scholarly journals Phylogenetic study of extirpated Korean leopard using mitochondrial DNA from an old skin specimen in South Korea

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8900
Author(s):  
Jee Yun Hyun ◽  
Jang Hyuk Cho ◽  
Puneet Pandey ◽  
Mi-Sook Min ◽  
Kyung Seok Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Phylogenetic Study ◽  
Panthera Pardus ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Subspecies Level ◽  
Panthera Pardus Orientalis ◽  
And Control

The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a threatened species in its range throughout the world. Although, historically, the Korean Peninsula had a high population density of leopards, they were extirpated from South Korea by 1970, leaving almost no genetic specimens. Traditionally, Korean leopards are classified as Panthera pardus orientalis; however, their classification is based only on locality and morphology. Therefore, there is a need for genetic studies to identify the phylogenetic status of Korean leopards at the subspecies level. Presently, no extant wild specimen is available from South Korea; therefore, we extracted genetic material from the old skin of a leopard captured in Jirisan, South Korea in the 1930s and conducted the first phylogenetic study of the South Korean leopard. A total of 726 bp of mitochondrial DNA, including segments of the NADH5 and control region, were amplified by PCR. A phylogenetic analysis of the fragment, along with sequences of nine leopard subspecies from GenBank revealed that the extinct South Korean leopard belonged to the Asian leopard group and in the same clade as the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). Thus, the leopard that inhabited South Korea in the past was of the same subspecies as the Amur leopard population currently inhabiting the transboundary region of Russia, China, and North Korea. These results emphasize the importance of conserving the endangered wild Amur leopard population (estimated to be about 60–80 individuals) in Russia and China, for future restoration of leopards in the Korean Peninsula.

scholarly journals Engineering care in pandemic technogovernance: The politics of care in China and South Korea’s COVID-19 tracking apps

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110207
Author(s):  
Youngrim Kim ◽  
Yuchen Chen ◽  
Fan Liang
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
Surveillance Studies ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Ideological Dimension ◽  
And Control

This article critically examines South Korea and China’s COVID-19 tracking apps by bridging surveillance studies with feminist technoscience’s understanding of the “politics of care”. Conducting critical readings of the apps and textual analysis of discursive materials, we demonstrate how the ideological, relational, and material practices of the apps strategically deployed “care” to normalize a particular form of pandemic technogovernance in these two countries. In the ideological dimension, media and state discourse utilized a combination of vilifying and nationalist rhetoric that framed one’s acquiescence to surveillance as a demonstration of national belonging. Meanwhile, the apps also performed ambivalent roles in facilitating essential care services and mobilizing self-tracking activities, which contributed to the manufacturing of pseudonormality in these societies. In the end, we argue that the Chinese and South Korean governments managed to frame their aggressive surveillance infrastructure during COVID-19 as a form of paternalistic care by finessing the blurred boundaries between care and control.

scholarly journals North Koreans’ Public Narratives and Conditional Inclusion in South Korea (In Press)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hough ◽  
Markus Bell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
North And South

This article draws on the public testimonies of North Koreans living in South Korea (t’albungmin) and analyzes the role that these narratives play in South Korean society as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. North and South Korea technically remain at war, with South Korea claiming sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. While t’albungmin are eligible for South Korean citizenship, they describe feeling excluded from full social membership. Although some t’albungmin seek anonymity, this paper considers those who gain social status by speaking publicly about their lives and denouncing the North Korean regime. In so doing, they distance themselves from North Korea and align themselves with the “good” discourse of human rights. However, their actions reinforce a logic of exclusion, implying that t’albungmin who prefer anonymity are “sympathizers,” and consequently restricting their access to social benefits and resources. This case of conditional inclusion illuminates tensions that arise when a sovereignty claim entails the incorporation of people from an enemy state. It also highlights the carefully delineated boundaries of publicly acceptable behavior within which “suspect” citizens must remain as a condition for positive recognition.

