• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.255-286
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• 2001

The development of language skills among immigrants is important for their economic adjustment in their host societies since language is an important dimension of the skill levels of immigrants relevant for the labor markets of the host countries. Moreover, language plays a key role in the social adjustment of immigrants and in the social and political cohesion particularly in the society like the US that has diverse racial and ethnic groups. The main purposes of the present study are to analyze the determinants of English abilities of Korean and other Asian immigrants in the US. The present study utilizes the Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS, S, 5%) in the US. We adopted the ordered probit technique to analyze qualitative differences of English ability. The study found that English fluency increases with a longer duration in the US, the presence of children in the household, living in an area in which a smaller proportion speak ones mother tongue, a younger age at immigration, a higher level of schooling. However, there are marked variations in levels of English proficiency among Asian immigrants.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.207-234
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• 2001

Even though the number of Korean Americans has dramatically increased over the last 20 years, there have been very few studies that have examined the health of this population. This paper investigates the contemporary health status of Korean Americans in comparison to Koreans, employing mortality related health measures: life expectance, age-specific death rates, and leading cause of death. Overall, we find that Korean American adults enjoy longer life expectancy and lower age-specific death rates than do their Korean counterparts, suggesting superior health status of the former as compared to the latter. Comparison of leading causes of death indicates that Korean American adults (age of 25-64) are more likely to die from neoplasms than are their Korean counterparts, while Koreans show a dramatically higher probability of death from liver-related diseases than Korean Americans. When these two cause of death are regressed on various demographic and socioeconomic factors, the difference in prevalence of neoplasms between the two populations disappeared, while that of liver-related diseases remains unaffected. Based on the outcomes from this research, we suggest that Korean Americans are a self-selected group in terms of health and socioeconomic status, and they adopt healthy behaviors after immigration. This has resulted in the relatively superior health of Korean Americans as compared to Koreans.

• Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.77-81
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• 2021

Purpose: The United States of America have pre-migration screening program are mandated through legislation. The one of purpose of this program is to prevent the importation of certain communicable diseases. Examinations of migration applicants are performed by panel physicians who are licensed physicians in the countries of origin that have agreements with the government departments of the country of destination to undertake this activity. In recent decades, the number of US migrants has increased, however COVID-19 impacted this trend of international migrants. The Aim of this study is to examine trends of US applicants and outcomes of tuberculosis and sexual transmitted infections (STIs) screening in South Korean applicants for US visa. Methods: A total of 4,442 applicants participated in US visa health check-up in 2016 to 2020. Results: The numbers of applicant for US visa in males and females was 1,814 and 2,628. The positive results in tuberculosis and STIs screening was noted with 0.66% in nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), 0.03% in tuberculosis, 0.03% in gonorrhea, 0.08% in syphilis, and 0.74% in chlamydia. The age groups of 2 to 14 years showed higher positive rate (13.89%) in tuberculin skin test (TST) tests compared to the rate of interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) tests (0.44%, P<0.001). The positive ratio of NTM and abnormal chest X-ray (CXR) which required sputum tests among the applicants over 15 years old has trends to increase with age. The age groups of over 70 years showed high positive rate in NTM and abnormal CXR (4.10%, 20.51%). However, ages 15 to 49 years groups showed 0.00% to 0.30% in NTM and 1.08% to 3.91% in abnormal CXR. In the study population, the positive rates of STIs were 0.03%, 0.08%, and 0.74% in gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia, respectively. Among the participants who underwent sputum smears and cultures were just 1 case of active tuberculosis (0.03%) and 25 cases of NTM infection (0.66%). Conclusion: This study found that rate of positivity in tuberculosis and STIs screening among South Korean applicants for US visa in 2016 to 2020. Regarding tuberculosis, the positivity of CXR among the aged 15 to 59 years applicants was lower than that among over 60 years old. Among 2 to 14 years, positivity of IGRA was very low. And IGRA test can reduce effort of further evaluation compared to TST test in South Korea, so IGRA test among young adults can be useful. High positive rates in STI among young adult could result in high active sexuality, especially chlamydia infection is most common. Therefore Chlamydia polymerase chain reaction should be considered formal protocol among the Korean applicant for US visa.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 1995

