• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.1233-1243
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• 2008

This study examined return policies of the Korean retailers and their differences by retail format. Return policies of 363 retailers including dept stores, discount stores, brand consignment stores, small shops, outlet stores, TV home shopping companies, and internet shopping malls were collected. Acceptance of refund or/and exchange, return grace period, and return requirements or restrictions of each retailer were analyzed. The results showed that most retail formats except small shops and internet shopping malls allowed refund. The seven day return grace period was most common though large retail chains allowed more generous time frames and small shops allowed shorter dates. Restrictions for return varied by retailers and retail formats. Generally retailers followed the guidelines of consumer protection laws. The study discussed implications of return policy analysis.

• Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.19-38
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• 2018

The energy intensity of Nepal is economically not worthy, lacks eco-friendly and importantly not sustainable, and almost four times the average global energy intensity. Considerable efforts have been exercised to reduce the energy gap yet, it is still much to achieve. Nation priority on energy sector was envisaged with promulgation of investment friendly rules and law in hydropower and renewable technology even though, could not harness the sufficient energy. In amid of this acute energy crisis, the government launched the Nepal Energy Efficiency Programme (NEEP) with technical assistance from German International Cooperation (GIZ). Energy Efficiency (EE) practice is the most cost-effective method to reduce the supply and demand gap, reduce on greenhouse gases and pollution, and deter on import of petroleum products which finally improves on trade imbalance. This paper had proposed a framework of energy management team to promote energy efficient technologies in residential consumer. The energy management teams study the past records of energy use pattern of consumers and suggest appropriate technology for energy saving options. The paper provides some reviews of energy efficiency initiatives undertaken by the concern regulatory body which highlights the current status. The comprehensive knowledge acquired through exploratory research is implemented in this paper to identify the various barriers that domestic consumer is experiencing towards the active participation in energy efficiency program launched by the Government of Nepal.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.47-69
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• 2010

From the review of Korean arbitration systems with the comparison of those of other countries, we can summarize some issues to be tackled as follows: First, Korean arbitration system started with the purpose of export promotion. This may be the main reason that various domestic disputes have not been resolved by arbitration. Second, the Korean Arbitration Law applies to private disputes. The Law's arbitration scope is wider than that of China and France, but narrower than that of the U.S.A. that encompasses a variety of disputes in the filed of consumer, labor, medical services, patents, etc. Third, active judges or public officials in Korea can not be arbitrator and there is no arbitration court. However, if chief judge allows the necessity, court's judges in the UK can be arbitrator with the mutual agreement of the parties and also arbitration system is operated in the court. Fourth, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board(KCAB), the only representative institution for arbitration in Korea, is under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy(MKE). This makes it difficult for the KCAB to handle other disputes related to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, etc. Fifth, as mentioned, the KCAB is the unique institution for arbitration by the Law in Korea, while other countries allow have a diversity of arbitration agencies such as maritime arbitration organization, consumer arbitration institution, arbitration court, etc. Therefore, we suggest some ideas to expand the arbitration's area of coverage in Korea as follows: First, there should be more active policies that promote various domestic disputes to be settled by the arbitration system. Second, it is quite needed to expand the scope of arbitration to cover many disputes in the fields of consumer, labor, medical service, advertising, fair trade, etc. Third, there should be discussions to allow court judges as arbitrator and to introduce the arbitration court. Fourth, the KCAB should strengthen its status and roles as general arbitration organization to overcome the limited scope of commercial disputes. For this, there should be the strong support and coordination among the MKE and other government agencies. Fifth, to reduce the burden of the court's complicated and expensive procedures, more efficient disputes resolution systems should be established on the basis of the parties' free will. Each central government agency should streamline the legal barriers to allow industrial organizations under its control to establish their own or joint arbitration system with the KCAB.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.87-108
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• 2014

Recent examples of abuse by black consumers (including air travellers) against emotional laborers have become a serious social issue in Korea in that they are likely to violate human rights of those laborers. Emotional labor is a form of emotion regulation that creates a publicly visible facial and bodily display, and also emotional management within the workforce that creates a situation in which the emotion management by workers can be exchanged in the marketplace. Example professions that require emotional labor are: nurses, doctors, waiting staff, and television actors. However, as the economy moves from a manufacturing to a service-based economy, many more workers in a variety of occupational fields are expected to manage their emotions according to employer demands when compared to the past. One of symptoms deriving from emotional labor is smile mask syndrome abbreviated SMS, which is a psychological disorder proposed by professor Makoto Natsume where subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling. And higher degree of using emotion regulation on the job is related to higher levels of employees' emotional exhaustion, and lower levels of employees' job satisfaction. In most part, emotional laborers are more abused and hurt by so called black consumers who are raising complaints relating to products and services purchased against service providers for the purpose of maliciously getting compensation. Against this background, the Korean Government abolished "the Consumer Protection Act" and instead promulgated "the Basic Consumer Act" in September 2006 which stipulates that consumers are expected to have protection as well as responsibility and duty. The Aviation Security Act cites the examples of prohibited behaviors (unruly passengers) while they are travelling. In addition, human rights of emotional laborers could be more protected by the enhancement of etiquettes and cavalry and improvement of culture and working environment.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.101-124
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• 2018

