• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.10
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• pp.580-587
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• 2016

This study aims to estimate the values of freshwater ecosystem services from demand and supply perspectives. From demand side, unit-values of ecosystem services are derived from Environmental Valuation Information System (EVIS) and aggregated to 5 main watersheds in Korea. The derived unit-values are based on the willingness to pay estimates per household from stated preference methods. The nation-wide average total values of water quantity supply, water purification, and natural disaster control are estimated as 501.2, 410.4, and 242.4 billion won/year, respectively. From supply side, we examine the direct and indirect public expenditures (or investment) in 2013 to improve freshwater ecosystem services by the government. The total sum of government expenditures corresponds to 8,882 billion won in 2013, where 12.9, 81.3, 0.3 and 5.3% are spent to improve provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services, respectively, indicating that most efforts are concentrated in enhancing regulating services.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.127-133
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• 2015

Interests in ecosystem services have increased and a number of attempts to perform a quantitative valuation on them have been undertaken. To classify the ecosystem types landcover classification maps are generally used. However, some forest types on landcover classification maps have a number of errors. The purpose of this study is to verify the forest types on the landcover map by using a variety of field survey data and to suggest an improved method for forest type classifications. Forest types are compared by overlaying the landcover classification map with the 4th forest type map, and then they are verified by using National Forest Inventory, 3rd National Ecosystem Survey and field survey data. Misclassifications of forest types are found on the forest on the forest type map and farm and other grassland on the landcover map. Some errors of forest types occur at Daegu, Busan and Ulsan metropolitan cities and Gangwon province. The results of accuracy in comprehensive classification show that deciduous forest is 76.1%; coniferous forest is 54.0%; and mixed forest is 22.2%. In order to increase the classification accuracy of forest types a number of remote sensing images during various time periods should be used and the survey period of NFI and the National Forest Inventory and National Ecosystem Survey should be consistent. Also, examining areas with wide forest patch should be prioritized during the field survey in order to decrease any errors.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.17-35
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• 2018

This study is to evaluate economic value of the ecosystem service benefits of the marine forests provided to our society on the basis of the global standard valuation manual. The main results of this study are summarized as follows: First, the ecosystem service benefits of marine forests are worth 771,121,551 won per hectare for a year in Korea. Second, when evaluating value based on the services benefits of the marine forests, as resource provisioning service, the annual value of the fishery potential production amounts to 58,512,271 won per hectare. The annual value of the environmental and regulatory services is estimated to total 29,574,000 won per hectare including 546,488 won per hectare for climate regulation, 85,342 won per hectare for pollution purification, and 28,942,170 won per hectare for erosion protection. The annual value of the culture and tourinsm services is estimated to total 15,317,647 won per hectare including 5,011,765 won per hectare for skin scuba service and 10,305,882 won per hectare for sea fishing. Also, the aunnual non-use value is estimate to 637,800,000 won per hectare. Third, assuming that the value of the sea forests increases proportionally to the unit area, the marine forests can be valued at 12.7 trillion won per year based on 12,208.2 hectares of marine forests creation area and 4,272.6 hectares of natural seaweed beds. Fourth, the total economic value of the marine forests can be estimated at 244 trillion won in 2016, if the value of the marine forests permanently continues in the future by applying 5.5% of the social discount rate. The results of this study are expected to serve as a valuable information for improving awareness of the value of marine forests ecosystem and ensuring the validity of the marine forests creation policy by converting the value of the marine forests's ecosystem service into monetary units.

• Atmosphere
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.213-218
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• 2019

A valuation of air pollution is critical for relevant policy-making for the public and research direction. This study conducted a willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey using contingent valuation method (CVM) in Seoul Korea. In detail, this study puts an emphasis on its temporal changes referred on two surveys conducted in 2014 and 2019. In reference to the previous studies in 2002, our survey indicated that the public awareness of air pollution and interests on its sources and solutions increased noticeably. Our survey showed that WTP increased significantly from 2588 to 4827 and 8240 Korean Won $month^{-1}$ in 2002, 2014, and 2019, respectively. Moreover, the percentage of respondents to pay the WTP also increased from 48% to 68% and 79% in 2002, 2014, and 2019, respectively. Our analysis based on the number of Google search on particulate matters (PMs) strongly suggests that such the noticeable increases of the public attention to air pollution is well accorded with the moment of the announcement of a standard for ultra-fine particles and the start of PM prediction in late 2013. But the Google search rate grew about 16.7 times in 2009 compared to 2014, which is much larger than the growth rate of interest and WTP between 2014 and 2019. Our results shed light on policy decision for the right person in the right place on the right time in the era of air pollution.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.45-55
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to estimate the utility value of boat fishing experience marine tourism activity in Jeju Island's Chagwido. The utility value is estimated by single bounded and double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. The contingent valuation method is used to estimate economic values for all kinds of coastal ecosystem services. The method involves directly asking people, in a survey, how much they would be willing to pay for specific environmental services. So, the method has great flexibility, allowing valuation of a wider variety of non-market goods and services than is possible with any other non-market valuation technique. This study collects the effective 504 questionnaires from boat fishing experience tourists in Jeju Island's Chagwido. The results show that the average willingness to pay amount(WTP) is estimated to be about 17,000 Korea won by single bounded and double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. This indicates that the utility value of boat fishing experience marine tourism activity is estimated to be about 17,000 Korea won in Jeju Island's Chagwido.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

