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Routledge Advances in Korean Studies

About the Book Series

Korea is currently experiencing its most significant transformations since the end of the Korean war. This series is a showcase for the latest research on North and South Korea. The series is interdisciplinary in its focus.

53 Series Titles


Korea's Retirement Predicament The Ageing Tiger

Korea's Retirement Predicament: The Ageing Tiger

1st Edition

Edited By Thomas R. Klassen, Yunjeong Yang
October 12, 2017

The distinguishing feature for many workers in South Korea is contractual – and often involuntary – retirement at a young age (mid-50s for most workers) followed by precarious and low-paying self-employment or contract work. In the past this practice, which is also found in other East Asian nations...

Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea The Leader State

Leader Symbols and Personality Cult in North Korea: The Leader State

1st Edition

By Jae-Cheon Lim
May 24, 2017

The legitimacy of the North Korean state is based solely on the leaders’ personal legitimacy, and is maintained by the indoctrination of people with leader symbols and the enactment of leadership cults in daily life. It can thus be dubbed a "leader state". The frequency of leader symbols and the ...

Korean Multinationals in Europe

Korean Multinationals in Europe

1st Edition

By Judith Cherry
February 29, 2016

Explores Korean foreign direct investment, putting forward a theoretical framework to explain why the Korean conglomerates felt compelled to invest in western, central and eastern Europe....

IT Development in Korea A Broadband Nirvana?

IT Development in Korea: A Broadband Nirvana?

1st Edition

By Kwang-Suk Lee
August 12, 2015

This book investigates the contextual factors that led to Korean society becoming ‘broadband heaven’ — the most wired nation in the world — by scrutinizing the historical contexts surrounding the Korean Information Infrastructure (KII) project (1995–2005), which aimed to establish a nationwide ...

Contemporary South Korean Society A Critical Perspective

Contemporary South Korean Society: A Critical Perspective

1st Edition

Edited By Hee-Yeon Cho, Lawrence Surendra, Hyo-Je Cho
February 27, 2015

The growing importance of the Korean economy in the global arena and the spread of the so-called ‘Korean wave’ in Asia mean there is an increasing desire to understand contemporary Korean Society. To this end, this book provides a critical and progressive analysis of the diverse issues that impact ...

De-Bordering Korea Tangible and Intangible Legacies of the Sunshine Policy

De-Bordering Korea: Tangible and Intangible Legacies of the Sunshine Policy

1st Edition

Edited By Valérie Gelézeau, Koen De Ceuster, Alain Delissen
February 27, 2015

As tensions remain on the Korean peninsula, this book looks back on the decade of improved inter-Korean relations and engagement between 1998 and 2008, now known as the ‘Sunshine Policy’ era. Moving beyond traditional economic and political perspectives, it explores how this decade of intensified ...

New Millennium South Korea Neoliberal Capitalism and Transnational Movements

New Millennium South Korea: Neoliberal Capitalism and Transnational Movements

1st Edition

Edited By Jesook Song
February 27, 2015

Despite the common held belief that Asian nations have displayed anti-market tendencies of under-consumption and export-oriented trade since the Asian financial crisis, in the 10 years since the crisis, South Korea has bucked this trend accruing a higher debt rate than the US. This groundbreaking ...

South Korea under Compressed Modernity Familial Political Economy in Transition

South Korea under Compressed Modernity: Familial Political Economy in Transition

1st Edition

By Kyung-Sup Chang
May 17, 2014

The condensed social change and complex social order governing South Koreans’ life cannot be satisfactorily delineated by relying on West-derived social theories or culturalist arguments. Nor can various globally eye-catching traits of this society in industrial work, education, popular culture, ...

Human Rights Discourse in North Korea Post-Colonial, Marxist and Confucian Perspectives

Human Rights Discourse in North Korea: Post-Colonial, Marxist and Confucian Perspectives

1st Edition

By Jiyoung Song
March 13, 2014

This unique book examines the conceptual development of human rights in North Korea from historical, political and cultural perspectives. Dr Jiyoung Song explains how North Korea has understood the concepts of human rights in its public documents since its independence from Japan in 1945. Through ...

Retirement, Work and Pensions in Ageing Korea

Retirement, Work and Pensions in Ageing Korea

1st Edition

Edited By Jae-Jin Yang, Thomas R. Klassen
January 03, 2014

Even among the four Asian tigers, with their economic miracles during the past several decades that allowed them to join the ranks of the developed nations, South Korea is extraordinary. As significant as its economic progress, from a dirt poor and devastated nation in the 1960s, is South Korea’s ...

The Politics of Coalition in Korea Between Institutions and Culture

The Politics of Coalition in Korea: Between Institutions and Culture

1st Edition

By Youngmi Kim
January 03, 2014

This book examines how inter- and intra-party coalition-building affects governability in South Korea. Focusing on the Kim Dae-jung administration (1998-2003) as a case study in the failure of a government to turn electoral success into stable governability, or ability to implement reform policies,...

South Korean Social Movements From Democracy to Civil Society

South Korean Social Movements: From Democracy to Civil Society

1st Edition

Edited By Gi-Wook Shin, Paul Chang
June 07, 2013

This book explores the evolution of social movements in South Korea by focusing on how they have become institutionalized and diffused in the democratic period. The contributors explore the transformation of Korean social movements from the democracy campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s to the rise of ...

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