• Korea and Global Affairs
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.151-182
• /
• 2019

Rise of China has correspondingly seen increased Chinese involvement at global stage and regional levels in different parts of the world. This has attracted claims of strategic competition and rivalry between China and U.S., as China is said to be working towards replacing hitherto U.S. influence. Consequently there have been calls for U.S. to counter increased Chinese involvement to safeguard U.S. influences and interests. This study aims to contribute to this debate by examining the extent to which increased Chinese involvement in Africa has, if any, supplanted U.S. strategic interests in the continent. The study contends that, Chinese involvement in Africa has entailed China creating own niche that does not necessary threaten U.S. interests in the continent as widely portrayed and imagined. This is premised on the fact that, U.S. has historically had relatively minimal strategic interests in Africa as compared to other more strategic parts of the world that China could significantly threaten. Seen in this way, increased Chinese penetration in Africa has not had immediate threats to U.S. core strategic interests, thus explaining U.S. measured response to counter Chinese presence in Africa.

• International Area Studies Review
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.297-323
• /
• 2010

The distinguished feature of the economic relationship between China and Africa during the cold war is the one that there was economic point of view at all even though such a huge trade between the two countries. It was caused by purely ideological and political purpose of China. because of the giant stream of time which is called as 'the cold war', it has been replaced with other conceptions: 'aid' or 'support.' Since the end of the cold war, however, the relationship between China and Africa has been showing noticeable features; political and ideological purposes are getting less meaningful or excluded completely. In 1990, China was based on the pragmatism, which is a rigorous sense of economy, and Africa was getting popular as an emerging market, which is not only performing as a stable energy supplier but also making trade and direct investment is possible. Also, it has implications for Korea that seriously considers putting more efforts into expanding its influence on all over the trade relations which includes investment and import-export in the emerging market: Africa.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
• /
• 2023.05a
• /
• pp.158-158
• /
• 2023

Characterizing the performance of precipitation (hereafter PRE) products in estimating the uncertainties in daily PRE in the era of global warming is of great value to the ecosystem's sustainability and human survival. This study intercompares the performance of different PRE products (gauge-based, satellite and reanalysis) sourced from the Frequent Rainfall Observations on GridS (FROGS) database over diverse climate zones in Africa and identifies regions where they depict minimal uncertainties in order to build optimal maps as a guide for different climate users. This is achieved by utilizing various techniques, including the triple collection (TC) approach, to assess the capabilities and limitations of different PRE products over nine climatic zones over the continent. For daily scale analysis, the uncertainties in light PRE (0.1 5mm/day) are prevalent over most regions in Africa during the study duration (2001-2016). Estimating the occurrence of extreme PRE events based on daily PRE 90th percentile suggests that extreme PRE is mainly detected over central Africa (CAF) region and some coastal regions of west Africa (WAF) where the majority of uncorrected satellite products show good agreement. The detection of PRE days and non-PRE days based on categorical statistics suggests that a perfect POD/FAR score is unattainable irrespective of the product type. Daily PRE uncertainties determined based on quantitative metrics show that consistent, satisfactory performance is demonstrated by the IMERG products (uncorrected), ARCv2, CHIRPSv2, 3B42v7.0 and PERSIANN_CDRv1r1 (corrected), and GPCC, CPC_v1.0, and REGEN_ALL (gauge) during the study period. The optimal maps that show the classification of products in regions where they depict reliable performance can be recommended for various usage for different stakeholders.

• Journal of Korea Trade
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.33-51
• /
• 2019

