• Title/Summary/Keyword: Political Capital

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A Study on the Traditionary Famous Scenaries of Jeju-island through T'amna-Sipkyung and T'amna-Sullyokto (탐라십경과 탐라순력도를 통해 본 제주 승경의 전통)

  • Rho, Jae-Hyun;Shin, Byung-Chul;Han, Sang-Yub
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.91-104
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    • 2009
  • This paper attempts to look at the identity of the traditional famous sceneries of Jeju Island by investigating the relationship between 'Yeoung Ju-Sipikyung(瀛州十二景)', which are the representative beautiful scenes of Jeju Island, and two paintings 'T'amna-Sipkyungtdo(耽羅十景圖)' and 'T'amna-Sullyokto(耽羅巡歷圖)' by a grasp of the contents and meanings of these two paintings. The following are the results of the study. In the 'T'amna-Sipkyung', which is the origin of today's 12 beautiful sceneries of Jeju Island, Baekrokdam and Youngsil are both symbolic places and the backdrops against which Jeju's myths were formed. Jocheonjin, Seogwijin and Myoungwoljin, located near the seashores, are strategic footholds in protecting the territory of the island and connotatively contain its culture and history. Seongsan Ilchulbong, Sanbangsan, Chwibyeongdam and Cheonjeyeon Pokpo are not only the quintessentially beautiful scenes of Jeju but also belong to 'YeoungJu-Sipikyung'. And 'T'amna-Sullyokto', which describes the Jeju horses and tangerines that were presented to the king as tribute, offers scenic elements with a strong political tone and is related to the five scene of 'T'amna-Sullyokto', showing that 'defense' and 'tribute' are motives in choosing the sceneries of people's daily lives here. Jeju's daily scenes in particular have been continuously transmitted: 'Idyllic lives with the background of a tangerine orchard' are shown in 'Kowon Panggo' and 'Kyullim P'ungak', and Jeju horses grazing on pastures or being ridden in hunting trips are presented in 'Sanjang Kuma' and 'Kyorae Taeryop'. Besides Baekrokdam and Youngsil, which do not belong to Sunyeok(巡歷) corridor of minister Lee Hyoungsang, 'Yeoung Ju-Sipikyung', directly related to 'T'amna-Sipkyung', has six beautiful sceneries: Seongsan of Seongsan Ilchulbong, Baekrokdam of Baekrokmanseol, Younggok of Youngsilgiam, Sanbang of Sanbanggulsa Chwibyeongdam of Yongyeonyabeom and Seogwiso of Seojinnoseong. The image of 'Gosumokma', the tenth landscape of 'Yeoung Ju-Sipikyung', was expressed as it is, through 'Udojeomma' and 'Sanjangguma'. The ten beautiful sceneries of 'T'amna-Sipkyung' were also especially described in 'T'amna-Sullyokto', besides Baekrokdam and Youngsil, which do not belong to Sunyeok corridor. As the places and landscapes emphasized on 'T'amna-Sipkyungto' and 'T'amna-Sullyokto' in common have been transmitted by the politicians and ancestors of Jeju Island, they have become established as today's 'Yeoung Ju-Sipikyung', passing through correction processes. When considering this process of development, 'Yeoung Ju-Sipikyung' are worthy of heritage and traditional landscapes accomplished in a long difficult period based on investigation into beautiful Jeju Island and the love of the island people for their home.

