• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.193-209
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• 2016

The Mekong River is a river in the south-eastern part of the continent of Aisa. It flows through the countries of Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam that are located in Indochina and are members of ASEAN. These countries are growing rapidly and many others have entered into these markets. As the number of manufactures has increased, logistics markets become very attractive to our logistics companies that want to expand their business. This study focuses on four countries, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, which have potential economic growth and shows the environment of logistics with current logistics infrastructure and related investment law and system. The goal of this study to provide, with strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats(SWOT) analysis, some strategies to enter 4 countries' logistics market with SWOT and the strategies are as follows; First, foreign direct investment in logistics is linked with logistics infrastructure projects. Our government should strengthen its role to find cooperation programs that make connect with logistics business. Second, a logistics company is better off in a consortium with other manufacturers or other logistics companies to ensure minimum cargo and reduce entry risks. Finally, the four countries' roles as a logistics bases need to divided according to their environments, to benefits of logistics connecting between India and China.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.41-52
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• 2015

Purpose - Given globalization, the new niche market of medical tourism is likely to experience sustainable growth for various reasons, such as aging populations and a shift in the medical consumerism paradigm toward prevention. Importantly, understanding medical customers' behavior is necessary to benefit from a competitive advantage in this industry. The existing research primarily accessed the key factors of medical quality and costs to explain health customers' behavior but is limited in terms of enabling an understanding of the decision process. This limitation exists because, given the intangibility and greater associated risks in the highly professional industry of international medical tourism, most customers lack the knowledge and experience needed to evaluate the central factors-such as the medical competence of health care countries-before purchases. Therefore, they actively search for useful information through various distributions to reduce uncertainty and to make better choices. Interestingly, most of these information channels are associated with word-of-mouth (WOM). However, no evidence is found in the literature to estimate the effect of WOM in the medical tourism field. Thus, this study focuses on WOM to explore its interaction with key medical characteristic factors and the attractiveness of destinations referred to by sources. This study also affects customers' evaluations and, in turn, influences their intention to seek health care services abroad. Research design, data, and methodology - The literature review addressed an interesting research model for estimating the relations among WOM, medical characteristics, attractiveness, and customers' choice intention regarding international health care. In the key economic regions in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guangdong, 2,500 survey questionnaires were distributed to potential customers of different ages, education, and income levels. A resulting 1,717 (68.68 percent of the original 2,500) usable surveys were obtained for analysis. Moderated regression analysis was used to determine the effects of WOM in the decision process regarding international health care destinations. Results - The results indicate that WOM is a good moderator of the relationships between the factors evaluated by sources and customers. More importantly, the WOM effects reflect the factors of tie strength, credibility, and vividness. The results also reveal that, given the moderating role of WOM, the intention of potential Chinese customers to seek the referred health care country varies according to the medical characteristics of medical competency and reputation as evaluated by customers. In contrast, the travel attractiveness of the attractions, facilities, accessibility, and social environment are critical determinants of destination choice intention. Conclusions - The moderating role of WOM has been confirmed through the international healthcare destination selection process. Medical tourism managers should user WOM as an effective marketing tool for industry development. Specially, marketers should consider the effects of WOM determinants, such as tie strength, credibility, and vividness, to develop an effective strategy. Furthermore, this study estimates the factors that affect customers' selection of medical tourism destinations. Health care managers or policy makers should consider a broad variety of variables that may attract more Chinese customers to international health care.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.59-65
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• 2014

Purpose - The competitiveness of logistics in the 21st century rests on ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of its local hub. While considering entry into a niche market in local logistics, it is pertinent to note that Budapest is emerging as a hub in EU enlargement in Eastern Europe. Big, small, and medium-sized businesses in Korea entered Hungary in the early 1990s since then, there has been a significant increase in Korean presence, of approximately 130 times. This study aimed to identify the key distribution issues that have emerged in relation to Eastern Europe. Research design, data, and methodology - This study indicates that 33 major Korean companies were located in Hungary, which serves as an out post to enter the European marketplace. However, Korea's exports to Hungary have declined (-32.0% in 2012) because of a loss of competitiveness against multinational corporations, due to factors such as the rise in current local distribution costs and wages. Hungary, on the other hand, through diversification and expansion of foreign trade with the non-EU markets, including Korea, is increasing its exports. Strategies of emerging countries are compared and reviewed in this study, by examining the vicissitudes of Hungary's distribution methods. Results - There are issues regarding Hungary's innovative ability. Hungary has a history of low wages and high skilled labor. However, the outflow of high-quality human resources for high-wages has become more extensive, and this underlines concerns that the CEE's trade hub is moving to neighboring countries. After the European financial crisis in 2010, the Hungarian economy is now developing, because of the IMF's measures, and it is being transformed into a trade surplus nation, while regaining distribution volumes rapidly. However, if there is continued lack of investment, the supply chain is weakened and exports decline amidst competition with TNCs or with China's distribution networks. Conclusions - It is necessary to create a new logistics approach for increasing trade between Korea and Hungary. First, Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should build trust by working with advanced Hungarian talent, and they should expand into state-of-the-art fields instead of being confined to traditional sectors. Second, this study focuses on limiting and lowering their high expectations for success according to foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and the role in the CEE distribution hub Korea should try to strengthen the distribution hub with its centralized population, using better, more highly educated human resources, thereby sustaining more innovative ability. Further, the positive effects of these measures are manifested in enhanced business on both sides of Hungary, namely, the EU and non-EU nations such as Turkey and emerging markets around Europe, and a better engagement in the core placement of culture and industry. For this, Korea can contribute to, and benefit from, a Hungarian logistics center, for adopting the high-tech cluster systems and commercializing distribution technology such as RFID·USN.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.91-115
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• 2004

