From History to Reality: How China Handles North Korea

Jiyong Zheng 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.1

The history of China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) determines the current state of Sino-DPRK relations. China and DPRK have shared a common historical memory and regime security policy from former dynasties and continue to do so, and this is summarized by the phrase “teeth and lips relations.” Ideologically, China and the DPRK have had almost the same roots for their armies, Communist parties (CCP and North Korean Workers Party), and governments. China’s and North Korea’s Supreme leaders, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, respectively, used the same words and said that China and DPRK have “struggled shoulder by shoulder,” while speaking about the journey from China’s Civil War to its Anti-Japan battles, and the Liberation War to the Korean War, respectively. Both nations also appear to follow similar constructions of socialism as articulated on June 20, 2019. Personal sentiments have also formed major foundations for both China and Korea from the past to the present. In ancient times, Chinese Emperors and Korea shared complicated relationships. From the past to the present, China has understood that if Korea falls into a state of chaos, voluntarily or involuntarily, China will face the greatest loss. Thus, China pays serious and careful attention to the stability and unification of Korea and tries its best to avoid harm. The result, which can be seen in China’s foreign policy, is that China prioritizes policymaking that focuses on the stability of the Korean Peninsula. Based on these facts alone, China’s North Korea policy has had special historical roots and milestones, and has engaged in methods and approaches very different from those of other countries.

Perception of the Forest Area and Willingness to Pay for Household Waste Management Services in Villages around the Sawala Mandapa Education and Training Forest, Majalengka, Indonesia

Gugie Nugraha 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2021 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.26 No.1

Forest area with special purposes of Sawala Mandapa Education and Training Forest not only has a lot of progress in development but also challenges. The most important challenge is the misuse of the area as a waste dumpsite. The problem of accumulating waste in forest areas is caused by a lack of public awareness in managing and processing household waste. Meanwhile, support from the local government, the Environmental Service of Majalengka District, has limitations in the transportation and management of household waste. Therefore, efforts are needed in dealing with waste management in villages around forest areas to achieve public health and forest preservation. Efforts to deal with the problem of misuse of forest areas as places for accumulating waste require finding information about community perceptions of household waste management and forest area preservation. This study aims to determine community perceptions of forest areas and willingness to pay for household waste management. A survey instrument in the form of a questionnaire has been used as a basis for collecting data on the community’s perceptions and knowledge of forest areas and their willingness to pay for household waste management services. Multiple linear regression models were processed by SPSS 27 software were used to test the hypothesis.

Influential Factors Affecting Solid Wastes Management in Kigali City, Rwanda

IRUTINGABO Ange 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2021 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.26 No.1

The study shows some challenges that hinder effective solid waste management in Kigali City including social behavior, financial, technical, low technology factors, and limited support and subsidies which affect solid waste management. Data were collected from staff working in different waste collection companies in the city of Kigali. Eighty workers responded to the questionnaire. The interviewed people were divided into two groups, owners or managers and field workers. Workers were selected from all the 14 wastes companies operating in Kigali. The study shows that the solid waste collection has encountered many problems: no proper sorting of waste, low willingness to pay, inadequate training and awareness-raising on solid waste management, insufficient budget, low level of technology in recycling which is still at 2%, and low income for staff working in waste collection companies. Hence, the government of Rwanda must revolutionize its support of the sector and promote as system like the South Korean pay-as-you-throw model, not by merely imitating it, but by motivating the private sector to invest in recycling. The study also recommends that Nduba landfill be rehabilitated and transformed into a model landfill capable of accommodating all waste efficiently.

The Impact of Foreign Remittances on Household Income and Poverty: Empirical Evidence from Bangladesh

Md,Rubel Islam 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2021 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.26 No.1

The study explores the empirical impact of foreign remittances on Bangladesh s household income and poverty indicators using the most recent wave of nationally representative household income expenditure survey (HIES)-2016 dataset. The goal of this study is to fill a vacuum in the empirical evidence on overseas remittances in Bangladesh. Using a two-stage Heckman selection model to account for selection bias and endogeneity caused by prospective migrants self-selection, the study finds that remittances boost household income and reduce poverty regardless of the measures employed. I find that in Bangladesh, overseas migration and remittances generate many of the expected positive outcomes for migrant-sending households. The evidence of the study suggests that boosting migration and remittances requires enhancing the level of education and skill of expatriate aspirants along with easily accessible financing for the rural poor, particularly farming households so that more people from poorer sections can participate.

Factors Contributing to FDI Inflow in the Andijan region of Uzbekistan

Sardorbek Ismoilov,Sung Keuk-Je 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.2

This paper explores the factors contributing to FDI inflow based on a survey of 152 foreign-invested enterprises located in the Andijan region of Uzbekistan. The results indicate strong existence for the market-seeking and resource-seeking motives while having a weak presence of the efficiency-seeking motive. Moreover, the orientationof firms inl ocal market utilization has beenp rimarily investigated. There are no significant problems that have been faced by the surveyed enterprises, but some problems such as lack of infrastructure, bureaucracy, corruption and unsatisfactory economic environment have been identified as having a weak impact. The factors such as local market utilization and having access to the regional market (CIS) have been observed as significant in the accomplishment of FDI intention. The factor of technology transfer has been evaluated by local partners as the most important motive in attracting FDI while they expect more from foreign investors insecuring the export market.

