From Preponderance of Power to Balance of Power? South Korea in Search of a New North Korea Policy

Jihwan Hwang 재단법인 동아시아연구원 2011 EAI 이슈브리핑 Vol.- No.29

The North Korean Human Rights between China and South Korea: Bridging the Gap

( Jihwan Hwang ) 이화여자대학교 통일학연구원 2020 Journal of peace and unification Vol.10 No.1

Although China and South Korea differ in many aspects, their gap is quite striking in dealing with the North Korean human rights. While South Korea accepts human rights to be a universally accepted right of individuals, China prioritizes the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention over human rights. To China, the human rights situation inside North Korea is a domestic issue, and international community’s announcement of North Korean human rights violations is interference in its domestic politics. China’s position presents how China seeks to achieve its goal on the Korean Peninsula. China and South Korea seek to achieve different strategic interests through their approaches to human rights. These differences make policy-level coordination difficult and a common strategic approach almost impossible.

Normalization of Inter-Korean Relations to Lay Foundations of Unification

Jihwan Hwang Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2014 Journal of peace and unification Vol.4 No.2

The Park Geun Hye government has explained the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula as “a policy to develop South-North relations by building trust based on solid security, settling peace on the peninsula, and further building foundations for unification.” However, the tasks of normalization of inter-Korean relations have been dealt not for unification in the long-term level but short-term development, staying in improving the relations of two Koreas. So, most of the policy issues have not successfully introduced and implemented from a long-term strategic perspective on unification due to the constraints that inter-Korean relations have. In view of this, the detailed and various tasks of normalizing inter-Korean relations to build unification foundation need to be re-arranged as new promotion strategy. Under the diverse principles of pushing them ahead and the basics of driving directions, the works to be done for normalizing inter-Korean relations are necessary to be presented in phases separated by three steps. The principles of the normalizing relationship between South and North may present their methodological directions based on the three promotional principles of the Korean Peninsula trust-building process proposed by the government in terms of policy coherence and efficiency in the process of unification.

The Second Nuclear Crisis and U.S. Foreign Policy : Should the U.S. Resolve the North Korean Security Dilemma?

Hwang, Jihwan Center for International Studies, Inha University 2003 Pacific Focus Vol.18 No.2

There has been a perception gap between the Bush and Clinton administrations about the true nature of the North Korean regime and the best ways to deal with the regime, and this perception gap has produced divergent policies between the two administrations. Drawing on recent developments in realist literature, however, I argue that an equally important variable to explain U.S. policy is the international situation around the Korean peninsula - offensive or defensive - that each administration perceives. The second nuclear crisis has been strongly influenced by the offensive strategy of the U.S. after the terrorist attacks of 2001. Such an offensive movement has dramatically worsened North Korea s security fears and led to the current nuclear deadlock. Thus. the U.S. needs to resolve the North Korean security dilemma by taking conciliatory measures, and North Korea also needs to engage in cooperative behavior with the U S . simultaneously.

Rethinking South Korea’s Arms Buildup during the Cold War - The Action-Reaction Model and Alliance Politics in Comparative Perspective

HWANG Jihwan(황지환) 신아시아연구소(구 신아세아질서연구회) 2006 신아세아 Vol.13 No.4

  본 연구는 작용-반작용 모델과 동맹이론의 설명력을 비교하며, 냉전기 한국 군비증강의 원인을 분석한다. 그 동안 이에 대한 대부분의 연구가 작용-반작용 모델에 기반해 왔지만, 본 연구는 한미동맹의 변수가 한국 군비증강에 더 커다란 영향을 주었음을 강조한다. 한국은 미국과 비대칭적 안보동맹을 맺어왔기 때문에 방기의 위험을 겪어왔고, 따라서 미국이 한반도에서의 안보공약을 약화시켰을 때 대내적 군비증강을 통해 안보를 확보해 왔다. 반면 북한의 군비증강이 있더라도 미국의 강력한 안보공약이 지속되는 한 한국은 강하게 대응하지 않았다. 이 가설은 냉전기의 세 시기를 통해 검증되었는데, 현 시점에서도 상당한 설명력을 가지고 있을 것으로 판단된다. 비록 냉전이 종식되고 한국은 더 이상 약소국이 아니지만, 21세기 미국의 세계전략이 변화하고 한미동맹이 재조정되는 과정에서 동맹의 안정성은 여전히 중요하기 때문이다. 한미동맹의 긴장이 악화된다면 한반도의 새로운 군비경쟁의 가능성을 배제할 수 없을 것이다.   This study explores the origins of South Korea’s arms buildup during the Cold War, comparing the explanatory powers of the action-reaction model and alliance politics. Most explanations of the South"s arms buildup are based on the action-reaction model, but this study argues that South Korea’s behavior has been much more influenced by the U.S. security commitment than North Korea"s behavior. Since South Korea has had an asymmetric security alliance with the United States, it has suffered from fears of abandonment and concentrated on the internal balancing when the United States sought to disengage itself from the Korean peninsula. However, South Korea did not respond strongly to North Korea’s arms buildup insofar as the United States continued its security promise. This hypothesis is tested and supported by three different observations of South Korea’s security policy during the Cold War. Although the Cold War is over and South Korea is not a weak nation any longer, this study also has some policy implication for the recent changes in U.S. grand strategy and the readjustment of the Korean-U.S. security alliance. Because South Korea still has an asymmetric alliance with the United States, therefore both nations still need to pay attention to the stability of the alliance in order to prevent future arms race on the Korean peninsula.

