• Title/Summary/Keyword: Changes Of Foreign Trade Environment

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Exceptional Characteristics of Cross-border Production Networks in Dandong, North Korea-China Border Region (북중 접경지역 단둥의 대북 생산 네트워크의 예외적 성격)

  • Lee, Sung-Cheol;Kim, Boo-Heon;Chung, Su-Yeul;Kim, Minho;Chi, Sang-Hyun
    • Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.329-352
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    • 2017
  • Since the late 2000s Korean foreign direct investors in North Korea and China border regions have gone through the closure of outward processing trade(OPT) networks and changes in their location due to UN security council resolution and Korean independent sanctions against North Korea's nuclear and missile tests. However, the introduction of new Chinese OPT policy has led to the invigoration of domestic market-based OPT networks towards North Korea. The main aim of this paper is to identify the exceptional characteristics of Dandong in Liaoning province, a North Korea and China border region by analyzing OPT networks towards North Korea. Fundamentally the establishment of OPT networks towards North Korea is likely to be based on the utilization of a plenty of low wages in North Korea. The main reasons for this are fallen into two perspectives: geo-economics and geo-politics. The first perspective is geo-economics centering on the consolidation of economic exchange between North Korea and China, and North Korean economic development. For example, the introduction of Chinese OPT in border region has enabled Chinese local firms based on domestic market to access a plenty of low wage in North Korea in formal and institutional contexts. The second is geo-politics for the stability of North Korean regime based on the means of geo-economics. As the invigoration of domestic market-based OPT networks might make North Korea possible promoting foreign money earning, it enable North Korea to be sustainable as a buffering region between capitalist and socialist regime for China. It shows Chinese geo-strategic attempts to deal with the economic and regime stability of North Korean as a buffering state. In other words, OPT networks in North Korea should be concerned with the discourse practice of geo-economics and geo-politics which might lead to various and contingent spatial economies in border region. As a consequence, North Korea and China border regions could defined as a space in which is applicable to exceptional institutions and policies, and an exploitative space in which create surplus and rents by utilizing a plenty of low wages in North Korea through OPT networks.

A Contemplation on Measures to Advance Logistics Centers (물류센터 선진화를 위한 발전 방안에 대한 소고)