The Joseon Confucian Ruling Class's Records and Visual Media of Suryukjae (Water and Land Ceremony) during the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (조선 15~17세기 수륙재(水陸齋)에 대한 유신(儒臣)의 기록과 시각 매체)

  • Jeong, Myounghee
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.53 no.1
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    • pp.184-203
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    • 2020
  • The Confucian ruling class of the Joseon Dynasty regarded Buddhist rituals as "dangerous festivals." However, these Buddhist ceremonies facilitated transitions between phases of life from birth till death and strengthened communal unity through their joint practice of the rites. Ritual spaces were decorated with various utensils and objects that transformed them into wondrous arenas. Of these ornaments, Buddhist paintings served as the most effective visual medium for educating the common people. As an example, a painting of the Ten Kings of the Underworld (siwangdo) could be hung as a means to illustrate the Buddhist view of the afterlife, embedded in images not only inside a Buddhist temple hall, but in any space where a Buddhist ritual was being held. Demand for Buddhist paintings rose considerably with their use in ritual spaces. Nectar ritual paintings (gamnodo), including scenes of appeasement rites for the souls of the deceased, emphasized depictions of royal family members and their royal relatives. In Chinese paintings of the water and land ceremony (suryukjae), these figures referred to one of several sacred groups who invited deities to a ritual. However, in Korean paintings of a nectar ritual, the iconography symbolized the patronage of the royal court and underlined the historicity and tradition of nationally conducted water and land ceremonies. This royal patronage implied the social and governmental sanction of Buddhist rituals. By including depictions of royal family members and their royal relatives, Joseon Buddhist paintings highlighted this approval. The Joseon ruling class outwardly feared that Buddhist rituals might undermine observance of Confucian proprieties and lead to a corruption of public morals, since monks and laymen, men and women, and people of all ranks mingled within the ritual spaces. The concern of the ruling class was also closely related to the nature of festivals, which involved deviation from the routines of daily life and violation of taboos. Since visual media such as paintings were considered to hold a special power, some members of the ruling class attempted to exploit this power, while others were apprehensive of the risks they entailed. According to Joseon wangjo sillok (The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), the Joseon royal court burned Buddhist paintings and ordered the arrest of those who created them, while emphasizing their dangers. It further announced that so many citizens were gathering in Buddhist ritual spaces that the capital city was being left vacant. However, this record also paradoxically suggests that Buddhist rituals were widely considered festivals that people should participate in. Buddhist rituals could not be easily suppressed since they performed important religious functions reflecting the phases of the human life cycle, and had no available Confucian replacements. Their festive nature, unifying communities, expanded significantly at the time. The nectar ritual paintings of the late Joseon period realistically delineated nectar rituals and depicted the troops of traveling actors and performers that began to emerge during the seventeenth century. Such Buddhist rituals for consoling souls who encountered an unfortunate death were held annually and evolved into festivals during which the Joseon people relieved their everyday fatigue and refreshed themselves. The process of adopting Buddhist rituals-regarded as "dangerous festivals" due to political suppression of Buddhism in the Confucian nation-as seasonal customs and communal feasts is well reflected in the changes made in Buddhist paintings.

An Alternative Approach for Setting Equilibrium Prices of Sericultural Products (잠사류의 균형 가격모색)

  • 이질현
    • Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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    • no.12
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    • pp.47-50
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    • 1970
  • There are many factors affecting the development of sericultural industry in Korea. The setting of a rational pricing system for sericultural products is one of important activities of the Korean Government to improve the incentives to producers. The determination o: the prices for many years were based on the production costs including a certain level of profits. Some of cost items are in conflict both in cocoon producers and silk-reeling industries. Government officials have to evaluate these conflicting problems and estimate the consequences of their decisions. In this situation the final decision often became political decisions. This analysis is aimed at providing an alternative method of setting the prices of sericultural products. The criteria of the equilibrium employed in this analysis are based on economic principle which equilibrium condition is determined by the relationships between the marginal productivity of input factors and factor prices. In order to obtain the related information Cobb-Douglas'functions were fitted using KIST computer and data were obtained mostly from the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestru, An important assumption is that "Opportunity Costs" of factors input in both cocoon production and silk-Peeling industries are same, The major finding s obtained are as followings. 1) The sum of coefficient of production elastisity in silk-reeling industries is greater than one. Silk-reeling industries are operating under the situation of increasing return to scale and it is, therefore, expected to develop the industries as the capital-intensive large scale. 2) The cocoon producing farmers are under the situations of the decreasing return to scale and it is expected to continue their cocoon farming as the labor-intensive small scale, assuming the present level of production technology. As the development of commercial farming, the resources input in cocoon production will be shifted to the production for higher profitable crops, 3) The price elastisity of production is higher in cocoon production than in silk-reeling industries. It is expected that the price changing effects on domestic production will be resulted from cocoon producers. 4) Based on analysis results of marginal productivities and the opportunity costs of resources, cocoon price for meeting equilibrium price condition is to be increased by 8-16 percent or standard price level of silk increased by 6-8 percent. There were the possibilities of over evaluation on opportunity cost of resources input in silk-reeling industries, or income transfered from the farmers to the industries. It is recommended that the prices for meeting equilibrium price conditions are to be determined by 72 percent for cocoon and 28 percent for silk-reeling costs, based on standard level of the exporting prices.

