Korea confronts globalization / edited by Chang Yun-Shik, Hyun-Ho Seok and Donald L. Baker.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Status politics: introductory notes / Donald Baker -- Globalization and women in South Korea: labor participation and women's identity / Sung-Nam Cho -- Regionalism in Korea: regional origin imbalance in the leadership structure of South Korea / Eui-Young Yu -- Class politics: introductory notes / Donald Baker -- Industrial workers, corporate employers and the government in South Korea / Chang Yun-Shik -- Globalization of labor and corporate enterprises in South Korea: labor relations and social adjustment of migrant workers / Hyun-Ho Seok -- Stumbling democracy in South Korea: the impacts of globalization and restructuring / Hyun-Chin Lim -- Politics of faiths, ideology and values: introductory notes / Donald Baker -- Left and right in South Korean politics / Chang Yun-Shik -- Globalization and value change in Korea: with a special emphasis on the impact of the recent economic crisis and neoliberal reform on the Confucian value system / Jonghoe Yang -- Tradition modernized: globalization and Korea's new religions / Donald Baker -- Societal cohesion: introductory notes / Donald Baker -- Globalization and welfare reform in South Korea under Kim Dae Jung government / Byung Young Ahn -- Paradox or paradigm? making sense of Korean globalization / Gi-Wook Shin and Joon Nak Choi.

Korea Confronts Globalization looks at the way in which the phenomenon of globalization has impacted on Korean society in terms of national identity, corporate change, labour markets, democracy, tradition and social policy, and the implications for Korea's social cohesion in a continually globalizing world. While becoming more open to the outside world, South Korea has remained a cohesive national community with a strong nationalist reaction against the globalization of Korea and with Koreans constantly reminding themselves of the need to retain their national identity. They have also learned to cope with various forms of conflict arising from diversified interests in a complex society and the South Korean government is now making a serious attempt to establish a welfare state with various schemes designed to help the poor and needy to maintain a minimum level of {u2018}decent{u2019} living. But it is uncertain whether South Korean society will continue to remain cohesive. Social inequality is increasing and the class divisions appear to be hardening and as such can Korea remain cohesive? As a volume looking at the political and social implications of globalization in modern South Korea, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Korean and East Asian studies, comparative sociology, development studies and politics