Art, class and gender in Joseon dynasty Korea: representations of lower-class women by the scholar-painter Yun Duseo

This paper examines several pioneering genre paintings by the important scholar painter Yun Duseo (1668-1715), with its focus on their artistic sources which have not yet been explored so far. Painted on ramie, 'Women Picking Potherbs' is one of the most intriguing examples among Yun Duseo's oeuvre, which encompasses a broad variety of themes, including genre imagery, landscapes, portraits, dragons, and horses. Even among Yun Duseo's genre paintings, 'Women Picking Potherbs' is extraordinary, as recent scholarship regards it as the earliest independent representation of lower-class women in the history of Korean art. In particular, Yun Duseo painted two women who were working ourdoors to gather spring potherbs. In a conservative Confucian society, it was extraordinary women who were working outdoors. Hence, Yun Duseo occupies a highly important place in Korean painting. Furthermore, even though Yun Duseo came from the upper-class, he often painted images of lower class people working. It is possible that Yun Duseo was familiar with the book titled "Tian gong kai wu" (Exploitation of the Works of Nature) which was published in the 17th century. By identifying the probable body of his artistic sources in the book known as "Tian gong kai wu," it will be possible to assess the innovations and limitations found in 'Women Picking Potherbs'.     

Nuclear Sisyphus: the myth of denuclearising North Korea

Is North Korea ready and willing to give up its nuclear weapons? Proponents of arms control and sustained engagement with North Korea maintain that Pyongyang's desire to acquire nuclear weapons stemmed from ingrained insecurity vis-à-vis the United States or more specifically, the threat that the US poses to fundamental regime security.

However, the primordial source of Kim Jong Il's existential insecurity stems largely from the abnormal, structural idiosyncracies of his regime and not, as many naively believe, the hardline policies of the Bush administration. Accordingly, the Kim Jong Il regime's fundamental dilemma boils down to the fact that the domestic political costs of giving up its nuclear capabilities are just as high as the costs of retaining them.

Debunking the myth that the US, rather than North Korea, poses the greater challenge to South Korean security is as important as ensuring that North Korea dismantles its nuclear arsenal.     

Investigating the Periodicities of Step‐Pool Sequences in Alluvial Mountain Streams