  • Sun, Il-Suck;Lee, Won-Dong
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2011
  • As the world becomes more globalized, business competition becomes fiercer, while consumers' needs for less expensive quality products are on the increase. Business operations make an effort to secure a competitive edge in costs and services, and the logistics industry, that is, the industry operating the storing and transporting of goods, once thought to be an expense, begins to be considered as the third cash cow, a source of new income. Logistics centers are central to storage, loading and unloading of deliveries, packaging operations, and dispensing goods' information. As hubs for various deliveries, they also serve as a core infrastructure to smoothly coordinate manufacturing and selling, using varied information and operation systems. Logistics centers are increasingly on the rise as centers of business supply activities, growing beyond their previous role of primarily storing goods. They are no longer just facilities; they have become logistics strongholds that encompass various features from demand forecast to the regulation of supply, manufacturing, and sales by realizing SCM, taking into account marketability and the operation of service and products. However, despite these changes in logistics operations, some centers have been unable to shed their past roles as warehouses. For the continuous development of logistics centers, various measures would be needed, including a revision of current supporting policies, formulating effective management plans, and establishing systematic standards for founding, managing, and controlling logistics centers. To this end, the research explored previous studies on the use and effectiveness of logistics centers. From a theoretical perspective, an evaluation of the overall introduction, purposes, and transitions in the use of logistics centers found issues to ponder and suggested measures to promote and further advance logistics centers. First, a fact-finding survey to establish demand forecast and standardization is needed. As logistics newspapers predicted that after 2012 supply would exceed demand, causing rents to fall, the business environment for logistics centers has faltered. However, since there is a shortage of fact-finding surveys regarding actual demand for domestic logistic centers, it is hard to predict what the future holds for this industry. Accordingly, the first priority should be to get to the essence of the current market situation by conducting accurate domestic and international fact-finding surveys. Based on those, management and evaluation indicators should be developed to build the foundation for the consistent advancement of logistics centers. Second, many policies for logistics centers should be revised or developed. Above all, a guideline for fair trade between a shipper and a commercial logistics center should be enacted. Since there are no standards for fair trade between them, rampant unfair trades according to market practices have brought chaos to market orders, and now the logistics industry is confronting its own difficulties. Therefore, unfair trade cases that currently plague logistics centers should be gathered by the industry and fair trade guidelines should be established and implemented. In addition, restrictive employment regulations for foreign workers should be eased, and logistics centers should be charged industry rates for the use of electricity. Third, various measures should be taken to improve the management environment. First, we need to find out how to activate value-added logistics. Because the traditional purpose of logistics centers was storage and loading/unloading of goods, their profitability had a limit, and the need arose to find a new angle to create a value added service. Logistic centers have been perceived as support for a company's storage, manufacturing, and sales needs, not as creators of profits. The center's role in the company's economics has been lowering costs. However, as the logistics' management environment spiraled, along with its storage purpose, developing a new feature of profit creation should be a desirable goal, and to achieve that, value added logistics should be promoted. Logistics centers can also be improved through cost estimation. In the meantime, they have achieved some strides in facility development but have still fallen behind in others, particularly in management functioning. Lax management has been rampant because the industry has not developed a concept of cost estimation. The centers have since made an effort toward unification, standardization, and informatization while realizing cost reductions by establishing systems for effective management, but it has been hard to produce profits. Thus, there is an urgent need to estimate costs by determining a basic cost range for each division of work at logistics centers. This undertaking can be the first step to improving the ineffective aspects of how they operate. Ongoing research and constant efforts have been made to improve the level of effectiveness in the manufacturing industry, but studies on resource management in logistics centers are hardly enough. Thus, a plan to calculate the optimal level of resources necessary to operate a logistics center should be developed and implemented in management behavior, for example, by standardizing the hours of operation. If logistics centers, shippers, related trade groups, academic figures, and other experts could launch a committee to work with the government and maintain an ongoing relationship, the constraint and cooperation among members would help lead to coherent development plans for logistics centers. If the government continues its efforts to provide financial support, nurture professional workers, and maintain safety management, we can anticipate the continuous advancement of logistics centers.

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A Study on the Water-Faring Community and Architectural Forms of the 'Tanka People' in Macau from the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Modern Period (명청-근대시기 마카오 "수상인(水上人)"의 취락 및 건축유형 연구)

  • Hong, Shu-Ying;Han, Dong-Soo
    • Journal of architectural history
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    • v.32 no.3
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    • pp.7-20
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    • 2023
  • The compositions of ethnic groups in Macau vary with time. Prior to the opening of the port, the majority of the residents in Macau were Chinese people, including those living on land and at sea. After the port was opened, with the increase of Portugal businessmen and missionaries, the population was divided into Chinese people and foreigners (so-called 'Yiren' or 夷人 in Chinese). Chinese people living on land were mainly of Hakka, Fujian, and Cantonese descent. Those living at sea were referred to as 'Tanka People' (named 'Danmin' or 蜑民in Chinese). They lived on floating boats for their entire lives and were similar to the 'drifters' in Japan. Since modern times, many refugees from mainland China and Southeast Asia flooded into Macau due to warfare. The development of industrialization required a larger number of laborers, and some 'coolies' entered Macau in legal or illegal ways, making it a multi-ethnic city. However, the Tanka people were not considered a minority ethnic group under the national ethnic policy of 56 ethnic groups since they did not have an exclusive language and shared dialects in different regions. As the ports inhabited by Tanka people gradually restored foreign trade, the boats and stilt houses used by Tanka people were dismantled to expand the infrastructure area of the ports. Many Tanka people began to live on land and marry people on land, leading to the disappearance of the Tanka group in Macau. The fishing boats and stilt houses used by Tanka people have also disappeared, with only a few remaining in areas such as Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong. This paper examines the natural and social environment of Tanka people in Macau from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, as well as the adaptive changes they adopted for the aforementioned environment in terms of living space and architectural type, on the basis of summarizing the historical activities of Tanka people. Finally, this study provides a layout plan and interior structure of the most commonly used boat for Tanka people from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China, with the use of CAD and other technical software, along with reference to written historical documentation, and provides a case study for further research on the architectural history of Macau's inner harbor cities, from anthropological and folklore perspectives.

