• KIPS Transactions on Computer and Communication Systems
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.81-92
• /
• 2021

As the aging population of Korean agriculture and rural areas and the decline of the agricultural population are gradually deepening, the influx of population through returning to farming and rural areas is urgently needed. To this end, the most important problems to be solved were the lack of information that would help those who want to return to farming or rural areas when making decisions. Therefore, a survey was conducted for AHP analysis on related experts to find out the information (decision factors) required when selecting a return-to-farm or return-to-country migration area through this study. The AHP analysis showed that "Economic factors" were the most important among the three items in the primary class, while "Housing and land prices", "Metropolitan accessibility and traffic" and "Residential information" were the most important in the secondary class. The results of these studies are reflected in the information system to systematically support the decision-making of those who wish to return to farming or rural areas.It is hoped that it will be indirectly helpful and ultimately contribute to the revitalization and development of Korean agriculture and rural areas, which are aging.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.73-91
• /
• 2012

This study is in the purpose for the revitalization of traditional market as comparing to the relevancy between the central characteristics of a floating population going around for buying something or eating food and lots of small-sized businesses comprising of the commercial districts. The several traditional markets such as Cheonan station, Dujeong-dong, Sinbu-dong in Cheon-An city has been investigated repeatedly almost every two or three years by the Small Enterprise development Agency(SEDA) since 2001. By analyzing the raw data of those commercial districts made by SEDA, we can calculate the number of firms andthe ratio of business type of each commercial districts. In this research, the type of each business is classified into four groups such as restaurant, service, retail and the rest. Moreover, the central character of the floating population is derived from the raw data, which means the customer information about sex, age structure or the most populous time zones. From these characteristics, one commercial districts has his own specific features distinguishing from the others. The most important differences of past researches are firstly the dynamic viewpoint rather than a static one. Secondly it suggests that the relation between the central characteristics of districts and the floating population would exist. Lastly, it suggests that the interaction between both of them have a significant effect on the growth or decline of the districts and the rates of business type, other adjacent commercial districts as well. Eventually, this study provides several meaningful points for the revitalization of commercial districts to government or stakeholder such as management organization, business owners and new starter etc.

• Economic Analysis
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.58-108
• /
• 2019

This paper analyzes the determining factors in the unemployment rate among young people in their 20s by studying data from 30 OECD countries between 2000 and 2017. It identifies reasons why Korea has a higher youth unemployment rate than Japan, and assesses what implications Japan's youth unemployment measures could have on Korea. The study highlights the variables that have meaningful impacts on youth unemployment. They include the unemployment rate among the working-age population, the percentage of each age bracket in the overall population, the GDP growth rate, the percentage of wage laborers in each age group, the percentage of elderly people, and the percentage of part-time workers. This paper also finds that a decline in the youth population, especially among people in their 20s, does not help to address the issue of youth unemployment. Secondly, this paper explains the additional factors behind Korea's higher youth unemployment rates. One is Korea's disadvantageous employment environment, compared to that in Japan, in terms of wage earnings. Other factors include the existence of fewer decent corporate jobs than in Japan, and wide disparities in wages between large and small corporate jobs. Therefore, while making efforts to resolve long-term and structural problems, it is necessary to actively promote policy measures to solve short-term mismatch problems of youth employment by referring to Japanese policy examples.

• Economic Analysis
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.66-122
• /
• 2019

As the Korean economy grew, employment expanded steadily, with the number of economically active people increasing and the employment-to-population rate also increasing. However, the working age population started to decline in 2017, and the employment of women and young people has been sluggish. The proportion of non-salaried workers in Korea is much higher than in other OECD countries, and is also excessive, considering Korea's income levels. In addition, the proportion of non-regular workers and the proportion of workers employed at small companies are particularly high among salaried workers. In light of these characteristics of Korean employment, the urgent problems facing the employment structure can be summarized by the deepening dual structure of the labor market, the increase in youth unemployment, sluggish female employment figures, and an excessive share of self-employment. Overall, it is seen that labor market duality is the main structural factor of the employment problems in Korea. Therefore, in order to fundamentally address this employment problem, it is necessary to concentrate policy efforts on alleviating labor market duality.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.358-371
• /
• 2020

