intelligence korea

semi-annual

intelligencekor



Editor's remarks on the first and the second issue in a combined volume


editor.   first upoaded: 2020-12-31.   last updated: 2020-12-31. 


The editor of the periodical, while preparing the first issue of this periodical, faced the coronavirus overwhelming the world in 2020. The scope and scale of the impacts of the coronavirus being so huge beyond the imagination of the people, the editor, whose cause is to service the audience with the relevant and timely information of the world, felt obligated to present a discussion about the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, though he included a brief review of the outbreak of the pandemic in Korea drawing on the data in the first issue already. Among numerous issues related to the pandemic, what caught the editor's concerns strongly was the strikingly different responses of the West and the East to the pandemic. While East Asian countries rather well kept the pandemic under control, the Western countries failed to do so while entailing a huge size of casualties and the devastating impacts on the economy. The editor thought that identification of causes or reasons underlying the differences would help get solutions to cope with the pandemic first and then help to draw further implications for the world better even after the pandemic. Considering the difficulty and ambiguity of the task to search for causes or reasons, the editor himself wanted to be an investigator of the task and the author of the article on the task. The task turned out to be beyond the author's equipment of knowledge and so it took several months to present an article though the quality of the article may have been much better if written by an author whose knowledge and insight is ready for this topic. While admitting the shortage of the author's capability, the editor/author dares to present the article to be of any help to the audience. The article, rather large in size as a single article, will comprise the whole second issue of the periodical. And the first and the second issue will be presented in a single volume of this periodical.
   
'intelligence korea', title of this semiannual periodical, can connote many implications, which will be elucidated by plugging in prefixes before Korea. Intelligence OF Korea, probably a prior sense in the editor's mind, may express a wish that Korea should have intelligence, surely based on a critique that Korea lacks or at least is short of intelligence. Intelligence, a very familiar word in spy movies, may be to monitor relevant objects, to catch meaningful signs, and plan actions to take (including no action). This kind of intelligence presumes a certain frontier of information or knowledge which may not be reachable by all but only privileged elites, well-trained and well-resources. So intelligence is not a personal talent but a system's nature. As spy movies are staged in only a few countries, in particular the US as a dominant background, intelligence has a nature of privilege or limited access. South Korea, hard to be a category of privileged state throughout history, may not have been familiar with intelligence. Korea should have taken its fate as given for the past history and so is not a ground for intelligence which is needed to perceive and plan its course on its own.

Then why does this editor say 'intelligence of KOREA'? The editor perceives that Korea already has been getting through a pivotal moment. As of 2020, South Korea achieved a thirty thousand dollar GDP per head, which is the seventh among the nations with a population larger than fifty million. Korea's dependence on trade is as high as two thirds in the rate of trade to GDP, only a little lower than Germany which is also in the aforementioned group (criteria of fifty million population and 30 thousand dollar GDP per head). Given the fact that Korea is positioned in an isolated peninsula, Korea's high dependence on world trade implies its exceptional position of competitiveness and openness. So Koreans may be affected hugely by the world on the one hand and can pursue opportunities in the context of the world on the other hand. The underlying situation for Korean people as of now contrasts strongly with that of the past. Korea was once rather isolated from the world and happened to be colonized by Japan. This past made Korean people feel somewhat negative about the world. The perception gap about Korea due to Korea's fast transition may take a while to be narrowed but, as the gap becomes smaller, the benefit will be larger. It is information and knowledge that this periodical wishes to produce and circulate to narrow down the perception gap.

Once Korean people's horizon advances toward the world, individuals, groups, or the nation as a whole may envision their course on their own, fully maximizing opportunities available at the world-wide scale. This may not yet be very familiar to Koreans who are most constrained by the domestic scale and are used to taking a lot of external conditions as given. Recognizing and Enlarging their opportunity horizons are something that should be learned. This periodical wishes to contribute to Korean people for such a learning.

