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North & South Korean culture has had a big impact on he rest of the world. This title allows readers the opportunity to travel to this unique region of the world and find out about the customs, religions, music, and fashion, among other things, that makes

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From Tradition to Consumption is a ground breaking work that provides a wonderfully innovative and insightful explanation of the eclipse of traditional society and the rise of a new consumer culture during South Korea's recent march to economic development. The book convincingly portrays this shift to cultural modernity as the reasoned response of people to rapidly shifting forms of labor, everyday life, and state narratives. Key to this transformation from agriculture to a modern life has been the drastic alteration of the family from a unit of production to a unit of consumption.

This state-led industrialization also has redefined gender roles in Korea. The pressing needs for production and consumption to bolster economic development have resulted in the creation of a middle-class family marked by the white collar male and urban housewife. These new social roles serve to make the process of consumption central to the family, and to promote the act of consumption as the basis for modern identity for many Koreans ... Read more

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An excellent book on Korean modernity
"From Tradition to Consumption" deals with the process of cultural changes required by capitalist development.This book addresses many inter-related questions: How do Korean men and women respond to the new physical environments, new social roles, new daily routines, and new disciplining of the bodies?How does the state "prepare" its citizens for the new capitalist order?What is the role of mass media?And, how is the popular culture constructed according to the market needs?Dennis Hart wove in a dazzling array of perspectives including feminist theories and discourse analysis in this work.Hart maintains that what is seemingly a result of "natural" development flows from a set of policies meticulously calculated and orchestrated by the state and capitalist interests.The past is "museumized" and the modern consumerism is touted as necessary and desirable new culture.Yet, it is not an entirely harmonious and flawless process.There are contentions and maladies rising from this.
The wide range of literature and data Hart employed is also impressive-- government statistics, theses and dissertations from Korean universities, TV and magazine advertisement, and insightful personal interviews.Recently, several different ethnographic studies about Korean middle-class and consumption were published in the US, but this book stands out among them because of the theoretical depth and fluency, as well as the extensive use of Korean literature.

At once erudite and witty and compassionate, this book is a rare pleasure to read.There are many parts that compel the readers stop and think, and reflect on something familiar and ordinary, and there are some parts that are funny and deeply moving.This book could be used as a textbook for advanced undergraduate students, but it would be also approachable for non-academics who are interested in modern Korea. I recommend this book very highly. ... Read more

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Chapters: Korean Wave, Marriage in South Korea, Culture of South Korea, Public Art in Korea, Women in South Korea, Eul-Yong Ta, South Korean Web Culture, Dramafever, Ok So-Ri, Parents' Day, List of South Korean Flags, Gireogi Appa, Suicide in South Korea, Liberation Day, Jjimjilbang, Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, Eoljjang, Constitution Day, Kosik, Gwangbokjeol, Bunsik, National Library for Children and Young Adults, Black Day, Memorial Day. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 97. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Korean wave or Korea fever (a.k.a. Koreanophile) refers to the significantly increased popularity of South Korean culture around the world since the 21st century, especially among the Net Generation. It is also referred to as Hallyu (Hangul: ; Hanja: ; RR: ), from the Korean pronunciation. The term was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China. South Korea is among the world's top ten cultural exporters and the Korean wave began with the export of Korean TV dramas such as Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace), and Princess Hours across East and Southeast Asia; the growing success of Korean dramas was soon matched by Korean movies, popular music, food and language. While popular throughout Asia, the Korean wave's influence is most visible in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, spreading to India and Pakistan, the Middle East, Central Asia, Iran, Israel, Turkey and Russia. The Korean wave is rapidly expanding beyond Asia through the internet and has a substantial presence in North, Central and South America, particularly in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, and is increasingly becoming po...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2265764 ... Read more

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Lesson plans for grades k-6 ... Read more

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Lessons for Grades 7-12. ... Read more

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The contemporary culture of South Korea developed from the traditional culture of Korea, but since 1948 due to the division of Korea, it has developed separately from North Korea's culture. The industrialization and urbanization of South Korea have brought many changes to the way Korean people live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to a concentration of population in major cities, especially the capital, Seoul, with multi-generational households separating into nuclear family living arrangements. ... Read more

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Essential reading
This is essential reading for any scholar or someone with interests in the Minjung movement. A thorough collection of articles from political scientists, historians, and anthropologists, and reknowned Korean scholars from other fields. ... Read more

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This book does not only include several theoretical aspects of culture and corporate culture, but also has an practical application. The concepts are applied to South Korea and Samsung to make clear how the concepts can be used in reality. ... Read more

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Good English?
The product description's poor grammar and composition makes me really wonder how high the quality of this book really is. Take a second look: This book does not only include several theoretical aspects of culture and corporate culture, but also has an practical application. The concepts are applied to South Korea and Samsung to make clear how the concepts can be used in reality.