Joint Military Exercises and Crisis Dynamics on the Korean Peninsula

2020 ◽  
pp. 002200272097218
Author(s):  
Jordan Bernhardt ◽  
Lauren Sukin
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Military Exercises ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
Costly Signals

A number of proposals for reducing tensions with North Korea have discussed alterations to the program of joint military exercises (JMEs) that South Korea holds. North Korea has also repeatedly called for a reduction or secession of JMEs. Would limiting or halting JMEs be a useful concession for securing a reduction of tensions on the peninsula? We argue that JMEs do not deter North Korea but, instead, provoke provocative rhetoric and actions, demonstrating that North Korea views JMEs as a serious threat to its security. In this paper, we establish a relationship between JMEs and North Korea’s actions. In response to a JME, North Korea can issue warnings or threats as well as take costly signals such as conducting missile or nuclear tests. Using new data on JMEs and North Korean behavior, we find that North Korea systematically responds with aggression to South Korean JMEs. Moreover, we find that the intensity of North Korea’s responses to JMEs is driven by the severity of the threat particular exercises pose, indicating that North Korea responds to JMEs as serious security threats.

Bees of the Hemihalictus series of Lasioglossum Curtis (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) in South Korea

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4268 (4) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
RYUKI MURAO
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
The South ◽  
South Korean ◽  
First Time

The South Korean fauna of the Hemihalictus series belonging to the genus Lasioglossum Curtis are reviewed. Twenty-seven species are recognized for the country. Lasioglossum laevoides Ebmer is recorded from the Korean Peninsula for the first time. The following species are newly recorded from South Korea: L. albipes villosum Ebmer, L. calceatum (Scopoli), L. kiautschouense (Strand), L. sakagamii Ebmer, L. speculinum (Cockerell), L. subfulvicorne subfulvicorne (Blüthgen), L. villosulum (Kirby), and L. vulsum (Vachal). Illustrated keys to females and males of South Korean species are provided. Bionomical data such as flight and flower records in South Korea are given.

Four new species and further contributions to the Leuctridae (Plecoptera) of the Korean Peninsula

Zootaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4282 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
DÁVID MURÁNYI ◽  
JEONG MI HWANG
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Far Eastern ◽  
First Time ◽  
North And South ◽  
Unknown Male

Two new species of Korean needleflies, Perlomyia koreana sp. n. and P. lamellata sp. n. are described from North and South Korea. Additionally, two species, Paraleuctra paramalaisei sp. n. and Perlomyia baei sp. n. are described from South Korea. The previously unknown male of Perlomyia martynovi (Zhiltzova, 1975) is described from South Korean specimens associated with females. Leuctra fusca tergostyla Wu, 1973 comb. n. is proposed for the Far Eastern populations of the Eurosiberian L. fusca (Linnaeus, 1758). Three Leuctridae genera and species are reported from North Korea for the first time and three species are new country records for South Korea. The number of stonefly species known from the Korean Peninsula is increased to 82. A key is presented for the Leuctridae species known from Korean Peninsula including taxa that are expected to occur. Distributional maps are presented and additional notes on the habitats of Korean Leuctridae are given. 

South Korea may develop nuclear weapons

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Content Type ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
Produce Change ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Near Future

Subject The risk of South Korea developing nuclear weapons. Significance The most serious political risk on the Korean peninsula, after war and the collapse of the North Korean regime, is the possibility that South Korea will develop nuclear weapons. This is extremely unlikely under the current administration but more plausible -- if still unlikely -- under the next. South Korea's democratic system could produce change very quickly, as democracies elsewhere did with Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. The weapons could probably be completed within a couple of years. Impacts Nuclear armament is more likely under a future conservative administration; the current centre-left government has ruled it out. South Korean nuclear armament would be a major setback for global non-proliferation efforts. Japan would be unlikely to follow suit in the near future, but resistance there would be eroded.

