• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.204-214
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• 2023

This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the potential impact of deforestation and forest restoration on carbon storage in North Korea until 2050, employing rigorous analyses of trends of land use change in the past periods and projecting future land use change scenarios. We utilized the CA-Markov model, which can reflect spatial trends in land use changes, and verified the impact of forest restoration strategies on carbon storage by creating land use change scenarios (reforestation and non-reforestation). We employed two distinct periods of land use maps (2000 to 2010 and 2010 to 2020). To verify the overall terrestrial carbon storage in North Korea, our evaluation included estimations of carbon storage for various elements such as above-ground, below-ground, soil, and debris (including litters) for settlement, forest, cultivated, grass, and bare areas. Our results demonstrated that effective forest restoration strategies in North Korea have the potential to increase carbon storage by 4.4% by the year 2050, relative to the carbon storage observed in 2020. In contrast, if deforestation continues without forest restoration efforts, we predict a concerning decrease in carbon storage by 11.5% by the year 2050, compared to the levels in 2020. Our findings underscore the significance of prioritizing and continuing forest restoration efforts to effectively increase carbon storage in North Korea. Furthermore, the implications presented in this study are expected to be used in the formulation and implementation of long-term forest restoration strategies in North Korea, while fostering international cooperation towards this common environmental goal.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 1998

The objective was to know if seed potato farmers in Kangwon alpine area control weeds effectively and use herbicides properly to control weeds. Seed potato farmers in Pyongcbang, Hoengsong, and Kangnung have noxious weeds, such as marsh pepper, lambsquarters, barnyard grass, mugwort, asiatic dayflower, hairy carbgrass, ladysthumb, common chickweed, field horsetail, and common purslain, in their farmyard. These are controlled by a combination of physical and chemical weed control methods. However, several weeds such as marsh pepper, field horsetail and, mugwort are poorly controlled by 2-fold amount of several herbicides, including paraquat, pendimethalin, and metribuzin (58% of the answered). Herbicides are not selected and used in a proper manner by seed potato farmers: most of farmers selected herbicides by their experience (51% of the answered) and dealers recommendation (34% of the answered), while only a few farmers of the answered took advantage of the Farmers Handbook for Herbicide Application. In addition, the selected herbicides, including non-registered ones such as paraquat and fluazifop-butyl, are applying three to five years in a succession. With these improper selection and usage of herbicides, sixty-seven percent of the answered farmers have experienced crop damage and seventy-five percent have poisoning. We conclude that a systemic educational program for the proper selection and use of herbicides is needed for seed potato farmers in Kangwon alpine area.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2007

Background: Toxocariasis is a common cause of eosinophilia and eosinophilic lung disease in Korea. We analyzed the characteristics of eosinophilic lung disease in toxocariasis. Method: One hundred and forty one patients with eosinophilia caused by a toxocara larval infection were evaluated from September 1, 2001 through March 30, 2006. The plain chest x-ray, chest CT(computed tomography), and bronchoalveolar larvage(BAL) were examined. A diagnosis of toxocariasis was made by ELISA using that secretory-excretory antigen from the T. canis larvae. Results: Toxocarial eosinophilic lung diseases was diagnosed in 32 out of 141 patients. Ground glass attenuation was the main feature on the CT scans in 23 out of 141 patients (71.9%). Thirteen patients (40.6%) had a random in zonal distribution on CT. Pleural effusion was observed in 9 patients (28.1%). Twenty eight patients (87.5%) complained of respiratory symptoms. Eleven patients (34.4%) had gastrointestinal symptoms and 12 patients (37.5%) had liver infiltration. Conclusions: The most common findings of the chest CT in patients with toxocariasis was a randomly distributed ground grass attenuation. A toxocara infection should be considered in a differential diagnosis of patients who exhibit pulmonary infiltration with eosinophilia in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.54-59
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• 1999

The objective was to know if corn growers at Hongchcel County, Kangwon-do, where corn is the major agricultural product, control weeds effectively and use herbicides properly to control weeds. Sixty-eight corn growers at Hongchon were participated in this survey. Corn growers have noxious weeds, such as hairy carbgrass, common purslane, lambsquarters, Asiatic dayflower, mugwort and barnyard grass in their corn fields. Forty-four percents of the answered corn growers control weeds by hand weeding, and the others by a combination of physical and chemical methods. Corn growers have a preference of paraquat and alachlor for a pre-emergence treatment (94% of the answered) and of paraquat, glufosinate, glyphosate and fluazifop-P-butyl for a post-emergence treatment (87% of the answered). Corn growers did not select and use herbicides in a proper manner. fifty-four percent of the answered corn fevers selected herbicides by their own experience and 18 percent by neighbors recommendation. Herbicides were not selected and used in a proper manner by corn growers: 54 percent of the answered selected herbicides by the experience of growers and 18 percent by the recommendation of neighbors. In addition, a half of the answered applied over two-fold higher amounts of herbicides than the recommended rate. With these improper- selection and use of herbicides, 37 percent of the answered have experienced the crop damage and 42 percent the herbicide poisoning. We conclude that the development of the educational program for the proper selection and use of herbicides is needed for corn growers in Kangwon-do.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2000.07a
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• pp.235-240
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• 2000

