• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.31
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• pp.27-56
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• 2006

Today's financial institutions usually take environmental issues seriously into consideration as they could not evade lender liability in an increasing number of cases. On the international scene, a brand-new concept of the "Equator Principles" in the New Millenium has driven more and more international banks to adopt these Principles in project financing. Sustainable development has been a key word in understanding new trends of the governments, financial institutions, corporations and civic groups in the 21st century. The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental and social guidelines for sustainable finance. These Principles commit bank officers to avoid financial support to projects that fail to meet these guidelines. The Principles were conceived in 2002 on an initiative of the International Finance Corporation(IFC), and launched in June 2003. Since then, dozens of major banks, accounting for up to 80 percent of project loan market, have adopted the Principles. Accordingly, the Principles have become the de facto standard for all banks and investors on how to deal with potential social and environmental issues of projects to be financed. Compliance with the Equator Principles facilitates for endorsing banks to participate in the syndicated loan and help them to manage the risks associated with large-scale projects. The Equator Principles call for financial institutions to provide loans to projects under the following circumstances: - The risk of the project is categorized in accordance with internal guidelines based upon the environmental and social screening criteria of the IFC. - For Category A and B projects, borrowers or sponsors are required to conduct a Social and Environmental Assessment, the preparation of which must meet certain requirements and satisfactorily address key social and environmental issues. - The Social and Environmental Assessment report should address baseline social and environmental conditions, requirements under host country laws and regulations, sustainable development, and, as appropriate, IFC's Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines, etc. - Based on the Social and Environmental Assessment, Equator banks then make agreements with borrowers on how they mitigate, monitor and manage the risks through a Social and Environmental Management System. Compliance with the plan is included in the covenant clause of loan agreements. If the borrower doesn't comply with the agreed terms, the bank will take corrective actions. The Equator Principles are not a mere declaration of cautious banks but a full commitment of lenders. A violation of the Principles in the process of project financing, which led to an unexpected damage to the affected community, would not give rise to any specific legal remedies other than ordinary lawsuits. So it is more effective for banks to ensure consistent implementation of the Principles and to have them take responsible measures to solve social and environmental issues. Public interests have recently mounted up with respect to environmental issues on the occasion of the Supreme Court's decision (2006Du330) on the fiercely debated reclamation project at Saemangeum. The majority Justices said that the expected environmental damages like probable pollution of water and soil were not believed so serious and that the Administration should continue to implement the project seeking ways to make it more environment friendly. In this case, though the Category A Saemangeum Project was carried out by a government agency, the Supreme Court behaved itself as a signal giver to approve or stop the environment-related project like an Equator bank in project financing. At present, there is no Equator bank in Korea in contrast to three big banks in Japan. Also Korean contractors, which are aggressively bidding for Category A-type projects in South East Asia and Mideast, might find themselves in a disadvantageous position because they are generally ignorant of the environmental assessment associated with project financing. In this regard, Korean banks and overseas project contractors should care for the revised Equator Principles and the latest developments in project financing more seriously. It's because its scope has expanded to the capital cost of US$10 million or more across all industry sectors regardless of developing countries or not. It should be noted that, for a Korean bank, being an Equator bank is more or less burdensome in a short-term period, but it must be conducive to minimizing risks and building up good reputation in the long run.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.651-660
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• 2016

Due to recent population aging, the number of check-up for senior citizens has increased steadily. According to this trend, the market size of dental X-ray equipment and the number of approval and review for these devices have simultaneously increased. The technical document of medical device is required for approval and review for medical device, and medical device companies needs to have work comprehension and expertise, as the document needs to include the overall contents such as performances, test criteria, etc.. Yet, since most of domestic manufacturers or importers of medical devices are small businesses, it is difficult for them to recruit professional manpower for approval of medical devices, and submission of inaccurate technical documents has increased. These problems lead to delay of the approval process and to difficulties in quick entering into the market. Especially, the Ministry of Food and Drug safety (MFDS) standards of a dental extra-oral X-ray equipment, a dental intra-oral X-ray equipment, an arm-type computed tomography, and a portable X-ray system have been recently enacted or not. this guideline of dental X-ray equipment adjusting revised standards was developed to help relative companies and reviewers. For this study, first, the methods to write technical document have been reviewed with revised international and domestic regulations and system. Second, the domestic and foreign market status of each item has been surveyed and analyzed. Third, the contents of technical documents already approved by MFDS have been analyzed to select the correct example, test items, criteria, and methods. Finally, the guideline has been developed based on international and domestic regulation, through close review of a consultative body composed of academic, industrial, research institute and government experts.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.357-368
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• 2008