Shallow booklet
While the title sparked interest, the content is very superficial. The author reviews some general organizational and national culture concepts and then briefly and in a superficial way applies them to Korea and Samsung. Most of the information can be accessed through Samsung's homepage. I guess this booklet was a bachelor or master thesis of the author - not even a very good one. It is totally overpriced and of little use. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Internet in North Korea, Internet in South Korea, Seoulpodcast, South Korean Web Culture, .Kr, Korean Progressive Network, .Kp, Kwangmyong, Sili Bank, Chollima, Naenara, National Internet Development Agency of Korea. Excerpt: SeoulPodcast is a podcast by three ESL teachers living in and around Seoul, South Korea. This weekly show is sponsored by the Korea Herald.. The show gives listeners who are intent on teaching ESL in Korea advice on how to land a good job, be a successful ESL teacher, and generally succeed as an expatriate in South Korea. It is hosted by Joe McPherson (native of Alabama, USA), Jennifer Young (native of Louisiana, USA) and Stafford Lumsden (native of Auckland, New Zealand). Most shows feature a guest, usually a notable personality in the Korean blogging community. Joe McPherson is a food writer for the Korea Herald daily newspaper and a judge for the Miele Guide. McPherson is also the publisher of the Zenkimchi blog which was mentioned in the New York Times. McPherson lives in the Seoul satellite city of Anyang. Jennifer Young is vice president of Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL) Seoul Chapter. Young is also a graduate of the US military's Defense Language Institute, where she learned the Korean language. Young lives in the Seoul satellite city of Bundang. She has been teaching in Korea since 1998 and survived the Korean IMF crisis. Stafford Lumsden is an Elementary School teacher in Gangnam, Seoul and has had a number of articles published including in The East, a London based community paper for East Asian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom. The show began March 28, 2008 and remains an active weekly podcast. The show is the progeny of the Seoul Survivors podcast, which ran from Sep... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18461128 ... Read more

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This book provides an introduction to the rival politics, ideologies and political cultures of South and North Korea. Written at an accessible level for undergraduates, it is suitable as a main text for courses on Korea politics, and Korean society, and as a supplementary text for courses on Asian politics, Asian societies and comparative politics. Besides examining the formation of the two Korean states, and the nature and development of their ideologies and institutions, the book also explores the involvement of the Korean people in politics, and how their political outlook is shaped by, and expressed through, education, gender and sexuality, and resistance and protest. Unlike most other books on Korea, which treat South and North Korea separately, in this book each chapter considers its theme in relation to South and North Korea together, thereby showing how rival regimes have taken differing routes to social and political development.

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With over three million copies in print, CultureShock! is a bestselling series of culture and etiquette guides covering countless destinations around the world.For anyone at risk of culture shock, whether a tourist or a long-term resident, CultureShock! provides a sympathetic and fun-filled crash course on the do's and don'ts in foreign cultures.Fully updated and sporting a fresh new look, the revised editions of these books enlighten and inform through such topics as language, food and entertaining, social customs, festivals, relationships, and business tips. CultureShock! books are packed with useful details on transportation, taxes, finances, accommodation, health, food and drink, clothes, shopping, festivals, and much, much more.
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Customer Reviews (21)

Based on what I know so far
Since I may be going to Korea I thought I would learn a little bit more about the country. This book has been very helpful, providing a thumbnail sketch of the culture and providing good, easy-to-understand background info which puts it in context. Keep in mind I have not actually gone to korea yet so i can't necessarily vouch for its accuracy on current cultural trends.

Need To Know Basis
This is a great book with a lot of information you need to know if you are going to Korea, or even if you're just interacting with a Korean here at home.

Great guide to Korea's culture
I am currently on route to my destination in Korea (have just landed in Seoul) but I have read most of this boook during the 12 hour flight here. I found it very user friendly and informative. I'm not sure how up to date it is (many cultural changes have taken place in Korea in the last 15 years) but it is very helpful in explaining cultural norms and how to make a good impression as a foreigner. Highly recommend if you are travelling to Korea for a long period of time (I am going for a year)

2008 edition
For being an introductory read, this book rocks my socks. I highly recommend this book for beginners of the language, expatriates, Koreanists, people with Korean travel plans, and anyone doing business in any form with Koreans. It's that good. I've read my share of culture books and resources but I feel that this book (namely, this edition) demystifies several Korean cultural idiosyncrasies in a clear way that is easy for anyone to understand.

I applaud the authors for including a do-and-don't list. I feel that this helps clear up some questions left by other resources. It's true, most things Korean-related (as with any culture) usually aren't cut-and-dry and objective enough to make a list but I still feel that the authors were tasteful and appropriate in their advice.

