On May 19, the Institute of East and West Studies and the Center for Free Enterprise hosted the second conference of the Politics and Enterprise Research Association in Allen Hall. The conference attracted a number of scholars, business leaders, journalists, and politicians.
Yonsei Professor of Political Science and International Studies Kim Sang-jun was one of the featured speakers, giving a talk entitled “Japan’s Politics, Bureaucrats, and Enterprise.” In his presentation, Professor Kim made a distinction between bureaucratic organizations that are organization-specific and individual-specific, arguing that the organization-specific model characteristic of Japanese bureaucracies has led to a decline in the role played by qualified experts. He also suggested that university rankings are so important to Japanese and Korean societies due to a reliance upon organization-specific models; however, his analysis indicates that more and more the individual’s specific qualifications are taken into account by bureaucratic organizations thanks to the influence of the individual-specific organizational models brought to East Asia through globalization. Turning specifically to this country, Professor Kim argued that in order to promote social reforms in Korea, it is essential to understand an organization’s limitations and the possibilities of the individual.    
The Politics and Enterprise Research Association aims to reform politics, bureaucracy, and the state-market structure, while helping to shape public opinion, by sharing a wide variety of perspectives. To this end, it invites representatives from business, industry, politics, academia, and the media to speak at its gatherings.  The association will be holding monthly conferences (except in August 2014), and next year it plans to provide open seminars and publish articles designed to help form public opinions on the structure of governance in Korea.