• Korean Business Review
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• v.17
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• pp.153-183
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• 2004

The Gaisong Merchants can be regarded to playa pioneering role to activate the Korea's trade with foreign countries. In the early period of Yi-Dynasty, the Gaisong Merchants focused on personal trade, but in the middle period of Yi-Dynasty, they entered to the realm of governmental trade. Furthermore, their business activities widened to various forms of trades, for example, smuggling. Utilizing accumulated capital, Gaisong merchants expanded their trading activities to their neighboring countries such as Japan and China. In recent times, it is necessary for modem Korean companies to diversify risks through the establishment of corporations for production, marketing and R&D abroad or through joint venture, M&A and strategic alliance with foreign companies in order to reduce the risks originated from volatile economic and political situations. In this study, we utilize tools of comparative study to compare Gaisong Merchants' foreign trade strategies with those of modem companies such as AMOREPACIFIC, HANILCEMENT and SHINDORICO. The purpose of the paper is to test the hypothesis that modem Korean companies grew up by following the cases of Gaisong Merchants' business activities. We summarize our main findings as follows. First, both Gaisong Merchants and modem Korean companies have common functional core capability in the field of marketing, manufacturing technology, R&D, and human resources development. Second, both Gaisong Merchants and modem Korean companies have common organizational core capability. Third, both Gaisong Merchants and modem Korean companies have common infrastructures such as planning, finance, accounting and MIS. It constitutes the infrastructure of Korea's foreign trade sector. Fourth, both Gaisong Merchants and modem companies have common organizational culture in the field of management policy and philosophy. Actually, those factors are evaluated to be driving forces of Koera's success in foreign trade. In conclusion, the business activities of Gaisong Merchants who represented the peculiarity of Korean business spirit are partially inherited to current Korean business management. The value system and behavior pattern of modern Korean companies is succeeded from the spirit of Gaisong Merchants and it playa major role to specify the identity of Korean business administration.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.165-171
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• 2006

For several thousand years, Korean ginseng has been used as a medicinal herb in the oriental countries. Korea is the ginseng suzerain and, for that reason, the ginseng as a special crop in Korea has been exported to the world market since the era of the three Kingdoms. Hong Kong is the pivot of ginseng import from all of the world. In 1970s, Korea ginseng had a high market share (about 30%) in Hong Kong. However, recently, the market share of Korean ginseng in Hong Kong has been significantly reduced due to the mass production from China and Canada. Besides, America with aggressive marketing strategy takes the leadership in the international ginseng market in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is necessary for Korea to know and understand world ginseng market condition and situation in Hong Kong. The objective of this study is to identify the actual import situation at international ginseng market in Hong Kong. This study analyzed the ginseng import demand model which effected by several price variables from major importing countries at the international ginseng market in Hong Kong. The findings of this study show that the import price of Korean ginseng has an effect on the quantity of ginseng imported from other countries in Hong Kong. In addition, the quantity of ginseng imported from Korea in Hong Kong is influenced by the import price of ginseng from other countries. In conclusion, Korean ginseng plays an important role at the international ginseng market in Hong Kong.

• Journal of Ginseng Culture
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• v.6
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• pp.135-151
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• 2024

In order to compare the ginseng consumption culture of Korean and Chinese college students, their purchase status of ginseng products, attitudes toward ginseng, and satisfaction with ginseng products were examined, and the purchase and recommendation intention of ginseng products was investigated. It targeted 267 Korean college students and 318 Chinese college students who had experience eating ginseng products. As a result of the survey, in the case of Korean college student consumers, interest in ginseng products increased compared to before COVID-19, and the intention to purchase and recommend ginseng products increased. In addition, the higher the satisfaction with ginseng, the higher the frequency of ginseng purchase experience, the higher the social benefit attitude toward ginseng, and the higher the age, the higher the intention to purchase and recommend ginseng products. Chinese college student consumers had higher parental purchases than Korea, higher positive intentions to purchase and recommend social and psychological benefits, and their 20s are already more interested and friendly than Korea. What Korean college students and Chinese college student consumers have in common is that interest in health, safety, and environment has increased since before COVID-19, and interest in ginseng-related products has changed in individual experiences, indicating that individual experiences are important and Chinese college student consumers are influenced by parents. In particular, COVID-19 is an opportunity to recognize the importance of health, which is important to those in their 20s, and is actually related to purchase intention. Focusing on these results, it seems that expansion to preferred products for college student consumers and differentiation of marketing strategies according to family influence and consumption culture should be made, and these new changes due to COVID-19 seem to be a timely opportunity. At a time when interest in health and safety has increased, strategic preparations are needed for the future consumersociety to respond to changesin product diversity and convergence, changes in marketing media to meet consumer consumption values, and changesin consumer family types, such assingle households.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.480-487
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• 2018

