• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.56-62
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• 2003

The liver progenitor cells could form a potential target cell population fore both tumor-initiating and -promoting chemicals. Induction of drug-metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes, including AhR-dependent CYP1A1, NQO-1 and AKR1C9, was detected in the rat liver epithelial WB-F344 "stem-like" cells. Additionally, WB-F344 cells express a functional, wild-type form of p53 protein, a biomarker of genotoxic events, and connexin 43, a basic structural unit of gap junctions forming an important type of intercellular communication. In this cellular model, two complementary assays have been established for detection of the modes of action associated with tumor promotion: inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) and proliferative activity in confluent cells. We found that the PAHs and PCBs, which are AhR agonists, released WB-F344 cells from contact inhibition, increasing both DNA synthesis and cell numbers. Genotoxic effects of some PAHs that lead to apoptosis and cell cycle delay might interfere with the proliferative activity of PAHs. Contrary to that, the nongenotoxic low-molecular-weight PAHs and non-dioxin-like PCB congeners, abundant in the environment, did not significantly affect cell cycle and cell proliferation; however both groups of compounds inhibited GJIC in WB-F344 cells. The release from contact inhibiton by a mechanism that possibly involves the AhR activation, inhibition of GJIC and genotoxic events induced by environmental contaminants are three important modes of action that could play an important role in carcinogenic effects of toxic compounds. The relative potencies to inhibit GJIC, to induce AhR-mediated activity, and to release cells from contact inhibition were determined for a large series of PAHs and PCBs and their metabolites. In vitro bioassays based on detection of events on cellular level (deregulation of GJIC and/or proliferation) or determination of receptor-mediated activities in both ?$stem-like^{\circ}{\times}$ and hepatocyte-like liver cellular models are valuable tools for detection of modes of action of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. They may serve, together with concentration data, as a first step in their risk assessment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2023

Through the revision of the Framework Act on Administrative Regulations (July 17, 2019), the government minimized regulations and applied the comprehensive negative regulation principle to enhance economic vitality. However, a legally mandatory certification system has been applied to marine pollution prevention materials and chemicals, and inspection is conducted every time a product is sold, suppressing the autonomy of manufacturers. In addition, the majority of manufacturers of marine pollution prevention materials and chemicals are small businesses; therefore, they take the approach of producing small quantities of products whenever a buyer requests an order. Consequently, the need for deregulation was raised to ensure autonomy of the market and industry, and improve efficiency in accordance with the current trend of approval, performance test, and inspection systems for marine pollution prevention materials and chemicals. In this study, problems within the current system were identified and improvement plans are proposed through comparison and analysis of domestic and foreign systems.

• Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.137-147
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• 2018

Up until now, Korea has been recognized as one of the most severe and strict countries in terms of social regulation. As a result of that, it is generally accepted that economic activities in private sector have been contracted to some extent, weakening national competitiveness. Under this background, this paper examines the complex relationships among factors affecting national competitiveness and regulation and also seeks to discover feedback loops associated with its relationship. The research result shows that reinforcing feedback and balancing feedback loops are found in the system concerned with national competitiveness and regulation. Accordingly, it implies that we need to pay our attention to the management of those loops in order to discover the optimal point striking the balance between regulation and deregulation in terms of national competitiveness. It also implies that we need to conduct sensitivity analysis to forecast the potential results which the scenarios will bring about.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.119-134
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• 2022

A new protectionism caused by the US-China competition and a following new Cold War would have a negative impact on global FDI. In this time, this study researched the effects of the long lasting global openness and liberalization on Korea's Inward FDI. 1,387 foreign invested companies in Korea were analyzed. The results are summarized as follows. First, Korea's FDI has been expanded under the environment of globalization. The IFDI amount and share in GDP increased. Seven countries out of the world top 10 were listed in Korea' the top 10. However, the share of the US and Japan's FDI in Korea's IFDI decreased. Second, non-manufacturing industry became prevalent in Korea's IFDI. Considering it's local market-oriented characteristics, the biggest investment motivation by global companies was Korean market pursuit. The US was more local market-oriented than Japan. Third, cross-border M&A, which became active in developed countries since 1980s, also kicked off in Korea from late 1990s. Global companies managed foreign-invested companies in Korea with shares close to wholly owned. The US had higher share ratios than Japan. The implications by this research are as follows. First, looming protectionism by a New Cold War would negatively affect Korea's IFDI through the adverse function of globalization. Second, Korea's IFDI has been converted to a market pursuit type being mainly leaded by non-manufacturing industry. Since GDP is the largest FDI motive in this type of FDI, the key policy for IFDI promotion is lying in the expansion of domestic market rather than deregulation.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2024

