• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.280-295
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• 2016

Influences on the environment from the consumption of livestock have increased drastically during the last 50 years in Korea. Reduction of bovine meat consumption is one of the alternatives as sustainable food supply. The consumption of bovine meat and the ecological footprint (the sum of the cropland, grazing land, and carbon footprint) from the consumption of bovine meat have increased over 13 and 12 times over the last 50 years. Especially, the consumption of imported bovine meat and the ecological footprint from the consumption of imported bovine meat have increased significantly about 346 and 369 times over the last 40 years. If the consumption of bovine meat decreased by half in Korea in 2023, the ecological footprint from the consumption of bovine meat would be reduced by 40~65% depending on the scenarios. The supportable population number for the consumptions of environmental resources (food (crops, livestock, and fish), energy, forest, and built-up land) and the crops were 0.57~1.56 million and 3.42~6.83 million, respectively, depending on the scenarios and the nationality of the supported people.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.56-72
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• 2018

North Korea has been in ecologically deficit state since 1966, despite of lack of energy and food resources. Trends of the Biocapacity (BC), the Ecological Footprint (EF), and the Ecological Deficit (ED) of North Korea were shown and five factors influencing on the Overshoot Rate (OSR) which is the ratio of the BC and the EF in North Korea was analyzed in this study. The five factors consist of two factors affecting to the EF and three factors affecting to the BC in North Korea. Two of the five factors are affecting to the EF those are population, the EF per capita (EFPC) which indicates the individual environmental consumption intensity, and three are affecting to the BC those are the land area, the yield factor, and the value multiplying the equivalence factor and the intertemporal yield factor. The EF has contributed more than the BC to the OSR. From 1966 to mid-1990s, the EFPC was the most contributing factor at about 60%, and after mid-1990s, population at about 40~60%. Contribution ratio of land area and the yield factor have increased after mid-1990s up to 15% and 18%, respectively. The BC of cropland which has decreased due to a decrease in productivity. In order to reduce the ED of North Korea, improvement of productivity of cropland and restoration of forest. Forest area has decreased significantly since 1990 in NK. And ways to solve the food shortage problem which influences on decrease of both productivity of cropland and forest area.