East Asia: Politics, Economy, and Society

Seoul National University
Graduate School of International Studies

Politics and Economy in East Asia
Fall 2008 (Friday 09:00 – 12:00)


Prof. Cheol Hee Park
Email: chpark82@snu.ac.kr
Tel: 02-880-9219 (o)


Course Objective

This course is designed to widen and broaden knowledge on politics and economy in East Asia. Prevalent in understanding in East Asia are Western perspectives. As an alternative to the Western approach, this course tries to provide students with an opportunity to understand the East Asian affairs from an Asian perspective. Target students can be international students who have not acquired prior knowledge about East Asia or Korean students who want to widen the scope of their understanding about East Asian region.


Required Texts

• Gilbert Rozman, Northeast Asia’s Stunted Regionalism (Cambridge:
• Cambridge University Press, 2004)
• David Shambaugh, Power Shift (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005)
• Muthiah Alagappa, Asian Security Order (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003)
• G. John Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno, International Relations Theory and the Asia-Pacific New York: Columbia University Press, 2003)
• T.J. Pempel, ed. Remapping East Asia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005)
• G. John Ikenberry and Chung In Moon, eds. The United States and Northeast Asia (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008)

Course Requirements

1. Class participation (30%)
2. Mid-term exam (35%)
3. Final exam (35%)





Guidelines

• Attendance will be important for keeping up with class. Please be advised that questions for mid-term and final exam will be based on lecture given in class, not textbook. Good attendance and active participation will be reflected in grade.

• The mid-term and final exam will be a short essay for discussion of major concepts, facts, and theories that are examined in lecture. No make-up will be arranged. Please note the exam schedule and plan ahead for it.

• Students are always welcome to ask instructor for clarification during or after class when you feel confused. Yet, if you miss a class, please do not come to instructor for explanation or the lecture note of the missed class. You may contact other students for this. Power Point lecture presentation will be posted on the school web site after each class.

• All students must exhibit professionalism in and out of classroom. Students are required to uphold a honor code regarding “academic standards, cheating, plagiarism, and the documentation of written work,” and be aware of the responsibility























Class Schedule and Reading Assignment


Week 1: Introduction

- Course overview
- Self-introduction
- Q&A


Week 2: Korea’s Modern Transformation

- Colonial experience and after
- Korea’s economic development
- Globalizing Korea
-


Week 3: Korean Politics and Society

- Political System in Comparative Perspective
- Democratization of Korea and Its Consolidation
- Korean Civil Society and Its Political Impacts



Week 4: China’s Domestic Political Transformation

- Opening and Reform
- Resilience of the One Party Rule
- Changes in the Mode of Governance


Week 5: Foreign Policy Initiative of China

- Rising China
- Regional Engagement of China
- Chinese Soft Power


Week 6: Japanese Political and Social Transformation

- Japan after Meiji Restoration
- Postwar Political Setup
- Japan’s Aspiration for a Normal Country



Week 7: Japanese Foreign Policy and Global Contact

- From Reactive State to Proactive State
- Internatioalism and Asianism
- US-Japan Alliance and Asian Diplomacy


Week 8: MID-TERM EXAM


Week 9: Economic Regional Integration in East Asia

- Regionalism and Regionalization
- Trade and Investment in East Asia
- Functional Cooperation



Week 10: Financial Linkage in East Asia

- Before and After the Financial Crisis
- Financial Cooperation among East Asian Countries
- Globalization and Finance


Week 11: Political and Institutional Initiative for Regional Cooperation

- From ASEAN to ASEAN+3, EAS
- Institutional Linkage and Political Initiative
- Northeast Asian Summit


Week 12: Multilateral Security Framework in East Asia

- ARF
- Six Party Talks
- Mini-lateralism



Week 13: Nationalism, Regionalism and Globalism in East Asia

- Regionalization and National Identity
- Civil society and Nationalism
- Global Values and Nationalism


Week 14: Korean Political Economy in Globalizing World

- Status of Korea’s Political Economy
- Challenges for Global Korea
- Neo-liberalism and Welfare State in Globalizing Economy



Week 15: FINAL EXAM