Purpose: The study examined the Chinese and Japanese consumers' preference for Korean home meal replacement (HMR) product package designs using conjoint analysis. Methods: The questionnaire survey was completed by 270 consumers living in Beijing, China and Osaka, Japan, over the age of 20 years old, who had previously purchased or consumed a Korean HMR. Based on the attributes and levels within each attribute related to the Korean HMR product package design, 54 profiles were constructed. Of the 54 profiles, 11 combinations were selected using an orthogonal design, and the participants were asked to rank the 11 combinations in order of preference from top to bottom. Results: The relative importance of the Korean HMR product package design attributes were analyzed. Chinese consumers regarded illustration, ingestion form, concept, and brand name, in that order, to be most important. In the case of Japanese consumers, illustration, concept, ingestion form, and brand name, in that order, were most important. For the illustration attributes, in order of importance, Chinese consumers preferred raw materials, characters, and celebrities, and Japanese consumers preferred characters, raw materials, and celebrities. For the concept attributes, Chinese consumers favored, witty, traditional Korean, and modern concepts, whereas Japanese consumers favored witty, modern, and then traditional Korean concepts. For the ingestion form attributes, both Chinese and Japanese consumers preferred Ready To Eat (RTE), followed by Ready To Heat (RTH), and then Ready To Cook (RTC). For the brand name attributes, both Chinese and Japanese consumers preferred the localized brand name over the Korean brand name. Conclusion: Differences in the relative importance of Korean HMR product package design attributes were observed among Chinese and Japanese consumers, and there were differences in preference according to the levels within each attribute. These results are expected to provide useful basic data to assist in the future development of differentiated HMR package designs and marketing strategies to meet consumer needs in the market for Korean HMR in China and Japan.

• Archives of design research
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• v.20 no.3 s.71
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• pp.29-38
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• 2007

The competition to capture a larger slice of the market in Mobile Communication business is increasing among companies. In order to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in the Asian market, it is critical to continue to develop new technology. Understanding the underlying distinctive characteristics and needs of each market and the cultural backgrounds that drive those needs is a necessary focus. Companies with marketing strategies based on a correct understanding of market needs will capture dominant positions in the market. The purpose of this study is to identify those differences in user behavior and cultural tendencies among different people in different countries in the mobile telecommunication market. This research is based on an on-line survey in three countries (Korea, China, and Japan). Below are the contents of the survey on the mobile phone based on: 1) User behavior 2) Design preference 3) Purchasing behavior 4) User awareness on manufacturer brand. Through the analysis of this questionnaire it is possible to identify the differences and similarities among countries dearly. 1) Cultural trends and perceptions related to mobile phone usage were largely caused by differences in the state of technology, policies and business strategies of mobile sonics carriers and manufacturers, and national tendencies, of each country. 2) Korean and Japanese users produced similar responses to the questions related to advanced technology, whereas Korean and Chinese users responded similarly to national tendency-related questions. 3) To the questions related to business strategies of mobile service carriers and manufacturers, users in all three countries displayed markedly different responses. Once again, accurate analysis of the differences and similarities related to mobile phone usage in each country will help the companies in this industry to gain a competitive edge in the market. This study should not stop at simple comparison but be a framework for giving companies a dear future direction for technological development.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.151-166
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of Chinese customer coffee sought benefits on satisfaction with, and attachment and loyalty to Korean coffee shops. Based on a total of 200 samples obtained for empirical research from 10 Mar. to 25 July, 2015, of self-administrated questionaries completed by patrons in Beijing, Shanghai, Haerbin in China, data were analyzed for frequency, exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, it was found that Chinese customer sought pursuits (functional & experimental benefits, symbolic benefit) had an effect on satisfaction of Korea coffee shop. Second, satisfaction influenced Korean coffee shop attachment and loyalty. Third, Korean wave attitude had a mediating effect between satisfaction, attachment and loyalty. From the results, we can conclude following implications: First, by providing atmosphere of South Korea, menu, barista service, we can predict that Korean coffee brands can prevail in competition through active promotions of their brands. Second, Korean coffee brands can make a strategy that includes providing full service from trained South Korean baristas and hosting talk shows between baristas from South Korea. Third, providing the opportunity to visit South Korea for local cafe tours is a good social event. These results will help control marketing strategies in China. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.160-174
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• 2005