'intelligence korea' has the second connotation that can be phrased as 'intelligence ON Korea'. South Korea is an enigmatic country as alluded by the title of a recent highly recommended book: 'Korea: The Impossible Country' written by Daniel Tudor, a then Korea correspondent for The Economist. The subtitle of the book elucidates the meaning of 'impossible' nature of Korea: 'South Korea's Amazing Rise from the Ashes'. This wording is a very familiar description of Korea too. Indeed, Korea has unfolded its development to unanticipated levels, even to Koreans. Above all, Korea made success stories in staple industries, and then achieved a democracy. And nowadays, Korea shows a cultural power. As of this writing, A Korean movie 'parasite' has been awarded four ㅁAcademy Awards, which is first ever such a high standing for a non-American or non-English film (A critique on the movie is an article of this issue). The BTS, boys group, enjoys a huge fandom across the world, which is also a very unfamiliar phenomenon as Asian pop singers. Many journalists and academics seem to try to understand the underlying reasons or factors for the Korean cool or 'Hallyu', a more familiar jargon which was first phrased by Chinese people and became a world wide proper noun. Interestingly, Daniel Tudor wrote one more book about Korea whose title includes Asia's new kingdom of cool' even before the BTS hits the world.

But Korea does not only have such glorious aspects but also has many dark sides too. Old people face have high poverty rates and consequent high suicide rates. So tough is the competition to enter highly esteemed colleges that a recent TV drama about the theme made a huge hit. Though college graduation rates are high but suitable jobs are limited, unemployment rates of the young are high, and their attitudes to life are defensive. So many 20's or even 30's seem to be stuck with the qualifying tests for public officials even whose ranks are low. 'Rust-belt' has become a daily jargon too even though Korea is yet boastful for its manufacturing savviness. A rather slow economic growth forces companies to continue to shed their workers over which hits people of mid-ages. Birth rates per woman dived below less than one, meaning less than one child expected from a woman. These overwhelming difficulties have led to a jargon 'hell-Joseon' where Joseon is the latest Dynasty of Korea which fell to a colony of Japan, and so delivers a negative connotation.
 
The coexisting virtues and vices of Korea make it difficult to grasp Korea, even to Koreans. But the difficulty invites an intriguing challenge to understand Korea. The dynamics underlying Korea may be due to its experimental status as a compression of the medieval, the modern, and the postmodern or that of the western and the eastern. And so understanding Korea's dynamics will help to understand the development of the world too. Some dismal aspects of Korea are the flip side of Korea's high ambitions. So if we can find solutions to overcome the dark side of Korea, the solutions can be generalized to the world. Of course the positive side of Korea such as vibes will inspire the world. To Koreans, Korea's multi-faceted aspects will be opportunities if they understand them well, not headaches or disarrays. With in-depth analyses and suggestions, this periodical envisions to serve readers for the understanding of dynamics of Korea and to help readers make proper decisions based on them.

The first issue of this periodical will address, as its focal theme, individualization which is paid much attention to nowadays amidst the rising tendency of the gig economy. Since the theme is too broad, this issue will contribute as an introduction. As for the theme, four articles are presented: the short historical overview of the rise and fall of corporate labor, Ulrich Beck's framework to analyze individualization, and statistical clues to dissolution of corporate labor or individualization of labor, based on the US and Korea the US and Korea. Secondly, this issue provides a short essay for three policy proposals: basic income for the twenties, gender-equal representatives, and overseas English training for kids. The policy suggestions are not the result of serious studies but are rather materials of discussion that will help refresh people's thinking. Thirdly, as mentioned, in a section for data, the early outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic is briefed. And finally presented are two critique articles on two Korean movies.

As mentioned above, the second issue of this periodical, in a combined volume with the first issue, discusses the differences between the East and the West in responses to the covid-19 pandemic with their underlying causes or reasons and following implications.

The digital book-format of this periodical can be accessible at intelligencekor.com/periodical and its Korean version is available at intelligencekor.kr/periodical.
 
KIM Seok-hyeon, editor

December 31, 2020

Seoul, South Korea