The roots of police corruption and anti-corruption reform in South Korea

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-182
Author(s):  
Jin-Wook Choi ◽  
Jina Bak
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
The South ◽  
Police Corruption ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Code Of Silence ◽  
Police Organizations ◽  
And Control

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the roots of police corruption, evaluate the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures, and suggest recommendations to prevent and control police corruption in South Korea. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a qualitative approach to identify the key causes and to assess the reform agenda of police corruption in South Korea. In doing so, it introduces a brief history and profile of the police force, explores changes in police corruption, identifies the roots of police corruption, assesses the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures and offers policy recommendations to curb corruption in the South Korean police. Findings This paper claims that conventional and current anti-corruption measures have not been effective in minimizing police corruption in South Korea. It identifies the scope of police work and duties without proper accountability, a code of silence in police organizations, the low ethical standards of police officers and weak punitive measures against corrupt police officers as the main causes of corruption. Strenuous reform efforts that directly target these causes are needed to reduce corruption in the South Korean police. Originality/value This paper will be a useful reference for readers who are interested in why corruption has not been effectively prevented and controlled in the South Korean police.

scholarly journals Disillusionment and Dismay: How Chinese Netizens Think and Feel About the Two Koreas

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gries
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
First Century ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
South Korean ◽  
High Profile

The deterioration of Sino–South Korean relations following the attacks on the Cheonan and on Yonpyong Island in 2010 has again raised the question of Chinese intentions in the Korean peninsula. In this article, I explore Chinese netizen views of the two Koreas. Qualitative and quantitative evidence (in the form of a large-scale national Internet survey) provide convergent evidence that while Chinese netizens feel coolly toward both Koreas, they think and feel about them in very different ways. Chinese netizens appear to be profoundly disillusioned with a North Korea that refuses to adopt Chinese-style “reform and opening,” which only reminds them of their poor and authoritarian past. However, recent high-profile historical and cultural disputes appear to have led to widespread Chinese dismay and even anger toward South Korea as well, which is perceived to be poaching on China's proud cultural heritage. These attitudes toward Korea are reflective of evolving Chinese understandings of what it means to be Chinese in the twenty-first century.

scholarly journals POR TRÁS DO MITO DA BURGUESIA NACIONAL: UMA ANÁLISE COMPARATIVA DO ESTADO DESENVOLVIMENTISTA NO BRASIL E NA COREIA DO SUL

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Vinícius Pereira Brites ◽  
Bruna Coelho Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
The State ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
And Control

Since the 1990s, many analysts have sought to explain the differences in development paths between Brazil and South Korea, the latter often being pointed as an example of success. As a highly industrialized economy focused on international trade, the South Korean case stood out as a way of overcoming the backwardness of developing countries. However, there is a need for analysis that point to the specificities of the developmental state in South Korea, whose interventionist action was decisive in leveraging the country’s industrial production in accordance with internal business groups, as well as the geopolitical context favorable to outward-oriented industrialization. The Brazilian process, in turn, due to the wealth of natural resources and the large domestic market, has made the induction of the state in industrialization more artificial, whose policy supposes an element of coercion, induction and control. This research, therefore, seeks to analyze the specific dimensions of each case, highlighting the role of the state and its relationship with the internal bourgeoisie in the construction of an industrial policy. The trajectories of rise and decline of Brazilian and South Korean developmental state will be analyzed, including the current crisis of reconfiguration of political power that both countries are going through.

A Hero of the Two Koreas: Yi Sun-shin Dramatized in North and South

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-69
Author(s):  
Seong-kwan Cho ◽  
Jae-beom Hong
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Father Figure ◽  
South Korean ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Joseon Dynasty ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
North And South

Yi Sun-shin (1545–98), an admiral of the Joseon dynasty, is a Korean national hero who is admired by both North and South Korea regardless of political ideology. Yet between 1960 and 1970 North and South Korea presented Yi from different perspectives in accordance with their own political interests. In South Korea, Yi was portrayed as a solitary hero who sacrificed himself to save the country despite the blame and entrapment he suffered as a result. Alongside, North Korea presented Yi as an ideal leader with the warmth of a father figure who embraced the people's aspirations to fight against their Japanese enemies. In this article, Seong-kwan Cho and Jae-beom Hong discuss these representations of Yi and survey North Korean theatre of the 1960s, which is rarely examined in theatre scholarship outside the Korean peninsula. Seong-kwan Cho (first author) lectures in the Korean Department of Konkuk University, and published in NTQ136 on South Korean theatre censorship. Jae-beom Hong (corresponding author) is a Professor in the same Department. The pair have recently been researching North Korean realist theatre, and this article is their third on the subject. This paper was supported by Konkuk University in 2016.

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