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Myanmar's Macroeconomic changes and its Implications for the Invest of Korean Enterprises (미얀마 통상환경의 변화와 한국기업의 투자 및 진출에 관한 시사점)

  • Jung, Sung-Hoon;Kwon, O-Yoon
    • International Commerce and Information Review
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    • v.13 no.4
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    • pp.177-201
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    • 2011
  • Myanmar had fallen behind other southeast asian nations since Burmese way to Socialism settled down. However, historically second election in Myanmar hold in 2011 and dramatic changes in areas such as Special Economic Zone announcement, the very huge inflows of foreign direct investment in a year of 2009, the infrastructure building projects, a permit of the right to strike for Labour Organization in Myanmar etc. Particularly, Foreign investments and trade with neighbouring countries are actively growing and also with Korea. But investments of Korea in Myanmar relatively are not diversity, with limited sectors such as mining and sewing manufacturing. In this point of view, this paper is trying to make implications for strategies of entry and investments of Korea in Myanmar by using previous papers related to Myanmar economies, trade and foreign investments with updated statistical data. The implications for Korea is that recently Myanmar economy is in its early stages of development. Although it can occur huge demand of railway, road, communications and constructions related to social infrastructures essentially needed for development of a country, these sectors relatively need huge investments. On the other hands, textile and sewing industry relatively need smaller investments in which investors can utilize low labour cost and a position for export to third countries. But those firms which set up for those purpose in Myanmar might have trouble creating domestic markets in future. Moreover, due to demand which occur in the early stage of growth in Myanmar, trade volume tend to increase and trading is also possible to invest but Myanmar still have lots of problems with infrastructure such as road and logistics and we need to make pre-survey for the costs and benefits of our products Finally, Myanmar government is trying to promote and encourage some of industries such as export-oriented industry, import substitution industry and labour-intensive industry. It can also means they will accumulate capital which can be sources for Myanmar economic growth.

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The information of the businesses and the protection of information human rights (기업정보화와 정보인권보호)

  • 하우영
    • Proceedings of the Korea Institutes of Information Security and Cryptology Conference
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    • 2003.12a
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    • pp.543-559
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    • 2003
  • The information drive of the businesses requires new alternatives in that the promotion of business efficiency through information process technologies ends up conflicting with the protection of information human rights on laborers’side. Nevertheless, apathy on information protection has a tendency to be distorted by the efficiency of the businesses. Should the capital and mass media warn economic red lights, political circles with uneasiness would ignore the significance of information protection on the behalf of business efficiency. Therefore, the importance of information protection is considered a smaller interest than that of business efficiency with the infringements of human rights on laborers’side arising. Informatization of the businesses along with the developments of information process technologies has enabled the management to monitor and control the behaviors of laborers. This new problem needs to establish both information protection mechanism and institutional devices to regulate those labor controls. The security of business activity without human rights infringement warrants both basic rights of the public and spirit of the Constitution. The study suggests the establishment and revision of laws suitable to the period of information human rights. On top of that, the establishment of the basic law for information protection of individuals’with the common principle that integrates the related laws and rules on-off line is needed. This will warrant the active participation of labor unions and create specific alternatives for information protection.

