SIR Social Sciences Investigation Abstract
DISCRIMINATION IN SOUTH KOREAN POLITICS AND ECONOMY
Presenter:
Minji Ro, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL 60506; minji@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Kiseong Park, Visiting Scholar at University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Abstract:
Regional discrimination is present in both the South Korean economy and politics. Voting patterns from the most recent presidential election in 1997 and also statistics comparing birth regions of workers and their earnings show biases towards people from specific regions. Analyzing a pool of data gathered from 3419 workers, the project attempted to draw a correlation between these two variables by constructing an equation using factors that could possibly have impacted one's earnings. Differentiating between discrimination existing due to preference versus discrimination resulting from experiences, the project concluded that certain biases did exist in the Korean labor economy. The highly controversial presidential election in 1997 was also studied to further investigate the relationship shared by voters in varying regions and the home regions of the three main presidential candidates Kim Dae Jung, Lee Hoi Chang, and Rhee In-je.