Timothy C. Lim

Will South Korea Follow the German Experience? Democracy, the Migratory Process, and the Prospects for Permanent Immigration in Korea

Long portrayed as an ethnically pure and homogenous nation-state—the quintessential “historical nation”—it has generally been taken for granted that South Korea was immune to the processes of global migration. Beginning in the late 1980s, however, the barriers to large-scale migration began to break down. The reason is easy enough to discern: after decades of rapid and sustained industrialization, combined with a continuous increase in economic wealth, severe labor shortages started to appear in certain segments of the Korean economy. The demand for foreign labor, in short, overcame Korean fears of an “ethnic invasion.” Despite this, many observers assume that the country is still immune to the deeper political, cultural, and social changes that increasing in-migration typically bring. In particular, many believe that South Korea will avoid becoming a country of immigration. In this article, I challenge this view. I argue that the processes of migration tend to unfold in a broadly similar, but not exact manner in different countries—including in South Korea—regardless of their unique social, institutional, political, and cultural circumstances.

Korea at the Turning Point: Innovation-Based Strategies for Development (review)

Preface Challenges at the Turning Point: A History and Overview A Framework for Discussing Koreas Techno-economic Future by Lewis M. Branscomb and Young-Hwan Choi The Path to Modernization, 1962-1992 by Young-Hwan Choi Koreas International Environment: Maintaining Competitive Advantage by Byoung-Joo Kim The Innovation Triangle: Stimulating Innovation in Private and Public Enterprises by Kee-Young Kim and Boong-Kyu Lee Shifting Strategies: From Cost-Advantage to Superior Value by Kwang Doo Kim Koreas Current Resources for Innovation Promoting the Culture of Science and Innovation by Hak-Soo Kim and Seong-Rae Park Innovation and the Role of Koreas Universities by Young Gul Kim The Importance and Needs of Public Laboratories by Young-Hwan Choi and Boong-Kyu Lee Other Models for Innovation-based Development Japan: Model, Mentor, and Competitor by Lewis M. Branscomb Taiwan: Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises by Lewis M. Branscomb Contrasting Models: Brazil and Small European Nations by Lewis M. Branscomb and Henry Ergas Strategic Positioning for Koreas Future Economy A New Technology-based Innovation Model: The Role of Government and National Strategy by Young-Hwan Choi and Lewis M. Branscomb Technology Transfer and International Cooperation by Sung Chul Chung and Lewis M. Branscomb Information Technology and Policy by Yong-Teh Lee and Lewis M. Branscomb Conclusion The Next Stage: The Road to an Innovation-led Korea by Lewis M. Branscomb and Young-Hwan Choi Bibliography

South Korea as an ‘Ordinary’ Country: A Comparative Inquiry into the Prospects for ‘Permanent’ Immigration to Korea

South Korea has often been portrayed as a special country. Certainly, its rapid rise from a poor, technologically backward economy in the 1950s to a significant, even dominant, economic player in high-tech consumer and industrial markets by the 1990s has been exceptional. There is no denying, moreover, that the country has unique historical and cultural characteristics. Nonetheless, this paper argues that, in terms of those processes related to economic, social and political transformation, South Korea is an ‘ordinary’ country. One of the most salient of these processes is associated with migration which, in almost every industrialised democracy, moves from temporary foreign-worker migration to permanent settlement. Because of South Koreas rigidly monocultural and exclusionary heritage, however, many observers have assumed that the permanent settlement of large numbers of ‘foreigners’ was out of the question. Yet, a close and comparative analysis of the economic, political and social dynamics of international migration to South Korea shows that this will not necessarily be the case. Indeed, this paper asserts that there is good reason to believe that South Korea will become a ‘country of immigration’.

