Regional Governance of North Korean Human Rights

Changrok Soh(서창록),Yoon Eui Kim(김윤의) 고려대학교 일민국제관계연구원 2014 국제관계연구 Vol.19 No.1

북한 인권을 위한 다양한 행위자들의 참여와 협력에도 불구하고 북한의 인권상황이 실제로 개선되지 못하고 있다. 본 논문은 북한 인권 향상을 위한 지역적 통치 방식의 비효율성을 주장하기 위해 다양한 행위자의 정책을 인권 이론의 맥락에서 평가하고자 한다. 이를 위해 인권 정치의 이상적 모델, 즉 ‘원칙에 기반한 인권정치(principled politics)’ 개념을 바탕으로 각 행위자들의 정책을 분류하기 위한 이론적 분석틀을 제시하였다. 분석 결과 대부분의 행위자들이 국제적 인권 규범의 목록을 모두 준수하지는 않고 있으며 국내 정치 상황에 더 큰 관심을 두고 있음이 밝혀졌다. Despite the participation and collaboration of diverse actors for North Korean human rights in recent years, the situation in North Korea has not improved. In order to explain the ineffectiveness of regional governance for the improvement of North Korean human rights, this paper endeavors to evaluate the transnational actors’ policies in the context of human rights theories. This paper designs a theoretical framework to categorize each transnational actor in accordance to their policies, based on the ideal type of human rights governance, ‘principled politics.’ It is found that most actors do not respect the entire list of the principles in the international human rights standard and are more concerned with their respective domestic political situation.

Theoretical Considerations : Why Countries Provide Development Aid

Changrok Soh(서창록) 고려대학교 일민국제관계연구원 2010 국제관계연구 Vol.15 No.1

현실주의, 자유주의, 막스주의 등의 국제정치이론은 각자 다른 시각을 가지고 있지만 이 이론들은 모두 국가를 합리적 행위자로 보고 국가이익을 개발원조의 동기로 분석하는 전통적 국가중심이론들이다. 이런 전통이론들과는 달리 새로운 시각을 가진 많은 이론들―특히 후기 실증주의(post-positivism) 이론들이 등장하고 있는데, 이들은 개발원조의 문제를 새로운 방식으로 설명한다. 구성주의 이론은 국가이익이 고정되어 있는 것이 아니고 변경되거나 재구성될 수 있다는 점을 보여준다. 비판이론은 국가 이외의 다양한 행위자가 고려되어야 한다고 주장하고 규범형성의 상향식(bottom-up) 방식을 강조한다. 다양한 행위자의 참여는 국제사회의 구조를 바꾸어 왔고 새로운 규범을 형성해 왔다. 이런 비전통적 시각은 개발원조 분야에서 국제사회의 변화를 이해하는 데 도움을 줄 뿐만 아니라 개발원조의 실행 단계에서 겪는 어려움에 해결책을 제시하기도 한다. While realism, liberalism and Marxism all bring different perspectives leading to different explanations regarding development aid by donor countries, all theories can be considered as traditional state-centric perspectives given that all eventually focus their analyses on the state as a rational actor and national interest as a motivation of development aid. Unlike these traditional perspectives, there are a growing number of new theories, particularly theories under post-positivism, which try to bring new ways of explaining the issue of development aid. Social constructivism is instrumental in showing that national interests are not fixed and can be changed and reconstructed. Critical theory, while there are very diverse roots of theory, is making very important contributions in that it argues various actors, rather than nation-states, should be considered, emphasizing a bottom-up process of norm-making. The participation of diverse actors has changed the structure of the global society and has constructed new norms. These non-traditional perspectives have enhanced understanding of the transformation of global society within the field of development aid. It also suggests various solutions to problems that the development assistance community has encountered during implementation practices.