The main purpose of this study is to analyze the cooperative squid fisheries problems surrounding the $E128^{\circ}$, established by the 1965 Korea - Japan Fisheries Agreement which banned Korean large trawlers' fishing east to the $E128^{\circ}$ In fact, the moratorium was put on by Japans request. However, such issue did not occur until the filefish stock in the southern Korean sea, which was a major target fish species of the large trawl fisheries, The filefish stock collapsed completely around 1991 and at the same time most of bottom fish stocks in the East China Sea began to show a symptom of over - exploitation. Thus, the off - shore large trawlers learned to have a little opportunity of finding out alternative fish stocks as well as fishing grounds. Fortunately, at that time squid resource stock and consumption were on the increasing trend. The large trawl fisheries were able to economically exploit squid stock east to the $E128^{\circ}$ through cooperative fishing with squid angling light boats in the East and East - South Sea, even though such cooperative fishing activities violate the existing fishery laws apparently. Some important reasons that the large trawlers have continued the cooperative fishing seem to be because (ⅰ) squid resource stock has been on the increasing state over time, (ⅱ) the trawl fisheries have made a significant contribution to meeting domestic and export demands and stabilizing squid prices, and (ⅲ) they have kept domestic squid market from foreign competition. However, the new Korea - Japan fisheries agreement in 1998 provided a momentum of questioning the effectiveness of the $E128^{\circ}$ by the squid - related fisheries other than the squid angling. Serious conflicts between squid - related fisheries began to emerge and to be much intensified. Squid angling industries in the East opposed to large trawlers's efforts to formalize such illegal cooperative squid fishing activities. Their main argument was that such formalizing would definitely make the East coast squid prices lower and in turn their business performance would be worse off. The results of quantitative analysis suggest that the trawlers' massive landing may have a significant influence on lowering the east coast squid prices. Now, an important issue that the squid - related fisheries and the government are facing is to solve such complex squid fishing problems through a multi - participatory negotiation process, including price stabilization, total allowable catch level and its operation schemes, $E128^{\circ}$ rearrangement, and so on.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.251-278
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• 2014

This research is about global investment for managing the important position, what Korea is doing in World's main market. Considering there are some differences between developed countries' model and developing countries' model in doing direct overseas investment, they target to get political agreement and develop the new invest plan and strategy by understanding changes of Korean manufacturing companies in direct overseas investment between 2007 and 2012 and analyzing the change of yearly investment motivation factors and acturing factors for investment. The result from this result let us know that company should develop their own idea for their competitive advantage by doing direct overseas investment with the existing the on which convinces the competitive advantage for investing overseas. From the analyzing result, even though it is fairly true that raising wage and getting resources, avoiding customs, and developing alternating industries for export had influenced at the beginning, overseas investing companies' policy will be influenced by the results from studying marketing-pursuit type, which emphasizes to manage trade income and outgo, keeping the balance in the black, ensuring raw materials, local producing and manufacturing by using low-wage people for local sale, and situation for changing investing tendency as service industry.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.185-206
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• 2013