In South Korea, the conflict between development and conservation policy still exist among government ministries, and conventional development plan often has priority over conservation policy. Establishment of sustainable development and comprehensive management policy employing the results of ecosystem service studies are highly warranted, but researchers in South Korea are still limited and often misuse the concept of ecosystem services. Thus, we aimed to introduce the concept of Ecosystem Service (ES) and related terminologies such as Social-Ecological Systems (SESs), ecosystem function, trade-off, and human well-being in this paper. Additionally, this article reviewed and arranged key approaches in ES studies as follows: 1) field works, 2) mapping ecosystem services, 3) valuing ES, 4) quantifying trade-offs between ES and 5) understanding SESs. Based on those results, we suggest that field works for basic information have the first priority to be conducted among ES studies. Once basic information is sufficiently accumulated, researchers can perform applied ES research with accuracy. Finally, results of ES studies conducted by five approaches allow decision makers to consider both natural system and society simultaneously, and hence the results can be utilized for sustainable development and conservation policy based on ecosystem-based management.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.503-510
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• 2007

In the area of such a nature-friendly stream improvement, it is not established yet which engineering method is suitable for stream environment, due to lack of technology. Therefore, although nature-friendly stream improvement was done with expensive engineering method, the effect has not been fully confirmed, which results from the absence of overall valuation tool of stream improvement. In this regard, it is necessary to develop and apply comprehensive and diverse valuation methods covering stream functions to the analysis of stream improvement. In this study, we collected data from years' of monitoring on the Gyeongcheon river, which is located in Sunchang-eup, Jeollabuk-do and recently underwent an nature-friendly stream improvement work. Based on the data, we developed a series of valuation methods such as stream naturalness evaluation, life cycle evaluation, amenity evaluation, and economic benefit analysis to consider the environmental function of stream from a comprehensive perspective. Stream naturalness evaluation is a quantitative analysis of how natural a stream is, and includes additional valuation items such as ecosystem and water quality for the purpose of overall valuation, unlike existing research focusing on physical elements and structural characteristics of a stream. We developed a method of stream valuation with life cycle assessment to river reorganization project. Amenity evaluation method was developed as a means to analyze residents' satisfaction with stream improvement through questionnaires. Economic benefit analysis was developed as a means to determine the attributes of environmental water supply, ecosystem, river maintenance, and water quality and predict economic benefits using contingent valuation method (CVM) and multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) method in order to analyze economic benefits brought in by stream improvement. It is considered that the four methods developed in this study make possible to conduct an overall and quantitative analysis of stream improvement.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.102-115
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• 2015

Several emergy researches have been carried out to estimate the value of marine ecosystem services in Korea over the last decade. Their results cannot be compared mainly due to inconsistency in emergy-money ratios used to convert emergy unit into monetary unit. This study aimed at providing a standardized format for the emergy evaluation of the Korean economy and environment for different emergy evaluations to be compatible. Even though the area of the continental shelf increased in this study compared to those of previous studies, areaweighted average tidal range for the entire continental shelf of Korea resulted in smaller tidal range, decreasing the final emergy input from tide. However, emergy inputs from nonrenewable resources and purchased goods and services increased with new categorization and use of more detailed data, combined with updated unit emergy values. This led to higher emergy-money ratio for the Korean economy, indicating that previous emergy valuations might have overestimated the contributions of marine ecosystem to the real wealth of the Korean society. The base year for gross domestic product used in the emergy evaluation needs to be clearly indicated due to its impact on the calculation of the emergy-money ratio. A standardized emergy table for the Korean economy will contribute to ensuring consistency among future emergy researches on the valuation of marine ecosystem services.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.315-325
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• 2014

Valuation of ecosystem services through organic carbon distribution and cycling in the Quercus mongolica forest at Mt. Worak national park were investigated from May 2012 through April 2013. The amount of carbon allocated to above and below ground biomass was 81.94 and 20.53 ton C/ha. Amount of organic carbon in litter layer was 6.49 ton C/ha. Amount of organic carbon within 50 soil depth was 141.23 ton C $ha^{-1}$ $50cm-depth^{-1}$. Total amount of organic carbon in this Quercus mongolica forest was estimated to 250.19 ton C $ha^{-1}$. The estimated amount of won in this Quercus mongolica forest in terms of total organic carbon was about 5.27 million won $ha^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through soil respiration was 7.31 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$. The amount of carbon evolved through microbial respiration and root respiration was 3.58 and 3.73 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$, respectively. The amount of organic carbon absorbed from the atmosphere of this Quercus mongolica forest was 1.61 ton C $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ when estimated from the difference between net primary production and microbial respiration. This amount will come to about 33,000 won $ha^{-1}yr^{-1}$ in Korean currency.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.289-322
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• 2001

This paper introduces the environmental economic studies in Korea, focused especially on the environmental regulation policy and valuation of environmental resources in Korea. It can be seen from this survey that the Korean environmental economists have had most of their interests in socially hot issues such as the evaluation and alternatives of the existing environmental policy instruments, and the impacts of both the environmental regulation and greenhouse gas reduction policies, as well as economic valuation of environmental assets including air, water, and ecosystem. We need more intensive research on issues of the evaluation of individual public investment, enforcement, transaction costs and income distribution and inter-generational equity. More attention should also be paid to the valuation methods and environmental data.