China's policy toward the Korean peninsula has shifted from a one-Korea policy to a de facto two-Korea policy. Beijing's constant policy is recognition of Pyongyang as the sole legitimate regime on the peninsula. What Beijing has changed is to acknowledge the existence of the Seoul regime and to inaugurate Sino-South Korean unofficial ties. The main thrust of this research is to examine China's relations with South Korea and North Korea during the period between 1984 and 1989 and to identify the national interests which made Beijing leaders shift their Korea policy. The hypothesis of this study is: China's economic priority is the determining factor and changes in the international environment in East Asia are a contributing factor which made China incrementally shift policy toward the Korean peninsula. The decision to adopt the policy of "revitalizing the economy internally and implementing the open door policy externally" in the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Chinese Communist Party Central Committee in 1978 resulted in revolutionary changes in Chinese foreign policy. These changes resulted from new foreign policy orientations, namely, pragmatism, the growing magnitude of economic elements, open door policy, and entente diplomacy. These new orientations were able to be applied to the Korean case when changes in the Northeast Asian international milieu provided chances in the early 1980s. These changes were the growing positive Sino-Soviet relations, the emergence of South Korea as an economic power, the improvement of Soviet-North Korean relations, and the failure of North Korean diplomacy. Through empirical studies of Chinese foreign behavior and official media, the hypothesis is proven valid. In the early 1980s, China evidently changed its Korean policy priority from strategic interests to political interests with a desire for a peaceful international environment. The growing unofficial Beijing-Seoul contacts show that China desires to pursue its economic interests in South Korea but under the premise of not jeopardizing its relations with North Korea. This line will not change until North Korea is willing to accept cross-recognition.

This research explored Korean mothers’ meaning of school readiness, the process of the meaning construction, and their educational practices based on their meaning of school readiness. The research was conceptually and theoretically based on a social constructivist approach (Graue, 1993; Meisels, 1999) and Bourdieu’s conceptions of economic, cultural, and social capitals, respectively (Bourdieu, 2001). For the study, 21 Korean mothers from two kindergartens placed in two different SES communities in Seoul, Korea, participated in this study. Multiple strategies such as questionnaire, interviews, and group discussion were employed. According to the findings of this study, the meaning of school readiness to both groups of mothers involved academic and social preparation. However, it was revealed that more focus was put on academic preparation than social preparation in their every day lives. The meaning of children’s school readiness for the Korean mothers was deeply constituted within and constituted Korea’s social and cultural contexts. In terms of the SES differences in the meaning of school readiness, the community standard for extracurricular education in the lower SES community, is less than that of the higher SES community. Lower SES mothers’ lack of financial, social and cultural capitals rather than their lack of value for those classes was a primary hindrance in providing their children with such an education. This study also confirmed the significance of the ready school and the ready community in relation to children’s school readiness (Graue, 2006; Pianta et al., 1999; Wesley & Buysse, 2003). As for the process of meaning construction, mothers in both groups reported that they collected information mostly from “other mothers.” However, “other mothers” for the higher SES mothers were the mothers of their children’s friends, while for lower SES mothers, they were mothers in the neighborhood who had already sent their children to elementary school. Mothers of their children’s friends as the most powerful information sources particularly among higher SES mothers point to the importance of the mothers’ social relations with “intergenerational closure” in their children’s education (Carbonaro, 1999; Coleman, 1988; Horvat et al., 2003). Moreover, Korean mothers reported that they are affected by reports of various media such as TV, newspaper, magazines, books, and the internet. Kin was also influential information source for lower SES mothers, which was consistent with Lareau’s study (2003). / text

This thesis takes a fresh look at the legal practices observed at the Sŏnch’ŏn trial, the main trial of the Korean Conspiracy Case. On 28 June 1912, 132 suspects were brought forth on charges of alleged assassination of the first Governor-General of colonial Korea, Masatake Terauchi. It is argued that if the immediate local interests of the new administration invariably affected the entire case, what determined the nature of the suspects’ treatment before and during the trial was a set of formal and informal legal practices that were transported to the colony amidst legal reforms. By analysis the trial from an empire-wide perspective, this study looks at how specific legal practices from the metropole were exacerbated in Korea through legal loopholes and the agency of legal actors and how such informal and disavowed legal practices both defined the legal system of the colony and helped sustain the Japanese colonial venture.

This thesis takes a fresh look at the legal practices observed at the Sŏnch’ŏn trial, the main trial of the Korean Conspiracy Case. On 28 June 1912, 132 suspects were brought forth on charges of alleged assassination of the first Governor-General of colonial Korea, Masatake Terauchi. It is argued that if the immediate local interests of the new administration invariably affected the entire case, what determined the nature of the suspects’ treatment before and during the trial was a set of formal and informal legal practices that were transported to the colony amidst legal reforms. By analysis the trial from an empire-wide perspective, this study looks at how specific legal practices from the metropole were exacerbated in Korea through legal loopholes and the agency of legal actors and how such informal and disavowed legal practices both defined the legal system of the colony and helped sustain the Japanese colonial venture.

South Korean adolescents’ motivation for high academic achievement is strongly influenced by extraordinary parental support, pressures to achieve, and the practice of utilizing both public and private learning environments in South Korea. To remain competitive, educational leaders may benefit from observations of other countries’ academic successes and consider the implications for the current American educational structure. The purpose of this study is to explore South Korean male adolescents’ daily educational routines and their perceptions of their internal and external educational support systems in relation to their academic achievement. Furthermore, this study provides insightful data for educators, educational leaders, and global education critics about South Korean adolescents’ academic motivations and determinations. Such insights may be important to decision makers in evaluating education models. The review of literature for this study examines South Korea’s economic progression, educational structure, and familial and cultural standards. In this qualitative research, I observed and documented the educational perspectives of students, parents, and teachers at an all-male high school in Seoul, South Korea and collected data from the participants through interviews, observations, and reviews of academic-related documents. I used these data to better understand the relationship between adolescents’ family influences and adolescents’ academic achievements. I also used these data to achieve a reality-based understanding of how adolescents’ internal and external influences and motivations affect academic achievement. Although I could not formulate generalizations from this qualitative research, this study does provide insights into the relationships between South Koreans’ family standards, influences, and attitudes, and South Korean adolescents’ personal investments and value systems in education. / Department of Educational Leadership

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 160-170. / Microfiche. / xiii, 170 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-136). / Microfiche. / xiii, 136 leaves, bound 29 cm

Typescript. / Bibliography: leaves [238]-245. / xvii, 245 leaves ill

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 26, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Scott Brown. Includes bibliographical references.