inspires people to work together when they want to change which made it the perfect song for protest. ‘I get stronger just thinking about you, It helps me so that I won’t cry, We are together, feeling this moment, Into our new [world]’. These are just some examples of lyrics that make it a fitting politically charged song. The music video for ‘Into the new world’ shows the members of Girls Generation in putting in hard work and effort to reach their individual goals yet still helping each other along the way. At the time of production, this song was not meant as a symbol of protest and change but the visuals still do relate as everyone was working towards their goals for change and to better themselves which is what the people of South Korea wanted when protesting against Park Geun-Hye.

CBC 2017, How protests at a South Korean University led to the downfall Of President Park Geun-Hye, CBC, Viewed 31 may 2019, https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-korea-downfall-of-president-park-geun-hye-1.4023811.

Habib, B 2019, "Gangnam Style" and the Costs of the South Korean Developmental State, Lecture, POL2CPA, La Trobe University, viewed 29 May 2019.

Shin, KY 2012, ‘Social class and income inequality in Korea’, in Cho & Lawrence 2012 (eds), Contemporary South Korean Society A critical perspective, Routledge, London, pp. 51-61.

Marinescu, V 2014, ‘Many Faces of Hallyu in the Global World’, in V Marinescu (ed.), The Global Impact of South Korean Popular Culture Hallyu Unbound, Lexington books, Lanham.

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Will North Korea have a revolution in the near future?

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Will North Korea have a revolution in the near future?

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I do not believe that North Korea will have a revolution in the near future for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons that revolutions occur is that people are swayed by an ideology that goes again that of the government and unites all the protesters (Jackson 2019). This would be quite difficult for North Koreans to achieve as the easiest way for ideology to spread to a large number of people in this current era is through the internet and that is a privilege mainly granted to the elite in North Korea (Cha & Anderson 2012).

For a revolution to be successful and organised there is overthrew an elite or military leader (Jackson 2019). It is highly unlikely that someone of this status in North Korea will betray their government as they live in luxury and reap the benefits of being of that standing. They do not have the same struggles as the majority of the citizens. Their loyalty is bought with expensive cars, nice houses and other lavish gifts (Cha & Anderson 2012).

Although there are some uprisings in the state, they are small and contained and mostly happen around the markets. The uprisings occur when the government tries to intervene and regulate the markets and take financial gain away from the people (Jackson 2019). If the government does do something to the freedom of the markets it will result in widespread unrest. It is in their best interest to not reform them as this way the government does not have to provide states resources to the people as they generate it themselves (O 2016). It is safer for the government to leave them as they are.

Another reason a revolution may occur is international interferences. If North Koreans have information from the outside world, they will become aware of how bad the conditions that they live in are and it may lead to a revolution (Jackson 2019). However, as mentioned previously North Koreans do not have access to the internet or a lot of information about the outside world (Cha & Anderson 2012). It is also not in the best interest of neighbouring states for there to be a revolution because a collapse of the North Korean government will disturb the stability of the peninsula which they all benefit from and help them all achieve economic gain of one another (O 2016). All though some North Koreans are gaining information from UBS’ they purchase on the black market that contains South Korean dramas (O 2016). But one factor alone cannot lead to a revolution, there needs to be a number of different things that comes together to form a successful revolution and at present that is not possible (Jackson 2019).

Cha, VD & Anderson, ND 2012, ‘A North Korean Spring?’, The Washington Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 7-24.

Jackson, A 2019, Why hasn’t there been a Revolution in the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea)?, Lecture, POL2CPA, La Trobe University, viewed 29 May 2019.

O, T 2016, The Collapse of North Korea - Challenges, Planning And Geopolitics Of Unification, Palgrave Macmillan, London

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Political Evolution of South Korea (III): The Impeachment of Park Geun Hye 

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Political Evolution of South Korea (III): The Impeachment of Park Geun Hye 

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This topics lecture by David Hundt talks about the political climate in South Korea when Moon Jae-In was first elected. It also touches on the future of politics in South Korea and the relationship with North Korea moving forward. Two of the reading for this week are Liberal democracy in South Korea by Pak & Park 2019 and Pursuing Post-democratisation: The Resilience of Politics by Public Security in Contemporary South Korea by Doucette & Koo 2016. They also talk about South Korea moving forward but surrounding Park Geun-Hye’s era. They both discuss the politics of South Korea shortly after or during the time of Park Geun-Hye and the type of governments they predict will form after her leadership.