Representation of Human Rights Violations by Human Rights NGOs

Changrok Soh(서창록),Jooyea Lee(이주애) 고려대학교 일민국제관계연구원 2012 국제관계연구 Vol.17 No.1

As the notion of human rights spreads around the globe, various claims are made using the language of human rights. Many venues utilize the notion as they publicize stories of human rights violations. In such circumstances, the modes in which the idea of human rights is constructed become important. Human rights NGO reports are especially crucial, because they shape government policy, media and public opinions. This article argues that human rights reports, in order to achieve their goals of monitoring and advocacy, human rights NGOs faithfully utilize a few principal tactics. After identifying those tactics, it was examined how such tactics have lead to decontextualization, through which the problematic nature of reporting techniques was revealed. The achievements of international human rights activism have been noted, as there are many. However, dilemmas of the current mode of representing human rights violations were explored more thoroughly in an attempt, hopefully, to take one step forward in the field of human rights activism. 인권의 개념이 전 세계적으로 확산됨에 따라 인권이라는 언어를 이용한 다양한 요구사항 또한 점점 많아지고 있다. 인권침해 사례가 다양한 출구를 통하여 홍보 · 출판되는 상황에서, 인권이 어떻게 정의되며 어떠한 방식으로 표현되는가에 대한 연구는 더욱더 중요해지고 있다. 인권 NGO에서 출판하는 인권보고서는 언론, 대중의 의견 형성뿐만 아니라, 정부정책에도 영향을 미치기 때문에 그 중요성이 매우 크다. 이 논문은 인권보고서라는 매체가 인권 NGO들이 성취해야 할 모니터링(Monitoring)과 애드보커시(Advocacy)라는 목적에 부합하기 위하여 몇 가지 중요한 전술을 충실하게 활용하고 있다고 주장한다. 그 몇 가지 전술이 무엇인지 파악한 후에, 이러한 전술로 인하여 간과되는 인권침해의 실태 및 문제점을 분석하였다. 국제인권운동에는 수많은 성과가 있었지만, 인권운동현장의 발전을 위해 현재 인권침해의 문제가 보도되고 논의되는 형식의 문제점을 보다 깊게 다루었다.

The Refugee Act of Korea

Changrok Soh(서창록),Breda Lund 한국정치학회 2014 한국정치학회보 Vol.48 No.3

본 논문은 2012년 입법된 한국의 난민법에 대한 깊이 있는 분석을 제공한다. 2013년 7월에 시행된 난민법은 동아시아 최초의 독립적 난민법으로, 본 논문은 새로운 법안을 만드는 과정에서 한국 시민사회가 수행한 역할을 평가한다. 사례 연구 결과 시민사회가 난민법의 입안에는 상당한 역할을 했으나, 실제 내용에는 상대적으로 적은 영향력을 행사했음이 밝혀졌다. 시민사회 단체들은 분리된 규정에 의해 난민을 보호할 필요성을 최초로 알렸고, 법률의 초안을 작성하기 위해 서로 연합하였다. 그러나 2011년 통과된 실제 법은 초안과 상당한 차이가 있었다. 법무부의 이익을 위해 수정되어 난민 운동가들의 실망과 답답함을 야기한 것이다. 요컨대, 시민사회 단체들은 촉매제 이외의 역할을 수행하지는 못했으며, 최종적으로 입법된 난민법의 내용에는 사실상 제한된 영향력만을 행사했다. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the Refugee Act of Korea, enacted in 2012. The act, which went into effect in July 2013, is the first standalone refugee law in East Asia. This paper assesses the role of Korean civil society in creating the new law. According to the findings of this case study, civil activists played a major part in the creation of Refugee Act, but had less influence on its actual contents. Civil society groups first brought attention to the need for increased refugee protections through separate regulations, and then formed a coalition of groups to write a draft bill. However, the law that passed in 2011 is significantly different from that draft bill. Much to the disappointment and frustration of refugee activists, it was altered to suit Ministry of Justice interests. Overall, civil society groups served as little more than catalysts, and their influence on the final, legislated version of the Refugee Act was limited.

Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors: Granting Refugee Status under International Law

( Changrok Soh ) 이화여자대학교 통일학연구원 2012 Journal of peace and unification Vol.2 No.1

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation in South Korea: Lessons from American and British CSR Policies

Changrok Soh,Hannah June Kim,Taehee Whang 서울대학교 국제학연구소 2014 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.21 No.2

The primary purpose of this research is to distinguish between government-led and society-led implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The first part of this paper works to answer the question of why CSR has remained largely a Western phenomenon. Then, through a comparison between the United Kingdom and the United States, research for this study suggests that the U.K. tends to adopt the top-down approach whereas the U.S. adopts a bottom-up approach towards CSR. The second part of this research revolves around what these findings suggest in order to advance the overall CSR program within South Korea. It argues that South Korea needs to adopt more of the top-down approach for the better enactment and implementation of CSR.

