• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.69-81
• /
• 2017

This study examines how South Korean governments responded to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS) using the adaptive governance framework. As of November 24, 2015, the MERS outbreak in South Korea resulted in the quarantine of about 17,000 people, 186 cases confirmed, and a death of 38. Although the national government had overall responsibility for MERS response, there is no clear understanding of how the ministries, agencies, and subnational governments take an adaptive response to the public health crisis. The paper uses the adaptive governance framework to understand how South Korean governments respond to the unexpected event regarding the following aspects: responsiveness, public learning, scientific learning, and representativeness of the decision mechanisms. The framework helps understand how joint efforts of the national and subnational governments were coordinated to the unexpected conditions. The study highlights the importance of adaptive governance for an effective response to a public-health related extreme event.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.261-270
• /
• 2019

In order to protect secret digital documents against vulnerabilities while communicating, steganography algorithms are applied. It protects a digital file from unauthorized access by hiding the entire content. Pixel-value-difference being a method from spatial domain steganography utilizes the difference gap between neighbor pixels to fulfill the same. The proposed approach is a block-wise embedding process where blocks of variable size are chosen from the cover image, therefore, a stream of secret digital contents is hidden. Least significant bit (LSB) substitution method is applied as an adaptive mechanism and optimal pixel adjustment process (OPAP) is used to minimize the error rate. The proposed application succeeds to maintain good hiding capacity and better signal-to-noise ratio when compared against other existing methods. Any means of digital communication specially e-Governance applications could be highly benefited from this approach.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.99-108
• /
• 2017

This study aims to analyze the features of adaptation governance of local governments by applying a multi-level governance framework, and to draw policy implications. We analyzed changes in governance of 17 metropolitan cities/provinces, and 33 municipalities in terms of horizontal and vertical cooperation in the process of developing 'The Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan' and its implementation stage. The result shows that the plan contributed to the higher level of vertical cooperation between the central and the local governments to a certain extent, however, during the implementation stage, the level of the partnership decreased due to the absence of governance mechanism. These trends were statistically significant at the level of municipalities. The role of Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC) was also diminished after establishing the plan. The horizontal partnership level among the relevant departments of the local governments showed no significant change as the level was low even in the planning stage. Though Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has increased a bit, it was statistically significant only in the municipalities. Moreover, there was no governance mechanism for PPP or it did not work properly. Based on the results above, it is recommended that the effectiveness of the plans should be increased and support for climate change partnerships or forums at a local level that promotes adaptive capacity is needed. The role of metropolitan cities and provinces should be strengthened through building a multi-level partnership structure. Governance institutionalizing for monitoring and evaluation is also needed.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.457-492
• /
• 2011

The primary goal of our study was to investigate the vast transformations of the healthcare sector in Korea during the past half century. Official data reported in the Korean statistical yearbooks and secondary data suggested by previous studies were used for institutional analysis of healthcare environment. Information on hospital released by the Korean Hospital Association was also used for ecological analysis. Institutional analysis: We identified three distinctive eras based primarily on changes in institutional logics, institutional actors, and governance structures : 'professional dominance (1952-1976)', 'government involvement (1977-1999)', and 'coexistence of competing institutional logics (2000-present)'. During the first era, physician association supported by Korean government comprised the primary governance regime. During the second era, the government became a major actor as a regulator and purchaser in health care sector, introducing of the 'mandatory national health insurance'. During the third era, making healthcare system sustainable and providing health care efficiently was overarching goals although it was hard to find a single central logic dominating this period. Ecological analysis: Evidence from the analysis of hospital population suggested that the expansion of the bed capacity was made from different processes, shifting from the ecological process in 1980s to the adaptive process in 1990s. And Korean hospitals had changed following both 'directional process' and 'stabilizing process' over time. Based on our results, we concluded that more studies to compare more organizational populations other than hospitals and to empirically test the effects of institutional changes on organizational changes and vice-versa, need to be conducted.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.50 no.6
• /
• pp.659-675
• /
• 2015