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A Study on Characteristics of Reinterpretation and Tourism on Historic Sites of Buyeo Region during Japanese Colonial Era (일제강점기 부여고적의 재해석과 고적관광의 성격)

  • Kim, Jong soo
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.49 no.1
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    • pp.84-97
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    • 2016
  • One of the assimilation policies of Japanese imperialism for the permanent domination in the colonial Joseon is the theory of integration of Japan and Joseon. The theory of integration of Japan and Joseon is a logic that Joseon (Korea) and Japan (Wae) were connected to the same ancestor on the basis of ancient myths. Also it is the assimilation ideology to justify the Colonial rule of those days through the objectification of historical identity or affinity of political and cultural relations of ancient Korean peninsula and Japan (Wae). Japan reorganized our history to meet the colonial point of view, as part of the assimilation policies based on the theory of integration of Japan and Joseon. On the other hand Japan attempted to objectify them through archaeological research and the reinterpretation of the historical remains. The survey, reinterpretation and tourist of the historic sites in historic cities such as Gyeongju and Buyeo were promoted in this context. In particular, the Buyeo, a capital of Baekje, was emphasized upon the close relevance and affinity between Sabi, Baekje and ancient Asuka (飛鳥) in Japan through research and reinterpretation on the Historic Sites. Based on them, Historic Sites Tourism was conducted by reconstructed historic sites toward the colonial Korean. In addition, after the Sino-Japanese war in 1937, Japan tried to realize the politics of space by upgrading and idealizing Buyeo as homeland or Shinto (神都) related to Japanese ancient mythology of the Asuka culture. This paper investigated in what context research, reinterpret and tourist of the historic sites progressed on Buyeo area and how it had soaked through the general public in the Japanese colonial era. First, it is on historic sites. Historic sites research on Buyeo area made an attempt by Sekino Tadashi in 1909 for the first time and the re-excavation of the old burial mounds and temple sites during the Japanese colonial period. Sekino set up a cultural relationship and influences between the ancient China (梁), Korea (百濟) and Japan (倭). Also, he emphasized that Sabi, Baekje largely received influence of Chinese culture and Baekje and Japan Asuka culture had closely relations and affinity. These views had been consistent during the Japanese colonial period. Second, it is the reinterpretation on Historic sites. Buyeo Historic Sites Preservation Society (Buyeo Gojeok Bojonhoe) was established in 1915 and Osaka Kintaro, curator of Baekje exhibition hall redefined the relationship between ancient Japan and Baekje as perspective of the assimilation ideology through the post contextual interpretation. In particular, they emphasized on the close relevance between Baekje's Historic sites and Japan, through the reinterpretation of Nakhwaam, Goransa and Cheongmasanseong. Third, it is the tourist on Historic sites. Buyeo Historic Sites Preservation Society played a leading role in Tourist on Historic sites at the Buyeo region. The main tourist destinations and course were restructured through a reinterpretation on the historic sites. Japan would like to show Buyeo as ideology area, homeland of ancient Japanese culture, toward the Koreans under Japanese colonial era. Thus, research, reinterpretation, and tourism on Historic sites were promoted while they were closely related to each other. The promoting body was Joseon Chongdokbu and pro-Japanese interest group. It's point was 'made' and 'shown' by the eyes of others and a rediscovery of Buyeo as representational space of colony.