International Trade Openness, Resource Abundance and Economic Growth Nexus: A Panel Data Analysis of Resource Rich Countries

Samuel Bachunge,Wook Chae 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.2

Employing panel data techniques with a focus on the Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) estimator to correct for the serially correlated errors and heteroscedasticity presence, I analyzed data for the period 1987-2017 folded in non-overlapping five-year intervals to ascertain and reassess the nexus that exist between trade and growth, and resource abundance and growth in a particular setting of 47 resource-intensive countries against the backdrop of Davido Ricardo’s comparative advantage law. I showed that, by integrating control variables such as the initial level of income per capita, macroeconomic stability, institutional quality capital, industrial value added, amongst others, conclusions from existing studies are still robust even with more recent data. Indeed, it has been found that a positive interplay exists between trade openness and economic growth, however, higher exports of natural resources or increases in resource rents are associated with lower annual growth rates of GDP per capita, that is to say, an inverse nexus between natural resource abundance and economic growth variables. This finding confirmed the resource curse theory, a paradox conflicting with the comparative advantage idea.

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Importance of Government Efficiency in Firm Location Decisions of New Businesses in Philippine Cities in 2018

Ma Grace Angela R. Aquino,Young Jo Lee 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.2

Why do new businesses locate in a particular location? Existing studies have considered various factors such as market and labor, among others, but not many firm location studies have taken into account the importance of the regulatory environment through government efficiency, which has prompted the pursuit for this research. In this study, we used the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), a local competitiveness index in the Philippines, to measure how government efficiency affects the location of firms. We analyzed the data using linear regression and used the count of new businesses in cities in 2018 as the dependent variable against three of the core components of the CMCI, 1) Economic Dynamism, 2) Government Efficiency, and 3) Infrastructure, as independent variables. Here I found that government efficiency, through the sub-indicators therein, is a significant factor in the firm location decision of new businesses.

Changing Security Environment in Northeast Asia and South Korea’s Security Dilemma

Jung-Yeop Woo 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.1

South Korea’s geopolitical standing in the region has been determined by how it manages its relations with regional superpowers, including the United States, China, Russia, and Japan. With U.S.-China relations quickly deteriorating, the security environment in Northeast Asia is undergoing great changes and this new environment has put South Korea in a very difficult position. South Korea’s security dilemma in the region revolves around three key issues. The first concern centers on North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile capabilities, and the diplomatic deadlock in U.S.-DPRK relations. The second challenge stems from deteriorating relations between the U.S. and China and the strategic choice that South Korea is being forced to make. Last but not least, South Korea is challenged by the status of the ROK-U.S. Alliance amidst widespread speculations that it has weakened as of late. To manage this predicament, South Korea must delicately navigate the tides while adopting policies that will benefit South Korea’s national interests in the security and economic fields. However, South Korea’s role in managing its concerns is limited and prospect for breakthrough appears dim due to its limited leverage and the differences among the regional stakeholders.

The United States and Cross-Taiwan Strait Relations after 1979

Kwei-Bo Huang 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.1

This essay firstly introduces the institutional development of two sets of intertwined bilateral relations: US-PRC and US-ROC. Then, in order to understand these relations from a more formal perspective, historically important documents and pledges of the US and the practice or lack of US (vice) presidential visits are highlighted. Three conclusions are: (1) US relations with the PRC and with the ROC have been largely defined by the US’s and the PRC’s strategic circumstances and their respective top leaders’ ideologies or beliefs, whereas the ROC has had little capacity to act in this context; (2) the US has been ambivalent in its definition of “one China” but has always been unsupportive of the Taiwan independence movement while expressing its “one China” policy; and (3) the US, always refusing to position itself as a mediator, has remained the only and the most significant third party in the Taiwan Strait.

China-U.S. Institutional Balancing in the Asia-Pacific and Its Implications to China’s Foreign Policy Choices

Huaigao Qi 경희대학교 국제학연구원 2019 Asian Journal of International Studies (AJIS) Vol.24 No.1

In the context of China’s rapid rise and the U.S.’s hegemonic maintenance, one key challenge of China’s diplomacy is how China deals with its bilateral relations with the U.S. and thus avoids the “Thucydides’s Trap”. Compared with power transition theory, balance of power theory, international institutions theory and social constructivist theory, the China-U.S. institutional balancing theory can better explain the institutionalization of security and analyze the interactions between China and the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific after the Cold War. The China-U.S. institutional balancing suggests that the deepening economic interdependence creates a condition under which China or the U.S. is more likely to conduct a new realist balancing strategy to counter each other and pursue security through international institutions. Under the background of the deepening economic interdependence and the polar distribution of power between China and the U.S., both China and the U.S. conduct institutional balancing in the Asia-Pacific. In the crucial period of China’s peaceful rise, China must avoid repeating past mistakes of the Anglo-German antagonism (1860-1914) and the Soviet Union-U.S. antagonism (1945-1991), and must be cautious to avoid confrontation and conflict with the U.S. The implications of the China-U.S. institutional balancing are as follows: China should continue to carry out institutional balancing to the U.S.; both China and the U.S. should encourage each other to participate in international institutions in the Asia-Pacific region; both China and the U.S. should deepen mutual economic interdependence.