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to provide practical implications for Korean companies searching for new market opportunities. From the experimental analysis, the impact of country image on product-country image and purchase intention of Korean products are measured. In addition, this study disaggregates the impacts of country image and product-country image and purchase intention among ethnic groups in South Africa for searching further useful implications. Design/methodology - To examine South African consumers' country image and product-country image towards Korean products, data were collected between June and July 2019 through an online questionnaire, and 335 questionnaires were used for analysis. Firstly, the multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the general tendency of South African consumers' perceptions of country image to Korea, product-country image, and purchase intention among three ethnic group consumers. Then in order to verify the country image model and hypotheses of the study, we analyzed the structural models for each of the three ethnic groups and compared the sizes of the path coefficients for each groups. To compare the difference of path coefficients across ethnic groups, configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance tests were conducted sequentially. Findings - In the black and white ethnic groups, the country image had a statistically significant impact on product-country image, but it did not affect the purchase intention to Korean products. The product-country image showed a statistically significant impact on the purchase intention to Korean products in both ethnic group. However, in the coloured ethnic group consumer, the country image had a significant effect on the product-country image, but it did not affect the purchase intention of Korean products. In addition, the product-country image did not have a significant influence on the purchase intention of coloured ethnic group consumers unlike black and white ethnic group consumers. The results of this study suggest that even though differences in terms of the impact of CoI on PCI and PI were investigated for the sample of white, coloured, and black respondents, the groups seemed to respond in a reasonably comparable manner. Originality/value - South Africa occupies more than 20% of Africa's total GDP in sub-Saharan Africa and is a hub for Southern African logistics as a hub for Korean companies to enter Africa. However, it is rare to find a study focused on the determinants of consumer behavior in South Africa. In particular, this study disaggregates the impacts of country image and product-country image on consumer behavior across ethnic groups in South Africa. Therefore, this study could provide practical implications for Korean firms which desire to diversify their export markets and pioneer future markets.

• Journal of the Korean Association of African Studies
• /
• v.29
• /
• pp.27-53
• /
• 2009

At the start of the new century, South Africa probably had the largest number of HIV-infected people of any country in the world. The only nation that comes close is India with a population of one billion people compared to South Africa's figure of 57 million. The tragedy is that this did not have to happen. South Africa was aware of the dangers posed by AIDS as early as 1985. In 1991, the national survey of women attending antenatal clinics found that only 0.8percent were infected. In 1994, when the new government took power, the figure was still comparatively low at 7.6 %. The 2004 figure which has been published is 26.5%. This article tracks the epidemic globally, in the region and in South Africa. I explain some of the basic concepts around the disease and look at what may happen with respect to numbers. The situation is bad, and the number of people falling ill, dying and leaving families will rise over next few years. This will impact on South Africa in a number of important ways. This article assesses the demographic, economic and social consequences of the epidemic. It disposes of a number of myths and present the real facts. The AIDS in South Africa is not related to individuals only. It warns that AIDS in Africa is becoming a community and systemic problem. The acuteness of the problem does not stem merely from the fact that communities are affected, or could even be wipe out by the end of this decade, but from the fact that AIDS will place incredible burdens and obligations upon medical services, health care and religious communities such as churches. The facts confront churches' mission with the important question: who is going to take care of all the patients and where? The reality is that people dying of AIDS will have to be cared for at home by relatives and friends. A further question that arises is whether our people are prepared for this. AIDS was considered to be a homo-plague and the hunt was on for a scapegoat in the light of the fatal implication of the disease. At present we are in the strategic phase where we all realize that it will be of no avail to scare people with the ominous threat of AIDS AIDS destroys the optimism of our achievement ethics. This exposure of the culture of optimism is also an exposure of the so-called 'human basic fear which accuses Christianity that their concept of sin is a damper on man's search for liberation and basic need to be freed from all Imitation. AIDS is also a test for our ecclesiastical genuineness and the sincerity of our mission sensibility. It poses the question: How unconditional is Christian love? Is there room for the AIDS sufferer in the community of believers, despite the fact he is an acknowledged homosexual? The question to put to the church is whether the community of believers is an exclusive to put to the koinonia which excludes homosexuals. They may be welcome on principle, but in actual fact are not acceptable to the church community. As South Africa enters the new century, it is clear that the epidemic is not having a measurable impact. However, the impact of AIDS is gradual, subtle and incremental. The author's proposal of what is currently most needed in South Africa is that the little things will make a difference. It's about doing lots of little things better at grassroots level, with the emphasis on doing. There are so many community, churches and NGOs initiatives worth building on and intensifying. One must not underestimate the therapeutic value of working together in small groups to overcome a problem

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.37-55
• /
• 2010

In this paper South Africa is divided into strong wind climate zones, which indicate the main sources of annual maximum wind gusts. By the analysis of wind gust data of 94 weather stations, which had continuous climate time series of 10 years or longer, six sources, or strong-wind producing mechanisms, could be identified and zoned accordingly. The two primary causes of strong wind gusts are thunderstorm activity and extratropical low pressure systems, which are associated with the passage of cold fronts over the southern African subcontinent. Over the eastern and central interior of South Africa annual maximum wind gusts are usually caused by thunderstorm gust fronts during summer, while in the western and southern interior extratropical cyclones play the most dominant role. Along the coast and adjacent interior annual extreme gusts are usually caused by extratropical cyclones. Four secondary sources of strong winds are the ridging of the quasi-stationary Atlantic and Indian Ocean high pressure systems over the subcontinent, surface troughs to the west in the interior with strong ridging from the east, convergence from the interior towards isolated low pressure systems or deep coastal low pressure systems, and deep surface troughs on the West Coast.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.381-407
• /
• 2019