This book kind of reminds me of a cross between Moon Handbooks - Korea and Culture Smart! Korea rolled into one. There's useful info on holidays, work ethic, psyche, travel destinations, and living abroad. This book deserves a look. It's a quick read with pleasing aesthetics and well-divided topics.

You'll thank yourself later for this one.

Shedding Light on the Korean Enigma
I have a lot of Korean friends and I wanted to better understand them so my search for a more knowledge of their culture led me to this book. I was fascinated by it. However, since my copy of the book was last revised in 2000 I wondered if some of the material might be out of date. Some of it didn't seem to agree with the images shown in most Korean television soap operas and popular music shows I also watch. After finishing the book I decided to ask some of my Korean friends if the material I had questions about was indeed out of date. One such question was whether most of South Korea still has public restrooms shared by men and women at the same time. The book said women walk nonchalantly past the backs of men using the urinals on their way to use a stall with a door. Once inside a public restroom's bathroom stall there will often be no toilet, simply a hole in the tile floor over which to squat like I've often found in Paris and other regions of France.
I asked several of my Korean friends and was surprised to learn that the book is perfectly accurate on both those facts. Other of my doubts included the almost universal adherence to Korean shaman fortunetellers (Mudands) and their advice (kuts and kosas). And the fact that most dining is done in near silence with everyone paying close attention to just eating and not talking. That's still very much the case according to my friends from South Korea. Heavy drinking is also a universal fact among Korean men. It's part of all social and business dealings.
That said I found this book very, very helpful. It was more helpful than a couple of the travel guides I own that are more recent because it goes into depth about why things are done the way they are in modern Korea. People act differently and it often takes a lifetime to understand the proper ways Korea citizens treat each other and why. Business relationships are often permanent and based more on which grade school a person attended with his associates than skill at performing a certain job. Family, school and military connections are more important to business relationships than performance. Saving face is of majorimportance in Korea. Friendships are formal and a normal part of business and networking. Relationships between different social and business classes are very structured. One doesn't have to study much of the language to understand why the Korean word for "yes" sounds like "no" in most other languages and the method of saying "no" requires several phrases. Saying "no" in Korean is a major skill requiring much diplomacy and practice. We Americans would consider the way "no" is used in Korea as "beating around the bush" and avoiding answering the question.
For any Westerner who hopes to understand modern day Korea this book is a good primer. Just watching Korean television doesn't give a true picture of the nation. The Korean Soap Operas go out of their way to show the most modern, most perfect image of a booming Modern Korea. Korean television's popular music shows give no hint of the standard of living and are every bit as slick as the same kind of shows shown in the USA. The plots of the soap operas still reflect the history and cultural ways of Korea. Reading this book greatly increased my ability to understand much of what I watch on Korean television and why some of the plots and humor seem so convoluted.
Kipling said something to the effect that "East is east and west is West and Never Do The Two Meet." His advice is still right on the mark. You can take the Koreans out of Korea, but you can't take Korea out of the Koreans. Korea has a rich and fascinating history. It had invented and was using movable type to print more than two centuries before Guttenberg introduced his movable type printing press to the western world. ... Read more

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In Elites and Political Power in South Korea, Byong-Man Ahn examines problems related to Korea’s political and ruling systems.

He examines the Korean government in a global context and explores Korea’s cultural and political matrix. The author goes on to analyze political power, political parties and the elites in terms of their contribution to the ongoing cycle of dominance. An understanding of Korean government is developed, with particular attention paid to the unique pattern of its administrative system vis-à-vis those of other systems.

This well-balanced research of theoretical arguments and empirical analysis will appeal to scholars, public officials and politicians interested in Korean affairs, and also scholars and students in the field of Korean studies. A comparative perspective of Korea’s party politics and bureaucracy will be found here for those interested in East Asian affairs. ... Read more

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Written by leading experts, Public Administration in East Asia: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan examines the inner workings of governments in East Asia, in particular its public administration and related public policy processes. It focuses on the apparatus of government — the agencies, their values, context, and policies within which they operate. Organized in parallel sections, the book covers the history, public policy processes, organization, HRM, ethics, corruption, intergovernmental relations, performance management, and e-government. It discusses each of these topics separately for Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, providing an unusual and important comparative perspective. The book includes essential knowledge and facts, discussions of emerging issues, and useful resources for further reading. It addresses questions such as:

• What is the history of public administration in East Asia?
• How are decisions made?
• What is the role of Confucianism in shaping public administration?
• How does the developmental path affect public administration?
• Why is performance management emphasized?
• What is the state of citizen participation?
• How are ethical underpinnings of the civil service different from the West?
• Why are intergovernmental relations an essential issue in East Asia?
• What are the politics behind world-class achievements in IT?
• What is the nature of civil service reform?
• What is the nature of efforts to combat government corruption?