The study on the factorial ecology of the residential patterns is to provide one of the yardsticks for description and comparison of urban structures. Many Korean geographers have adopted this method to analyse the urban structure of Korean cities. According to these studies, one of the main factors in Korean cities in large and middle sizes is family status. The spatial pattern of family status is zonal, similar to the cases of Japanese and Western cities. The age is one of the principal indices of familyf status, hence the author chose the age composition to analyse the residential patten. This Paper is to describe the residential segreagation pattern due to age composition and recent pattern changes in the Cheongju city, and than to explain the reason for these changes. All data are derived from the Population Censuses of Korea for 1970, 1980 and 1990. Eighteen groups of age with five-year interval (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85- and- over) are adopted here. Unit area for this analysis is administrative district(Dong) within Cheonaju city. District are classified into smaller groups based on the similarity of age composition, using the method of cluster analysis. The main findings are summarized as follows: 1. Population have increased remarkably in the eastern reaion neighboring CBD of Cheongju city in 1970's. And in western region from CBD new residential area have developed in 1980's. 2. Spatial pattarns showed a concentric circle type in central district and its neighbor regions and a sector type in periphery regions in 1970; a cirele type in central district and a sector typesin neighbor regions and periphery regions in 1980 and 1990. Thess residential pattern play an important role in the population composition ratio of younger aged group (l5-34) and older aged group (65-and-over). 3. Spatial change of types by age composition showed the higher ratio of groups of 0-9 and 35-49, and lower ratio of group 20-24 in 1970's. Dominent groups are ratio of 0-14, 40-49, 55-64, 7O-79, and 85- and- over in 1980's. These changes mainly appeared in central district and periphery regions. 4. The reasons for the change of age composition was the development of msnufacturing industries with the increase of population and new construction of residential areas both in the neighbor regions of cnetral district and periphery regions. These phenomena were caused by immigration of younger aged groups and increasing of residents of aged groups in these regions.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.243-249
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• 2001

This study investigated how acculturation varies with demographic variables and is related to dietary habits among Korean Americans. The respondents were 162 Korea Americans aged at least 18 years old residing in the Greater New York metropolitan area. The level of acculturation was measured using a modified Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation(SL-ASIA) scale. Acculturation was operationally defined to be composed of 6 factors, which are language, media use, friendship, food, pride, and ethnic self-identity. Each factor in the level of acculturation was identified by how it is related to demographics and dietary habits in the method of correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regressions analyses. The reliability of the modified SL-ASIA scale was high as measured by Cronbach alpha of .92. The level of acculturation was related to place of birth, age, length of residence in the U.S., and education. The younger, the longer they had lived in the U.S., and the more they were educated, the more acculturated. Acculturation could be predictable for 52% of its variance with all demographic variables. Among the 6 factors in the level of acculturation, five of them, language, media use friendship, food, and ethnic self-identity were correlated with dietary habit changes after immigration and type of meals. All 6 acculturation factors could predict 21% of change in dietary habits. the information from this study can be used to describe usual describe usual dietary habits according to various aspects of acculturation to better understand the dynamics among acculturation, demographics, and dietary habits.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.507-517
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• 2018

This study is focused on analyzing the characteristics of repeat foreign tourists to Korea and suggest how to increase the repeat ratio. As the result of analysis, there were significant differences in the variables of sex, age, country in the case of demographic characteristics and in the variables of travel types, the number of company, the purpose of visit, accommodations, major visiting places and visiting areas in the case of travel characteristic. And also there were significant differences in the variables of accommodation fees per person and expenses per person in their own country in the case of travel expenses and in the variables of immigration formalities, public transportations, accommodations, foods, shopping, tourist attractions and security in the case of satisfaction. Lastly there were significant differences in the variables of revisit intention within 3 years, recommendation intention, the image of Korea(before trip) and the image of Korea(after trip) in the case of behavior intention after trip and image evaluation. Therefore it should be considered the characteristics of repeat foreign tourists when we make the tourism products to increase the repeat ratio.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.238-247
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• 1992

Immigration of Koreans to the United States has increased since the 1960's. Adjusting to life in the United States produces a great deal of stress for immigrants. Despite better economic opportunites, many see the U.S. culture as threatening to their family and cultural values. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstanding can leaf to frustration on the part of each. The ultimate result of this is that often Korean-immigrants do not get their health care needs met and stress response symptoms can lead to disease if there is no appropriate care. To determine the health care needs and concerns of Korean-Americans, a health needs assessment is needed. Appropriate and adequate information about the health care needs of these individuals is important as it relates to American policy changes allowing greater numbers of immigrants to enter the U.S. The purpose of this prospective study was to describe Korean-American stress response. This study focused on the primary presenting problems for which subjects reported having sought care. These included a variety of stress-related symptoms, including peripheral manifestations, cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle tension, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. Of the 300 subjects who entered the study, 80% (N＝223) completed the questionnaire in full. Demographically, the percentage of females and males was 50% each and they ranged in age from 20 to 69 years. Ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 25% owners of business, 25% white collar professionals, 15% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 30% had no occupation : and 5% were housewives or students. The SOS inventory is designed to quantify self-perception of behavioral, cognitive, and physiological components of the stress response. It consisted of 94 items divided into 10 subscales. The result of this study are as follows : The total mean 505 of all subjects (N＝223 was .8129 ; the mean 505 for male(N＝114) was .7665 and for females, (N＝108) .8594. The level of symptoms for central-neurologic and muscle tension was higher for than for males. The highest stress response of all subjects was emotional irritability symptoms(1.0644) : the lowest stress response of all subjects was peripheral manifestation symptoms.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.299-315
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• 1993