This study explores the status, characteristics and problems of urban-to-rural migration policy in Gyeongbuk Province, and suggests some improvements based on this analysis. Gyeongbuk Province enacted local ordinances related to urban-to-rural migration for the first time in Korea, and has expanded the area of its own projects in addition to the central government's support projects. Consequently, the degree of satisfaction for the support projects in Gyeongbuk Province is higher than in other provinces. Problems of the support projects for urban-to-rural migration are the lack of role sharing between central and lower level local government, and the lack of connectivity among the relevant departments; the non-reflection of regional characteristics and attributes of urban-to-rural migrants (household); and the insufficient satisfaction of policy demands by non-agricultural urban-to-rural migrants. Improvements for these problems include establishing governance that involves urban-to-rural migrants in addition to the existing policy actors, and institutionalizing the project to properly embed this governance in the region. In addition to economic and physical support, diverse programs based on the adaptive cycle, 'non-agricultural rural jobs' for nonagricultural urban-to-rural migrants, and support programs for professional competency enhancement contributing to rural communities should be developed.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.1207-1236
• /
• 2018

This paper explores the life cycle of innovation cluster, especially focussing on the Korean representative innovation cluster, Daedeok Innopolis. For this purpose, we review theoretically how an innovation cluster has been growing up. In particular, we discuss how a cluster has been formed and activated by governmental innovation policies from an evolutionary perspective. By doing so, the study identifies the typical features of an innovation cluster according to each dimensions of the cluster life cycle. The results of this study are as follows: First, in this study, Daedeok Innopolis has characteristics of latency, emergence, growth, and maturity from evolutionary perspective. Second, the governmental structure of the Daedeok Innopolis is a strong government-led and top-down structure, which has features of inclusiveness and flexibility such as umbrella policy. Third, the Daedeok Innopolis can be seen that adaptive or renewal development, as while, it can be applied fine adjustment the innovation cluster policy towards the recognition of innovation obstacle at each dimensions of the life cycle. Therefore, these discussions expose what kind of policy interventions should be addressed to form and develop the innovation cluster according to the cluster life cycle, as while, the development of adaptive policies during the risk and take-off period. Ultimately, the study provides that a different kind of policy instruments and tools should be implemented according to innovation cluster development and its distinctive characteristic per each dimensions of the cluster life cycle.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.49-74
• /
• 2010

Cities are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions but also suitable places for implementing proactive climate mitigation and adaptation strategies. Based on the interdisciplinary review of literature, we categorize the current discussion about urban climate mitigation and adaptation planning, policy and practices into four perspectives - sustainability science, global change science, multilevel governance, and structural engineering. While these four schools of thought have distinct perspectives rooted in different disciplinary lenses, our synthesis of the literature identifies several universal themes that are common to all of the perspectives in the context of combating threats posed by climate change. The Portland case study illustrates that a city can make changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase adaptive capacity to climate change impacts by implementing smart growth, devising local climate action plans that target emission reductions in various sectors, recognizing the interactions and influences of multiple scales of governance, and supporting the installation of various green infrastructures that contribute to green economy. Furthermore, a university can serve as a hub in this climate mitigation and adaptation arena by connecting various levels of community organizations in both public and private sectors, creating innovative research centers and spatially explicit green infrastructure, designing impact assessments and campus carbon inventories, and engaging students and the larger community through service learning.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.185-205
• /
• 2010

