Author Archive

South Korea’s Identity Gap: Diverging Views on North Korea

By and | January 23, 2017

How close do South Korean youth feel to North Korea vis-a-vis their older compatriots? What do they think about the reunification of a nation long divided? Reviewing the latest survey data and fresh evidence from qualitative interviews, Phillip Lee and Steven Denney confirm what many have long suspected: a growing identity gap.

South Korean Democracy: Consolidated or Not?

By | December 07, 2016

Recent research suggesting rapidly declining youth support for democracy in Western states triggered a debate in the New York Times and elsewhere. The decline was found to be real, but not terribly dramatic. What is the situation in South Korea?

South Korean Identity: The Return of Ethnic Exclusivism?

By | October 28, 2016

It is both necessary and interesting to take regular snapshots of identity. South Korea just did so. The “Korean identity survey” was conducted for the third time in 2015, and the results have now been published. Steven Denney parses the data.

Yongusil 86: AKS Colloquium and Sources of Identity Change in South Korea

By | August 25, 2016

On August 26, Steven Denney presents preliminary findings based on his survey research on the sources of national identity change in South Korea at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) colloquium for overseas scholars studying Korea.