On July 31, 2008, the Government issued the construction and operation permit for the first low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal facility in the Republic of Korea. In this paper, the fundamental regulatory framework, regulatory requirements and technical standards of the disposal facility are introduced, and the phased review process adopted for evaluation of the safety of the facility is briefly described. The Atomic Energy Act sets forth a stepwise regulatory framework for the whole life-cycle of the disposal facility such as siting, design, construction, operation, closure and institutional control. More detailed regulatory requirements and technical standards are stipulated in the subsequent regulations of the Atomic Energy Act and a series of Notices issued by the Ministry of Eduction, Science and Technology. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, as entrusted by the Ministry under the Atomic Energy Act, conducted safety review on the disposal facility, and evaluated the compliance with relevant criteria in all technical elements(i.e. siting and structural safety, radiological environmental impact, operational safety, systems and components, quality assurance, and total systematic performance assessment, etc.). The overall safety review process can be phased into inception phase, initial review phase, main review phase and completion phase. The review results were reported to and deliberated by the five Sub-committees of the Special Committee on Nuclear Safety, and then reported to the Ministry. The Ministry issued the construction and operation permit of the disposal facility through the deliberation of the review results by the Nuclear Safety Commission. Hereafter, the safety of the repository will be reassured by a series of subsequent regulatory inspections and reviews under the Atomic Energy Act. In addition, the licensee's continuous implementation of the "Safety Promotion Plan" may also enhance the long-term safety of the repository and contribute to build-up the confidence of the safety case.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.61-78
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• 2019

When calculating gains from transfers of assets inherited or donated, the value recognized at the market price as of the date of inheritance or acquisition is recognized as the actual transaction value at the time of acquisition. However, Precedents for the appeal for review by the NTS, the request for adjudgment by the Tax Tribunal(TT) and the request of examination by the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea(BAI) and the cases of the lawsuit have not shown a consistent results on how much such a the actual transaction value will be measured. This study investigates the operating state of the current tax appeal system using the statistical data of the TT, NTS, and BAI and cases of the lawsuit from 2008 to 2017, and suggests the Improvement of Capital Gains Tax Act on the transfer of inherited and donated property. As a result, total number of requested cases has diminished because cases of the pre-assessment review and the reconsideration appeal by the NTS have decreased steadily over the past decade, while the cases of the lawsuit and the administrative trials(the request for adjudgment by the TT, the appeal for review by the NTS, and the request of examination by the BAI) have been steadily increasing. Also This study found that more than 40% of the complainants proceeded with the cases of the lawsuit proceedings in disagreement with the disposition of tax dissatisfaction under the administrative trials. In addition, Even though the retrospective appraisal price is not recognized as the market price due to the strict interpretation of the tax regulations, it can be seen that it is interpreted as a more expanded concept in the application of the market price than the government office or the tax judge. Therefore, according to the precedents of the cases lawsuit, it is necessary to establish a regulation on the recognition of retroactive appraisal value.

• Korean Business Review
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• v.14
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• pp.1-30
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• 2001