The two readings are similar yet also slightly different in a way. Pak & Park 2019 is a policy brief examining the strength and weakness of how the government after Park Geun-Hye. Doucette & Koo 2016 is a journal article which does a similar thing in that it looks at strength and weaknesses but regarding Park Geun-Hye when she was in office and her policies to obtain a post-democratic South Korea.

One major similarity between the two articles is the discussion of public scrutiny. Pak & Park 2019 discusses these topics as being the reason for Park’s downfall as does Doucette & Koo 2016 in a way. Doucette & Koo 2016 described that her want for post-democracy which means that her government was open to public scrutiny and many people took this opportunity to do. As Doucette & Koo 2016 was written before she was charged with corruption, it does not explicitly say that this led to her arrest, but it does speculate that the weekly protesting at that time would lead to it. 1 does say that public involvement and calls to the National Intelligence Service by the public was her end. Despite being written at different times they both attribute that the involvement of the public was a bad thing for Park’s government.

One difference regarding public scrutiny is that Doucette & Koo 2016 says it is the result of post-democratisation whereas Pak & Park 2019 did not put it down to such reason. It left it marginally opened ended apart from saying there has always been a culture of protests in South Korea.

While Doucette & Koo 2016 does not say that the national intelligence service was bad for Park unlike Pak & Park 2019, Doucette & Koo 2016 says that it would be useful for her as a collaboration with them would help further Parks agenda. This is due to when it was written though. The two readings mostly argue the same points with a few minor disparities.

Doucette, J & Koo, SW 2016, ‘Pursuing Post-democratisation: The Resilience of Politics by Public Security in Contemporary South Korea’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 198-221.

Hundt, D 2019,Political Evolution of South Korea (III): The Impeachment of Park Geun Hye, Lecture, POL2CPA, La Trobe University, viewed 27 May 2019.

Pak, J & Park, P 2019, Liberal democracy in South Korea, The Brookings Institution, viewed 27 may 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/FP_20190226_south_korea_pak_park.pdf.

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Korean Diaspora (II): Zainichi Koreans in Japan

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Korean Diaspora (II): Zainichi Koreans in Japan

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Article: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-05-22/japan-begins-experiment-of-opening-to-immigration

The article ‘Japan begins Experiment of Opening to Immigration’ by Noah Smith posted in the Bloomberg opinion highlights the period of change that is currently happening in Japan regarding the number of immigrants living there. It begins by proving statics about the number of foreigners living in and visiting Japan each year. A graph depicting the increasing amount of foreign workers let into the country each year is provided. By doing so it sets up that this isn’t suddenly happening and that this is a good thing for Japan to undergo. Smith then talks about how it is good of the economy and how diversity is becoming more mainstream and people are becoming more accepting. Talking about positives first set up that Japan is a welcoming and good place for immigrants to now live it. The situation regarding the zainichi Koreans is then brought up but followed with examples of laws that have been passed in order to protect the Koreans from slander.

Smith fails to mention how the Reparation movement between 1959 and 1984 was brought upon the zainichi Koreans (Foxsworth 2019). And the bad conditions they were forced to live in and the lack of jobs available to them (Caprio & Jia 2009).

The glassing over the zainichi Koreans is due to the fact that this article is aiming to paint Japan in a positive light for foreigners and immigrants. The publisher of this article, Bloomberg opinions is an American publication that focuses on economics, politics, and technology. The article was listed under the economics tab. The economic benefits and how good immigrants are for the economy is what the main focus of this article is. But a major point regarding immigrates and the economy is the increasing socio-economic gap between zainichi Koreans and the majority Japanese population and the many different socio-economic qualities between the two parties (Kim 2011).

The evidence used in this article is from a range of sources but mostly other articles. A lot of the sources are from The Japan Times. This is generally a reliable source but of course, there will be a bias towards Japan and will highlight the good things about the situations they are about. A few of the sources are from The Washington Post which is a fairly reliable source. The sources are bias but most likely factual. This article is quite factual but is aiming to paint Japan in a good light regarding immigrants when that is not always the case.

Foxworth, E 2019, Korean Diaspora (II): Zainichi Koreans in Japan, Lecture, POL2CPA, La Trobe University, viewed 18 May 2019.

Kim, B 2011, ‘Changes in the Socio-economic Position of Zainichi Koreans: A Historical Overview’, Social Science Japan Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 233–245.

Caprio, ME & Jia, Y 2009, ‘Occupations of Korean and Japan and the Origins of the Korean Diaspora in Japan’, in Ryang & Lie 2009 (eds), Diaspora Without Homeland, University of California Press, Los Angeles, pp. 21-38.

