• 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.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.256-261
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• 2017

The effects of temperature and length of cold storage on the quality maintenance of fresh "Gold" kiwifruit were investigated. Physio-chemical properties were analyzed in kiwifruit held at $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$ temperatures compared to fruit at room temperature ($20{\sim}28^{\circ}C$) during 8 weeks of storage. Low temperatures ($2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$) significantly delayed softening and soluble solids content (SSC) accumulation compared to higher temperature ($20{\sim}28^{\circ}C$). Physico-chemical properties of fruits, including weight losses, firmness, SSC, titratable acidity (TA), SSC/TA ratio, and flesh color properties were monitored during storage. Fast firmness loss was detected in fruit stored at higher temperatures compared to low temperature ($2^{\circ}C$). Similar results were observed for acidity according to storage temperature and length of cold storage, whereas SSC increased to the limited values (%Brix) during storage. The soluble solids content (SSC) increased markedly during the first 60 days of storage and remained almost constant thereafter for all treatments. SSC accumulation rates decreased from 5 weeks after storage probably due to differences between initial and ripe kiwifruits, and SSC decreased with each passing week due to natural starch conversion over time. The SSC/acid ratio increased from 18 to 27 until 5 weeks after storage and then slowly declined in all kiwifruit stored at different low temperatures. Sensory evaluation results showed no differences in kiwifruit flesh color stored at two storage temperatures of $2^{\circ}C$ and $6^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.292-296
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• 2013

Recently, Pleurotus eryngii, King oyster mushroom is the main export item in South Korea mushroom industry. For appropriate transportation to Europe and USA markets, it is necessary to elucidate suitable conditions of storage and treatment of post-harvest during long time shipping. Whole mushrooms were packed with polypropylene anti-fog film (30 um) without trimming. The range of package weight and oxygen permeability of film were 200 g~400 g and 2000~5000 $cc/m^2$, 24 h,atm, respectively. The weight loss ratio was increased with increasing storage time. There were no big differences in weight loss ratio according to package weight and oxygen permeability of film at low temperature storage($4^{\circ}C$). In case of package weight is 400 g and oxygen permeability of film is 3000 $cc/m^2$, 24 h, atm. As a results of freshness, the optimum packing weight and oxygen permeability of film of P. eryngii were 400 g and below 2,000 $cc/m^2$, 24 h, atm, respectively.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.157-174
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• 2013

In this research I investigate different firm characteristics between environment-friendly companies which are awarded by the Government and companies which violate environmental regulations. I set up three hypotheses in terms of managers' environmental attitude and firms' characteristic in technical, financial and structural aspects, considering environmental experts' opinions and findings of previous papers. Main research findings are as follows. First, both acquisition of the ISO 14001 certificate and ownership structure are used as proxy of top management attitude towards environmental decision-making. It is hypothesized that it is found that the certificates of ISO 14001 is a good proxy to represent top management environmental attitude and a firm with the certificate would have less likelihood of violation. Second, it is hypothesized that technical ability affects violation tendency of environmental regulations. It is found that as R&D investment increases, violation likelihood of environmetal regulations decrease. It can be conjectured that R&D investment may improve technical abilities of observing environment regulations. Third, it is investigated whether a firm's financial capability affects violation tendency of environmental regulations. Fourth structural aspects of a firm such as capital intensity, the number of employees and export ratio are investigated. It is found that a firm with more employees per sale amount tends to violate environmental regulations. It is not found any effects of expert ratio nor capital intensity on violation tendency of environmental regulation.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.115-122
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• 2019

The companion animal related businesses are rapidly growing as the pet population increases in Korea. In this study, we analyzed the market trends of companion animal food and products to offer basic information that can be used in related policies and industries. The data were collected using Nielsen Korea's wholesale/retail distribution channels. As a result, in the case of companion dog food, PB products of domestic companies showed the highest market share with 24.6%, and the ratio of domestic companies(54.8%) was higher than that of import companies(45.2%). Domestic PB products also had the highest market share(16.5%) in companion cat food, however, the ratio of import companies(71.6%) was higher than that of domestic companies(28.4%). In the case of the market share of the companion animal products(toys, oral and bath supplies), Nosework mats from domestic companies were top ranked in the toy category(28.0%). Oral products(62.5%) and bath products(59.5%) from domestic companies were also having a higher market share than import companies. Our research may help domestic companion animal product companies to steadily increase market share and the amount of their export.