As climate change is expected to lead to a severe reduction of biodiversity, studies to investigate the reasons for habitat loss, growth decline, and death of Korean fir (Abies koreana Wilson), endangered alpine/subalpine species in Korea, have been conducted for years but found no clear answer yet. This study reviewed previous studies on Korean fir published in the journals in the past 40 years, 1980 through 2020, into 10-year units, examined the study trend by period, region, and subject with a focus on ecological studies, and analyzed the study results. The ecological studies were categorized into evolutionary ecology, physiological ecology, population ecology, and landscape ecology. Based on the results, we suggested the required research fields in the future. We found a total of 73 papers published in the past 40 years and 48 (65.8%) of them published in the past 10 years. In terms of region, Mt. Halla accounted for the most as 41 papers were on it. In terms of ecological subjects, the physiological ecology accounted for the most with 38, and the evolutionary ecology accounted for the least with 10. The review of the study results showed that many studies identified water stress caused by the water resource imbalance due to temperature increase and spring precipitation reduction following climate change as the main reason for the decline and habitat loss of Korean fir. However, recent studies suggested other factors, such as soil environment, disturbing organisms, and climatic events. The cause of the decline and death of the Korean fir not yet being clearly identified is that most of the studies dealt with the basic content, were carried out intermittently, and were concentrated in some regions. Therefore, we need long-term studies with advanced technology in each study subject at a local scale to find the cause of Korean fir decline and present sustainable management and conservation. Moreover, it is necessary to extend our study subjects to ecosystem ecology and systems ecology to integrate the results from various study subjects for a comprehensive understanding of the reason for Korean fir declines. The results of comprehensive studies could provide clearer answers for Korean fir's declines and the alternatives of conservation management and practices.

• Journal of Dairy Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.179-196
• /
• 2015

Because of our aging population, there is increasing concern about the impact of dementia and age-related cognitive decline. Intense research efforts on effective dietary interventions for the prevention or amelioration of dementia and age-related cognitive decline have indicated that dairy products affect physiological health and potentially healthy brain function during aging. Milk is a rich source of proteins and peptides with nutritional and immunotropic activities. The preparation of biologically active proteins and peptides generally requires enzymatic degradation, chemical modification, or the addition of specific co-factors. Milk-derived preparations are widely available in the food industry in the form of hygiene products and infant formulas. However, milk-derived products could also be applied as preventive or therapeutic measures for a wide-range of pathological conditions not only in neonates and infants but also in adults, including the elderly. Because they have no adverse side effects, milk-derived proteins and peptides could be used as a supplementary treatment for dementia and age-related cognitive decline.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.105-138
• /
• 2009