India's Maritime-Security Strategy: Pretext, Context and Subtext (인도의 해상 안보 전략: 구실, 맥락 및 숨은 의미)

  • Khurana, Gurpreet S
    • Maritime Security
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    • v.4 no.1
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    • pp.1-56
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    • 2022
  • Why has India become a key actor in the maritime-configured Indo-Pacific region? There are some external factors, but for India, its geo-strategic frontier encompassing its geopolitical and maritime interests is expanding rapidly beyond its territorial space across both the Indian and Pacific oceans amidst an increasingly arduous geopolitical and security environment. India must, therefore, acquire the ability to influence events within this strategic arena using all facets of national power, including maritime-military power. Lately, therefore, New Delhi has invested much intellectual capital to review its maritime-security strategy. India's new strategy is premised on the concept of holistic security involving the 'softer' aspects of maritime-security, and a rekindling of maritime consciousness in India, a nation that has traditionally been beset by 'sea-blindness'. The strategy adopts a region-wide, inclusive, and a more proactive approach than hitherto, as is evident in its title 'Ensuring Secure Seas: Indian Maritime Security Strategy'. While it deals with the growing concern of new non-traditional threats in the Indian littoral and the need for military deterrence and preparedness, it also addresses the imperatives for India to seek a favorable and rules-based benign environment in its immediate and extended maritime periphery, including through multi-vectored strategic partnerships dictated by its enduring principle of strategic autonomy. For a more profound and comprehensive understanding of India's maritime-security strategy, this paper examines the key unstated and implicit factors that underpin the strategy. These include India's historical and cultural evolution as a nation; its strategic geography; its geopolitical and security perceptions; and the political directions to its security forces. The paper deals specifically with India's response to maritime threats ranging from natural disasters, crime and state-sponsored terrorism to those posed by Pakistan and China, as well as the Indian Navy's envisaged security role East of the Malacca Straits. It also analyzes the aspects of organizational restructuring and force planning of India's maritime-security forces.

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The lesson From Korean War (한국전쟁의 교훈과 대비 -병력수(兵力數) 및 부대수(部隊數)를 중심으로-)

