Yong Pil Rhee

Yong Pil Rhee (1936(?)) is an Korean political scientist, systems scientists and Professor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Seoul National University, South Korea. He one of the first systems theorists, who demonstrated that the system is dynamic and experiences changes. [Sung Chull Kim (2006). "North Korea Under Kim Jong Il: From Consolidation to Systemic Dissonance". Page 216.]

Biography

Yong Pil Rhee received a B.A. from Yonsei University in 1957, and a M.A. in 1959. In that time he corresponded with Hans Kohn. In 1959 he also received a M.A. from Northwestern University, and in 1974 a PhD. from the University of Chicago, with the thesis "Breakdown of Authority Structure in Korea in 1960: A Systems Approach", a case study of the failure of concerted feedback. [ American Political Science Association (1968). "PS.". University of Michigan. Page 4.]

Rhee returned to South Korea, where he started as Lecturer of Political Science, Graduate School of Yonsei University. He became Professor at the Seoul National University later in the 1980s. Around In 1998 Rhee also worked at the International Systems Institute.

Yong Pil Rhee is president Korean Society for Systems Science Research, who was president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in 1996, and president of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR) from 2000 until 2002. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Systems Research and Behavioral Science, and of the International Advisory Board of the "Systems Thinking: Four-Volume Set": a systems science reference for all libraries of business, management and organization studies.

Work

Breakdown Authority Structure

In general, a system is considered to have the characteristic of adaptive self-stabilization and the function of adaptive self-organization. That is, it is the characteristics of the equilibrium in the physical system, the homeostasis in the organic system, and the steady state in the social system. This means that a system has a feedback function. [Ervin Laszlo (1972). "Introduction to Systems Philosophy: Toward a New Paradigm of Contemporary Thought". New York, Harper & Row Inc, 1972, pp.103-108]

The feed back function aims to correct errors in the system which is in the process of achieving homeostasis. When some disturbances occur in a system, the negative feedback contributes to the stabilization of the system by preventing of resisting the changes caused by the distraction above the normal systematic category. Shin, Jin (1993). "The Causes and Effects of the Parliament Members' Political Behavior on Korean Political Change". Cungnam, National University.]

In "The Breakdown Authority Structure in Korea in 1960" from 1982 Yong-Pi Rhee analyzed the process by which the positive feedback brought about the expansion of system oscillation. If the autohrities take the positive feedbak without satisfying the demands of dissidents, or without taking compromising steps at an appropriate moment, they may meet with greater political disturbances. That is, the continuing conflicts between the dissidents and the authorities escalate.

Complex Systems Model of South-North Korean Integration

In the book "Complex Systems Model of South-North Korean Integration" from 1996 Rhee introduces a "Nonequilibrium Thermodynamice Approach to Korean Unification Process" in order to search for a new paradigm for the negotiation for Unification Process between North and South in Korea, based on a living systems approach. For further analyses Rhee defines the "Adaptive Deadlock" and "Adaptive Cooperation" in the inter-Korean relations. Rhee states that a new systems thinking is needed to analyse the structural complexity of the South-North Conflict. His approach consist of a "Social Entropy" and a "Systemic Change" analysis" and a comparative Analysis of South and North Korean Unification Process. [Yong Pil Rhee (1996). "Complex systems model of South-North Korean integration". Edited. Seoul : Seoul National University Press.]

Complexity of Political Systems

In "The Dynamics and Complexity of Political Systems" from 1999 Yong Pil Rhee aims to apply modern systems theory to political science. Rhee starts with an introduction of the utility of the systems approach to the study of stability and change in political systems. He introduces a dynamic model of systems breakdown in developing societies. This model describes a sequential process of stability and change in political systems under stress. Another systems model focusses on the modern state as a complex mechanism, which is followed by an chapter wbout the quantitative analysis of political systems. Rhee ends the in the introduction with a revised dynamic model of the political system.Kenneth D. Bailey (2000). "Booktreview: The Dynamics and Complexity of Political Systems.". In: "Systems Research and Behavioral Science"]

In a second part about the Complexity of Democracy and Capitalism Rhee continues about democracy as a self-organizing system, crisis and order through fluctuations in the capitalist system, the functional linkage between democracy and market in the capitalist system.

Publications

Rhee wrote several books, articles and papers. A selection:
* 1982. "Breakdown of Authority Structure in Korea in 1960: A Systems Approach ". Univ of Hawaii.
* 1996. "Complex systems model of South-North Korean integration". Edited. Seoul : Seoul National University Press.
* 1997. "Systems Thinking, Globalization of Knowledge, and Communitarian Ethics". Edited with Kenneth D. Bailey. Proceedings of the International Society for the Systems Sciences International Conference. Seoul, Korea.
* 1998. "Complexity of Korean Unification Process: System Approach". Seoul: Seoul National University Press,
* 1999. "Dynamics and Complexity of Political System". Seoul, Korea:. Ingansarang Press.
* 2003. "Chaos and order through fluctuations in global capitalism in the twenty-first century" ( [http://systemicbusiness.org/digests/sabi2002/2002-013_Rhee.pdf Abstract] )

References

External links

* [http://ifsr.ocg.at/world/files/nl17_34.pdf GLOBAL CRISIS IN THE 21ST CENTURY] Yong Pil Rhee, Vice President of the IFSR 1998.
* [http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/files_people/Randrup_Axel.htm Axel Randrup] with a picture of Yong Pil Rhee.
* [http://systemicbusiness.org/digests/sabi2002/2002-013_Rhee.pdf CHAOS AND ORDER THROUGH FLUCTUATIONS IN GLOBAL CAPITALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY] (abstract)