Despite the decrease in the number of children due to low birth rate, the domestic children's apparel market has been achieving steady growth as family income is rising thanks to more opportunities for working women, parents spend more on their children, and they prefer brand products that make their children look special. In addition, the market is suffering from hard competition as large enterprises have joined the race. The present study purposed to survey the children's apparel market in Korea, which is in a transitional period, and to contribute to the development of the market with Korean brands. For this purpose, we analyzed the characteristics of children's apparel brands in the 21st century based on the current state of the domestic children's apparel market and, based on the findings, forecasted the future trend of children's apparel brands, suggested improvements for expected problems, proposed standards for coping with changes such as diversification, high quality and differentiation in the children's apparel market, and provided consumers with information on how to purchase products. According to the result of analyzing the characteristics of children's apparel brands in the 21st century, brands are categorized largely into four types - life cultural brands, functional product brands, character brands and brands advancing to China. Life cultural brands equipped with all necessities for children are expanding, and with the deepening social problems of environmental pollution and the reduction of the child population, functional products made of environment-friendly materials are spreading widely, targeting infants and children. Furthermore, for extending age targets and diversifying products, children's apparel is using characters. The use of characters is expected to have a considerable effect on the growth of brands because children are more subjective as consumers than before and they are more easily persuaded with characters. Domestic children's apparel brands advancing to China have a high expectation of success in overcoming the limitation of the local market that has reached its peak and growing into global brands. Korean apparel makers are struggling to overcome the depressed domestic market, to recover consumers' consumption, to cope with market opening, to pursue high value of sensibility and to expand the seniors' market, etc. In this situation, future trends of children's apparel brands will be the expansion of family brands, brand totalization, quality price, niche market (pre-teen market), etc. In response to these trends, we made the following suggestions for improvement. 1. Children's apparel brands are evolving into family brands as well as into total brands through voluming. Today, however, apparel makers are advancing to the children's apparel market with the concept of adults' apparel and, as a result, children's apparel is merely adults' apparel of reduced size, having problems in design, color and materials. Thus, apparel makers must develop design considering the wide range of size and the characteristics of children's apparel, strengthen sourcing abilities to create revenues, and make thorough survey of customers to find common denominators between adults' apparel and children's apparel considering that characteristic that the target class is different from the buyer class. Furthermore, they must make active investments in human resources, develop outstanding products through advanced planning and design, and support marketing techniques and management systems to stores. 2. As the declining birth rate will continue to have a negative effect on the market, it may be difficult to expand the market size but there is still a margin for growth through high-sensibility and high-quality products. The competitiveness of brands is determined by their market shares. Accordingly, concepts should be specialized according to lifestyle, customers' diverse needs should be satisfied, and cross-coordination should be achieved within a brand. 3. Considering Korean parents who do not spare investment in their children despite shrinking consumption, functional products must be high value-added goods that can enhance efficiency. However, in the current situation of the infants' apparel industry where a textile manufacturer supply its products to multiple brands, it is difficult to develop unique products only based on materials. Thus, it is considered urgent to appeal to consumers not by relying on materials only but by finding methods of applying their own characters to children's dress.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.5-20
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• 1997

War and poverty depress the consumption of cosmetics, while peace and prosperity encourage their proliferation. With the end of World War II, the US, Europe and Japan witnessed rapid growth of their cosmetic industries. The ending of the Cold War has stimulated the growth of the industry in Eastern Europe. Improved economies, and mass communication are also responsible for the fast growth of the cosmetic industries in many Asian nations. The rapid development of the cosmetic industry in mainland China over the past decade proves that changing economies and political climates can deeply affect the health of our business. In addition to war, economy, political climate and mass communication, factors such as lifestyle, religion, morality and value concepts, can also affect the growth of our industry. Cosmetics are the product of the society. As society and the needs of its people change, cosmetics also evolve with respect to their contents, packaging, distribution, marketing concepts, and emphasis. In many ways, cosmetics mirror our society, reflecting social changes. Until the early 70's, cosmetics in the US were primarily developed for white women. The civil rights movement of the 60's gave birth to ethnic cosmetics, and products designed for African-Americans became popular in the 70's and 80's. The consumerism of the 70's led the FDA to tighten cosmetic regulations, forcing manufacturers to disclose ingredients on their labels. The result was the spread of safety-oriented, "hypoallergenic" cosmetics and more selective use of ingredients. The new ingredient labeling law in Europe is also likely to affect the manner in which development chemists choose ingredients for new products. Environmental pollution, too, can affect cosmetics trends. For example, the concern over ozone depletion in the stratosphere has promoted the consumption of suncare products. Similarly, the popularity of natural cosmetic ingredients, the search of non-animal testing methods, and ecology-conscious cosmetic packaging seen in recent years all reflect the profound influences of our changing world. In the 1980's, a class of efficacy-oriented skin-care products, which the New York Times dubbed "serious" cosmetics, emerged in the US. "Cosmeceuticals" refer to hybrids of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals which have gained importance in the US in the 90's and are quickly spreading world-wide. In spite of regulatory problems, consumer demand and new technologies continue to encourage their development. New classes of cosmeceuticals are emerging to meet the demands of increasingly affluent Asian consumers as we enter the 21st century. as we enter the 21st century.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.245-276
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• 2008

