Dr. Esther Song

Evidence shows a growing trend of chief executives personalising power in autocracies and democracies. Yet, scholarly focus remains siloed according to regime type. This Working Paper presents an overarching framework on the “Personalisation of Executive Power,” identifying the involved mechanisms.

How has COVID-19 affected the personalization of executive power in South Korea? To answer this question, we draw on the conceptual framework of personalization outlined in the literature concerning democracies and autocracies.

Air pollutants allegedly originating from China have become a thorny issue in South Korea. By examining social media data, new reports, and a unique survey data collected in South Korea, this article examines how media reporting on transboundary air pollution issue negatively affects Sino-Korea relations.

COVID-19 generated significant anti-Chinese sentiment in South Korea. Domestic elite-level narratives regarding China at the pandemic’s onset were highly polarized: conservative parties advocated border shutdowns, emphasizing China as originating the virus, while progressive parties warned that this would incite xenophobia. Did these narratives shape anti-Chinese sentiment, and what are their foreign policy effects?

Organiser: Ewha Womans University Dr. Esther Song (Speaker)

Talk given at Computational Social Science Workshop, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University, Seoul South Korea. The talk focused on introducing graduate students at the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) at Ewha Womans University on how computational social science methods can be used in political science research. Examples were drawn from Dr. Song's recent research published or forthcoming in Journal of Chinese Political Science, Asian Survey, and Korea Observer.

ECPR General Conference 2023, Charles University, Prague Organisers: European Consortium for Political Research Dr. Esther Song (Speaker)

Dr. Esther Song presents her paper "Personnel Management as a Credible Commitment Mechanism: Evidence from North Korea" at the ECPR General Conference 2023 in Prague. The presentation is part of the panel " Personalisation and regime legitimacy in autocracies", chaired by her. Co-Chair is GIGA expert Dr. André Bank.