A Case Study on the Industry-Academy-Government Cooperation to Intensify Export Competitiveness of Local SMEs - Focused on Gyeongbuk PRIDE Products - (지역중소기업 수출경쟁력 강화를 위한 산.학.관 협력모델에 관한 사례 연구 - 경북PRIDE상품 육성사업을 중심으로 -)

  • Yeo, Taek-Dong;Lee, Hee-Young
    • International Commerce and Information Review
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    • v.14 no.2
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    • pp.411-443
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    • 2012
  • The Changes in management environment in SMEs such as rapid development of information communication technology, worldwide expansion of FTAs, enlargement of global outsourcing, etc have changed various aspects in industry-academy or industry-academy-government cooperation. It has been away from the cooperation focused on research and development and industrial training, and advanced to the cooperation focused on the business fields and practices where the executive ability and professionalism are required to commercialize major products of local SMEs. Compared with the existing model, the new model of industry-academy-government cooperation can provide effective and customized supports to local SMEs and expect better performance than ever before through the choice and focus. However, the existing support programs of government and related organizations are just top-down pattern to SMEs. In addition to the development of industrial technology, education and training for labor force and knowledge interchange between industry and university, the new cooperation model would also provide practical tasks such as enhancement of business competences and abilities to cultivate foreign markets. This study deals with Gyeongbuk PRIDE Products support project that is the new model of industry-academy-government cooperation and evaluates the effectiveness of this support project by empirically analyzing the survey results from the target SMEs.

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The New Conflict of Laws Act of the Republic of Korea (개정 국제사법(國際私法)의 소개 : 국제거래(國際去來)에 미치는 영향을 중심으로)

  • Suk, Kwang-Hyun
    • THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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    • v.20
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    • pp.23-62
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    • 2003
  • The Law amending the Conflict of Laws Act of the Republic of Korea ("Korea"), which had taken two years to prepare, was promulgated on April 7, 2001 and finally took effect as of July 1, 2001. Accordingly, the old earlier Conflict of Laws Act which was called "Seoboesabeop" in Korean ("Prior Act"Old Act) was replaced by the new Conflict of Laws Act called "Gukjesabeop" in Korean ("New Act"). In fact the Old Act Prior Act was promulgated in 1962, but it was regarded as outdated from the moment of its promulgation. However, since the Old Act because it was modeled after the chapter of the Private International Law of the Einfuehrungsgesetz zum Buergerlichen Gesetzbuch (EGBGB) of the Federal Republic of Germany ("German PIL") and the Japanese Private International Law ("Japanese PIL") which had been promulgated toward the end of the 19th century., the Old Act was viewed as outdated from the moment of its promulgation. As a result of the drastic change of the environment for international trade of which that has taken took place in parallel with the global information technology revolution on a global basis, the scope of issues to be addressed which should be resolved by the conflict of laws principles has been remarkably expanded, and various new issues of an entirely which are quite new in its type and nature have arisen been raised. In the field of conflict of laws in its narrow sense, a revolution or crisis of the traditional conflict of laws has been brought about by the advent in the United States rise of a the new methodology for of the conflict of laws, of the United States of America and in the process of overcoming the such crisis the conflict of laws of the European continent has undergone substantial changes such as the diversification of the connecting principles, the expansion of the principle of party autonomy and the consideration of the value of the substantive law to protect socio-economically weaker parties of. The Prior Act, which was based on However, with the mechanical connecting principles and contained various outdated the inappropriate provisions, the Old Act could not cope with the issues raised by the internationalization and globalization of the Korean society. Furthermore In addition, the Old Act Prior Act was regarded as insufficient in that it lacked rules on international jurisdiction to adjudicate, or international adjudicatory jurisdiction, whereas the expectation of the public was that the Conflict of Laws a Act should function as the "Basic Law of the International Legal Relationships"encompassing rules on international jurisdiction given the increase of international disputes. Furthermore the private international law has also attracted more attention from the Korean At the beginning of the new Millennium, thanks to the promulgation of the New Act, I believe that Korea has succeeded in achieving the modest goal of reflecting in the its codification substantial parts of the major developments of the private international law which the leading advanced continental European countries had achieved during the last century. The New Act has followed the approach of the traditional conflict of laws of the European continent. It is a product of the efforts to eliminate the then existing problems of the Prior Old Act and to adapt the Korean private international law regime to the standard of international conventions and national laws of advanced countries. Unlike the Prior Old Act which was heavily dependent upon the prior Japanese PIL and the prior German PIL, the New Act has been prepared by taking into full account the Rome Convention, the Swiss PIL, the new German PIL which took effect in 1986 and various conventions adopted by the Hague Conference. Therefore, the New Act has substantially reduced dependence upon the Japanese PIL and the German PIL, and has gained relatively greater universal validity. The fact that the New Act expressly declares that the determination of international jurisdiction is a matter of conflict of laws is a clear sign that it has departed from the German tradition which confines the conflict of laws principles to choice of laws rules, and moved toward a broader and more practical approach widely accepted in the area of conflict of laws. It is hoped, and I am personally confident, that the New Act will be able to achieve its intended objectives in the 21st century as the basic law for the ever-increasing legal relationships with a foreign element.

