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South Koreans’ life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last four decades. However, the life satisfaction index of older Korean adults has been in the bottom third globally. The large majority of older Koreans spend most of the day watching television at home. However, concrete evidence regarding the effects of leisure involvement on older adults’ quality of later life is scant. Only a few existing studies have examined the link via cross-sectional survey data. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether meaningful leisure participation outside the home in older age plays an essential role in improving life satisfaction. To achieve the research aim, nationally representative panel data from the Korea Employment Information Service were used for the data analysis. The results indicated that social and productive leisure participation in religious activity, social gatherings, and volunteering was significantly related to quality of life in older adults. Moreover, frequent participation in travel and cultural activities outside the home were positively related to life satisfaction. These findings suggest that participation in meaningful leisure activities is a critical factor contributing to subjective well-being and good mental health in older Korean adults and should be encouraged.

Largely due to data unavailability, the spatial pattern of urban growth in North Korea has been rarely studied. This study explored urban changes in North Korea and provided their plausible causes. The present study used satellite‐based land cover data sets produced by the government of South Korea to examine the extent and distribution of urban land cover in North Korea between the late 1980s (1987–1989) and late 2000s (2008–2010) at the municipal level. The urban expansion intensity index (UEII) was calculated for two 10‐year intervals, and the spatial autocorrelation of UEII values was examined. Major findings from the study are summarized as follows: (a) the capital city Pyongyang's dominance continued without any obvious sign of slowing down, (b) economic development districts do not appear to have much influence on urban land cover changes, and (c) the extent of urban land cover slightly decreased in much of the country between the late 1990s (1997–1999) and late 2000s (2008–2010). The results and discussion in this study suggest internal migration and stagnant economy as probably important causes for the phenomena.

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This paper examines the mobility of female South Korean scholars and their career–family strategies for negotiating their relationships. Despite the importance of the relations and social capital of workers, previous studies on the mobility of highly skilled professionals have overlooked their social and personal relationships. South Korean women scholars consider not only career opportunities but also familial relations in the process of migration decision-making. To negotiate their relationships, they adopt strategies to build and maintain their relations at various geographic levels. Their strategies for making networks are complex and vary according to career, personal and familial goals.