You can find many books on trade policy and politics that sometimes give good insight into the operation of government agencies. You can also find a few edited books that contain single chapters on countries in the Asia-Pacific region. What is missing, however, is a single resource that provides an overview with depth on matters solely about public administration. This state-of-the-art resource brings together the fragments of existing knowledge on East Asian economies, filling the need for a comprehensive compendium that showcases the public administration practices in the region and East Asia’s innovative approaches to governance and its many challenges.

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Customer Reviews (3)

Great introduction
So you want to know about the phenomenal growth of the Korean film industry without getting your feet wet and actually watching any Korean films? Want to know how K Pop is taking over Asia- well teenage Asia anyway? Want to know how Super Junior can possibly work with 13 members? Want to hear how Sean Yang killed the music business and then resurrected it? This is the book for you. I don't know that I'l be listening to any more K Pop but I do think I'll try and watch a few more Korean films.
At times its repetitive, and could have done with stronger editing - its as though the author didn't expect anyone to read ALL the chapters so he keeps making the same points particularly about Korean history, filial piety etc /But a great introduction to Korean Pop culture. And whatever you think of The Korean Wave, it is remarkable that in 15 years Korea has changed from mainly consuming Western film and music to mainly consuming its own and exporting it. And it didn't do it through protection. A lesson their for us all

One of a kind
For an English language resource, this is a gem of a book. Keeping in mind that Korea has a relatively short (but very interesting) pop culture, this book covers all the bases quite nicely. It features a variety of tidbits and little known facts sprinkled throughout the book.

I applaud the author for pioneering an English language legitimate published text - a fresh break from the bloggers who dominate this field of interest. The information is as up-to-date as a book can be (pub 2008) but a slight out-of-date-nessis to be expected for a text about the ever-changing pop culture. However, since the majority of the book covers the upstarts of each industry, the lack of 2009 material is easily forgiven (and unavoidable).

The author's writing style is both a pro and a con. The writer seems to be comfortable in his knowledge of the subject but sometimes has too much of a conversational tone - almost to a fault of sounding uneducated. However, I really don't want that to sound too harsh because I believe one of his strengths is his ability to both inform and also entertain. He's got a great sense of Western humor that appears amongst this Eastern pop culture history.

I was also disappointed by the lack of photos throughout the book. The beginning has plenty of color pictures to prepare for the in-depth look that's coming ahead but the book itself is lacking accompanying photos. It would have made the biographies of Lee Byung-Hun and Lee Soon-Man more easy to follow.

My biggest complaint is the lack of Korean text. How hard would it have been to include Hanguel in the chapters? All movies, songs, TV dramas, and actors have either transliterated or romanized names which is frustrating when searching for the original source material. The least that could have been done is to include the original Korean names in parenthesis. A careless oversight.

However, I do want to conclude with saying that the author knows his stuff and has written an excellent primer on all things Korean. His background history on the PIFF (Busan International Film Festival) is impressive as is his approach to Korean movies in general (and why there is so much more to the Korean wave than 1999's Shiri). All in all, this book is well worth your time.

Great All-in-One Intro ... with Insight and Wit
For someone like me, who knows that there are a lot of interesting movies made in Korea, but who also doesn't speak the language very well, this book is great -- it's a primer not just on which actor or director did what, but a lot of the history behind it.In fact, Mark Russell covers the whole entertainment spectrum -- from TV to movies to music to internet.What makes the book especially enjoyable is his style.Normally books about Korea are quite cheerleader-esque, perhaps echoing the country's more-than-occasional "with us or against us" stance.However, Russell is able to show his colors as a true fan without beating us to death, because in addition to platitudes he's also willing to criticize and point out ironies, which makes the book a richer read.And actually an even stronger endorsement of the modern Korean culture that so fascinates him.Completely entertaining even if you don't know Rain from Snow or Lee Byung-hyun from Lee Hyori.And really useful if you do. ... Read more

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Practical guide to understanding South Korean business culture. Offers a smooth and problem-free transition between the American and South Korean business cultures. Paper. DLC: Business etiquette - Korea, South. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

DO NOT PAY MORE THAN $5 FOR THIS PAMPLET
Extremely thin PAMPLET, NOT the detailed book you would expect.Interesting reading, but you can find everything it has to say on the net with a simple search.Don't waste your money.

Good Reference
This is a good reference book if you go to South Korea for business or do business with Koreans in your own country.If you would like a book with more information and references, than I would recommend the book Korean Etiquette & Ethics in Business by Boye Lafayette De Mente. This book goes indepth with the Korean national character, its tradition and the personal coonnections that are essential to Koreans. ... Read more