Step‐pool mountain streams contain a rhythmic structure that can be characterized by the periodicity, commonly determined using spectral analysis. However, this analysis often requires data series recorded at equal intervals and exhibiting stationary patterns. Previous methods of transforming the original step‐pool sequence into this required format have not been rigorously tested and consequently may generate misleading periodicity results. To this end, we apply both spectral analysis and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling, a parsimonious stochastic approach to 11 alluvial mountain step‐pool streams for identifying their periodicities. We interpolate the original sequences into those with four different equal‐space intervals, 0.1 m, 0.2 m, 0.3 m, and 0.4 m, and demonstrate that the differencing detrending method is statistically more effective to transform the sequences into stationary ones than the commonly used linear detrending method. Subsequently, we identify periodicities of these sequences using the two approaches and determine the degree of stability for these periodicities for each original step‐pool sequence using R ² values obtained by least squares linear regression between the log‐transformed identified periods and the associated equal‐space intervals. Eight out of 11 step‐pool sequences have relatively stable periodicities (R ² ≥ 0.79) when the spectral analysis approach is used, while those identified using the ARIMA modeling approach are much less stable. Further comparison of periodicities identified using both approaches suggests that periodicities of step‐pool sequences are inherently unstable and hence cannot be appropriately determined based on a single equal‐space interval. A general procedure for identifying the periodicity of a step‐pool sequence using spectral analysis with the differencing detrending method and multiple equal‐space intervals is proposed. The identified periodicities might serve as an independent morphologic index to infer hydraulic processes controlling the formation of the alluvial step‐pools because they are significantly related to spill resistance of the alluvial step‐pools. Investigando las periodicidades de formación de escalones (step‐pools) en corrientes aluviales de montaña Las corrientes en forma de escalones (step‐pools) contienen una estructura rítmica que puede ser caracterizada por su periodicidad, determinada comúnmente usando análisis espectral. Sin embargo, este análisis requiere muchas veces de series de información recogidas a intervalos iguales y que tengan patrones estacionarios establecidos. Métodos precisos para transformar la secuencia original de step‐pools en este formato no han sido rigurosamente probados y consecuentemente pueden generar resultados de periodicidad que pueden ser interpretados erróneamente. Para este fin, los autores utilizan tanto un análisis espectral como un modelo autorregresivo integrado de media móvil (autoregressive integrated moving average ‐ ARIMA) en una aproximación estocástica parsimoniosa (parsimonic stochastic approach) a 11 step‐pools de corrientes de montaña para identificar sus periodicidades. Los autores interpolaron las secuencias originales a dichas corrientes con 4 zonas de igual área con diferentes intervalos: 0.1 m, 0.2 m, 0.3 m., 0.4 m y comprobaron que el método de diferenciación que elimina la tendencia (differencing detrending method) es estadísticamente más efectivo para transformar las secuencias en estacionarias que el comúnmente utilizado método que elimina la tendencia linear. Subsecuentemente, se identificaron periodicidades de secuencias utilizando estas dos aproximaciones y se determinó el grado de estabilidad para estas dos periodicidades para cada secuencia original de los step‐pools usando valores R² obtenidos por una regresión linear mínimo‐cuadrado (Ordinary Least Squares–OLS) entre los periodos identificados vía transformación logarítmica y los intervalos asociados de igual área. 8 de las 11 secuencias de step‐pools analizados tuvieron periodicidades relativamente estables (R2 ≥ 0.79), mientras que aquellas utilizando la aproximación ARIMA resultaron mucho menos estables. Comparación adicionales de las periodicidades identificadas usando ambas aproximaciones sugiere que las periodicidades de las secuencias de step‐pools usando análisis espectral son inherentemente inestables y en consecuencia no pueden ser determinadas apropiadamente basadas en un solo intervalo en zonas de igual área. Se propone así un procedimiento general para establecer la periodicidad de la secuencia de step‐pools usando el análisis espectral junto con el differencing detrending method que elimina la tendencia y múltiples intervalos en zonas de igual área. Las periodicidades identificadas podrían servir como índice morfológico independiente para inferir procesos hidráulicos controlando la formación de step‐pools aluviales, dado que está significativamente relacionado a la resistencia al derrame de dichos step‐pools 阶梯‐深潭山涧包含的韵律结构具有周期性特征,一般通过谱分析的方法探测。然而,这种分析方法通常要求数据序列记录在每个间隔上具有平稳性。由于先前方法对序列的转化没有严格要求平稳性检验,因而可能导致序列结果的误解。为此,本文融合谱分析和移动平均自回归模型（ARIMA）,通过随机简化路径方法对11个冲积山流域阶梯‐深潭山涧序列周期进行判别。主要采用0.1m,0.2m,0.3m,0.4m四种不同等间距对原始序列进行插值,分析表明这个差分校正方法对于序列平稳性的变换比常用线性校正方法在统计上更为有效。因此,对每一原始序列在对数变换的时间和相关等空间间距之间通过最小二乘回归获得R²值,并采取两种方法判别序列周期以确定其稳定度。谱分析方法测试得11个中的8个序列具有相对稳定的周期(R² ≥ 0.79),而采用ARIMA模型进行判别则平稳周期序列数目少得多。通过融合两种方法对序列判别以进一步形成对照,分析表明序列周期存在内部不稳定性,因此不能基于单一的空间间隔来确定周期。从而,本文提出采用谱分析对序列差分校正方法结合多空间间隔的一般方法对序列周期性进行识别。该周期识别方法可作为一个独立形态指数对控制冲积阶梯‐深潭形成的水力过程作出推断,因为该指数与冲积阶梯‐深潭稳定性的表达具有显著相关性。     

Braudel's grammar of civilizations

I. A History of Civilizations. By Fernand Braudel (New York: Penguin Books, 1995), xl + 573 pp.

II. Ecrits sur l'histoire II. By Fernand Braudel (Paris: Flammarion, 1994), 270 pp.     

Risk or chance: ‘the liberalization of foreign film imports’ and its impacts in Korea and Japan

This paper outlines the background of the abolition of restrictions on foreign film imports and the influence of this action in Korea and Japan. In order to develop this argument, the paper focuses on policy tendencies, the structure of the film industry, and the reactions of the film industry players in each country. In Korea, the decision provoked an outcry and street demonstrations from both civil society as well as the film industry players. By contrast, in Japan, not only was opposition to liberalization rarely expressed, but some people actually demanded liberalization. The author analyzes the reasons why the players in each country reacted in different ways to similar policy decisions, through two types of models, the ‘market-led model’ of Japan and the ‘government-led model’ of Korea.     

Affective Protest Symbols: Public Dissent in the Mass Commemoration of the Sewŏl Ferry’s Victims in Seoul

ABSTRACT

Symbols used in the Sew?l protests in downtown Seoul from 2014 onwards proved effective in soliciting public engagement for three years. After the sinking of the Sew?l ferry that took 304 lives, most of them high school students, objects such as yellow ribbons gained iconic status as signifiers of the demand to investigate the ferry’s sinking and honour the memory of the victims. New visual indexes that created and articulated this emotionally laden discourse formed a common visual language of grief and anger towards the Korean authorities. This ethnography-based article explores the development of the protest’s affective aestheticism, its main agents and semiotics, and how it produced affect, which had strong cultural, social and emotional impacts. In 2016, the Sew?l movement became the core of larger protests against the ruling elites.