The Origins of Societal Power in South Korea: Understanding the Physical and Human Legacies of Japanese Colonialism

In seeking to explain the social, political and economic development of South Korea since liberation in 1945, many scholars have begun paying increasing attention to the significance of Korea’s colonial past. Most of these scholars have, for very good reasons, focused on fundamental—even revolutionary—changes in Koreas institutional structure, which for centuries had been dominated by a landed aristocracy ‘intent upon the preservation of its social, economic, and political privileges.’ Colonialism, to be more specific, replaced the factionalized and conflict-ridden institutions of aristocracy (and dynastic rule) with a modern, highly centralized, and extremely capable state apparatus, one which was used to reshape Korean society in any number of ways during Japans 35 years of domination. The ‘strong state’ is, in fact, an enduring and undeniably powerful legacy of colonialism.

Neither “Fish nor Fowl”: An Examination of South Korea’s Diaspora Engagement Policies

Human migration has never been a one-way movement, but over the past several decades, there has been an increasing trend of peoples moving back to their “ancestral homelands.” South Korea is no exception. Beginning in the late-1980s, tens of thousands of ethnic Koreans have returned to South Korea, both on a temporary and permanent basis. There are both underlying and explicit processes and factors that make diasporic return possible, of which state policy—and more specifically diaspora engagement policy—is one of the most salient. This paper purports to identify and explain the forces that have shaped that policy. On the surface, this may not seem to be a particularly difficult task. Yet, under the surface, the issue is more complicated.

'It's Not Just Poverty': South Korea, the United States, and the Global Sex Trade

This paper explores the dynamics of human smuggling and trafficking from South Korea to the United States.

Korea's Globalization (review)

increase in North Korean war-making capabilities in the 1960s did not trigger a significant reactive rise in the military expenditures of the South. Back in the late 1960s, the South lost the edge in the military competition and remained behind the North for about a decade. Nor was the considerable buildup of the DPRK forces in the 1960s a reaction to some challenge from the South but an attempt to adapt to a sudden drop in Soviet aid. On the contrary, the late 1980s and the 1990s were a period of significant South Korean military buildup, while North Korea remained generally stagnant. According to the results of Hamm’s economy-centered analyses, in the last decade or so the military capabilities of the South have been unquestionably superior to those of the North, but this considerable superiority does not lead to any slowdown in military development. The econometric approach to the military problem also led Hamm to distinguish between the increasingly labor-intensive strategy of the North (attempts to substitute sophisticated and expensive military machinery with large numbers of conscripts armed with basic weapons) and the increasingly capitalintensive strategy of the South (investment in high-tech weapons which render a large army unnecessary). These changes in the military strategies reflect the deep changes in the comparative standing of the two Koreas. Currently the South is far ahead of the North, but, as Hamm underlines, the South’s military superiority does not readily transform into its security, since the North is still capable of inflicting unacceptable damage on its adversary. Seoul, located perilously close to the DMZ is especially vulnerable. Hamm comes to the conclusion that, since the military buildup will not buy security, only a political solution is possible. The book is not an easy read for anybody not used to the language of economic analyses. Some lengthy methodological and theoretical excursions are also not particularly relevant (perhaps these excursions are an indication of the book’s origin as a reworked Ph.D. thesis). Nevertheless, military and security experts will find it useful and definitely worth reading.

Bringing Competition In: Capitalist Development in South Korea and the Limits of Institutionalism:

This paper has two key purposes. The first is to bring competition and power/politics directly into analyses of economic development in East Asia. In other words, the intention of this paper is to establish competition — defined as a historically constituted force — as integral part of the market process, the dynamics of which must be thoroughly analyzed and appreciated in order to adequately explain capitalist development in East Asia or anywhere else. My second, closely connected, purpose is to show just how and why a specific pattern of competition emerged and became embedded in South Koreas political economy. Briefly put, I contend that South Koreas rapid economic growth after the coup in 1961 was based — not on the establishment of a strong, developmental state per se — but on the emergence of an intense, but highly exclusionary form of competition, which I dub competition in closure.