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Attempts to discover an internal logic in the high‐speed events taking place in the former Soviet Union. In addressing the problems of the country′s disintegration, examines the issue in its socioeconomic, political and territorial‐administrative aspects. Analyses, for this purpose, the nature of Soviet society prior to Gorbachev′s reforms, its present transitional stage and its probable direction in the near future.

There has long been a prevailing view concerning North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), that the world’s most reclusive socialist state, in accordance with its “juche” (self-reliance) ideology,¹ shuns capitalism, and discourages entrepreneurship and innovation, and feigns reform to further its nuclear ambitions including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Under its previous leaders, Kim Il Sung and his son, Kim Jong Il, the DPRK saw little need for and discouraged innovation in the financial sector, particularly that of Western origin. However, since coming to power in December 2011, its current leader, Kim Jong-Un, has placed a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation, in numerous sectors, including its financial system. Based on research and interviews conducted with international business and entrepreneurship experts that have trained North Koreans, and personal experience as an adjunct business faculty member in the DPRK, this research shows the recent developments including the role played by entrepreneurs in helping the DPRK achieve its goal of economic and technological transformation. The primary focus is on changes in the DPRK’s financial sector.

The introduction of the 22 member countries of the 4+10+2+6 model of the Asian economy is the immediate task. Japan, Korea, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar constitute the now-famous 4+10 model. Following the principle of inclusion, Mongolia, Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, as they belong to the regional map of the continent of Asia, are the eight remaining member countries (see Chapter 1). An overview of Asia's 22 member continental economy the AE-22, with its 3.6 billion people (2006) who have made the region of Asia their home in a land area of 20.5 million km² should be welcome. To put these figures in perspective, the AE-22 comprises only 13.7 percent of the world's land area, but is home to over half the world's population. Tables 2.1–2.4, presented below, illustrate the various figures relating to population, land area, GDP, and GDP per capita of the member nations of the AE-22.

The rotor system supported by the cylindrical roller bearings is widely used in various fields such as aviation, space and machinery due to its importance. In the study of the dynamic characteristics of the cylindrical roller bearings, it is important to accurately calculate the stiffness of the cylindrical roller bearings. The stiffness of the cylindrical roller bearings is very important in the analysis of the vibration characteristics of the rotor system. Therefore, in this paper, the method of creating a comprehensive stiffness model of the cylindrical roller bearing is mentioned. The purpose of this study is to improve the dynamic stability of the rotor system supported by the cylindrical roller bearing by accurately establishing the comprehensive stiffness calculation model of the cylindrical roller bearings.

In consideration of the radial clearance of the cylindrical roller bearing, the radial load acting on the cylindrical roller bearing was derived, and based on this, a model for calculating the Hertz contact stiffness of the cylindrical roller bearing was created. Based on the load considering the radial clearance, an oil film stiffness model of the cylindrical roller bearing was created under the elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) theory. Then, the comprehensive stiffness was calculated by combining Hertz contact stiffness and the oil film stiffness of the cylindrical roller bearing, and the dynamic parameters are calculated by using the MATLAB program.

When the radial clearance of the cylindrical roller bearing is considered, the comprehensive stiffness is larger than when the radial clearance is not taken into account, and the radial clearance of the cylindrical roller bearing is an important factor that directly affects the comprehensive stiffness of the cylindrical roller bearing.

In this paper, based on Hertz contact theory and the EHL theory, the authors investigated the method of creating a comprehensive stiffness model of the cylindrical roller bearing considering the radial clearance. These results will contribute to the theoretical basis for studying the mechanics of cylindrical roller bearings and optimizing their structures, and they will provide an important theoretical basis for analyzing the dynamic characteristics of the rotor system supported by the cylindrical roller bearing.

Regulatory authority officials in Korea have been considerably strong enough to affect citizen’s intentions and alter their incentives to take new challenges. But, from the result of steady regulation reform, absurd bureaucratic interventions have been sharply reduced. Corruption in the process of rent seeking has decreased too. It is impossible to exercise regulatory authority that infringes on the essence of the freedom of the people because people who live in a democratic society would not accept these absurd practices.

This chapter introduces some key features of the regulatory management system in South Korea as well as the challenges that need to be overcome. In particular, the bureaucracy has worked hard to chip away at past regulations that produce rents for various private interest groups but provide little to society at large. Regulatory quality is tied closely to democracy as maintaining a fair and even playing field for entrepreneurs is a key freedom. Introducing checks and balances into the regulatory system can be an important way to facilitate this goal. The Regulatory Reform Committee (RRC) facilitated to strengthen the logic of regulatory necessity and the logic of improving regulation which increased the level of its institutionalization.

This chapter explores the relationship between bureaucracy and the ­democratization of the Republic of Korea by analyzing the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) and how Korea’s unique type of supreme audit institution (SAI) have been involved throughout the democratization process of Korea over the last two decades. Unlike western supreme audit institutions which mainly functioned for financial and performance auditing, Korea’s SAI, BAI bureaucracy, has functioned to reduce corruption, in cooperation with citizen’s participation which gives unique cases for the context of developing countries. The most important finding of this study is that bureaucracy can be an effective vehicle in a country’s political trajectory towards democratization given that the public institutions and agencies have specific traits such as having clear and comprehensive mandates, retaining high ­sensitivity to external needs, and maintaining well-qualified staff with active utilization of Information Technology. The main targets of the analysis are the conditions under which BAI bureaucracy could effectively exert its mandates and successfully fulfill its duties; also the question of how the BAI bureaucracy has facilitated democratization as being the locus of participatory democracy will be addressed.

The issue of the reunification of North and South Korea attracted worldwide attention in June 2000, when the historic summit meeting between the two top Korean leaders was held in North Korea. Although recently the two Koreas have stepped up their efforts toward reconciliation, international scholars and researchers in Korean studies seem to agree that Korean reunification will be slow and difficult. For this reason, they are researching possible solutions to the critical problems involved, and thus there has been an upsurge of published materials on reunification. This annotated bibliography aims to serve as a guide to these materials. Although this bibliography is selective in that it is limited to literature published in English since 1996, it has wide content coverage and includes books, journals, government publications, special reports, research papers, and Websites. Given the complicated and dynamic situation in Korea, this bibliography will be of use to those who are concerned with Korean reunification.