Purpose: South Korea is a close ally of the US and an important partner of China. Caught between the two most powerful countries, South Korea's strategic directions are critical. This article emphasizes that the deeper core of the US-China trade war is to improve the business environment to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to boost the economy, rather than engaging in the trade war. Research design, data, and methodology: Considering the complexity of this issue, this article applies a systematic analytical tool, the ABCD (Agility, Benchmarking, Convergence, and Dedication) model, to provide strategic guidance for inducing investments into South Korea in the context of the ongoing US-China trade war. Results: Specifically, South Korea needs to provide a more attractive business environment along the four points: expedite commercial activities through deregulation (Agility); adopt global standards of the flexible labor markets and technological developments (Benchmarking); integrate various industries and connect them to global value chains (Convergence); and create more economy-friendly policies rather than politics-oriented ones such as protectionism (Dedication). Conclusion: This study stands out not just by utilizing the ABCD model but, also by providing more systematic analysis and practical implications, particularly within the context of the escalating US-China competition. Unlike many existing studies that analyze the broader impacts of this geopolitical rivalry, this research delves into specific strategic guidelines for South Korea to attract FDI. The findings also provide implications for multinational corporations (MNCs) in choosing the locations for their overseas operations, particularly in South Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.139-162
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• 2010

In terms of the international air transport, the open skies policy implies freedom in the sky or opening the sky. In the normative respect, the open skies policy is a kind of open-door policy which gives various forms of traffic right to other countries, but on the other hand it is a policy of free competition in the international air transport. Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the United States has signed an open skies agreement with many countries, starting with the Netherlands, so that competitive large airlines can compete in the international air transport market where there exist a lot of business opportunities. South Korea now has an open skies agreement with more than 20 countries. The frequent flyer program (FFP) is part of a broad-based marketing alliance which has been used as an airfare strategy since the U.S. government's airline deregulation. The membership-based program is an incentive plan that provides mileage points to customers for using airline services and rewards customer loyalty in tangible forms based on their accumulated points. In its early stages, the frequent flyer program was focused on marketing efforts to attract customers, but now in the environment of intense competition among airlines, the program is used as an important strategic marketing tool for enhancing business performance. Therefore, airline companies agree that they need to identify customer needs in order to secure loyal customers more effectively. The outcomes from an airline's frequent flyer program can have a variety of effects on international competition. First, the airline can obtain a more dominant position in the air flight market by expanding its air route networks. Second, the availability of flight products for customers can be improved with an increase in flight frequency. Third, the airline can preferentially expand into new markets and thus gain advantages over its competitors. However, there are few empirical studies on the airline frequent flyer program. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the effects of the program on international competition, after reviewing the types of strategic alliance between airlines. Making strategic airline alliances is a worldwide trend resulting from the open skies policy. South Korea also needs to be making open skies agreements more realistic to promote the growth and competition of domestic airlines. The present study is about the performance of the airline frequent flyer program and international competition under the open skies policy. With a sample of five global alliance groups (Star, Oneworld, Wings, Qualiflyer and Skyteam), the study was attempted as an empirical study of the effects that the resource structures and levels of information technology held by airlines in each group have on the type of alliance, and one-way analysis of variance and regression analysis were used to test hypotheses. The findings of this study suggest that both large airline companies and small/medium-size airlines in an alliance group with global networks and organizations are able to achieve high performance and secure international competitiveness. Airline passengers earn mileage points by using non-flight services through an alliance network with hotels, car-rental services, duty-free shops, travel agents and more and show high interests in and preferences for related service benefits. Therefore, Korean airline companies should develop more aggressive marketing programs based on multilateral alliances with other services including hotels, as well as with other airlines.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1100-1117
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• 2018

