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KMID : 1142820230070020001
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Bio, Ethics and Policy
2023 Volume.7 No. 2 p.1 ~ p.28
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Advancements in Life Science Technology and Responding to Biological Threats: Exploring a Korean Biodefense Strategy
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Kim Hyun-Jung
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Abstract
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This study’s purpose is to analyze a new biodefense concept suitable for South Ko- rea’s security environments amid a rapidly changing global health security landscape. From a technological determinism perspective, advancements in life science technology have made possible the development of biological weapons capable of mass destruction. These advancements have opened the horizon for a new third-generation biowarfare paradigm that can institutionalize state-level, large-scale biowarfare doctrines. However, many military experts have recently become skeptical about the concepts and doctrines of third-generation biowarfare: a product of the Cold War era. Particularly, advancements in genetic engineering and synthetic biology have spurred a fourth-generation biodefense concept, which encompasses the public health sector. Incorporating public health into biodefense creates tensions between the social perspective of technological development, emphasized in the public health sector, and the deterministic perspective, emphasized in the traditional security sector. However, considering that North Korea possesses large- scale biochemical warfare capabilities, South Korea is still underprepared for a transition to the fourth-generation biodefense paradigm. This study will examine the sociotechno- logical discussions and implications of transitioning to the fourth-generation biodefense paradigm.
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KEYWORD
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biowarfare, biodefense, public health security, life science technology, science and technology studies
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