The Korean wave has become a global phenomenon whose effect has been widely studied in Asia, Europe and the US. However the presumption of cultural distance makes it appear unlikely that the Korean wave could gain traction among African consumers of cultural products. As such, a dearth of evidence exists on the effects of the wave in Africa. This paper examines the effect of the wave in East African countries employing both descriptive and Probit model analyses. The results show that, contrary to conventional beliefs, most Africans surveyed perceive value proximity with Korea through the values conveyed in Korean dramas, movies and music. Confucius values, such as filial piety, family love and respect for the elderly are the most appealing to the East African audience. Importantly, contact with Korean wave contents contributes to the respondents' disposition to form favorable attitude towards Korea. The African consumers of Korea's cultural products are equally likely to purchase other Korean commercial products. These results remotely suggest that Hallyu may be a tool for advancing Korea's soft power towards Africa and could generate positive economic externalities.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.56 no.2
• /
• pp.199-203
• /
• 2018

The cutaneous myiasis has been rarely reported in the Republic of Korea. We intended to describe here a case of furuncular cutaneous myiasis caused by Cordylobia anthropophaga larvae in a Korean traveler returned from Central Africa. A patient, 55-year-old man, had traveled to Equatorial Guinea, in Central Africa for a month and just returned to Korea. Physical examinations showed 2 tender erythematous nodules with small central ulceration on the left buttock and thigh. During skin biopsy, 2 larvae came out from the lesion. C. anthropophaga was identified by paired mouth hooks (toothed, spade-like, oral hooklets) and 2 posterior spiracles, which lack a distinct chitinous rim. Although rarely described in Korea until now, cutaneous myiasis may be encountered more frequently with increasing international travel and exchange workers to tropical areas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.4741-4743
• /
• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of testicular self-examination (TSE) among male university students from low income (Bangladesh, Madagascar), middle income (South Africa, Turkey) and emerging economy (Singapore) countries. Using anonymous questionnaires, data were collected from 2,061 male undergraduate university students aged 16-30 (mean age 21.4, SD=2.4) from 5 universities in 5 countries across Asia and Africa. Overall, 17.6% of the male students indicated that they knew how to perform TSE; this knowledge proportion was above 20% in Bangladesh and Singapore, while it was the lowest (12.2%) in Madagascar. Among all men, 86.4% had never practiced TSE in the past 12 months, 7.1% 1-2 times, 3.5% 3-10 times, and monthly TSE was 3.1%. The proportion of past 12 month TSE was the highest (17.6%) among male university students in South Africa and the lowest (7.3%) among students in Singapore. Logistic regression found that TSE importance or positive attitude was highly associated with TSE practice. TSE practices were found to be inadequate and efforts should be made to develop programmes that can increase knowledge related to testicular cancer as well as the practice of testicular self-examination.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
• /
• 1996.06c
• /
• pp.219-227
• /
• 1996

Since the introduction of animal traction technologies(ATT) in many Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, attempts to propagate its widespread use in the continent have suffered several setbacks. Many factors are responsible of this. However, developments in the African economies are believed to be a prominent factor. This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of economic growth on the performance of ATT-in Sub-Saharan Africa(SSa). The analysis uses 1971-1990 time-series data on ATT from botswana. The performance of ATT is measured on the basis of changes year covered under this study. The models used, are a regression model and a trend projection model. Although the regression model is representing a simplified view of the relationship between ATT and economic growth , it takes account of the influence of annual amounts of rainfall. It is concluded that economic growth has had a negative impact on the performance of ATT in Botwana. As the country's Gross Domestic Pro uct (GDP) steadily increased over the period of the analysis, the number of households using ATT declined at a rate of 2.5% per year. The impact of the GDP on ATT was directly associated with increases in the use of tractor, food imports and beef exports. The results have serious policy implications for agricultural development in many African countries that are not capable of sustaining their economic growth.