  • Yoon, Il-Young
    • Journal of National Security and Military Science
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    • s.8
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    • pp.49-168
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    • 2010
  • Just before the Korean War, the total number of the North Korean troops was 198,380, while that of the ROK(Republic of Korea) army troops 105,752. That is, the total number of the ROK army troops at that time was 53.3% of the total number of the North Korean army. As of December 2008, the total number of the North Korean troops is estimated to be 1,190,000, while that of the ROK troops is 655,000, so the ROK army maintains 55.04% of the total number of the North Korean troops. If the ROK army continues to reduce its troops according to [Military Reform Plan 2020], the total number of its troops will be 517,000 m 2020. If North Korea maintains the current status(l,190,000 troops), the number of the ROK troops will be 43.4% of the North Korean army. In terms of units, just before the Korean War, the number of the ROK army divisions and regiments was 80% and 44.8% of North Korean army. As of December 2008, North Korea maintains 86 divisions and 69 regiments. Compared to the North Korean army, the ROK army maintains 46 Divisions (53.4% of North Korean army) and 15 regiments (21.3% of North Korean army). If the ROK army continue to reduce the military units according to [Military Reform Plan 2020], the number of ROK army divisions will be 28(13 Active Division, 4 Mobilization Divisions and 11 Local Reserve Divisions), while that of the North Korean army will be 86 in 2020. In that case, the number of divisions of the ROK army will be 32.5% of North Korean army. During the Korean war, North Korea suddenly invaded the Republic of Korea and occupied its capital 3 days after the war began. At that time, the ROK army maintained 80% of army divisions, compared to the North Korean army. The lesson to be learned from this is that, if the ROK army is forced to disperse its divisions because of the simultaneous invasion of North Korea and attack of guerrillas in home front areas, the Republic of Korea can be in a serious military danger, even though it maintains 80% of military divisions of North Korea. If the ROK army promotes the plans in [Military Reform Plan 2020], the number of military units of the ROK army will be 32.5% of that of the North Korean army. This ratio is 2.4 times lower than that of the time when the Korean war began, and in this case, 90% of total military power should be placed in the DMZ area. If 90% of military power is placed in the DMZ area, few troops will be left for the defense of home front. In addition, if the ROK army continues to reduce the troops, it can allow North Korea to have asymmetrical superiority in military force and it will eventually exert negative influence on the stability and peace of the Korean peninsular. On the other hand, it should be reminded that, during the Korean War, the Republic of Korea was attacked by North Korea, though it kept 53.3% of troops, compared to North Korea. It should also be reminded that, as of 2008, the ROK army is defending its territory with the troops 55.04% of North Korea. Moreover, the national defense is assisted by 25,120 troops of the US Forces in Korea. In case the total number of the ROK troops falls below 43.4% of the North Korean army, it may cause social unrest about the national security and may lead North Korea's misjudgement. Besides, according to Lanchester strategy, the party with weaker military power (60% compared to the party with stronger military power) has the 4.1% of winning possibility. Therefore, if we consider the fact that the total number of the ROK army troops is 55.04% of that of the North Korean army, the winning possibility of the ROK army is not higher than 4.1%. If the total number of ROK troops is reduced to 43.4% of that of North Korea, the winning possibility will be lower and the military operations will be in critically difficult situation. [Military Reform Plan 2020] rums at the reduction of troops and units of the ground forces under the policy of 'select few'. However, the problem is that the financial support to achieve this goal is not secured. Therefore, the promotion of [Military Reform Plan 2020] may cause the weakening of military defence power in 2020. Some advanced countries such as Japan, UK, Germany, and France have promoted the policy of 'select few'. However, what is to be noted is that the national security situation of those countries is much different from that of Korea. With the collapse of the Soviet Unions and European communist countries, the military threat of those European advanced countries has almost disappeared. In addition, the threats those advanced countries are facing are not wars in national level, but terrorism in international level. To cope with the threats like terrorism, large scaled army trops would not be necessary. So those advanced European countries can promote the policy of 'select few'. In line with this, those European countries put their focuses on the development of military sections that deal with non-military operations and protection from unspecified enemies. That is, those countries are promoting the policy of 'select few', because they found that the policy is suitable for their national security environment. Moreover, since they are pursuing common interest under the European Union(EU) and they can form an allied force under NATO, it is natural that they are pursing the 'select few' policy. At present, NATO maintains the larger number of troops(2,446,000) than Russia(l,027,000) to prepare for the potential threat of Russia. The situation of japan is also much different from that of Korea. As a country composed of islands, its prime military focus is put on the maritime defense. Accordingly, the development of ground force is given secondary focus. The japanese government promotes the policy to develop technology-concentrated small size navy and air-forces, instead of maintaining large-scaled ground force. In addition, because of the 'Peace Constitution' that was enacted just after the end of World War II, japan cannot maintain troops more than 240,000. With the limited number of troops (240,000), japan has no choice but to promote the policy of 'select few'. However, the situation of Korea is much different from the situations of those countries. The Republic of Korea is facing the threat of the North Korean Army that aims at keeping a large-scale military force. In addition, the countries surrounding Korea are also super powers containing strong military forces. Therefore, to cope with the actual threat of present and unspecified threat of future, the