The Thumb Tribe and other Korea-related Gigs

Although my research project (2007-2010) about Korean new media culture funded by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation has ended a few years ago, the typing of Korea-related texts is not. Here are a few of my recent recent publications.

Eomjijok – The Korean thumb tribe. Reflections of young and urban Koreans’ mobile communication in Digital Pioneers. Cultural drivers of future media culture (ed. by Sonja Kangas). Published by the Finnish Youth Research Society. [READ THE WHOLE BOOK]

Keeping in Touch: The Significance of the Mobile Phone to Young People in South Korea in IADIS International Journal on WWW/Internet, 8 (2): 28-41. [SEE THE CONTENTS OF THE ISSUE and mail me for a copy]

“Our Beautiful Land Dokdo!” The Role of Rhetoric and Nationalist Narrative in South Korean Attitudes to the Ownership of the Disputed Dokdo Island. Teoksessa Desmond Ball, Anthony Milner, Matthew Hill & Mary Quilty (toim.), The Languages of Security in the Asia-Pacific: Case Studies. Australian Research Council-Australian National University. [In Press, READ MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT]

In case you know Finnish and are interested in Korean visions of education, see my interview for YLE Teema: Hyppytunti, a program about education below (extended online version, first aired 12 Dec 2011).

Update on my research: Dokdo Island dispute and Korean mobile youth

Here's some stuff I've been working on lately.

Dokdo Island Dispute: Korean Reconstruction of History and National Identity in User-Created Content Media.

• A paper for Digital Memories Conference, 17-19 March, Salzburg. Introduces the Dokdo Island dispute and its representation in cyberspace by Koreans. Discusses nation-building and revision of history in user-cretead content media.
• Introduces the Dokdo Island dispute and its representation in cyberspace by Koreans. Discusses nation-building and revision of history in user-cretead content media.

Read the paper.

A Modern Fetish: The Value of the Mobile Phone in South Korean Youth Culture

• A paper to be presented for IADIS Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, 17 – 23 June 2009, Algarve.
• Based on observational data produced by a group of communication students at Seoul National University and presents the students’ observations on mobile phone use in the public and urban context of Seoul area as well as the students’ personal reflections on the subject. The paper further discusses the mobile phone as a an element contemporary modern society.
• An extended version of this paper including quantitative data on Korean youth and their new media use will appear in my chapter 'Keeping in Touch: Notes on the Mobile Communication Culture of Korean Youth' in Sonja Kangas' (ed.): Communication Acrobatics.

Check out the draft sent for review.

In April I will also attend 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009) to get to know the latest trends and players in ICT in Doha, Qatar.