• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.83-112
• /
• 1998

The unemployment rate in Korea increased sharply since the deep economic depression. The rapid increase of unemployment rate is attributed, in part, to economic shock, but more basically to the structural problem of labor market. Moreover over 2-3 years later, the labor market perspective looks dismal. To overcome the labor market crisis, the fundamental reforms aimed at improving the labor market function is required. Thus the focus of policy should shift from reducing unemployment to increasing employment.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.306-324
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to analyze green growth issues such as employment, education and training, social capital and nature's standing right from the complementary perspective between natural environment conservation and economic growth. Green growth can be defined as a growth which lowers an increasing rate of entropy and at the same time improves our living standard. Green growth paradigm requires a quite amount of understanding the laws of thermodynamics and the uncertainty principle as the highest orders which regulate our overall socio-economic behaviors. They suggest that socio-economic growth is a mere transformation process of natural energy from one form to another and they increases natural manmade entropy over time. The most important issue of green growth policy may be a problem concerning employment and/or unemployment since green growth may induce inevitable movement of resources from the existing industries to the green sector. In particular, green industries will demand more highly specialized manpower than the existing ones. Without a well-designed new training education system and social capital accumulation toward environmental concerns, green growth may accompany a substantial amount of structural involuntary frictional unemployment. This may increase not only wealth-distribution disparity but also political instability. In order to achieve harmonious green growth, we should recognize that there are important complementary relationships between green and growth. Our society should also be able to innovate the existing educational system to accumulate social capital, to create a new sharing system, and to admit nature's standing right. Although the 2003 lawsuit case of Korean Salamander in Cheonseong Mountain went against plaintiff, it would provide apparently our society with a way of green development ahead.