To prevent the VAT evasion and to form a sound VAT paying culture, we can draw the policy directions for government as follows: First, it is necessary to strengthen the tax supervision of small business and the administration of tax sources of cash-income industry. Second, the tax-deductible rate of the received tax invoices should be increased in a short-term base, and a simplified taxation system should be abolished in a long-term base. Third, in cases a trader has not received a tax invoice, an additional tax should be applied. Forth, to issue the tax invoice faster and conveniently, it is requested to introduce a new system which issues electronic card of registration when a businessman applies for his/her business registration. Fifth, to make tax standard transparent, it is desirable to punish the violator, relating to credit card regulations, stricter than present and to enforce the electronic bookkeeping. Sixth, for the reduction of noncompliance rate and creating a climate for autonomous, faithful tax return, it is necessary to expand and intensify tax investigation. And also it is necessary to make the level of penalty tax higher up and the level of criminal punishment less down, to keep up tax audit coverage. Seventh, a trader who is eligible for simplified taxation, whose tax base is under 12,000 thousand won, should not be required to pay the value added tax. But it is desirable to cut down them for the fairness of tax burden. Eighth, the effective date of the revised tax law should be fixed. Ninth, it is necessary to reinforce publicity and to educate on tax system and administration, for reducing tax evasion or tax avoidance and encouraging faithful tax return. Tenth, as the tendency of VAT evasion of distribution industry turns out to be the highest, it is requested not only to intensify tax administration on them but also to establish system and incentives, for introducing information system in distribution industry(introducing POS system, computerization of transaction record, establishing EDI between traders).

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.33-66
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• 2014

While the numbers of overseas travelers has been increased rapidly each year, the numbers of passengers in the aircraft also has continued to be increased gradually. In the mist of these increasing numbers, such accidents as threatening an aircraft safety like riot, aircraft hijacking and terrorism have happened constantly. In these circumstances, South Korean government has prescribed "Aviation on Security Act" in accordance with the Convention on International Civil Aviation and other international agreements. This act aims to prevent illegal activities and illegal items on the aircraft to ensure the safety and security of civil aviation. However, this act is not sufficiently regulating all the illegal crimes and illegal items on the flight. For the worse, there is a lack of effective supervisory capacity. Likewise, the inherent problems of the current laws relating to the prevention of the illegal items on the aircraft are appearing on the surface continually. Above all, illegal items on the aircraft are directly connected to the issue of aviation safety and security as well as a safe utilization of the flight service. Thus, when there occurs a serious accident on board, it surely would be led to a huge economic loss not mentioning the loss of lives following the accident. Therefore safety of the flight passengers cannot be guaranteed without ensuring the safety of aircraft facilities and good supervisory mechanism of illegal items on the aircraft. Accordingly, establishing a safe operation order tends to influence economy and tourism of a country in no small measure. Therefore, it is an urgent issue to settle down a reasonable and adequate supervisory regulations regarding the prevention of the illegal items on the aircraft. Consequently, in this article, I studied on a reasonal and effective mechanism to control the prevention of the illegal items and illegal acts on the aircraft in order to ensure a safety and security of civil aircraft.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2012

Establishment of the LFQC (Liquid Fertilizer Quality Certification) system is very urgent issue for recycling livestock manure as renewable resources in Korea faced with environmental problem of manure application to land due to intensive livestock farming. In this study, we investigated relevant laws and regulations on livestock manure fertilizer, certifications of eco-friendly agricultural products, government policies on livestock manure management to establish reasonable direction of Korean LFQC (Liquid Fertilizer Quality Certification) system. As a result from this study, the liquid fertilizers in 'LFQC' system could be classified as three levels according to the usage patterns in field; 1st. Individual Farm Level (IFL), 2nd. Joint Farm Level (JFL), and 3rd. Commercial Level (CML). And finally, we found some characteristics in 'Main Level-Grading Factors' of liquid fertilizer such as fertilizing value, harmfulness, stability, uniformity, economic effect, storage potential, commercial value, functionality. Those items were considered to be the key factors for the establishment of 'LFQC' system. More research on 'Evaluation Standards' for concrete guideline and on the 'Main Level-Grading Factors' be needed to complete Korean LFQC system.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.367-402
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• 2018