International Relations Theory and the North Korean Nuclear Crisis : Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice

Jihwan Hwang(황지환) 고려대학교 일민국제관계연구원 2008 국제관계연구 Vol.13 No.1,2

북한의 핵 정책에 대한 대체적인 설명은 현실주의 국제정치이론에 바탕을 둔 안보모델에 의한 것이다. 이는 냉전의 종식 이후 북한이 다른 수단으로는 해결할 수 없는 중대한 안보위협에 직면해 왔기 때문에 핵무기 개발을 추구한다는 것이다. 현실주의 안보모델에 대한 이론적 도전은 주로 자유주의적 접근법에서 나왔는데, 북한과 국제사회가 공동의 목표와 근심을 공유하고 있으며 모두 협상을 통해 핵 위기를 해소하고자 한다고 주장한다. 자유주의적 접근법은 북한의 변화된 성격과 상호성의 전략에 기초한 협상의지와 협력적 행동의 모습을 전제하고 있다. 하지만, 북한의 핵 정책에 대한 현실주의-자유주의의 해석은 핵 위기의 변화 모습과 그에 대한 북한의 대응을 적절히 설명하는데 성공했는지는 회의적이다. 대체로 이러한 논의들은 북한이 충돌이나 유화정책 중 하나의 정책을 선택해 왔다고 주장하지만, 이는 실제 핵 위기 과정에서 북한이 상황에 따라 보여준 핵 정책의 변화 모습을 제대로 반영하지 못하고 있다. 이 글은 기존의 이론적 접근이 보이고 있는 단편적인 설명의 문제점을 지적하고 북한의 핵 정책을 설명하는 과정에서 발생하고 있는 이론과 실제의 괴리현상을 극복하는데 유용한 몇 가지 이론적 개념을 제시한다. 이 글은 비대칭적 충돌, 안보딜레마, 전략적 상호작용, 양면게임의 논의를 통해 북한 핵 위기에 대한 국제정치이론의 설명력 제고를 시도한다.

Isolation of Temperature-sensitive Mutant Escherichia coli YrdC Involved in Universal t<SUP>6</SUP>A tRNA Synthesis

Jihwan Hwang(황지환) 한국생명과학회 2018 생명과학회지 Vol.28 No.2

YrdC 수퍼 패밀리는 지금까지 유전 서열이 알려진 거의 모든 생명체에서 매우 잘 보존 된 단백질 중 하나이다. Escherichia coli의 YrdC는 리보솜 생합성, 번역 종결, 저온 적응, tRNA에서 threonylcarbamoyl adenosine의 형성에 관여하는 것으로 제안되었다. 이 연구에서, yrdC 유전자가 대장균에서 필수적이라는 것을 명확하게 증명하기 위해, 대장균에서 두 개의 yrdC 결손 돌연변이 균주를 만들고 그 표현형을 조사하였다. 특히 온도에 민감한 yrdC 돌연변이 균주는 42°C 온도 조건 하에서 거의 즉시 세포 성장을 멈추었으며 30S 리보솜 단위체의 상당한 축적없이 16S rRNA 전구체를 축적하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 효모와 인간의 yrdC 유전자를 클로닝하여 이들이 대장균 yrdC 결손 균주의 성장억제를 회복 할 수 있다는 것을 입증하였다. 이밖에도 여러 돌연변이 연구에 의해, 우리는 YrdC 단백질의 중간에 위치한 오목한 표면이 대장균, 효모 및 인간의 YrdC 단백질에서 중요한 역할을 한다는 것을 보여주었다. 따라서, 두 개의 yrdC 결손 균주를 비교하여, yrdC 유전자가 대장균에서 생존력에 필수적이며, 효모 및 인간 동족체의 기능이 대장균 YrdC의 기능과 중복된다는 것을 규명하였고, 이 균주를 이용하여 아직까지 밝혀지지 않은 대장균 YrdC 단백질이 tRNA 형성에 관여한다는 것을 증명할 수 있는 토대를 제공한다는데 의의가 있다. The YrdC superfamily is a group of proteins that are highly conserved in almost all organisms sequenced so far. YrdC in Escherichia coli was suggested to be involved in ribosome biogenesis, translation termination, cold adaptation, and threonylcarbamoyl adenosine formation in tRNA. In this study, to unambiguously demonstrate that yrdC is essential in E. coli, we constructed two yrdC mutant strains of E. coli and examined their phenotypes. In the temperature-sensitive yrdC mutant strain, cell growth stopped almost immediately under nonpermissive conditions and it appeared to accumulate 16S ribosomal RNA precursors without significant accumulation of 30S ribosomal subunits. We also cloned yeast and human homologs and demonstrated that they complement the E. coli yrdC-deletion strain. By mutational study, we demonstrated that the concave surface in the middle of the YrdC protein plays an important role in E. coli, yeast, and human versions. By comparison of two yrdC-deletion strains, we also unambiguously demonstrated that yrdC is essential for viability in E. coli and that the functions of its yeast and human homologs overlap with that of E. coli YrdC.