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The Manchus and ginseng in the Qing period (만주족과 인삼)

  • Kim, Seonmin
    • Journal of Ginseng Culture
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    • v.1
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    • pp.11-27
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    • 2019
  • The Jurchens, the ancestors of the Qing Manchus, had lived scattered in Manchuria and had made their living mostly on ginseng gathering and animal hunting. Their residential areas, rich with deep forest and numerous rivers, provided great habitation for all kinds of flora and fauna, but not so proper for agriculture. Based on their activities of foraging and hunting, the Jurchens developed a unique social organization that was later transformed into the Banner System, the most distinctive Qing military institution. By the sixteenth century, that the external trade brought considerable changes to Jurchen society. A huge amount of foreign silver, imported from Japan and South America to China, first invigorated commercial economy in China proper, and later caused a huge influence on Ming frontier regions, including Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century when the tradition of foraging and hunting encountered with silver economy, the Jurchen tribes became unified after years of competition and transformed themselves into the Manchus to build the Qing empire in 1636. In 1644 the Manchus succeeded in conquering the China Proper and moved into Beijing. Even after that, the Manchu imperial court never forgot the value of Manchurii ginseng; instead, they paid great efforts to monopolize this profitable root. Until the late seventeenth century, the Qing court used the Banner System to manage Manchurian ginseng. The banner soldiers stationed in Manchuria checked unauthorized civilian entrances in this frontier and protected its ginseng producing mountains from the Han Chinese people. All the process of ginseng gathering was managed by the institutions under the direct control of the imperial court, such as the Imperial Household Department, the Butha Ula Office, and the Three Upper Banner in Shengjing. Banner soldiers were dispatched to the given mountains, collect the given amount of ginseng, and send them to the imperial court in Beijing. The state monopoly of ginseng was maintained throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries under the principle that Manchuria and its natural resources should be guarded from civilian encroachment. At the same time, Manchurian ginseng was considered as an important source of state revenue. The imperial court and financial bureau wanted to collect ginseng as much as they needed. By the late seventeenth century as the ginseng management by the banner soldiers failed in securing the ginseng tax, the Qing court began to invite civil merchants to ginseng business. During the eighteenth century the Qing ginseng policy became more dependent on civil merchants, both their money and management. In 1853 the Qing finally ended the ginseng monopoly, but it was before the early eighteenth century that wealthy merchants hired ginseng gatherers and paid ginseng tax to the state. The Qing monopoly of ginseng was in fact maintained by the active participation of civil merchants in the ginseng business.