Social network analysis of public administration articles in Korea

This paper aims to examine an overlooked area, the role of public administration and policy as a contributor to Korean national development using a social network analysis of public administration papers published in Korea. In addition, it suggests some future directions as to what Korean public administration system has to do both in the present and in the future. Korea has achieved an unprecedented rapid economic growth since 1948 when the Korean government was established. Nowadays, the developmental process which Korea has experienced has become a model for other developing countries. However, there has been a dark side to this process together with the light side associated with rapid economic development. These dark-side aspects include a gap between haves and have-nots, the gap between rural and urban areas, and social polarization. The analysis results show that to overcome these obstacles, the Korean government should make great efforts by coordinating policy objectives, policy priorities, policy tools, and the role of public administration, as Korea’s governments have done in the past in order to attain the high rate of economic growth that has prevailed up until now. © 2016 SERSC.