In the age of global communication, more human exchange is extended at the grass-roots level. In the old days, language policy and language planning was based on one nation-state with one language. But high waves of globalizaiton have allowed extended human flow of exchange beyond one's national border on a daily basis. Under such circumstances, homogeneity in Japan may not allow Japanese to speak and communicate only in Japanese and only with Japanese people. In Japan, an advisory report was made to the Ministry of Education in June 1996 about what education should be like in the 21st century. In this report, an introduction of English at public elementary schools was for the first time made. A basic policy of English instruction at the elementary school level was revealed. With this concept, English instruction is not required at the elementary school level but each school has their own choice of introducing English as their curriculum starting April 2002. As Baker, Colin (1996) indicates the age of three as being the threshold diving a child becoming bilingual naturally or by formal instruction. Threre is a movement towards making second language acquisition more naturalistic in an educational setting, developing communicative competence in a more or less formal way. From the lesson of the Canadian immersion success, Genesee (1987) stresses the importance of early language instruction. It is clear that from a psycho-linguistic perspective, most children acquire basic communication skills in their first language apparently effortlessly and without systematic and formal instruction during the first six or seven years of life. This innate capacity diminishes with age, thereby making language learning increasingly difficult. The author, being a returnee, experienced considerable difficulty acquiring L2, and especially achieving native-like competence. There will be many hurdles to conquer until Japanese students are able to reach at least a communicative level in English. It has been mentioned that English is not taught to clear the college entrance examination, but to communicate. However, Japanese college entrance examination still makes students focus more on the grammar-translation method. This is expected to shift to a more communication stressed approach. Japan does not have to aim at becoming an official bilingual country, but at least communicative English should be taught at every level in school Mito College is a small two-year co-ed college in Japan. Students at Mito College are basically notgood at English. It has only one department for business and economics, and English is required for all freshmen. It is necessary for me to make my classes enjoyable and attractive so that students can at least get motivated to learn English. My major target is communicative English so that students may be prepared to use English in various business settings. As an experiment to introduce more communicative English, the author has made the following syllabus design. This program aims at training students speak and enjoy English. 90-minute class (only 190-minute session per week is most common in Japanese colleges) is divided into two: The first half is to train students orally using Graded Direct Method. The latter half uses different materials each time so that students can learn and enjoy English culture and language simultaneously. There are no quizes or examinations in my one-academic year program. However, all students are required to make an original English poem by the end of the spring semester. 2-6 students work together in a group on one poem. Students coming to Mito College, Japan have one of the lowest English levels in all of Japan. However, an attached example of one poem made by a group shows that students can improve their creativity as long as they are kept encouraged. At the end of the fall semester, all students are then required individually to make a 3-minute original English speech. An example of that speech contest will be presented at the Convention in Seoul.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.506-514
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• 2019

Unlike natural ecosystems, the urban ecosystem proVides an interdependent enVironment in which wild organisms and urban people co-exist. Hornets (genus Vespa) appearing in urban green and parks haVe a positiVe effect on urban ecosystems, but they also cause ecosystem disserVices that cause physical and psychological discomforts to the urban people. Children's parks, for example, are Very popular among children and residents for easy accessibility, and hornets also use them as bases and habitats. HoweVer, there is still a lack of spatial analysis of habitats and appearance characteristics of hornets in children's parks. This study installed hornet traps in 27 children's parks in Cheonan from April to NoVember 2018 in consideration of the life cycle of hornets. We captured a total of fiVe Vespa species (Vespa crabro, V. analis, V. mandarinia, V. ducalis, and V. Velutina) for 32 weeks and analyzed the emergence of hornets in relation to the composition of seasonal characteristics, species characteristics, and enVironmental spatial information. We captured a total of 818 hornets during the study period. They included 290 V. analis (35.4%), 260 V. crabro (31.8%), 100 V. ducalis (12.1%), 87 V. mandaninia (10.6%), and 81 V. Velutina(9.9%). Most of the hornets showed a common feature that queen hornets were largely captured in May through June after they awake from hibernation, and the number of caught hornets decreased sharply beginning in mid-June, which was the cooperatiVe period. HoweVer, V. Velutina showed a seasonal specificity that more than 80% were captured beginning in the third week of October when other hornet species had already entered a decline phase. The analysis of the number of hornets caught in each spot in children's parks showed significant difference among the spots as 363 hornets (44.3%) were captured in top children's parks, and 35 hornets (4%) were captured in bottom children's parks. In particular, the mean NDVI (Normalized difference Vegetation index) of the top six children's parks was 0.79, and that of the bottom six children's parks was 0.38 (t=2.67*, *=p<0.05), indicating a significant difference. The frequency of capturing hornets was high when the ground around the children's parks was grass or bare land. This study is meaningful as a reference study that confirms the ecological characteristics of hornets appearing in green and parks in the city. We expect it to be a foundation for effectiVe urban green area management in the future.