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Non-traditional Security Issues in North Korea

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Non-traditional Security Issues in North Korea

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I decided to ask the first question because the whole idea of missionaries doing this was quite foreign to me. They have to break the law in order to help these people seek a better life (Cho 2019). I had never thought of non-profit organisations working like that before to help people. Seeing as this seems like a relatively un policed way of getting north Koreans into china it made me wonder why more missionaries aren’t doing it or if they are but are being stopped.

I asked the second question because women have assumed many more roles in the wake of the economic crisis in North Korea. More women are entering the workforce and as they have more rolls they play a more important part in their family (Park 2013). As people are more reliant on women it will be harder of the people left behind if they leave and it will most likely increase the level of human insecurity which is becoming more of a prominent issue in North Korea (Suh 2013). It begs the question if this actually is the case and if there any other implications that could be the result of people leaving.

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Geography and location were a defining factor in the setting up of the 38th parallel. It was decided that the 38th parallel would act as the border between North and South Korea in 1945 right after the Japanese surrendered. At this time the USA and the Soviet Army were both occupying the Korean peninsula. It was important to America that they set boundary within Korean to establish their power in the area (Hastings 1987).

Two America soldiers decided that the 38th parallel which is a pre-existing circle of latitude. The Americans settled on the use of the line to divide the peninsula because they couldn’t see any other simple solution to dividing it. Three were no clear geographical line created by the natural environment they could use and the 38th parallel was already there and seemed like the easiest option. A mountain range runs down the eastern half of the peninsula meaning it would have been increasingly difficult to scope out the area in order to determine a suitable are for the border (Habib 2019) The line pretty much divides the Koreas evenly which was another factor as to why it was chosen. The USA favoured the placement of the line where it was because it meant Seoul was in their control. They also thought that the best agriculture and light industry was located in the lower half. He soviet army agreed to the deal much to the USA's surprise (Cumings 2010). It is most likely because the line also pretty much divided where the two forces had occupied for most of the war (Habib 2019).

Little thought was put into the decision and no thought about how this decision would affect Koreans. It roughly split the population in half, but it did leave the people in the north without some natural resources such as a lot of fertile soil. In this aspect the geography of the land was not taken into account and how to divide land resources equally. The use of the 38th parallel was purely for the benefit of the USA.

Cumings, B 2010, The Korean War: A History, Modern Library, New York.

Hastings, M 1987, The Korean war, Joseph, London.

Habib, B 2019,The Partition of Korea and the Korean War, Lecture, POL2CPA, La Trobe University, viewed 12 March 2019.

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To the United Nations General Assembly.

Human rights in North Korea are in a dire state at the moment and they have been for a number of years. They have multiple clear violations of the United Nations human rights charter. Some of the violations include the restriction of movement within the country meaning people cannot visit another province without authorisation, they have used starvation as a means of control in detentions centres, violation of the right to food, police using violence to instil fear and political prison camps (United Nations 2014). These are some of the issues the commission into the human rights in North Korea have discovered.

In order to get North Korean held accountable to that is going on within the states and to get North Korea to comply with the charter here are some recommendations.

I recommend that you continue with the Universal Periodic Review. By doing this North Korea are forced to look at what they are doing and the states of the human right within their borders. Even if the report they give is not true it does make North Korea look at the states of the country (Chubb 2019).

A second recommendation is that North Korea be recommended to the International Criminal Court. There are grounds that mean a trial can go forth and they are Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes against humanity. Doing this would draw attention to North Korea and what they are doing. One major setback to this is the lack of solid evidence required for a case to go ahead. But the security council can be lobbied proving a change for NGOs to help (Camatora et al 2007).

A final recommendation is to refer North Korea to the United Nations Security Council. This can be done due to human rights violations, refugee flow, and internal displacement, counterfeiting, and illicit weapons trading. These all fall under the threat to peace doctrine and the Security Council can make a call to action against North Korea if they agree but the setbacks to this are the veto power held by the P5 states and the lack of evidence (Camatora et al 2007).

Chubb, D 2019, Human Rights in North Korea, Lecture, POL2CPA,La Trobe University, viewed 13 May 2019.

United Nations 2014, Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Report, viewed 28 may 2019, retrieved from United Nations Huan rights Council

Cammarota, J, Crace, J,  Worly, K, Zaltzman, H 2007, ‘Legal Strategies for Protecting Human Rights in North Korea’, U.S. Comnittee for Human Rights in North Korea, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher&: Flom LLP & Affiliates, USA