• Journal of Korean Port Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.3-33
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• 1989

The amount of the Korean export & import in 1987 reached $88.3 billion which was 1.75% of the total world trade and the proportion of foreign dependence to G.N.P was 74.5%. From these facts, we can infer that the development of national economy is largely dependent upon trade. Therefore the role of transportation, especially Ocean transportation, as a basis of economic development through trade is one of the main factors that can not be passed over. Here, We can define that a port as a subsystem of transportation determines the efficiency of the total transportation system. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to contribute in improvement of the efficiency in port, reinforcement of the international competitiveness for exporting goods by the analysis of the cargo handling charges. In order to do this, this paper deals the case of B.C.T.O.C. Furthermore, this study gives some important informations related to the level of tariffs for establishing an autonomous port administration. The Summary of the conclusions of this paper is as follows ; 1) The object of port administration in Korea has been emphasized on the maximization of efficiency in using the port facilities. Nowadays, however, it should be moved to a direction that port is operated under the compound aims considering the public interests and economy. 2) For a criterian of tariff calculation, A tariff system based on the cost accounting is desirable. In general it is recommended that the cost for construction, management, and operation of port is compensated by the revenue from port operation. Therefore, it is necessary for the administration bodies of each port to establish a tariff system on the basis of the independent profit system. 3) For the investigation of actors of tariff adjustment by the Break-even point analysis, (1) When we conducted the B.E.P analysis using total cost as cost term, we got 3.8% discount in tariff at 12% of target profit rate and 1.5% discount at 15% of rate. when we set the target profit rate as 17% we could have the proper tariff level. (2) When using operating cost as cost term, we got 13.1% discount in tariff at 12% of target profit rate and 10.9% discount at 15% of rate. When setting the target profit rat as 28%, we could have the proper tariff level. 4) Comparing with the tariffs of foreign ports for the basic terminal rate, The tariff level of B.C.T.O.C showed 33% of stevedoring charge and 80% of marshalling charge incurred at Kobe port. The comparison with Singapore port gave 50% of transhipment charge and 17% - 20 % of stevedoring charge. 5) We found that the financial structure of B.C.T.O.C was better than those of other companies and the worth fixed assets ratio was too low. The fact of low worth fixed assets ratio implies that the cargo handling facilities should be increased. Moreover, The return of assets for B.T.T.O.C was good but non-operating expenses were still contained too much in. Therefore, we think that it is necessary for B.C.T.O.C. to rationalize business management. Although the present cargo handing charge for B.C.T.O.C is a proper level in terms of a public corporation, for the final recommendation in connection to the results, It is required to take the rationalization process for business management.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.75-89
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• 2015

This study examines 31 import and export cargo items handled in each port to investigate which items face the most competition among the ports and how many of them are transited to other ports. The study aims to suggest implications for the future port policy of Incheon Port. It was found that the volume concentration in the Western Coast region from 2005 to 2014 became increasingly decentralized. The decentralization began in earnest in 2009 in particular, and the value was 0.448 in 2014, indicating fierce competition among the regions. According to the static and dynamic positioning analyses results for Incheon Port, Pyeongtaek and Dangjin Port, and Gunsan Port, using BCG Matrix, the static positioning analysis showed that Incheon Port belongs to the 3rd quadrant (Cash Cows), Pyeongtaek and Dangjin Port belongs to the 2nd quadrant (Question Marks), and Gunsan Port belongs to the (Dogs) group. This implies that Incheon Port has maintained its position with large shares compared to those of other ports, despite its low growth rate. However, the market position and growth rate of Incheon Port decreased according to the dynamic positioning analysis results. The shift-share analysis results indicated that the volumes of Incheon Port and Gunsan Port were shifting to Pyeongtaek and Dangjin Port. Moreover, the ratio of absolute growth to potential growth of Incheon Port and Gunsan Port turned out to be significantly lower than that of Pyeongtaek and Dangjin Port, implying that Incheon Port and Gunsan Port are declining as compared to Pyeongtaek Port and Dangjin Port. According to the LQ index analysis results, specialized items from Incheon Port that do not overlap with other ports included the following ten items: meat, fish and crustaceans, bituminous coals, crude oil and petroleum, petroleum-refined products, plastic rubber and products, textiles, nonferrous metal and products, electric machinery, and aircrafts and ships. In particular, it was confirmed that the bulk cargo of Incheon Port was actually shifting to Pyeongtaek and Dangjin Port following the policy of re-establishing port functions.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.351-360
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• 2017

We have studied the technology to extend the storage period of 'Seolhyang' strawberries using modified atmosphere package (MAP) and ethyl pyruvate (EP) treatment for domestic distribution and export. The selected ripe strawberries harvested on December 28, 2016 at the Sancheong farmhouse were transported to the laboratory for 2 h and tested. After a day's precooling at $4^{\circ}C$, the strawberries were divided into seven experimental groups. These groups were control, active MAP using low density polyethylene (LDPE), active MAP using polyamide (PA), active MAP using PA with EP treatment, passive MAP using LDPE, passive MAP using PA and passive MAP using PA with EP treatment. Quality analysis was carried out every 4 days during the storage period of 16 days. During the storage period of 16 days, MAP decreased from 3.5% to less than 1.1% in weight loss ratio compared with control, and decreased from 36% to less than 7% in fungal incidence. In the case of fungi in the EP treatment group, hyphae did not grow on the outside of the strawberry but grew to the inside. This tendency was similar to that in the low oxygen and high carbon dioxide environment of the MAP, the mycelium of the fungus did not grow outside of the strawberry. Fungi are the biggest problem in the distribution and export of strawberries, and these results suggest that MAP alone could inhibit mold and increase shelf life.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.165-204
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• 2022