Recent studies validate the idea that consumer judgment of products can affect consumer purchase intentions. Consumers judge products based on product quality, after sales satisfaction, and other visible values, but consumers also judge products on country-of-origin image, brand image and such intangible values. In this paper, we will examine consumer ethnocentrism and animosity, which are frequently responsible for country-of-origin prejudices, because the offending (i.e. exporting) nation has engaged in economic, political, or even military activities that the consumer finds difficult to forgive. The results of the study show a positive effect of product judgment on consumer purchase intentions, but consumer ethnocentrism and animosity negatively affect product judgment and consumer purchase intentions of foreign products. In the Chinese market, ethnocentric Chinese consumers have negative perceptions of foreign products with negative intentions to buy them. Chinese consumers have strong animosity for Japanese products, which negatively affect product judgments and purchase intentions to buy; therefore, Japanese corporations should increase cooperation with Chinese corporations. Conversely, for Korean companies, product judgment primarily affects consumers' intentions to buy; consequently, Korean companies should improve their product quality, after-sales satisfaction, brand image and other tangible aspects to improve consumer judgment.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.58-65
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• 2012

Since Nd-Fe-B magnet was first synthesized in 1983, many new applications have emerged in the past two decades. With regard to motor market, it will expand because of strong energy saving requirements from the automobile and electric application markets. Especially, permanent magnet motors for hybrid and electric vehicles are drawing great attention and the usage of Nd-Fe-B magnets will increase all the more hereafter. There is, however, a serious problem as motors in such eco-friendly cars are said to operate in high temperatures of about $200^{\circ}C$. Nd-Fe-B magnet has a drawback of dramatically decreasing coercive force with the rise of temperature. In order to improve this aspect. the best way is to add dysprosium (Dy) into the magnet. So, Dy has become an essential element for Nd-Fe-B high-performance magnet as it helps to maintain coercive force even at high temperatures. On the other hand, the rare earth resources in the earth crust are eccentrically-located and its majority is produced in China. There is a need to reduce its usage as, especially compared to light rare earth elements as neodymium (Nd) and samarium (Sm), heavy rare earth elements including Dy are unevenly distributed to a dramatic degree, their output low, and their prices are about 10 times that of Nd. The present article includes a summary of the trend in research and development of motors and permanent magnets to solve rare-earth resources problem.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.587-635
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to develop the Global Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Model (Global CGE Model) in order to produce an economic impact analysis, including prospective obligations for the Post-2012 regime. This model explores the impact of an international emissions trading market and macroeconomic variables such as GNP, consumption, investment, imports and exports, in accordance with potential increased obligations on the Republic of Korea. Distinguishing it from existing studies, this Global CGE Model divides the global community into major economic groups, and in the capacity of the analyzed global model, reflecting the principle nations' macroeconomic indicators through the theoretical approach of endogenous growth theory. Policies such as an emissions trading scheme and carbon tax are reflected in the model. Also, in particular, the model reflects exogenous technological advances. According to this analysis, the stronger the greenhouse gas reductions, the greater the adverse effects on the economy; among macroeconomic indicators that appear, a significant decline is realized in the balance of trade, along with a significant decrease in investment and consumption. Energy dependence, in particular, plays a large role-varying in degree by industry type-, as greenhouse gas reductions would have a greater impact on energy-intensive industries. Furthermore, if Korea, currently recognized as a developing country, is given the obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, competing countries such as China and other developing countries will be given an advantage.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.475-495
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• 2006

This paper is to analyse a changing space of energy flows in Northeast Asia from geopolitical and geoeconomic perspectives that have been recently promoted for energy security of countries in this region. The research is based on an analytical framework in an integration of political ecology and political economy. Because of an ever-increasing input of energy resources for economic growth and of dramatically increasing price of crude oil and recent instability of oil market, South Korea, China and Japan have been deeply concerned with energy security and conducted very actively geopolitical strategies. And hence the space of energy flows in the region is now in a process of dynamic reconfiguration, in which the project for development of oil and natural gas fields in East Siberia and construction of pipelines to transport them can be seen as one of competitive issues among these countries. In spite of worrying about stagflation due to rapid increase of oil price, such geo-strategies for energy security and reconfiguration of space of energy flows seem to keep the accumulation of capital in this region continue with generation of huge privatized oil companies.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2016

Recently, the market for ready-to-use vegetables has increased largely due to consumer demands, which led to the production of minimally-processed frozen crushed garlic products. This study was designed to determine the effect of electron beam irradiation (0-7 kGy) on microbial decontamination, bioactive compounds, and antimicrobial activities of frozen crushed garlic obtained from Korea and China. The microbial counts (total bacteria, yeasts & molds) were reduced from log 3-4 CFU/g to non-detectable levels as a result of irradiation at 4 kGy. Irradiation treatment at 4 kGy did not affect the amount of alliin, allicin, total pyruvate, and total thiosulfinate of crushed garlic, however, this dose induced insignificant changes in antibacterial activities against pathogenic bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Yersinia enterocolitica. Therefore, electron beam irradiation less than 4 kGy can be considered suitable to improve the microbial decontamination without altering the biological activity of frozen garlics.