Current status of bioindustry in South Korea

Presents information on the status of the biotechnology industry in South Korea in 2005. Stages of the country's bioindustry; Research portfolio; Strategies to gain competitive advantage on a global basis; Goals of the industry's generation projects.

The rise of China and South Korea : sunshine and beyond

While China’s re-emergence at both the regional and global levels has attracted much attention, a less discernible development has been South Korea’s bid to adopt a more robust foreign policy. For the decade following the establishment of bilateral relations with the mainland in 1992, South Korea viewed China as a valuable partner that could facilitate its foreign policy goals. Although differing in ambition and capacity, in several respects—their preferred methods of resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, their expanding trade and investment, and their scepticism about Japanese intentions—the regional perspectives of China and South Korea proved to be highly complementary. However, closer ties with China complicate Korea’s relations with the United States, whose regional leadership China is beginning to challenge. In light of the adverse impact of the rise of China on the Korea–US alliance and other developments (notably the dispute involving the Goguryeo kingdom), South Korea’s views of China have cooled. This paper traces the Korean debate about the rise of China and its implications.

Biopharmaceutical innovation and industrial developments in South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan

South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are well known as export-oriented developmental states which for decades employed industrial policy to target particular industries for government support. In the past fifteen years, these three countries all identified the biopharmaceutical industry as a strategic sector. This article explores, through economic analysis, the rationale for this decision and the strategies chosen for linking into the global bio-economy with the objective of catching up in biopharmaceuticals. The paper identifies three comparative advantages enjoyed by these countries in the biopharma sector: (1) public investments in basic research; (2) private investments in phase 1 clinical trials; and (3) a potentially significant contract research industry managing latter-stage clinical trials. Governments employ a range of industrial policies, consistent with these comparative advantages, to promote the biopharmaceutical industry, including public investment in biomedical hubs, research funding and research and development (R&D) tax credits. We argue that the most important feature of the biopharmaceutical industry in these countries is the dominant role of the public sector. That these countries have made progress in innovative capabilities is illustrated by input measures such as R&D expenditure as share of gross domestic product, number of patents granted and clinical trials, and volume of foreign direct investment. In contrast, output indicators such as approval of new chemical entities suggest that the process of catching up has only just commenced. Pharmaceutical innovation is at the stage of mainly generating inputs to integrated processes controlled by the globally incumbent firms.

South Korea confronts the rise of China

The rise of China is one of the most discussed topics in the field of international relations. While few doubt that China is indeed “rising”, precisely how this process is unfolding and with what implications, is unclear. Should China’s growing prominence in regional and global affairs be treated as simply the latest in a natural process of states rising in influence, or is it somehow new, different or potentially destabilising? Given that the implications of China’s rise have been acutely felt in South Korea, this paper focuses seeks to typologise the responses of the South to the rise of China.

Middle powers and the building of regional order : Australia and South Korea compared

This article compares how two alliance partners of the United States — Australia and the Republic of Korea — are adjusting to the transition from the Cold War order in the Asia-Pacific to a new, as yet undefined regional order. As states occupying positions of privilege in the U.S.-led Cold War order, these two middle powers have engaged with the ASEAN grouping, the putative driver of the coming order, while maintaining traditional alliance commitments to the United States. This article focuses on proposals for the building of formal institutions and also other policies which can influence the formation of regional order, such as economic integration through the pursuit of free trade agreements. In examining an Asian and a non-Asian state, the article also considers how identity shapes attitudes to region and order.

Efficiency, cointegration and contagion in equity markets : evidence from China, Japan and South Korea

This paper empirically examines whether three East Asian stock markets, namely, those of China, Japan and South Korea, are individually and/or jointly efficient, and whether contagion exists between the cointegrated markets. While individual market efficiency is examined through testing for the random walk hypothesis, joint market efficiency is examined through testing for cointegration and contagion. The present study finds that the hypothesis of individual market efficiency is strongly rejected for the Chinese stock market, but not for the Japanese and the South Korean stock markets. However, when testing for cointegration, market efficiency is strongly rejected for all these markets. We take a simple case of contagion and find that although there is a long-term relationship among the three markets, the contagion hypothesis cannot be rejected only between Japanese and South Korean stock markets, indicating short-run portfolio diversification benefits from these two markets.

The determinants of economic growth versus genuine progress in South Korea

This paper examines whether the drivers of economic growth are the same as those for genuine progress in the case of South Korea. Using data covering the period 1970–2005, the paper first constructs a Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). An empirical model is then specified and estimated using growth in GDP per capita and growth in the GPI per capita as dependent variables. Results indicate that while physical capital, research and development, exports, and inflation are all important in determining growth in GDP per capita, only physical capital is a driver of genuine progress. These findings highlight the need for policymakers to identify and target other determinants of genuine progress to improve the well-being of South Koreans, rather than focus attention on traditional sources of economic growth.

Reconciliation and the Goguryeo/ Gāogōulì disputes between China and South Korea

Just as the failure to reconcile views of the past and to address historical injustice has damaged inter-state relations in East Asia, the Goguryeo/Gāogōulì dispute has harmed relations between South Korea and China. In this chapter, we provide a detailed analysis of the dispute, and explore how this contestation has been reconciled through elite settlement, UNESCO's arbitration and the idea of shared history.

Changing attitudes towards immigration and democracy in South Korea

If democracy belongs to 'the people', an important test of any democratic society is its treatment of non-citizens, new citizens and others who do not enjoy full civic rights. At times of economic and social upheaval, even societies where democracy is well established may witness anti-immigrant sentiment. This paper analyses how newcomers in South Korea are perceived as workers, neighbours and citizens. These modes of integration imply different degrees of commitment on the part of the host society to the acceptance of new citizens or residents, and thus to democracy. The paper finds that there is some overlap between public opinion and official immigration policy, in that both exhibit a ‘hierarchy of citizenship’, but public opinion is not monolithic. South Koreans prefer some immigrants over others, but seem open to the notion that the boundaries of the political community can and do change over time.