Brand equity is one of the most important concepts in business practice as well as in academic research. Successful brands can allow marketers to gain competitive advantage (Lassar et al.,1995), including the opportunity for successful extensions, resilience against competitors' promotional pressures, and the ability to create barriers to competitive entry (Farquhar, 1989). Branding plays a special role in service firms because strong brands increase trust in intangible products (Berry, 2000), enabling customers to better visualize and understand them. They reduce customers' perceived monetary, social, and safety risks in buying services, which are obstacles to evaluating a service correctly before purchase. Also, a high level of brand equity increases consumer satisfaction, repurchasing intent, and degree of loyalty. Brand equity can be considered as a mixture that includes both financial assets and relationships. Actually, brand equity can be viewed as the value added to the product (Keller, 1993), or the perceived value of the product in consumers' minds. Mahajan et al. (1990) claim that customer-based brand equity can be measured by the level of consumers' perceptions. Several researchers discuss brand equity based on two dimensions: consumer perception and consumer behavior. Aaker (1991) suggests measuring brand equity through price premium, loyalty, perceived quality, and brand associations. Viewing brand equity as the consumer's behavior toward a brand, Keller (1993) proposes similar dimensions: brand awareness and brand knowledge. Thus, past studies tend to identify brand equity as a multidimensional construct consisted of brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand knowledge, customer satisfaction, perceived equity, brand associations, and other proprietary assets (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Blackston, 1995; Cobb-Walgren et al., 1995; Na, 1995). Other studies tend to regard brand equity and other brand assets, such as brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand image, brand loyalty, perceived quality, and so on, as independent but related constructs (Keller, 1993; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993). Walters(1978) defined information search as, "A psychological or physical action a consumer takes in order to acquire information about a product or store." But, each consumer has different methods for informationsearch. There are two methods of information search, internal and external search. Internal search is, "Search of information already saved in the memory of the individual consumer"(Engel, Blackwell, 1982) which is, "memory of a previous purchase experience or information from a previous search."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). External search is "A completely voluntary decision made in order to obtain new information"(Engel & Blackwell, 1982) which is, "Actions of a consumer to acquire necessary information by such methods as intentionally exposing oneself to advertisements, taking to friends or family or visiting a store."(Beales, Mazis, Salop, and Staelin, 1981). There are many sources for consumers' information search including advertisement sources such as the internet, radio, television, newspapers and magazines, information supplied by businesses such as sales people, packaging and in-store information, consumer sources such as family, friends and colleagues, and mass media sources such as consumer protection agencies, government agencies and mass media sources. Understanding consumers' purchasing behavior is a key factor of a firm to attract and retain customers and improving the firm's prospects for survival and growth, and enhancing shareholder's value. Therefore, marketers should understand consumer as individual and market segment. One theory of consumer behavior supports the belief that individuals are rational. Individuals think and move through stages when making a purchase decision. This means that rational thinkers have led to the identification of a consumer buying decision process. This decision process with its different levels of involvement and influencing factors has been widely accepted and is fundamental to the understanding purchase intention represent to what consumers think they will buy. Brand equity is not only companies but also very important asset more than product itself. This paper studies brand equity model and influencing factors including information process such as information searching and information resources in the fashion market in Asia and Europe. Information searching and information resources are influencing brand knowledge that influences consumers purchase decision. Nine research hypotheses are drawn to test the relationships among antecedents of brand equity and purchase intention and relationships among brand knowledge, brand value, brand attitude, and brand loyalty. H1. Information searching influences brand knowledge positively. H2. Information sources influence brand knowledge positively. H3. Brand knowledge influences brand attitude. H4. Brand knowledge influences brand value. H5. Brand attitude influences brand loyalty. H6. Brand attitude influences brand value. H7. Brand loyalty influences purchase intention. H8. Brand value influence purchase intention. H9. There will be the same research model in Asia and Europe. We performed structural equation model analysis in order to test hypotheses suggested in this study. The model fitting index of the research model in Asia was $X^2$=195.19(p=0.0), NFI=0.90, NNFI=0.87, CFI=0.90, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.083, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. In Europe, it was $X^2$=133.25(p=0.0), NFI=0.81, NNFI=0.85, CFI=0.89, GFI=0.90, RMR=0.073, AGFI=0.85, which means the model fitting of the model is good enough. From the test results, hypotheses were accepted. All of these hypotheses except one are supported. In Europe, information search is not an antecedent of brand knowledge. This means that sales of global fashion brands like jeans in Europe are not expanding as rapidly as in Asian markets such as China, Japan, and South Korea. Young consumers in European countries are not more brand and fashion conscious than their counter partners in Asia. The results have theoretical, practical meaning and contributions. In the fashion jeans industry, relatively few studies examining the viability of cross-national brand equity has been studied. This study provides insight on building global brand equity and suggests information process elements like information search and information resources are working differently in Asia and Europe for fashion jean market.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.47
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• pp.33-54
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• 2002