Koreans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America. Stress responses and stressors among this large cultural minority has been rarely been studied by nursing researchers. Adjusting to life in foreign country produces a great deal of stress. Differences in culture, language, expectations and social behavior can lead to misunderstandings between health care providers and clients. These misunderstandings are not well accounted for in health assessment. This study investigated the relationship between life events or / and daily activities as a stressor and the symptoms of stress among a sample of Korean immigrants in America. The symptoms of stress scale (SOS) was used to identify stress responses and open-ended questions were used to identify life events and daily activities considered by the respondents to be stressful. A simple random sample of 283 subjects was selected from the Directory of the Korean Society of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle. Demographically, the subjects ranged in age from 20 to 69 years, and the percentage of women and men was approximately 50% each. Almost ninety percent of the subjects were highly educated, 17% owners of business, 19% white collar professionals, 14% employed in sales or as skilled /unskilled labor, 27% as housewives and students and 3％ had no occupation. The total group SOS mean was 0.8042 ; the SOS men for man was 0.7371, and for women was 0.8713. The stress response of this subject group was high, -the stress response of women higher than that for men. In an earlier study(June, 1992) with another sample, the total mean SOS score was similar to this one. The main stressful life events or / and daily activities were, in order, economic problems (N=97), interpersonal problems (N=68), children care problems (N=258), health problems (N=49), communication problems (N=42), family problems (N=38), worry about future career (N=36), and religious problems (N=25). There was a significant difference in the SOS means between the group that expressed life events or / and daily activities to be stressful and the group that did not. Interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems were stressors for those who complained about peripheral manifestations. cardiopulmonary symptoms, central-neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle ten-sion, habitual patterns, depression, anxiety, emotional irritability and cognitive disorganization. In summary, interpersonal relationships and economic and family problems influenced stress response manifestations. Income, the number of people in the family, the year of immigration. the level of education, and marital status were related to physiological and psychosocial stress responses.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.144-150
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• 2013

Objectives The number of marriage immigrant women has been increasing in the past several years in Korea and their adaptations to the new environment have been an important social issue. The aims of this study were to evaluate the psychosocial and mental health statuses of Vietnamese marriage immigrant women (VMIW). We intended to compare the mental health of VMIW with married Vietnamese women living in Vietnam and reveal the demographic or psychosocial factors affecting their mental health. Method Subjects comprised one-hundred-forty-three VMIW who enrolled in multiculture family support centers in Chungbuk Province and forty-eight women from Vinh Phuc province in Vietnam. Marital satisfaction, domestic violence and social support were evaluated as psychosocial factors, and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used to evaluate mental health. Results VMIW had a larger age gap with their husbands but better psychosocial statuses. BDI (p = 0.20), BAI (p = 0.08), GHQ (p = 0.13) scores of VMIW were not significantly different compared to Vietnamese residents. Marriage duration of VMIW affects significantly their marital satisfaction, social support and depressive levels (p < 0.01). The level of domestic violence showed a significant difference according to the educational levels of their husbands, composition of family members and marriage process (p < 0.05). VMIW with older husbands and jobless VMIW had low levels of anxiety (p < 0.01). Conclusion The results suggest that VMIW have no difference in mental health compared to Vietnamese women living in Vietnam which is contrary to general expectations. However, various environmental factors, such as marriage duration, have an effect on the mental health of VMIW. As marriage duration is proven to be important factor on mental health of VMIW, more extended duration of care and interventions are needed to maintain good mental health. Networking system connecting mental health screenings by the multiculture family support center to the local mental healthcare center is needed to care those with poor screening outcomes.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.117-128
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• 2017

This study aims to propose measures to consistently induce Chinese tourists who represent the largest percentage of inbound tourism from foreign countries, utilizing raw data of 2015 Korea International Visitor Survey conducted by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Differences and influence factors for overall satisfaction on travel in Korea, intention to revisit Korea, and intention to recommendation were analyzed by demographic characteristics and tourism characteristics of Chinese consumers. As a result of analysis study, it came out that there are differences between overall satisfaction on travel in Korea and intention to revisit Korea by age and job of demographic characteristics. Among the tourism characteristics, there are differences in intention to revisit Korea depending on purpose of travel, intention to revisit Korea and recommendation according to route of travel information search, and there are differences in all three categories according to type of travel. The most important factor of all three category was identified as 'Food' factor and the second most influential factors were immigration procedures, security, and tourist attractiveness. It is suggested that more active research and improvement efforts are needed in the government, industry, and academia in order to attract Chinese tourists in the future.