This study analyzed the relationship between the act on the guarantee of rights of and support for persons with developmental disabilities(Act for PWDD) and the similar ordinance of the local governments based on this law and focused on the correspondence(the rate of reflection) and the autonomy(differentiation). As of October 2017, 63 local government regulations and Act for PWDD were analyzed in this study. The results of the analysis are as follows: First, the rate of reflection in the ordinance of Act for PWDD was different according to the clause. In the aspect of emphasizing welfare support, the agreement between local ordinance and rate was high. While the Act for PWDD emphasized the rights of persons with developmental disabilities, there was little information about their right in the ordinance of local governments. This is evidence that current ordinance is based on the protective point of view for people with developmental disabilities. In the future, policy measures will be needed to ensure that respect for decision-making by persons with developmental disabilities and rights guarantees are included in the bylaws. Second, there is a provision that the rate of ordinance reflection is 0%, which may be guaranteed by other laws in the area, so it does not mean the absence of related system in the region, but there is possibility of institutional blind spot. In the future, consideration should be given to the complementarity of other legal systems in the area with developmental disabilities, so that persons with developmental disabilities should not be placed in institutional blind spots. Third, the autonomy(differentiation) of local ordinance was examined from the contents aspect and the administrative aspect to help practical implementation. The differentiation between the ordinances vary. Emphasizing the responsibilities of the head of the organization, emphasizing the fact-finding survey, setting up the welfare committee, or adding local needs were included to the ordinance. Local governments considering the enactment of ordinances in the future should refer to these cases and establish enactable local ordinances that take advantage of the characteristics of local autonomy.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.200-206
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• 2019

Korea is introducing new animal welfare rearing standards for swine farmers in order to improve the breeding environment of livestock on Korean farms, Korea is establishing a policy to apply to all new farms in 2019 and to all existing farms in 2025. These guidelines are limiting stall breeding of sows after 4 weeks of pregnancy, the light intensity should be above 40lux, the ammonia level should be below 25ppm and the breeding density area should be increased from $1.4m^2$ to $2.25m^2$. In Europe, where animal welfare has been studied and applied for nearly 100 years, the facility specifications and management manuals are available and provided to farmers to introduce proper animal welfare for pigs and to enhance the convenience and utility of farmers who are converting to raising pigs. The EU has established independent standards for each country, and the EU has set the standards for floor facilities to improve animal welfare on pig farms and as applied by farmers. Yet in Korea, there are no methods and techniques for breeding methods that do not use an ordinary stall, except on a few leading farms. There has been no research on the welfare of sows so that farmer could improve sows' living conditions. Thus, farmers can minimize the difficulty of implementing the changing government policies, and they must develop farm turnover policies and specification management manuals to cope with the introduced regulations on sow group housing. We suggest that conducting research and evaluating the level of sows' welfare are important for farmers.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.291-314
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• 2018

In recent 3 years, Korea's low-cost airlines have expanded their areas of passenger transportation not only to domestic market but also to Japan, China, Southeast Asia and US territory as a total of 6 companies (8 airlines including small air operation business carriers). Currently, three more airlines have filed for air transportation business certification as future low-cost carriers, and this expansion is expected to continue. To cope with the aggressive airline operations of domestic and foreign low-cost carriers and to enhance their competitiveness, each low-cost airline is taking a number of strategies for promoting cabin service. Therefore, the workload of the cabin crew is increased in proportion to the expansion, and the fatigue directly connected with the safety task performance is increased. It is stipulated in the Enforcement Regulations of the Korea Aviation Safety Act that at minimum, one cabin crew is required per 50 passenger seating capacity, and all low cost carriers are boarding only the minimum cabin crew. Sometimes it is impossible for them to sit in a floor level emergency exit for evacuation, which is the main task of the cabin crew, and this can cause confusion among evacuating passengers in the event of an emergency. In addition, if one of the minimum cabin crew becomes incapacitated due to an injury or the like, it will become a serious impediment in performing emergency evacuation duties. Even in the normal situation, since it will be violating the Act prescription on the minimum cabin crew complement, passengers will have to move to another available airline flights, encountering extreme inconvenience. Annex 6 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation specifies international standards for the determination of the minimum number of cabin crew shall be based only on the number of passenger seats or passengers on board for safe and expeditious emergency evacuation. Thereby in order to enhance the safety of the passengers and the crew on board, it is necessary to consider the cabin crew's fatigue that may occur in the various job characteristics (service, safety, security, first aid)and floor level emergency exit seating in calculating the minimum number of cabin crew. And it is also deemed necessary for the government's regulatory body to enhance the cabin safety for passengers and crew when determining the number of minimum cabin crew by reflecting the cabin crew's workload leading to their fatigue and unavailability to be seated in a floor level emergency exit on low cost carriers.