Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series: Kim Won-Sub In brief Date - 4 June 2025Venue - Room LG.11, 40 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Kim Won-Sub (Korea University)Title - How the World Bank Traveled: Policy Learning and the Basic Pension in South Korea About the eventThis talk examines how the World Bank’s multi-pillar pension model influenced the development of the Basic Pension in South Korea.While existing research on Korean pension reforms emphasises domestic dynamics, Professor Won-Sub wil foreground the often-overlooked influence of global social policy. Applying a Situated Learning Approach with the Advocacy Coalition Framework, he will conceptualise policy transfer as dynamic interaction between global models and domestic actors.Through comparative historical analysis, Professor Won-Sub will investigate three pension reforms (1998, 2007, 2014) using document analysis and elite interviews. The findings show that the World Bank model was not transplanted but vernacularised by domestic advocacy coalitions in response to the prevailing domestic contexts.The effectiveness of policy transfer varied across the reforms, depending on resonance and the political-institutional opportunity structure. This lecture will refine the theorisation of policy transfer as a driver of welfare reforms and challenges methodological nationalism in social policy analysis.About the speakerKim Won-Sub is a Professor of Sociology at Korea University in South Korea and is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford. He has taught at Bielefeld University in Germany and Kyung-Sang National University in South Korea. He was also a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina in the US.He studied sociology at Korea University and Bremen University, and received his PhD from Bielefeld University (Institutionalisation of a new welfare state in East Asia? A case study on South Korea). Since then, his research and teaching have focused on the fields of new welfare states in East Asia, pension politics, and comparative social policy.He has published articles in journals such as Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Government and Opposition, International Journal of Social Quality, Policy and Society, and Asian Politics & Policy.About the Distinguished Lecture seriesEach year, the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers to give a free public lecture. They cover a range of topics, from literature and poetry to international relations.Often, speakers will present on recent publications, and audiences have the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions after presentations.Selected lectures have been recorded and uploaded to the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies’ YouTube channel and Facebook page.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. Registration is not required.Are you interested in studying with us?Study Korean Studies with us and explore one of the most dynamic countries in East Asia, gaining a unique vantage point on crucial topics of relevance across the Northeast Asian region and the globe. We offer a taught MSc in East Asian Studies with a Korean pathway as well as an MSc by Research and a PhD in Korean Studies. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Tags Asian Studies Jun 04 2025 15.00 - 17.00 Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series: Kim Won-Sub Join the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies for an in-person lecture by Professor Kim Won-Sub (Korea University) entitled 'How the World Bank Traveled: Policy Learning and the Basic Pension in South Korea'. Room LG.11 40 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9JX Find the venue: 40 George Square
Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series: Kim Won-Sub In brief Date - 4 June 2025Venue - Room LG.11, 40 George SquareSpeaker - Professor Kim Won-Sub (Korea University)Title - How the World Bank Traveled: Policy Learning and the Basic Pension in South Korea About the eventThis talk examines how the World Bank’s multi-pillar pension model influenced the development of the Basic Pension in South Korea.While existing research on Korean pension reforms emphasises domestic dynamics, Professor Won-Sub wil foreground the often-overlooked influence of global social policy. Applying a Situated Learning Approach with the Advocacy Coalition Framework, he will conceptualise policy transfer as dynamic interaction between global models and domestic actors.Through comparative historical analysis, Professor Won-Sub will investigate three pension reforms (1998, 2007, 2014) using document analysis and elite interviews. The findings show that the World Bank model was not transplanted but vernacularised by domestic advocacy coalitions in response to the prevailing domestic contexts.The effectiveness of policy transfer varied across the reforms, depending on resonance and the political-institutional opportunity structure. This lecture will refine the theorisation of policy transfer as a driver of welfare reforms and challenges methodological nationalism in social policy analysis.About the speakerKim Won-Sub is a Professor of Sociology at Korea University in South Korea and is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford. He has taught at Bielefeld University in Germany and Kyung-Sang National University in South Korea. He was also a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina in the US.He studied sociology at Korea University and Bremen University, and received his PhD from Bielefeld University (Institutionalisation of a new welfare state in East Asia? A case study on South Korea). Since then, his research and teaching have focused on the fields of new welfare states in East Asia, pension politics, and comparative social policy.He has published articles in journals such as Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Government and Opposition, International Journal of Social Quality, Policy and Society, and Asian Politics & Policy.About the Distinguished Lecture seriesEach year, the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers to give a free public lecture. They cover a range of topics, from literature and poetry to international relations.Often, speakers will present on recent publications, and audiences have the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions after presentations.Selected lectures have been recorded and uploaded to the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies’ YouTube channel and Facebook page.How to attendThis event is free to attend and open to all. Registration is not required.Are you interested in studying with us?Study Korean Studies with us and explore one of the most dynamic countries in East Asia, gaining a unique vantage point on crucial topics of relevance across the Northeast Asian region and the globe. We offer a taught MSc in East Asian Studies with a Korean pathway as well as an MSc by Research and a PhD in Korean Studies. Find out more about Asian Studies at Edinburgh Tags Asian Studies Jun 04 2025 15.00 - 17.00 Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series: Kim Won-Sub Join the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies for an in-person lecture by Professor Kim Won-Sub (Korea University) entitled 'How the World Bank Traveled: Policy Learning and the Basic Pension in South Korea'. Room LG.11 40 George Square University of Edinburgh EH8 9JX Find the venue: 40 George Square
Jun 04 2025 15.00 - 17.00 Scottish Centre for Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series: Kim Won-Sub Join the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies for an in-person lecture by Professor Kim Won-Sub (Korea University) entitled 'How the World Bank Traveled: Policy Learning and the Basic Pension in South Korea'.