Although the decline in fertility rate is generally observed along the history of economic development throughout the world, the continuing decline hitting below the replacement level in Korea over the recent years gathered serious social concerns on the ground that it accelerates the process of population aging. The total fertility rate in Koreareached 2.08 in 1983, and gradually fell to the levels of 1.08 in 2005 and 1.26 in 2007. The policy debate over the role of the government has been focused mainly on the level of theoretical discussion without substantial basis on firm empirical evidence and the determinants of fertility. The objective of the paper is to empirically investigate the fertility effect of the female wage, which is understood as one of the most important determinants of fertility in Koreasince 1980 focusing on one aspect of fertility, namely birth spacing. Using the Korean National Fertility Survey conducted in 2006, I estimate a duration model of first and second births taking into account individual heterogeneity, which turned out to be an important factor to control for. Compared with previous studies in the literature on the Korean fertility, the study has an advantage of using the complete pregnancy history of women in a more representative sample. Unlike the previous studies, the analysis also deals with the endogeneity of marriage by treating a certain age, rather than age at marriage, as the time in which a woman becomes exposed to the risk of pregnancy. The study shares the common problem in the literature on birth spacing of lacking relevant wage information for respondents in a retrospective survey. I estimate the wage series as a function of the basic characteristics using the annual Wage Structure Survey from 1980 to 2005, which is considered as a nationally representative sample for wage information of employees. The results suggest that the increase in female wage by 10 percent leads to a decrease in second birth hazard by 0.56~0.92 percentage points and that the increase in spouse's wage by the equal amount is accompanied by the increase in second birth hazard by 0.36~1.13 percentage points. These estimates are more precisely estimated and of smaller magnitude than those presented by the previous studies. The results are robust to the different specifications of the wage equation. The simulation analysis based on the predicted values shows that about 17% of the change in the second birth hazard over the period 1980 to 2005 was due to the change in the female wage. Although there is some limitation in data, the results can be viewed as one estimate of the role of female wage on the recent fertility decline in Korea. The question raised by the paper is not a normative one of whether a government should promote childbearing but a positive one thatexplains fertility decline. Therefore, if there is a wide consensus on promoting childbearing, the finding suggests that the policies designed to reduce the opportunity cost of women in the labor market would be effective. The recent movement of implementing a wide range of family-friendly policies including child care support, maternity leave, parental leave and tax benefit in developed countries should be understood in this context.

• Korea journal of population studies
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.184-228
• /
• 1998

This study reviews the relationship between son preference and fertility behavior, and infant and chlid mortality in the context of fertility and mortality decline. In Korea the situation reveals that fertility can decline to a very low level even in the presence of strong son preference, but son preference has certain effects on fertility and childhood mortality. The effect of son preference on fertility increased as the level of fertility declined. Our findings show that son preference causes excess female childhood mortality both directly and indirectly through fertility. Also, in Korea, the analysis reveals that female children suffer excessively high level of mortality and part of the excess mortality is due to parents' behavior on family building related to the effort to secure the birth of a son.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.328-336
• /
• 2014

Nakdan weir, which is located in the second weir among the 8 weirs of Nakdong River, had been constructed from Nov. 2009 to Nov. 2011. To analyze the effect of Nakdan weir construction on benthic macroinvertebrates, we studied 2 sites around Nakdan weir (upstream and downstream) from 2007 to 2014. The average numbers of species and individuals were decreased after the construction (in 2012~2014, 51 species $895inds.\;m^{-2}$) than before construction (in 2007~2009, 25 species $84inds.\;m^{-2}$), especially in upstream site of Nakdan weir. After the construction, especially in 2012, dominance indices (DI) were increased by the decline of some specific taxon population, such as Ephemeroptera and Trichoptera, etc. After construction, individual ratios of GC (Gathering Collectors) and P (Predator) of FFGs (Functional feeding groups) and BU (Burrowers) of HOGs (Habitat orientation groups) were higher than before construction. So the results of this study indicate that the changes by a weir construction, such as the decline of shallow depth area, reduced velocity of water flow and increased ratio of sand bed, etc., can affect the benthic macroinvertebrate communities variously.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.405-421
• /
• 2019

International aid to North Korea remains far below the humanitarian needs of vulnerable people. This paper examines the trajectory of international humanitarian assistance to North Korea over the last two decades with the focus on its decline in the context of the country's nuclear standoff and corresponding stringent sanctions. In so doing, the paper addresses major problems associated with North Korea's reception of foreign aid and operational constraints placed on humanitarian activities in the country. It shows that humanitarian assistance to North Korea has been largely shaped by geopolitical dynamics. A survey of UN reports and statistics also suggests a shifting trend in recent international aid to North Korea. The decline of aid and multiple operational obstacles faced by humanitarian organizations, for instance, have led to a fall in agricultural support and a proportional rise in health and related services. While UN Security Council resolutions include an exemption provision, humanitarian assistance to North Korea has been constrained by stringent sanctions, which have led to adverse consequences for the civilian population. In this regard, the paper suggests some policy directions for international aid to North Korea amidst negotiations over denuclearization, while stressing an urgent need to address the negative impact of sanctions on vulnerable groups in the country.