Identification of Two DNA Helicases UvrD and DinG as Suppressors for Lethality Caused by Mutant <b><i>cspA</i></b> mRNAs

Hwang, Jihwan,Lee, Kangseok,Phadtare, Sangita,Inouye, Masayori S. Karger AG 2012 Journal of molecular microbiology and biotechnolog Vol.22 No.3

<P>Abstract</P><P>CspA is a major cold shock-inducible protein (70 aa), and its major role in the cold shock response was shown to be as an RNA chaperone destabilizing secondary structure of mRNAs at low temperature. Previously, we showed that the overexpression of mutant <I>cspA</I> containing premature non-sense codons at various positions led to stalled ribosomes on mutant <I>cspA</I> transcripts, ultimately leading to cell death. This lethality is primarily due to the highly translatable <I>cspA</I> 5′-<I>UTR</I> that recruits most of the ribosomes from other mRNAs, which are then stalled at the abnormal stop codon. This was called the ‘LACE’ effect. We show here that non-sense mutation even at the 67th position as well as substitutions of aromatic amino acid residues present on the RNA-binding surface of CspA protein to alanine caused the LACE effect by trapping a substantial amount of ribosomes on <I>cspA</I> mRNAs. In an attempt to identify a suppressor(s), which may help the cells to recover from the inhibitory LACE effect, genetic screening of an <I>Escherichia coli</I> genomic library was performed. We isolated suppressors that contained the genomic fragments encoding <I>uvrD</I> and <I>dinG</I>, respectively, whose gene products are ATP-dependent DNA helicases. The nucleic acid-binding and ATPase activities of these two helicases were found to be essential for their suppression activity. This genomic screening offers an approach to shed light on the mechanistic of 5′-<I>UTR</I> of <I>cspA</I> mRNA and novel roles of <I>E. coli</I> helicases that function in DNA repair.</P><P>Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel</P>

Face-Saving, Reference Point, and North Korea’s Strategic Assessments

Jihwan Hwang 한국국제정치학회 2009 國際政治論叢 Vol.49 No.6

Revisiting the Functionalist Approach to Korean Unification:The Role of International Organizations and NGOs

Jihwan Hwang,Sung-han Kim 서울대학교 국제학연구소 2015 Journal of International and Area Studies Vol.22 No.1

It is often said that the functionalist approach has failed in explaining inter-Korean relations and the road to Korean unification. It has thus been regarded by many scholars and policymakers as an invalid theory in proposing any good foreign or North Korea policy. This is mostly because the Sunshine Policy, or South Korea’s engagement policy toward North Korea under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments, had been based on the functionalist approach to regional integration. However, this paper argues that we can still find validity of the functionalist approach’s towards the Korean peninsula by paying attention to the roles of international organizations (IOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most scholars and government officials in Korea have been interested in spillover effects between the economy and politics when they deal with functionalist approaches. However, they have not paid sufficient attention to other significant logical paths that the theory has also produced. In particular, the functionalist approach emphasizes the role of non-state actors and the institutionalization of cooperation as well as spillover effects. Nonetheless, their roles have tended to be ignored when it is applied in researches on Korean unification. This is mostly because the Korean peninsula is surrounded by the four great powers, i.e., the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. This kind of state-centric approach toward North Korea policy and Korean unification has dominated both the academic and the policy debates. In this vein, this paper highlights the importance of the role of non-state actors such as IOs and NGOs, thereby bringing the functionalist approach back to the discussion geared towards creating a road toward the Korean unification.