Korean Studies, vol. 15 (1991)

Contents

ARTICLES

Pyongyang's Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change
B. C. Koh, 1
This article examines the possible courses of North Korea's foreign policy in the 1990s. Pyongyang's traditional and current foreign policy is shown to pursue related goals of legitimacy, security, and development. In examining the operational environment of Pyongyang's foreign policy decisions in the next decade, the author emphasizes that changes in the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, and South Korea may force North Korea to soften its hardline foreign policy. Similarly domestic pressures, particularly from a weakening economy and a changing military balance on the peninsula, also suggest that North Korea will move toward supporting meaningful inter-Korean dialogue. Finally changes in the North Korean decision-making elite should also encourage a readjustment of foreign policy priorities. The author suggests there will be incremental change in North Korea's foreign policy in the 1990s, rather than the continuity of previous decades.

A Preliminary Estimation of an Econometric Model for North Korea
Suk Bum Yoon, 15
This article lays the groundwork for the creation of a macroeconometric model of North Korea. The author devises eight structural equations to be used in the model construction that show the North Korean economy to be a completely recursive system. He considers five series of statistics in arriving at an estimate of the North Korean gross national product; establishes a precipitation-based weather variable for annual agricultural production; and develops a series of consumption figures based on estimates from the People's Republic of China. The structural equations suggest that a fully developed econometric model would show a strong stability with recursive specification.

Soviet Policy Toward the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s
Vasily V. Mikheev, 31
This article examines the possible directions of Soviet policy toward North and South Korea in the 1990s. That policy is seen to depend primarily on two factors: the continued expansion of perestroika and changes or lack of change on the Korean peninsula. Soviet policy toward North Korea in the near future will be based on the assumption that economic or political reform there, if any, will be slow to come. The South Korean model used by Soviet policy makers predicts continuing democratization and the need to undergo technological restructuring. Little prospect is seen for unification, and Soviet policy assumes the existence of two Koreas for the near future. Soviet-North Korean relations in the 1990s will seek new bases, structured around more effective economic assistance. The author foresees the establishing of Soviet-South Korean diplomatic relations and policy independent of Soviet-North Korean and Soviet-U.S. relations. The 1990s is seen to be a decade when the new political thinking in the USSR leads to a prag-matic overhaul of both Soviet-North Korean and Soviet-South Korean relations.

Some Perspectives on Recent D.P.R.K. Policy Toward Japan
Masayuki Suzuki, 50
This article examines North Korea's policy toward Japan in the 1980s and prospects for policy changes in the 1990s. The author describes the generally negative images that Japan and North Korea held of each other in the 1980s, including a pattern of sanctions and countermeasures. The beginning of a more favorable DPRK policy toward Japan in the 1980s is also revealed. The author examines the personnel who have been and may reasonably be expected to continue to be influential in making DPRK-Japan policy, as he traces the growing independence of that policy from the North's South Korea policy. Finally the author presents recent North Korean actions that suggest a growing desire to improve relations with Japan.

Form and Correspondence in the Sijo and the Sasol Sijo
Ikhwan Choe, 67
The author examines two forms of Korean poetry. The classical sijo form and the later development, the sasol sijo. The article examines how these literary forms present aspects of the societies which engendered them, and argues that the differences between the forms reflects changing class and ideological structures in Yi dynasty Korea. The well-ordered rationality of the sijo form and its language of clarity and balance are shown to capture the temperament and ideology of the yangban class, while the exuberance, homely diction, and material images of the sasol sijo are presented as part of a deliberate, popular challenge to the existing class structure. The sijo form is linked to the prevailing Neo-Confucian ideology, while the enumerative technique of the sasol sijo is associated with the p'ansori and traced to traditional shaman chants.

Democratization of South Korea's National Universities
William W. Boyer and Nancy E. Boyer, 83
This article examines the process of democratization in South Korea as it affects the national university system. The authors discuss the traditionally tight control the central government wields over the university system, primarily by controlling funds and student enrollment. They examine the growing demand for autonomy, as reflected in the recent selections of several national university presidents, and the relationship between greater university autonomy and increased local government authority. The authors conclude that an irreversible trend has begun toward democratization and increased autonomy among South Korea's national universities.

Some Problems in the Reconstruction of Old Korean
An Binghao, 99
This article examines the sound qualities and lexical meanings of some representative Chinese characters that were used by Koreans during the Three Kingdoms period to transcribe personal and place names. The author concludes that the consonant and vowel systems of ancient Chinese were more complex than those of Korean. Consequently two or more related consonants that had been distinguished in Chinese were used in Korea to indicate the same consonant, and many Chinese diphthongs and triphthongs were used in Korea to indicate monoph-thongs. In addition, the final consonant of many Chinese characters frequently was either ignored in Korea, or simple Chinese syllables were made disyllabic for purposes of transcription. In determining the lexical meanings of the personal and place names of the Three Kingdoms period, the author exploits comparisons with surviving words from neighboring languages like Mongolian and Manchu.