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Mega-Events and Mega-Ambitions: South Korea’s Rise and the Strategic Use of the Big Four Events

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Mega-Events and Mega-Ambitions: South Korea’s Rise and the Strategic Use of the Big Four Events

Part of the book series: Mega Event Planning ((MEGAEP))

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Abstract

The introduction chapter provides a brief overview of the four mega-events discussed in this book—the Summer Olympics (1988), the World Expo (1993), the FIFA World Cup (2002), and the Winter Olympics (2018). We highlight that the four mega-events were used as a political tool serving personal, national and international motives that reflect South Korea’s evolving politics and economic development stages. We contextualize the four mega-events in the context of South Korea’s state-led modern economic development, taking place at the precise moments when the country was making a leap from authoritarian developmental rule to democratic economic powerhouse. We follow the extent to which the mega-events have achieved their goals, including fostering international relationships, promoting national and urban development , and supporting decentralization development aims.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yu-Min Joo

  2. School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore

    Yooil Bae

  3. School of Planning, Design and Construction & Global Urban Studies Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Eva Kassens-Noor

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  1. Yu-Min Joo
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  2. Yooil Bae
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  3. Eva Kassens-Noor
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Correspondence to Yu-Min Joo .

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Joo, YM., Bae, Y., Kassens-Noor, E. (2017). Mega-Events and Mega-Ambitions: South Korea’s Rise and the Strategic Use of the Big Four Events. In: Mega-Events and Mega-Ambitions: South Korea’s Rise and the Strategic Use of the Big Four Events. Mega Event Planning. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53113-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53113-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53112-4

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