• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.27-46
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to analyze the export performance of Korean eyewear products in China market, and derive some implications from the results of the analysis. For the analysis, the statistical data from 2003 to 2013 produced by Korea International Trade Association were used, and Market Share Index, Trade Specialization Index, and Revealed Comparative Advantage Index as an analyzing method were selected. According to the analysis, Korea's eyewear goods market share in China's glasses market was less than 5% on average during the analyzing period amid recording chronic deficits in Korea's eyewear commodities trade to China and by product, contact lenses were competitive, while eyeglass frames, eyeglasses, eyeglass lenses and sunglasses were not competitive. The suggestions for revitalizing Korea's eyewear products exports to the China market are as follows: First, Korea's glasses industry must enhance the ability to develop creative and distinctive product design to meet the needs of Chinese consumers. Second, to meet Chinese consumers preferences, Korea's glasses industry must actively produce new materials and functional products. Third, Korea's glasses industry must improve brand awareness through the continuous launch of new products for the Chinese market. Fourth, Korea's glasses industry must actively promote strategic alliances with domestic and foreign enterprises, and the Hallyu marketing. Fifth, Korea's glasses industry must reasonably improve the unusual products distribution system. Finally, The government must prepare a systematic support system for eyeglasses industry.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.345-364
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• 2013

This paper analyzed the Trade Structure of environmental industry in Korea and some major countries in preparation for The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) Trade Liberalization Negotiation in the environmental goods. Based on 161 environmental goods list proposed by OECD, this paper examined the Trade Returns of worldwide environmental goods during the past 10 years from 2002 to 2011. The analysis showed that Korean environmental goods' International Market Share(IMS) in the world was 3.2%; trade specialization index(TSI) -0.128; Revealed Comparative Advantage(RCA) 1.002 in 2011. And Korea Export Similarity Index(ESI) to Japan was the highest rank in the world market. According to the results of investigation, it is clear that International Competitiveness of the Korean Environmental Industry was received a relatively poor evaluation compared with Korean trade scale. To strengthen the competitiveness, it is required that Korean government should make an effort to boost domestic environmental industry and promote systematically Trade Liberalization Negotiation including the enforcement of transient period for Korean environmental goods in the next DDA Negotiation.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2020

Purpose - The recent growth of South Korean products in the international market is the benchmark for both developed as well as developing countries. According to the development index, the role of international trade is indeed crucial for the development of the national economy. However, the visualization of the international trade profile of the country is the prerequisite of governmental policy decision-makers and guidance for forecasting of foreign trade. Design/methodology - We have utilized data visualization techniques in order to visualize the import & export product space and trade partners of South Korea. Economic Complexity Index (ECI) and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) were used to identify the Korean international trade diversification, whereas the time series approach is used to forecast the economy and foreign trade variables. Findings - Our results show that Chine, U.S, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan are the leading trade partners of Korea. Overall, the ECI of South Korea is growing significantly as compared to China, Hong Kong, and other developed countries of the world. The expected values of total import and export volume of South Korea are approximately US$535.21 and US$ 781.23B, with the balance of trade US$ 254.02B in 2025. It was also observed from our analysis that imports & exports are equally substantial to the GDP of Korea and have a significant correlation with GDP, GDP per capita, and ECI. Originality/value - To maintain the growth rate of international trade and efficient competitor for the trade partners, we have visualized the South Korea trade profile, which provides the information of significant export and import products as well as main trade partners and forecasting.

• Industry Promotion Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.201-210
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• 2023

This study is based on data ecology theory and takes Chinese local governments' open public data as the research object. Data asset value assessment methods are compared from a new perspective of data business operations. The results show that the assessment model constructed using the hierarchical analysis method (AHP) can more objectively reflect the commercial value of government open data assets than the traditional cost, revenue and market methods, has the advantage of a comprehensive assessment of data value index, and better reflects the findings of a comprehensive index of regional data value. The data show that the local government data value assessment index is positively proportional to the region's digital economy development index, highlighting the driving effect on the digital economy. The results of the study provide a good help for the identification of local government data value rights. The research and practice of promoting the construction of data innovation and data business operation models, improving social well-being and promoting the rapid development of the digital economy to achieve data realisation provides a good reference.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.73-83
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• 2016

