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Jungsuk Woo

Jungsuk's PhD project title is 'Transition to the Post-Developmental State in Variegated Capitalism'. Read more about Jungsuk's research.

Project title

The emergence of a post-developmental state in variegated capitalism? Industrial and regional development policies for the shipbuilding and semiconductor industries in South Korea

Supervisors

Research cluster

About Jungsuk

I’m an economic geographer at Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies(CURDS), Newcastle University. Personal research interests are Evolutionary Economic Geography, (Post) Developmental State, Local and Regional Development, Global Production Networks and Corporate strategy. 

Project description

The project elaborates the evolution of state developmental model from state developmentalism to post-developmentalism in South Korea. Critically scrutinising the conventional transitional approach to the post-developmental state, this project raises a question of “how post-developmentalism has emerged in South Korea?”

from Geographical Political Economy approach blended with Evolutionary Economic Geography. Contrary to conventional discussions that emphasises the neoliberalisation of state developmentalism, the project stresses the institutional continuity and path-dependency of the developmental state. To this end, the project is conducting a comparative case study on the shipbuilding and semiconductor industries in South Korea, focusing on industrial and regional development policies in both developmental and post-developmental era.

Publications

  • Woo, J. and Lee, S-C. (2018) “Regional Lock-ins in the Shipbuilding Industry in Geoje, Gyeongnam”, The Geographical Journal of Korea under The Korean Association of Professional Geographers, 52(4): 567-580

Presentations

  • Woo, J (2024) “Increasing role of local and regions in the post-developmental state?”, 2024 RSA Annual Conference on 11th-14th June, Florence, Italy.
  • Woo, J (2024) “The emergence of a post-developmental state in variegated capitalism?”, 2024 AAG Annual Meeting on 16th-20th April, Honolulu, HI, USA.
  • Woo, J (2023) “The changing role of local government and central-local relations in the evolution of state developmentalism in South Korea”, 2023 RSA Annual Conference on 14th-17th June at University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Woo, J (2023) “The changing state-firm relations and GPNs in the evolution of state developmentalism”, 2023 AAG Annual Meeting on 23rd-27th March, Denver, CO, USA.
  • Woo, J (2022) “The role of the state in the evolution of regional industrial development”, 6th Global Conference on Economic Geography 2022 on 7th-10th June at Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
  • Woo, J (2022) “Shipbuilding Supercycle and Rebound of the Shipbuilding Industries in Geoje?”, Spring Conference of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea on 4th June at Kongju National University, Gongju, South Korea.
  • Woo, J. and Lee, S-C. (2019) “A development path of the shipbuilding industry and the regional lock-in in Geoje”, Annual conference of the Korean Geographical Society on 21st June 2019 at Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea.

Teaching

Academic qualifications, memberships and achievements

Academic qualifications

  • Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (Candidate), 2020 – 2024 (anticipate)
    Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
    Dissertation: (Working title) The emergence of a post-developmental state in variegated capitalism? Industrial and regional development and policies for the shipbuilding and semiconductor industries in South Korea
    Supervisors: Professor Andy Pike & Dr. Kean Fan Lim

  • M.A. Master of Arts in Local and Regional Development, 2019 - 2020
    Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS), School of Geography, Politics, and Sociology, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
    Dissertation: The Life Cycle of Industrial Clusters in the Developmental State: The state’s interventional roles in the evolution of the Geoje Shipbuilding Industrial Cluster in South Korea
    Supervisor: Dr. Kean Fan Lim

  • M.A. Master of Arts in Geography, 2017 - 2019
    Department of Geography, Dongguk university (Seoul), South Korea
    Dissertation: Regional Path-dependence and Lock-in involved in the Single Industry: A Case study of the Shipbuilding Industry in Geoje, Gyeongnam
    Supervisor: Professor Sung-cheol Lee

  • B.A. Bachelor of Arts in Geography Education and Business Administration (Dual Degree), 2011 – 2017 (2013 – 2015 Military service for Republic of Korea Air Force)
    Department of Geography Education and Department of Business Administration, Dongguk University (Seoul), South Korea

Memberships

  • Association of American Geographers (AAG) Student member
  • Economic Geographical Society of Korea Full member
  • Korean Geographical Society Full member
  • Regional Studies Association (RSA) Student member
  • Royal Geographical Society (RGS-IBG) Postgraduate fellow

Contact and further information

E-mail: j.woo2@newcastle.ac.uk
X: @Jungsuk_W