Publications

Culture × AI: Creativity, Identity, and the Hermeneutics of Synthetic Media

A philosophical introduction to IOCSS research on AI-generated culture, authorship, identity, aesthetics, and interpretation.

Sports × AI: Fair Play, Embodiment, and the Problem of Algorithmic Judgment

A philosophical introduction to IOCSS research on sport, artificial intelligence, fairness, embodiment, and institutional trust.

Special Commentary | Sports Ethics in the Era of Physical AI: A Korean Perspective

A Korean perspective on sports ethics under physical AI and institutional modernization.

IOCSS Research Bulletin | March 2026: AI and the Future of Sport Governance

March 2026 bulletin on AI governance in sport, institutional design, and implementation standards.

2023 International Sports Science Forum Asia — Inaugural Seoul Forum

IOCSS hosted the inaugural International Sports Science Forum Asia in Seoul (December 2023), convening senior representatives from Korea, China, and Japan to advance trilateral sports science cooperation.

Artificial Intelligence and Human Values: Toward a Philosophy of Machine Ethics

As AI systems become increasingly capable and consequential, the question of how to align them with human values becomes urgent. This paper surveys the philosophical landscape of AI ethics, from consequentialist frameworks to virtue-theoretic approaches.

The Ethics of Competition: Excellence, Fairness, and the Meaning of Sport

What do we owe each other as competitors? This paper examines foundational questions in sports ethics—the nature of fair play, the purpose of rules, and whether winning is the true goal of sport.

DPRK Humanitarian Conditions: Evidence, Analysis, and the Challenges of Independent Research

Assessing what is known—and not known—about humanitarian conditions inside North Korea, and the methodological challenges that confront researchers working without direct access.

Korean Aesthetic Philosophy: From Traditional Forms to Contemporary Expression

An introduction to the philosophical dimensions of Korean aesthetics—from the concept of han in traditional music to the global phenomenon of Korean Wave (Hallyu)—and what they reveal about cultural identity and civilizational continuity.

Sport Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula: History, Limits, and Future Prospects

An analysis of inter-Korean sporting engagement from the 1991 unified table tennis team to the 2018 Olympic delegation, examining what sport can—and cannot—achieve in political diplomacy.

Governing the Ungovernable: AI Ethics Frameworks and the Limits of Anticipatory Regulation

Current AI governance frameworks face fundamental limitations. This analysis proposes principles for more robust regulation of autonomous AI systems.

The Hermit Kingdom Opens Its Gates: Sport Diplomacy and North Korea's Selective International Engagement

How athletic participation—from the 1988 Seoul Olympics to the 2018 PyeongChang Games—has shaped Pyongyang's strategic engagement with the international community, and what this reveals about the relationship between sport, sovereignty, and statecraft in Northeast Asia.

Divided Memories: Heritage Preservation as Political Practice in the Korean Context

How states remember and preserve their cultural heritage is never politically innocent. In divided Korea, the politics of heritage takes on particular intensity: both states claim a shared civilisational legacy while constructing radically different accounts of its meaning and its proper custodians.

Aesthetic Distance and Political Commitment: Rethinking the Philosophy of Engaged Art

The relationship between aesthetic autonomy and political engagement remains one of the central unresolved questions in the philosophy of art. This paper revisits the debate through the lens of contemporary East Asian artistic practice.

Enhancement, Authenticity, and the Sporting Ideal: Towards a Coherent Ethics of Performance Technology

The growing sophistication of performance-enhancing technologies—from pharmacological interventions to genetic modification, from advanced prosthetics to neural interfaces—poses urgent questions for the ethics of sport that cannot be resolved by simple appeals to fairness or tradition.

Cultural Memory and the Politics of Heritage in Divided Korea

Sport as Soft Power: Inter-Korean Athletic Exchange and the Politics of Reconciliation

Excellence and Its Discontents: A Philosophical Inquiry into Athletic Achievement in the Age of Enhancement

Coming soon

Sport Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula: Track 1.5 Approaches

A policy-oriented examination of informal diplomacy channels and sport-led trust building across divided political contexts. The paper identifies Track 1.5 institutional pathways — involving both official and non-official actors — as a potentially durable mechanism for sustained inter-Korean exchange, drawing on lessons from international sport governance and Northeast Asian case studies.

AI Ethics Frameworks in Global Scientific Governance

An interdisciplinary governance model connecting technical accountability, public legitimacy, and international institutional design in the era of large-scale AI deployment. The paper maps existing ethical frameworks against emerging governance gaps, proposing a multi-stakeholder accountability architecture for transnational scientific systems.

DPRK Humanitarian Conditions: A 2025 Field Assessment

A consolidated review of humanitarian indicators, aid access pathways, and policy implications for 2025. Combining field interviews, regional comparative analysis, and secondary data synthesis, the assessment provides a ground-level account of conditions and identifies strategic implications for international engagement with humanitarian actors operating near the Korean Peninsula.

Physical Culture as a Medium of Social Trust: Evidence from Northeast Asia

This brief examines how sport institutions function as infrastructure for social cohesion and civic trust, drawing on comparative data from South Korea, Japan, and Estonia. It argues that sport programmes designed around inclusion and accessibility deliver measurable social capital effects that extend beyond the arena of sport itself.

Tradition, Performance, and Public Discourse in Contemporary Korea

This paper examines how artistic and cultural practice mediates collective identity and public argument in periods of rapid social transition. Using examples from contemporary Korean performance arts and institutional cultural policy, the analysis develops a framework for understanding aesthetic institutions as sites of civic meaning-making.

Research Integrity in International Scientific Collaboration

A comparative review of institutional safeguards for transparency, authorship, and accountability in transnational research networks. The brief analyses recent cases of integrity failure in international collaborative projects and proposes structural reforms to peer review, data sharing, and institutional responsibility allocation.

Ethics of Elite Performance and Institutional Responsibility

An inquiry into athlete welfare, institutional obligations, and the philosophical limits of performance-centred systems. Drawing on recent scandals in elite sport governance, the paper develops a normative framework that balances the pursuit of athletic excellence against duties of care owed to athletes as persons.

Cross-Border Civil Society and Policy Mediation on the Korean Peninsula

A study of how civil society organisations operate at the boundary zones of inter-Korean policy, and how their activities create or constrain space for political dialogue. The paper analyses three IOCSS-supported contact programmes and derives lessons for the design of future civilian exchange initiatives.