• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.6 s.52
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• pp.67-77
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• 2006

Seismic activity of Korea is not so high as that of Japan or California and most of the structures were designed without considering the influence of earthquakes until the first seismic design code was enforced in 1988. Therefore, it was very hard to find seismically isolated structures in Korea until 1980's. Korean engineers assumed that the seismic isolation or vibration control would be useful only in a high seismicity region while such technologies can be quite useful in a low seismicity region for the efficient reduction of earthquake damages. Recently, Korean engineers began to have interest in the seismic isolation or vibration control and applied it to some important structures such as LNG storage tanks, many bridges and several buildings. However, design codes are not defining such useful advanced technologies for the design of building structures and several projects employing seismic isolation or vibration control in the design of structures had difficulties in obtaining construction permit from the local government. Therefore, it is an urgent requirement to introduce these advanced technologies in the seismic design code.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.100-107
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• 2001

A Interior material, a main cause of fire-growth and generating toxic gas when it burns, should be dealt with great care in life safety design. Nonetheless, it has been used recklessly with undue attention to its contribution to fire in particular in entertainment occupancy and causes many victims in fire. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the current use of interior material in Korea and find out what to be improved and enhanced in terms of related regulations. Based on the comparison and analysis of the Korea regulation with those of advanced nations, suggestions are made for an effective and efficient improvement and complement to the current system. What can be suggested from this study are as follows. The use of interior material should be controlled under the unified regulation of fire-safety codes. Code should be set up so that the current construction enforcement should be applied in retroactive to those entertainment buildings that obtained a license prior to the implementation of the system certifying that the building is fire-resistant and fire-protective. The legislation should be made to control the fire-protection facilities of small-sized, underground entertainments. It should be obliged to present the blueprint displaying the use of interior material at the time of changing occupancy. Or, it should be compelled to report changes that go way without permit to the administrative office. A compulsory provision should be set up to have a fire-resistant performance to movable furniture. The classification index designating the fire hazard of interior material by flame spread rate and smoke toxicity and its test method should be established.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

The tropical peatlands have been deforested and converted to agricultural and plantation areas in Indonesia. To manage water levels and increase the overall productivity of crops, canals have been constructed in tropical peatlands. The canals destructed the structure of the tropical peatlands, and increased the subsidence and fire hazard risks in the region. The Indonesian government enacted regulations and a moratorium on tropical peatlands, in order to reduce degradation. A practical method under the regulations of rewetting tropical peatlands was to permit a canal blocking. In this study, four canal blocking projects were investigated regarding their planning, construction priority, design, building material, construction, monitoring, time and costs associated with the canal blockings. In the protected areas, regulations restricted the development of the tropical peatlands areas that were noted as deeper than 3 m, and the administration stopped issuing new concessions for future work projects for this noted criteria of land use. A noted purpose of canal blockings in these areas was to effectuate the restoration of the lands in the region. The main considerations of the restoration efforts were to maintain a durability of the blockings, and to encourage the participation of the area stakeholders. In the case of a concession area, regulations were set into place to restrict clear-cutting and shifting cultivation, and to maintain groundwater level in the tropical peatland. The most significant priorities identified in the canal blocking project were the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the project. Nevertheless, the drainage of tropical peatlands has been continued. On the basis of a literature review on regulations and rewetting methods in tropical peatlands of Indonesia, we discussed the improvements of the regulations, and adequate canal blockings to serve the function to rewet the tropical peatlands in Indonesia. Our results would help establishing an adequate direction and recommended guideline on viable rewetting methods for the restoration of drained tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.27-44
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• 1999

Digital maps produced in Korea are various in scale and include a lot of geographic and attribute data. In this study, it is argued that, to reduce the production cost and the difficulties for renewal, it is necessary to establish the already nationally drawn 1:5,000 scale digital maps as the base maps and simplify them as much as the TIGER files in the U.S. The comprehensive data included in the digital maps in Korea are mostly land use information, which are supposed to be established separately from the digital maps. The land use information system could be maintained and updated cheaply and frequently at the local government level. In response to common needs, the land use information could be imported to GIS and used for analyses. As technologies and societies changes, the Census questions and methodologies should be changed for better uses. Along with GIS, the Census would be developed and processed more reliably and efficiently. Also, it is recommended for Korean government to develop the Census Tract and Block Group system. Current Eup, Myon, Dong as basic units for Census information may not be useful or effective for micro level urban analyses and public service planning activities because of their large population and land areas. It is recommended that optimum population of a Census Tract be 5,000 and a Block Groups 1,500, and one Census Tract includes 1~9 Block Groups. It is recommend that Census Tract and Block Group boundary lines be decided flexibly in light of population, physical features, socio-economic attributes, and tradition. For urban analyses using GIS, socio-economic census data, city government's information such as parcel data and building permit data, survey data, and satellite image data could also be used. The existence of Census Tracts and Block Groups as well as GIS could help for the data and methods to be useful for urban analyses and public service provisions.