After the establishment of the Korean Product Liability Act, a new clause on the burden of proof has been added and is being revised to meet the purpose of consumer protection. Article 3(2) of the new clause stipulates a provision for estimating a causal relationship when proving indirect facts to alleviate burden of proof. While consumer rights are increasing and public attention is drawn to consumer issues, problems are still emerging. In order to solve the problem, the U.S. Product Liability Act, which has strong consumer rights, was examined to describe the direction in which Korea's Product Liability Act should proceed in terms of consumer protection. The results of the comparative analysis show that the US has expanded the concept of strict liability in terms of rigorous liability, consumer dispute resolution, provable possibility, and litigation accessibility, The consumer dispute settlement system has thoroughly protected consumers by operating educational and systemic consumer ADR system. As for the possibility of proving, Korea has three provenances, and the United States has one. In the United States, where consumer lawsuits are frequent, lawsuits are more accessible than those in Korea, where the party responsible for proving is turned into a manufacturer and responsible for proving the case. This study focuses on consumer protection and provides implications for Korean product liability law.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.92-113
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• 2000

Products liability refers to the liability of any or all parties along the chain of manufacture of any product for damage caused by that product. This includes the manufacturer of component parts (at the top of the chain), an assembling manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retail store owner (at the bottom of the chain). Products containing inherent defects that cause harm to a consumer of the product, or someone to whom the product was loaned, given, etc., are the subjects of products liability suits. The goal of products liability system should be to maximize consumer welfare by efficiently providing just compensation for injuries incurred and deterring future injuries without unreasonably impeding the supply of the goods and services to consumers. Some advanced countries, apart from relying on products liability systems, also apply other policies and legislation directly aimed at the safety of the consumer. The application of general safety policies as well as products liability rules is not costless. An efficient system will not eliminate risk from society. An efficient system ... that maximises consumer welfare ... maximises the benefits while minimising the costs. Products liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness depending on the jurisdiction where the claim is based. In view of international business and law circumstances, it should be stressed that international enterprises in Korea should consider how to cope with the situation of international transaction. International enterprises should have a correct perception about products liability which is to contribute the stabilization and improvement of the people's life and the sound develpement of the national economy. Products liability system creates incentives that influence behaviour and performance in ways that are desirable, such as more diligent monitoring to prevent defective products from reaching the market-place. At the same time, any liability system will impose burdens that are undesirable, such as greater costs imposed on business and consumers and reduced avaiability of consumer goods. The concern for society is to balance. The ideal situation is where the cost imposed on producers of goods and services pushes them to a desirable level of care but not so far that producers reach undesirable level of caution that may deprive consumers unnecessarily of the benefits from new and innovative products.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.399-408
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• 2016

As entering the Big Data age, utilization of Big Data is also increasing in the intellectual property sector. Meanwhile, the purpose of a trademark which distinguishes the source of the goods essentially is to enable the public to recognize the goods. Big Data technologies which is recently becoming a issue can be used as a tool to judge consumer's awareness of the trademark. It was difficult for judgment of trademark awareness through traditional ways. As a new way, survey methodology has bee received attention, and it was applied to the field of trademark law. However, various problems such as cost, time, objectivity, and fairness were observed. In order to overcome theses limitations, this study proposes new way utilizing big data analytics for judgment on consumer's awareness of the trademark. This new way will not only contribute to enhancing the objectivity of judging trademark awareness but also utilized to support for related legal judgments.

• The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.159-170
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• 2002

As the Internet has been spread widely and rapidly in Korea since mid 1990s, the growth of electronic commerce was expected to be so at first. It was generally believed that the Internet and electronic commerce would increase the market efficiency and decrease the asymmetry of information. Electronic commerce seemed to replace the traditional market by lowering price and creating consumer-driven market, The actual situation of market, however, is not. The fact-finding research tells the different result that the amount of B2C electronic commerce in Korea is very small contrary to expectations. This study is for the analysis of low growth of B2C electronic commerce in Korea, and to find solutions.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.25
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• pp.189-210
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• 2005

The application of 4PL could allow for the efficiency of many logistics operations to be greatly increased, for costs to be reduced, and for operations to become more responsive to consumer demand. It is also possible that higher services level and lower cost products could become available as a consequence. However, in order to implementing 4PL actually it is very important to be met to fundamental determinants of 4PL such as formation of logistics experts group, providing of total logistics service, capacity of IT, implementation of e-Business model, capacity of logistics consulting, higher logistics service level, logistics cost reduction, re-engineering of logistics process, focus of core competence etc.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.49
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• pp.111-137
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• 2011

UCP 600 Article 14(b), providing rules for the period of the examination of documents, is a radical reorganization of UCP Article 13(b). The provision changes the period of time to a maximum of five banking days instead of reasonable time. One of the critical problems giving rise to the difficulty in interpretation and application is the question of fact that there may be two possible conflicting options in determining the time of checking documents presented. The one doctrine is fixed time(safe harbor) standard, and the other is hidden reasonableness standard. This study analyzes which option should be adopted for the optimal application standard by welfare effect methodology using consumer surplus approach and suggests that safe harbor standard should be optimal solution to the determination of period of examination of documents presented in letter of credit regime.