The Ras superfamily of small G-proteins acts as a molecular switch on the intracellular signaling pathway. Upon ligand stimulation, inactive GTPases (Ras-GDP) are activated (Ras-GTP) using guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) and transmit signals to their downstream effectors. Following signal transmission, active Ras-GTP become inactive Ras-GDP and cease signaling. However, the intrinsic GTPase activity of Ras proteins is weak, requiring Ras GTPase-activating protein (RasGAP) to efficiently convert RAS-GTP to Ras-GDP. Since deregulation of the Ras pathway is found in nearly 30% of all human cancers, it might be useful to clarify the structural and physiological roles of Ras GTPases. Recently, RasGAP has emerged as a new class of tumor-suppressor protein and a potential therapeutic target for cancer. Therefore, it is important to clarify the physiological roles of the individual GAPs in human diseases. The first RasGAP discovered was RASA1, also known as p120 RasGAP. RASA1 is widely expressed, independent of cell type and tissue distribution. Subsequently, neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was discovered. The remaining GAPs are affiliated with the GAP1 and synaptic GAP (SynGAP) families. There are more than 170 Ras GTPases and 14 Ras GAP members in the human genome. This review focused on the current understanding of Ras GTPase and RasGAP in human diseases, including cancers.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2_spc
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• pp.291-303
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• 2020

The Kori-Unit 1 nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to be decommissioned after permanent shutdown, is expected to generate large amounts of various types of radioactive waste during the decommissioning process. Among these, nuclear reactors and internal structures have high levels of radioactivity and the dismantled structure must have the proper size and weight on the primary side. During decommissioning, it is important to prepare an appropriate and efficient disposal method through analysis of the disposal status and the legal restrictions on wastes generated from the reactors and internal structures. Nuclear reactors and internal structures generate radioactive wastes of various levels, such as medium, very low, and clearance. A radiation evaluation indicates that wastes in the clearance level are generated in the reactor head and upper head insulation. In this study, a clearance waste safety evaluation was conducted using the RESRAD-RECYCLE code, which is a safety evaluation code, based on the activation evaluation results for the clearance level wastes. The clearance scenario for the target radioactive waste was selected and the maximum individual and collective exposure doses at the time of clearance were calculated to determine whether the clearance criteria limit prescribed by the Nuclear Safety Act was satisfied. The evaluation results indicated that the doses were significantly low, and the clearance criteria were satisfied. Based on the safety assessment results, an appropriate metal recycle and disposal method were suggested for clearance, which are the subject of the deregulation of internal structures of nuclear power plant.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.15-27
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• 2018

Interest in Fintech is extremely growing as O2O which means the binding of online and offline appears. The scale of private consumption in South korea reached about 700 trillion won, however, the online trading is only about 60 trillion won, which means 640 trillion won is still trading in offline. The reason the Fintech industry comes into the spotlight is because the foundation of related industries such as the rise of mobile traffic and the fast growth of the financial transaction through the mobile channel is forming. Especially, the introduction of payment systems among these Fintech industries offers convenience to the consumer. Mobile payment has been generalized in daily life such as utility bills and taxi fares. Use of O2O service in various industrial fields in commerce gives convenience to consumers and increase in sales to business in recent commercial transaction which is moving to on-demand channel services. People in smartphone life are supposed to find more convenient services for saving time using their phone, and this kind of environment makes the ordering goods and services through Fintech payments increase. The emergence of O2O services influences the development of Fintech industry and the emergence of convenient and reliable Fintech service through the deregulation of Fintech also affects the activation of O2O services. The complementary relationships between O2O services and Fintech would contribute to economic activation. From the standpoint of the researchers, I would like to further study the methods that can lead to a new paradigm of the financial payments industry through the development of Fintech and the drafts for the market expansion of the current offline commerce making it online in the advent of O2O services in variety industries.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.5 no.4 s.16
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• pp.8-20
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• 2001

Neoliberalism became a catch word of a post-cold war era. It began to develop in the middle of welfare state crisis in developed countries. It promoted both a unified world market through mutual penetration of national boundaries in International scene and maximization of efficiency through market competition in domestic scene. Privatization of public corporations is a major policy to pursue market efficiency through deregulation. Two reasons are often adduced to support the cause The socio-economic changes diminished the necessity to establish public corporation on the one hand. On the other hand gross inefficiency has been observed in the management of public corporation. 'Government failure' is an apt expression of the inefficiency. In analysing the experiences of privatization of utility industries of some other countries we found a couple of lessons for a Korean case. First, it is doubtful if privatization, that is a change in the form of ownership, is a necessary condition for achieving market efficiency. Because it is possible to operate a mechanism of market competition while maintaining competition among public corporations and with private actors. Second, the patron-agent dilemma is often cited as a major culprit of an inefficient management of public corporations. But it is without saying that the dilemma is also found in the management of private firms. So, the issue is not the privatization per se but to realize responsible management through discipline and incentives.