Climate change vulnerability assessment based on local conditions is a prerequisite for establishment of climate change adaptation policies. While some studies have developed a methodology for vulnerability assessment at the national level using statistical data, few attempts, whether domestic or overseas, have been made to develop methods for local vulnerability assessments that are easily applicable to a single city. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to develop a conceptual framework for climate change vulnerability, and then develop a general methodology for assessment at the regional level applied to a single coastal city, Mokpo, in Jeolla province, Korea. We followed the conceptual framework of climate change vulnerability proposed by the IPCC (1996) which consists of "climate exposure," "systemic sensitivity," and "systemic adaptive capacity." "Climate exposure" was designated as sea level rises of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 meter(s), allowing for a simple scenario for sea level rises. Should more complex forecasts of sea level rises be required later, the methodology developed herein can be easily scaled and transferred to other projects. Mokpo was chosen as a seaside city on the southwest coast of Korea, where all cities have experienced rising sea levels. Mokpo has experienced the largest sea level increases of all, and is a region where abnormal high tide events have become a significant threat; especially subsequent to the construction of an estuary dam and breakwaters. Sensitivity to sea level rises was measured by the percentage of flooded area for each administrative region within Mokpo evaluated via simulations using GIS techniques. Population density, particularly that of senior citizens, was also factored in. Adaptive capacity was considered from both the "hardware" and "software" aspects. "Hardware" adaptive capacity was incorporated by considering the presence (or lack thereof) of breakwaters and seawalls, as well as their height. "Software" adaptive capacity was measured using a survey method. The survey questionnaire included economic status, awareness of climate change impact and adaptation, governance, and policy, and was distributed to 75 governmental officials working for Mokpo. Vulnerability to sea level rises was assessed by subtracting adaptive capacity from the sensitivity index. Application of the methodology to Mokpo indicated vulnerability was high for seven out of 20 administrative districts. The results of our methodology provides significant policy implications for the development of climate change adaptation policy as follows: 1) regions with high priority for climate change adaptation measures can be selected through a correlation diagram between vulnerabilities and records of previous flood damage, and 2) after review of existing short, mid, and long-term plans or projects in high priority areas, appropriate adaptation measures can be taken as per this study. Future studies should focus on expanding analysis of climate change exposure from sea level rises to other adverse climate related events, including heat waves, torrential rain, and drought etc.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.105-137
• /
• 2012

After relationship marketing emerged as a new approach in the marketing field in the 1980s, it has been widely studied in the United States, Europe and Asia. Rapid environmental changes and global competition has made it inevitable for companies to consider their relationships with the environment more closely. Under these circumstances, relationship marketing has held a position as a pivotal paradigm in the field of strategy as well as in marketing. In addition, relationship marketing has overcome the limitations of a traditional marketing research while providing richer implications in company's marketing activities. The paradigm shift to relationship marketing has brought fundamental changes in a marketing point of view. First, in philosophical aspects, unlike past research which focused solely on customer satisfaction, organizational relationship parameters which focuses on trust and commitment has become key elements of successful relationship marketing while shifts in thoughts naturally take place from adaptive marketing to strategic marketing. Second, in structural aspects, the relational mechanism of governance such as network structure with a variety of relational partners has emerged as a new marketing organization from the previous simple structure focusing on the micro-economic, marketbased trading between seller and customer. Third, in behavioral aspects, it proposed the strategic course of the action of gaining an advantage over the competition on the individual firm level by focusing on building long-term relationships and considering partnership with the components in the entire marketing system, rather than with one-time transaction-centric action between a seller and a customer. Fourth, in the aspects of marketing performance, marketing performance was sought through the long-term and cooperative relationship with various stakeholders, including customers in the marketing system, focusing on the overall competitive advantage based on relationship rather than individual performance of individual companies' marketing activities, such as market share and customer satisfaction. However, studies of relationship marketing were mostly centered in interorganizational relationships focusing on the relational structure and properties of commercial sector in the marketing system. Paradoxically, the circumstance of the consumer's side that must be considered is evolving again in relationship marketing. In structural aspects, a community, as the new relationship governance structure in the digital environment, and in behavioral aspects, the changing role of consumer participation demanding big changes in the digital environment engaged in the marketing system. The possibility of building a relationship marketing community for common value creation is presented in terms of organization of consumers with the focus on changing marketing environment and marketing system according to the new realities of the 21st century- the popularity of digital environments and the diffusion of customer participation. Therefore, future research of relationship marketing must seek for a truly integrated model including all of the existing structure and properties of the research oriented relationship from both the commercial and consumer sector.