The Human Security Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in East Asia

Changrok Soh,CONNOLLY DANIEL PHILLIP 경남대학교 극동문제연구소 2020 ASIAN PERSPECTIVE Vol.44 No.3

This article looks at emerging threats to human security in East Asia posed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), defined here as emerging business models and techniques that leverage automation, AI (artificial intelligence), and the accelerating fusion of bodies with digital and material technologies. Although this phenomenon is celebrated for creating new sources of value and innovation, it also constitutes a serious threat because its key processes generate new forms of inequality and potentially undermine human dignity and agency. Human security is an important concept for preemptively analyzing these emerging socioeconomic changes and considering countermeasures. The article concludes by briefly proposing a new mode of bottom-up human security advocacy focused on the participatory design and implementation of technological systems to help build resilience across the region.

Implementing the Networked Approach: Regional Human Rights Education in Asia and Sustainable Social Infrastructures

Changrok Soh,Daniel Connolly,Youngsoo Yu 한국APEC학회 2018 Journal of APEC Studies Vol.10 No.2

This paper argues that Asia’s economic growth and future prosperity is threatened by its lack of social infrastructure, represented by its ongoing failure to create a regional human rights mechanism. Sustainable development requires social infrastructure, not just technical and economic reforms. This shortcoming is compounded by the looming challenge of the fourth industrial revolution, which is making creative human resources more important than ever. This paper proposes the networked approach, a polycentric process that transforms human rights from high politics to low politics, as the most pragmatic solution in Asia. Drawing upon the case of Asia’s gender digital divide, it is argued that the networked approach can be applied from the bottom-up, especially in classrooms and workplaces, by interjecting human rights norms and practices into technical capacity building efforts for the region’s workers and citizens, especially women. This integrated capacity building is an effective way to enhance economic resilience and ensure a sustainable future.

Permanent War

Changrok Soh,Daniel Connolly 서울대학교 사회발전연구소 2017 Journal of Asian Sociology Vol.46 No.2

As part of the ongoing exploration of cosmopolitan memory and human rights first pioneered by Ulrich Beck, this study analyzes the cosmopolitan potential of the advocacy efforts of the North Korean Freedom Coalition. Highlighting the close relationship between acts of remembrance and human rights, this prominent US-based network of non-profit groups maintains a complex assemblage of virtual as well as despatialized real world memory apparatuses that draw upon, repackage, and disseminate the trauma of North Korean defectors. However, this memory work is not oppositional enough. The coalition’s members are creating a databank of trauma caused by the North Korean state but are willfully suppressing the trauma that their own nations have caused in the region. In particular, their treatment of the Korean War indicates the persistence of national and even hegemonic frameworks of remembrance. This case suggests that cosmopolitanism, far from being inevitable, is vulnerable to new forms of co-option.

Culturing of Rat Intestinal Epithelial Cells-18 on Plasma Polymerized Ethylenediamine Films Deposited by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Changrok Choi,Kyung Seop Kim,Hong Ja Kim,Heonyong Park,정동근,Jin-Hyo Boo 대한화학회 2009 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.30 No.6

Many researchers studied cell culturing on surfaces with chemical functional groups. Previously, we reported surface properties of plasma polymerized ethylenediamine (PPEDA) films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition with various plasma conditions. Surface properties of PPEDA films can be controlled by plasma power during deposition. In this work, to analyze correlation of cell adherence/proliferation with surface property, we cultured rat intestinal epithelial cells-18 on the PPEDA films deposited with various plasma powers. It was shown that as plasma power was decreased, density of cells cultured on the PPEDA film surface was increased. Our findings indicate that plasma power changed the amine density of the PPEDA film surface, resulting in density change of cells cultured on the PPEDA film surface.