• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.84-96
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• 2020

The Republic of Korea (Korea) and the Russian Federation (Russia) are actualizing the cooperation in the Arctic area. As a result, Korean companies have begun to enjoy real economic benefits. However, since there are some troublesome aspects associated with this cooperation, measures that can lead to sustainable development through the supplementation of relevant norms are critical. Russia is also aware of these problems in obtaining economic benefits in the future; cooperation between the two countries should be extended to sufficiently cover this point. The laws related to the region are vague and do not encompass every field. In addition, when it comes to national interests, many situations arise from areas where international and national laws are not clearly harmonized. Therefore, efforts should be made to reflect the interests of both sides and to maintain economic benefits, in case Korea participates in Russia's development of the area, as well as for the legal foundation to reduce negative issues. The Korea-Russia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation is on the track for the purpose. The two governments should consider various tasks, such as harmonizing with the former FTAs and dealing with the domestic law in accordance with the new FTA. The two countries also have to conduct researches on the efficient use of the FTA and for the 'Sustainable Arctic Development'.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.345-351
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• 2011

Comparison of different morphological characteristics of bivalves is very useful for distinguishing species. Therefore, this study used a morphometric approach to document patterns of phenotypic change through the specimens of family Pinnidae inhabiting the bottom sediments at the coasts of An Thoi Archipelago (south-eastern Gulf of Thailand), in that way excluding intraspecific variations among different populations along a wide geographical range. It was revealed that individuals determined as Pinna trigonium separated from specimens of Pinna nigra and Atrina vexillum at high level, but P. nigra and A. vexillum were the single species A. vexillum, as it is assumed now. Also, it was found that both groups of P. trigonium individuals and A. vexillum specimens divided into tree subgroups unified the specimens with the similar morphometric parameters: small, medium and large within the populations, though there were no evident divisions into subgroups in the size distributions of the populations. In addition to the interspecific morphological variations, the species also showed significant intraspecific morphological variations even in the same population. Most probable reason for the appearance of the intraspecific morphological variations and division of all specimens into size-specific subgroups in the population is the fact that the growth of Pinnidae bivalves is not isometric.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.227-234
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• 2010

A comparative analysis of size and age structures of coastal subfossil shell assemblages of the shortnecked clam Ruditapes philippinarum from open and protected bays of Cheju Island (Korea) was carried out. On the whole, taking into account the damage of small fragile shells, size and age structures of the shell assemblages corresponded to the classical curve of bivalve population distribution when its mortality diminishes with age increase up to a certain threshold. It was found that shell samples from open bays of the western, southern and eastern coasts included shells of smaller and younger individuals (L ${\leq}$ 40 mm, ${\leq}$ 4 years) than samples from the eastern protected bay (L ${\leq}$ 54.5 mm, ${\leq}$ 6 years). Evidently, strong wave activity was the reason for a short life-span of the clams from the open areas. Growth was investigated retrospectively by annual growth rings on the shells. Growth rates of the clams from the various coasts of Cheju Island differed. However, growth rates of the clams from different biotopes at the same (eastern) side of the Island were similar. Shell height/length and width/length ratios statistically significantly increased with the clam age increase. Most likely, the reason for such shell shape alteration is that more conglobated individuals more survive being more energy-optimal than oblong specimens.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.33
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• pp.263-286
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• 2013

Is this a right way in politics that attitude of Japanese scholars to separate Natsume Soseki from the expansionism of pre-war Japan to protect 'sanctity'? Nowadays, most Japanese scholars are regarded to share the desire that minimize the memory of the behavior of Japanese Imperialism in East Asia, such as Korea, China, etc. Furthermore, 'the desire to minimize' inescapably concluded in avoidance, concealment, at last the temptation of deliberate misleading. Until now, the controversy about the Natsume Soseki's travel to Korea and Manchuria has repeated in defence and criticism surrounding the self-awareness and recognition of others of Natsume Soseki, making the expression in a record of Natsume's travel as the subject of study, for example, the degrading expression about Chosun people and scorn for Chinese and Russian. This paper will investigate that Natsume's travel is the political practice which is combined with the desire for the empire, focusing on the political context in the action of journey of Natsume and its contents other than the expression itself.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.115-128
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• 2019

This article analyzes issues regarding the economic development of the arctic area with the aim of finding ways to help solve the problems and to support sustainable economic development of the arctic area. Some proposals are introduced for establishing a sound legal infrastructure of the Korea-Russia economic development of the arctic area. As Russia develops the Arctic area and the route through the Arctic area, Korea will gain the possibility of transportation efficiency, vitalization of international transaction, and finding new markets. Resource development in the North Pole is ongoing, with matching international transaction and economic benefits. To reflect the Korea-Russia interests and to sustain the effect, the legal infrastructure is inevitable. For example, it would be reinforced by pushing forward the Korea-Russia FTA. The legal infrastructure for economic cooperation of Korea and Russia has to reflect that 'the development of the Arctic area and making the route through the Arctic area' should increase the sustainability and vitality of international transaction. The legal infrastructure for economic benefits can also help mitigating non-economic arguments of international community such as the security risk in the Korean-peninsula and around the world.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2022