Purpose - The parcel delivery service(courier) industry all over the world has been expanding its market so far, but its growth has been declining in recent years. In this situation, most parcel delivery companies are having trouble with managing themselves because of the pressure from the customer to increase service level and decrease the rate. The purpose of this study is to provide ways to improve competitive advantages of the parcel delivery service industry by evaluating the multi-period operating efficiency of Korea, Japan and global service providers. Research design, data, and methodology - The data for the period of 2011 to 2014 were collected from the annual reports published by parcel delivery companies. In this study, we analyze the marketability (revenue), profitability (operating profits), and management conditions (net profits) of parcel service companies by combining information on human resources (number of employees) and material resources (total assets and equity). Therefore, the number of employees, total assets, and equity are selected as input variables, and revenue, operating profits, and net profits as the output variables. In this study, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) is used to measure the comparative efficiency and MPI (Malmquist Productivity Index) is used to analyze the trend of change of the efficiency for a multi-year period. Results - The operational efficiency scores of medium-sized parcel delivery companies in Korea are higher than other larger competitors such as Korean, Japan and Global larger companies. As of 2014, Logen(1.878) was found to be the most efficient parcel delivery enterprise, followed by KGB (1.224), and Kyoungdong(1.002). Otherwise, Hanjin(0.235), CJ(0.262), Hyundai Logistics(0.657), DHL(0.611), UPS(0.766), FedEx(0.498), TNT(0.350), Yamato(0.762) and Sagawa(0.520), larger sized companies, were done inefficiently. The productivity of parcel delivery companies is influenced by endogenous factors as well as exogenous ones such as changes in business environment and technological advances. Conclusions - Korean medium-sized companies have relatively high efficiency scores in operation. That is why they still survive the competitive market in Korea where market restructuring on the industry has been expected to be conducted for many years. The reason why medium-sized couriers had higher efficient scores than larger couriers is that most of couriers spend more operating expenses versus unit price of delivery which is the amount of money that is needed in order to send a package by parcel service. So the delivery unit price must be taken into account by all the expenses associated with the cost of fuel, labor and maintenance expenses for facilities, etc. therefore, the unit price must be increased to strengthen business competitive power. In order for the industry to have more competitive advantage, the companies need to make profits by increasing demand volume and raising the delivery rate to provide high-quality delivery service to customers. And both endogenous and exogenous change must take precedence in order to strengthen their competitiveness.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.213-234
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• 2024

In recent decades, increasing research attention has been directed toward predicting the price of stocks in financial markets using deep learning methods. For instance, recurrent neural network (RNN) is known to be competitive for datasets with time-series data. Long short term memory (LSTM) further improves RNN by providing an alternative approach to the gradient loss problem. LSTM has its own advantage in predictive accuracy by retaining memory for a longer time. In this paper, we combine both supervised and unsupervised dimension reduction methods with LSTM to enhance the forecasting performance and refer to this as a dimension reduction based LSTM (DR-LSTM) approach. For a supervised dimension reduction method, we use methods such as sliced inverse regression (SIR), sparse SIR, and kernel SIR. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA), sparse PCA, and kernel PCA are used as unsupervised dimension reduction methods. Using datasets of real stock market index (S&P 500, STOXX Europe 600, and KOSPI), we present a comparative study on predictive accuracy between six DR-LSTM methods and time series modeling.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.21-47
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• 2021

Purpose - Offshoring has emerged as one of the major trends in international trade and has become one of the strategies for achieving competitiveness in the global market. In spite of this, the expected gains of offshoring can be offset by hidden costs and risks, such as those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade war between the USA and China, and the ongoing trade dispute between Korea and Japan. To obviate such business failure and prevent critical business blunders, offshoring strategies that efficiently consider both risk elements and potential wealth creation are urgently need. The first purpose of this study is to contribute to the development of more advanced offshoring strategies to help host countries select the best locations to manage supply chain risks and create unique value. The second purpose is to specifically analyze the current status of Korea and provide Korean companies with implications to be considered when deciding whether to offshore or re-shore. Design/methodology - A Network DEA model was applied to measure the comparative location efficiency of national competencies for offshoring strategy from perspectives of wealth creation opportunities (profitability and marketability) and supply chain risk management. The location efficiencies are compared among a total 70 countries selected from the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and globally attractive locations outlined by Kearney (2017). For the secondary analysis of efficiency, a t-test examining the nature of competitive advantage and the level of sophistication in production processes was implemented in three divisions. We then analyzed differences in offshoring performance in terms of the identified national traits. Moreover, Tobit regression analysis is conducted to investigate the correlation between value-added business activities and each divisional efficiency, seeking to determine how each degree of value-added business activity influences the increase in offshoring productivity. Findings - Regarding overall location efficiency for offshoring performance, only the USA and Italy were identified as being efficient as host countries for offshoring, under circumstances of advanced development, such as productivity and risk management. Korea ranks 13th among 70 countries. The determinants of national competitiveness depend on national traits (the nature of competitive advantage and business sophistication). Countries with labor/resource advantages and labor-intensive industries are more competitive in terms of marketability than others. In contrast, countries with strong technology-intensive industries benefit offshoring companies, particularly in the technology sector, with the added advantage of supply chain risk management. As the perception of a value chain is broader in a country, it can achieve both production sophistication and competitive advantages such as marketability and SCRM. Originality/value - Existing studies focus on offshoring effectiveness from a company perspective. This paper contributes to comparing country efficiency in producing core competencies related to an offshoring strategy and also segments countries into three performance-based considerations associated with the global offshoring market. It also details Korea's position as an offshoring location according to national efficiency and competency.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.281-305
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the status and the trends in the international competitiveness of Korean export products against MINTs. For the study, the data were collected from the trade statistics for the period 2009-2012 produced by KITA and UN comtrade, and trade specialization index and market comparative advantage index were selected as index analysis methods. The findings from this study are as follows: First, Korea maintains a continuous increase of trade volume and trade balance in trade with MINTs, and exports finished goods, auto parts, etc. to MINTs, whlie mainly imports primary products such as energy fuels from MINTs. Second, Korea remains competitive in both product groups and individual products over MINTs. Third, even though Korean exports obtain a high competitiveness against MINTs, its competitiveness shows the differences by country. Several implications of this study are as follows: First, we need to take full advantage of energy resource-rich MINTs in securing stable energy fuels. Second, we should prepare response plans for the economic conditions which can have a negative impact on trade with MINTs, Third, we need to build strategies for maintaining the competitiveness of Korean exports over MINTs. Fourth, The differentiated export strategies should be established by country by considering differences in Korean exports' competitiveness which exist among the four countries of MINTs. Fifth, we need to prepare for such a situation which MINTs attempt to expand its influence by forming a collective economic cooperation.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.57-81
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• 2013