importance of maintaining a carefully calculated large-scale military force cannot be denied. Furthermore, when considering the fact that Korea is in a peninsular, the Republic of Korea must take it into consideration the tradition of continental countries' to maintain large-scale military powers. Since the Korean War, the ROK army has developed the technology-force combined military system, maintaining proper number of troops and units and pursuing 'select few' policy at the same time. This has been promoted with the consideration of military situation in the Koran peninsular and the cooperation of ROK-US combined forces. This kind of unique military system that cannot be found in other countries can be said to be an insightful one for the preparation for the actual threat of North Korea and the conflicts between continental countries and maritime countries. In addition, this kind of technology-force combined military system has enabled us to keep peace in Korea. Therefore, it would be desirable to maintain this technology-force combined military system until the reunification of the Korean peninsular. Furthermore, it is to be pointed out that blindly following the 'select few' policy of advanced countries is not a good option, because it is ignoring the military strategic situation of the Korean peninsular. If the Republic of Korea pursues the reduction of troops and units radically without consideration of the threat of North Korea and surrounding countries, it could be a significant strategic mistake. In addition, the ROK army should keep an eye on the fact the European advanced countries and Japan that are not facing direct military threats are spending more defense expenditures than Korea. If the ROK army reduces military power without proper alternatives, it would exert a negative effect on the stable economic development of Korea and peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsular. Therefore, the desirable option would be to focus on the development of quality of forces, maintaining proper size and number of troops and units under the technology-force combined military system. The tableau above shows that the advanced countries like the UK, Germany, Italy, and Austria spend more defense expenditure per person than the Republic of Korea, although they do not face actual military threats, and that they keep achieving better economic progress than the countries that spend less defense expenditure. Therefore, it would be necessary to adopt the merits of the defense systems of those advanced countries. As we have examined, it would be desirable to maintain the current size and number of troops and units, to promote 'select few' policy with increased defense expenditure, and to strengthen the technology-force combined military system. On the basis of firm national security, the Republic of Korea can develop efficient policies for reunification and prosperity, and jump into the status of advanced countries. Therefore, the plans to reduce troops and units in [Military Reform Plan 2020] should be reexamined. If it is difficult for the ROK army to maintain its size of 655,000 troops because of low birth rate, the plans to establish the prompt mobilization force or to adopt drafting system should be considered for the maintenance of proper number of troops and units. From now on, the Republic of Korean government should develop plans to keep peace as well as to prepare unexpected changes in the Korean peninsular. For the achievement of these missions, some options can be considered. The first one is to maintain the same size of military troops and units as North Korea. The second one is to maintain the same level of military power as North Korea in terms of military force index. The third one is to maintain the same level of military power as North Korea, with the combination of the prompt mobilization force and the troops in active service under the system of technology-force combined military system. At present, it would be not possible for the ROK army to maintain such a large-size military force as North Korea (1,190,000 troops and 86 units). So it would be rational to maintain almost the same level of military force as North Korea with the combination of the troops on the active list and the prompt mobilization forces. In other words, with the combination of the troops in active service (60%) and the prompt mobilization force (40%), the ROK army should develop the strategies to harmonize technology and forces. The Korean government should also be prepared for the strategic flexibility of USFK, the possibility of American policy change about the location of foreign army, radical unexpected changes in North Korea, the emergence of potential threat, surrounding countries' demand for Korean force for the maintenance of regional stability, and demand for international cooperation against terrorism. For this, it is necessary to develop new approaches toward the proper number and size of troops and units. For instance, to prepare for radical unexpected political or military changes in North Korea, the Republic of Korea should have plans to protect a large number of refugees, to control arms and people, to maintain social security, and to keep orders in North Korea. From the experiences of other countries, it is estimated that 115,000 to 230,000 troops, plus ten thousands of police are required to stabilize the North Korean society, in the case radical unexpected military or political change happens in North Korea. In addition, if the Republic of Korea should perform the release of hostages, control of mass destruction weapons, and suppress the internal wars in North Korea, it should send 460,000 troops to North Korea. Moreover, if the Republic of Korea wants to stop the attack of North Korea and flow of refugees in DMZ area, at least 600,000 troops would be required. In sum, even if the ROK army maintains 600,000 troops, it may need additional 460,000 troops to prepare for unexpected radical changes in North Korea. For this, it is necessary to establish the prompt mobilization force whose size and number are almost the same as the troops in active service. In case the ROK army keeps 650,000 troops, the proper number of the prompt mobilization force would be 460,000 to 500,000.

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A study on the improvement of distribution system by overseas agricultural investment (해외농업투자에 따른 유통체계 개선방안에 관한 연구)

  • Sun, Il-Suck;Lee, Dong-Ok
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.8 no.3
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    • pp.17-26
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    • 2010
  • Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

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