Halenia coreana is an endangered, endemic species that is distributed in only a few locations in Korea, such as Mts. Hwaaksan and Daeamsan. It has been recently segregated from H. corniculata, broadly distributed in cold temperate regions that include northern Japan, the Russian Far East, northeastern China, Mongolia, and eastern Europe, where population sizes are usually large. To examine the genetic diversity of H. coreana and evaluate the level of genetic differentiation of the species compared with that of H. corniculata, we surveyed 183 candidate simple sequence repeats (SSR) motif markers for H. coreana and H. corniculata from sequence data of amplified fragments of a specific length in the genome. A total of 17 genomic-SSR markers were selected to examine the levels of genetic diversity and differentiation using 17 samples of H. coreana and 60 samples of three populations of H. corniculata. The results here suggest that the genetic diversity of H. coreana is very low with a high frequency of inbreeding within its population. We found that H. coreana is genetically differentiated from H. corniculata, supporting the recognition of the geographically isolated H. coreana as a distinct species.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2022.09a
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• pp.48-48
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• 2022

Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary science at the intersection of botany and ethnology. Currently, there is a sharply increasing need for the study and conservation of traditional knowledge about plants. The loss of traditional sources, knowledge, and practices in using plants is caused by the growth of technologies in all branches of production, widespread urbanization, and globalization of the economy. This study was been conducted to collect and analyze the Koryoins (Koryo saram) traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, living in Uzbekistan, whose number 174,200 people. They are the descendants of Korean immigrants to the Russian Far East, who ended up in Central Asia as a result of the forced resettlement in 1937. In the processing of collected data, four main categories of uses were defined - Alimentary, Medicinal, Household/Handicraft, and Others. For quantitative data analysis, synthetic indices were used - RFC (Relative Frequency of Citation) and CI (Cultural Importance Index), which are commonly applied to assess the importance of plants. The respondents mentioned 72 plants belonging to 28 botanical families. A significant part of them was cultivar plants. The category that had the largest number of plants mentioned by the respondents was the Alimentary use category (51). According to quantitative indices rates, the most important plants are traditionally used for food. A comparison of ethnobotanical knowledge was made with the collected data of this study and Korean traditional knowledge.

• Journal of International Area Studies (JIAS)
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.135-156
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• 2010

While there are a few ways of giving meanings to the term, "Altai" ranging from a language family to a national residing around the Altai Mountains in Russian Federation, and to the people speaking the language or the whole area where they live, there have been controversial debates whether it is a meaningful categorization. This paper argues that the basic cause lying beneath the controversies is the underdevelopment of the subject that identifies itself as a representative of the whole area where the Altaic language family is spoken. It might be true, as some Korean and Russian scholars insist, that what deserves to be called Altaic culture (or civilization) has provided a common culture and mutual interactions with the people. However, the Altaic people failed to constitute themselves as a meaningful modern group, that is a nation, and they did not fully develop national consciousness, As a result, although their way of life may be regarded as an origin of various cultures across North-East Asia, Altaic culture is not sufficient to give a momentum to claim for cultural initiative in the region. This comes at least partly from the reconfiguration of ethnic identity through a Soviet type of modernization and its geopolitical situation surrounded by super-powers such as China and Russia, as well as belated import of religions such as Buddhism and Christianity. From a wide perspective, the trouble about delimiting an area is not unique in Altai, but universally found in anywhere, as far as area studies are concerned. The delimitation of an area is not a natural outcome of physical environment but an artificial production of how cultural-political relationships have been distributed. Therefore, while the case of Alai has its own specificities, its implications that a national or regional boundary in area studies should not be taken for granted may be applied to other areas.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.48-53
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• 2012

The tiger population that once inhabited the Korean peninsula was initially considered a unique subspecies (Panthera tigris coreensis), distinct from the Amur tiger of the Russian Far East (P. t. altaica). However, in the following decades, the population of P. t. coreensis was classified as P. t. altaica and hence forth the two populations have been considered the same subspecies. From an ecological point of view, the classification of the Korean tiger population as P. t. altaica is a plausible conclusion. Historically, there were no major dispersal barriers between the Korean peninsula and the habitat of Amur tigers in Far Eastern Russia and northeastern China that might prevent gene flow, especially for a large carnivore with long-distance dispersal abilities. However, there has yet to be a genetic study to confirm the subspecific status of the Korean tiger. Bone samples from four tigers originally caught in the Korean peninsula were collected from two museums in Japan and the United States. Eight mitochondrial gene fragments were sequenced and compared to previously published tiger subspecies' mtDNA sequences to assess the phylogenetic relationship of the Korean tiger. Three individuals shared an identical haplotype with the Amur tigers. One specimen grouped with Malayan tigers, perhaps due to misidentification or mislabeling of the sample. Our results support the conclusion that the Korean tiger should be classified as P. t. altaica, which has important implications for the conservation and reintroduction of Korean tigers.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1-26
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• 2009

In the 1990s, when the viewpoint that an ecosystem is a single network within a specific region was adopted, the preservation and management of natural ecosystems was proposed. With regard to Northeast Asia, the expansion of trans-boundary pollution due to rapid development and the swift destruction of the natural environment emphasize the necessity for environmental cooperation. The Northeast Asia region made up of South Korea, North Korea, three northeastern prefectures in China, the Russian far-east, and parts of Mongolia were selected to be analyzed for an ecological network. The significance of this study lies in the development of a methodology for building a Northeast Asian ecological network through the use of satellite images. Regarding the methods of analysis, stable habitats for four priority species were selected to be performed using overlay analysis. The result of the analysis of the ecological networks in the whole Northeast Asia region showed that there were key areas partly dispersed in the Korean Peninsula, but whether the key areas would be maintained in the long term is unknown. As for China, key areas were concentrated in the border areas around the Tumen River and in parts of the three northeastern prefectures. Russia had wide-ranging areas that could function as stable habitats for most species. As a result of the actual conditions of the ecological networks, most of the Northeast Asia region, including the Korean Peninsula, was in poor condition, requiring appropriate measures and their operation as soon as possible. Also, it was revealed that further investigation and research was necessary for border areas that were identified to be key areas.