The purpose of this paper is to seek ways to improve the competitiveness of Korea's fashion industry by utilizing the source of competitiveness of Japan's fashion industry, which represents the world's leading countries in terms of fashion, so that Korea can better enter the global fashion market. The study shall first compare the competitiveness of the Japanese and Korean fashion industries by utilizing the generalized double diamond model; second, provide an understanding of what the Japanese fashion industry can offer to Korean fashion industry and companies - that is, understand what the Japanese fashion industry's competitive edge is; and third, study the kind of global competitiveness that Korea's fashion industry must achieve. To adopt a generalized double diamond model to compare the competitiveness of the Korean and Japanese fashion industries, we selected 31 sub-variables to act as determinants of the model. That is, we extracted 31sub-variables by doing research of literature to analyze national competitiveness of the fashion industries. To measure these 31 sub-variables, secondary data was gathered. We collected data related to each sub-variable from various sources of Korea and Japan. And to calculate the competitiveness index, we took three steps with reference to previous studies. We found that status of the fashion industry of the two countries as it stands. That is, Japan is an advanced country of which fashion industry is domestic market-oriented while Korea is a small open economy that mainly focuses on the foreign market. Out of 31 proxy variables, Korea's fashion industry shows higher measurements relating to production and export than Japan, but Japan's fashion industry reports higher measurements than Korea in the fields of R&D, design and brand power, the rate of value added, the efficiency of companies and globalization. In order for Korea's fashion industry to achieve competitiveness in the global market, it should pursue the following development direction. First, it is very difficult for Korea to follow the footsteps of the U.S. and Japanese fashion industries that are able to take advantage of economies of scale, because Korea is smaller than those countries. Therefore, in the case of small economies such as Singapore, strengthening of international activities will practically improve domestic determinants that Korea should improve its domestic diamond by enhancing the current competitiveness of its international diamond. In other words, Korea needs to further endeavor to develop and expand global resources and markets as well as improve its competitiveness in terms of R&D, design and brand power, the rate of value-added, and the efficiency of companies. As the Korean fashion industry shows relatively advanced level of information technology and the fashion education system, it has considerable potential to grow. Korea is expected to have a huge growth potential since it has relatively higher level of information technology, fashion education system and activities than those of Japan in both the domestic diamond and international diamond. In particular, a better environment is laid out before Korea to gain competitiveness in the fashion industry due to the recently growing influence of the Korean Wave that Korea is expected to grow as a leader in the Asian market as well as in the global market.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.205-234
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• 2011

The study analyzes the shifts of international competition in the digital products market between South Korea and major FTA partners. The analysis utilizes trade statistics to calculate changes in the volume of trade, and in competitiveness between FTA partners. The target countries for this analysis include USA and the European Union with whom Korea has made agreements recently, and the period is set for the decade from 2000 to 2009. The trade records of the UN are employed to investigate the indexes of each country: trade structure and market share of digital products, the trade specialization index (TSI), and annual change of revealed comparative advantage index (RCA) against global market and both the American and EU markets. This analysis shows clearly the status quo of the development and growth of the international competitiveness of South Korea. The study will improve the understanding of international competitiveness in digital products and contents industry, which is rapidly evolving, and of the resulting industrial structure.