This study organized data from 2000 to 2014 for 20 grid-connected countries in Europe and analyzed the determinants of carbon emissions through the panel GLS method considering the problem of heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. At the same time, the effect of introducing ETS was considered by dividing the sample period as of 2005 when the European emission trading system was introduced. Carbon emissions from individual countries were used as dependent variables, and proportion of generation by each source, power self-sufficiency ratio of neighboring countries, power production from resource-holding countries, concentration of power sources, total energy consumption per capita in the industrial sector, tax of electricity, net electricity export per capita, and size of national territory per capita. According to the estimation results, the proportion of nuclear power and renewable energy generation, concentration of power sources, and size of the national territory area per capita had a negative (-) effect on carbon emissions both before and after 2005. On the other hand, the proportion of coal power generation, the power supply and demand rate of neighboring countries, the power production of resource-holding countries, and the total energy consumption per capita in the industrial sector were found to have a positive (+) effect on carbon emissions. In addition, the proportion of gas generation had a negative (-) effect on carbon emissions, and tax of electricity were found to have a positive (+) effect. However, all of these were only significant before 2005. It was found that net electricity export per capita had a negative (-) effect on carbon emissions only after 2005. The results of this study suggest macroscopic strategies to reduce carbon emissions to green growth, suggesting mid- to long-term power mix optimization measures considering the electricity trade market and their role.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.731-742
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• 2014

In the current study, we investigated effects of a combination of earthworm casting, environment-friendly by-product fertilizer, and cultivation soil of Gymnocalycium mihanovichii in a heavy fertilizing culture on diameter, height, numbers of tubercles, and chemical properties of soil thereby elucidating optimal mixture ratio for securing production as well as providing nutrients throughout cultivation period. The Gymnocalycium mihanovichii var 'Ihong', one of grafted cactus for export (Rootstock: 9 cm, Scion: $1.5{\times}1.3cm$ grafted cactus) was cultured in plastic houses of Agricultural Technology Center located in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul from June, 2013 through December, 2013. For the control group, a mixture of sand and fertilizer (50:50) was used as this ratio is widely utilized in farmhouses. In contrast, a variety mixtures of sand and earthworm casting that was produced with food wastes was compared; the mixture ratios were 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100 and pH for these mixtures were found to be similar each other (ranging between 7.1 and 7.4) which is in an appropriate range (pH 6.5-7.5) for cultivation of G. mihanovichii. The organic content was increasing along with increasing contents of earthworm casting ratio while it was lower than the treatment practice group (32-43 mg/kg vs. 55 mg/kg). The content of exchangeable cation was also increasing as the ratio of earthworm casting was elevated; although levels of $K^+$, $Na^+$, and $Mg^{2+}$ were lower than the treatment practice group, the level of $Ca^{2+}$ was higher ($9.1cmol^+/kg$ and $11.5-33.7cmol^+/kg$ in the treatment practice group and the earthworm casting group, respectively). Three months after grafting, diameters of G. mihanovichii were compared with the control group; consequently, there was a significant difference noted in between the earthworm casting group and the control group (31.39 mm vs. 32.46-37.59 mm). After 5 months, growth characteristics of G. mihanovichii were evaluated. Similarly, the diameter of G. mihanovichii was significantly increasing in the group with higher ratio of earthworm casting treatment (32.63 mm vs. 32.49-37.59 mm). The height of tubercles was 2.63 mm in the control group while it was significantly elevating along with the ratio of earthworm casting mixture. The more numbers of tubercles, the more incomes for farm-houses; as results, higher mixture ration of earthworm casting resulted more numbers of tubercles compared to the control group (2.7 vs. 3.2-8.3 ea). In particular, in the earthworm casting groups with 80% and 100% ratios, the numbers of tubercles were 6.2 and 8.3 ea, respectively, which is 2.5 times more than those of the control group. These results indicate that earthworm casting treatment may be utilized in G. mihanovichii farming houses for short term production of tubercles. In the group with 40% and 60% of earthworm casting mixture, the numbers of tubercles were found to be 4.5 and 4.8 ea, respectively which is higher than the control group as well; in these groups, there were no issues with soil drainage as well as moss formation. Given the analysis results of growth characteristics of G. mihanovichii, it was concluded that 40% and 60% of earthworm casting mixture might be the optimal ratios.