Two states, one nation : the Koreas and the policy/culture nexus

Abstract

Situating Korea within a 'one nation, two states' paradigm, this thesis explores what the ideological, political and cultural divergences separating North and South Korea, reveal about the association between policy and culture. Presenting the two Koreas' engagement with and perception of the outside world as highly indicative of the cultural 'divisions' between them, arguments relating to this theorised association are framed within the context of globalisation policy. Of particular interest are South Korea's Segyehwa (Koreanisation) policy, forwarded by the Kim young-sam administration (1993-1998), and the North Korean Juche idea. With the former regarding globalisation as a process of possible Koreanisation and the latter as one of inevitable homogenisation, Americanisation and/or imperialism, the diametrically opposed perspectives (and objectives) of Juche and Segyehwa are regarded as suggestive of a broader policy-culture nexus within Korea. In seeking to understand this nexus, this thesis raises questions as to what the globalisation policies of the two Koreas, as well as the history of inter-Korean relations, indicate about the non-physical 'divisions' at play on the Korean peninsula. Emphasising the role of regional states China and Japan and superpower the United States, it also gauges the extent to which Juche and Segyehwa are influenced by past and present regional and US-Korea relations. Working to empirically verify the posited association, two cultural artefacts: 'the museum exhibition' and 'music and performance' are drawn on, with examples from each of the Koreas examined for how reflect an association between the respective policies and cultures of the North and South. In addressing these questions, methodological focus is given primarily to textual analysis, with empirical components pertaining to South Korea, and especially its museums, informed by field research and site visits. It is found not only that North and South Korea are political and cultural 'polar opposites,' but that the political and cultural trajectories they now tread have been, and continue to be, very much shaped by regional and US-Korea relations and interactions. Similarly, with Juche and Segyehwa found to manifest in the cultures of North and South Korea respectively, North and South Korean 'museum exhibitions' and 'music and performance' are deemed strongly demonstrative of a clear association between policy and culture, on the Korean peninsula.

Date of Award	2013
Original language	English