Rice quality is much dependent on the pre-and post harvest management. There are many parameters which influence rice or cooked rice qualitys such as cultivars, climate, soil, harvest time, drying, milling, storage, safety, nutritive value, taste, marketing, eating, cooking conditions, and each nations' food culture. Thus, vice evaluation might not be carried out by only some parameters. Physicochemical evaluation of rice deals with amy-lose content, gelatinizing property, and its relation with taste. The amylose content of good vice in Korea is defined at 17 to 20%. Other parameters considered are as follows; ratio of protein body-1 per total protein amount in relation to taste, and oleic/linoleic acid ratio in relation to storage safety. The rice higher Mg/K ratio is considered as high quality. The optimum value is over 1.5 to 1.6. It was reported that the contents of oligosaccharide, glutamic acid or its derivatives and its proportionalities have high corelation with the taste of rice. Major aromatic compounds in rice have been known as hexanal, acetone, pentanal, butanal, octanal, and heptanal. Recently, it was found that muco-polysaccharides are solubilized during cooking. Cooked rice surface is coated by the muco-polysaccharide. The muco-polysaccharide aye contributing to the consistency and collecting free amino acids and vitamins. Thus, these parameters might be regarded as important items for quality and taste evaluation of rice. Ingredients of rice related with the taste are not confined to the total rice grain. In the internal kernel, starch is main component but nitrogen and mineral compounds are localized at the external kernel. The ingredients related with taste are contained in 91 to 86% part of the outside kernel. For safety that is considered an important evaluation item of rice quality, each residual tolerance limit for agricultural chemicals must be adopted in our country. During drying, rice quality can decline by the reasons of high drying temperature, overdrying, and rapid drying. These result in cracked grain or decolored kernel. Intrinsic enzymes react partially during the rice storage. Because of these enzymes, starch, lipid, or protein can be slowly degraded, resulting in the decline of appearance quality, occurrence of aging aroma, and increased hardness of cooked rice. Milling conditions concerned with quality are paddy quality, milling method, and milling machines. To produce high quality rice, head rice must contain over three fourths of the normal rice kernels, and broken, damaged, colored, and immature kernels must be eliminated. In addition to milling equipment, color sorter and length grader must be installed for the production of such rice. Head rice was examined using the 45 brand rices circulating in Korea, Japan, America, Australia, and China. It was found that the head rice rate of brand rice in our country was approximately 57.4% and 80-86% in foreign countries. In order to develop a rice quality evaluation system, evaluation of technics must be further developed : more detailed measure of qualities, search for taste-related components, creation and grade classification of quality evaluation factors at each management stage of treatment after harvest, evaluation of rice as food material as well as for rice cooking, and method development for simple evaluation and establishment of equation for palatability. On policy concerns, the following must be conducted : development of price discrimination in conformity to rice cultivar and grade under the basis of quality evaluation method, fixation of head rice branding, and introduction of low temperature circulation.