• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.5-31
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• 2019

In the process of changing the Korean electoral system, various terms such as representation, majority, minority, plurality, and proportionality are not used correctly, making normative judgment on its desirable electoral system difficult. This paper clarifies the concepts and terminology related to the electoral system in order to enable proper normative discussion. First, the misuse of the names of the electoral system is reviewed. This includes the majority representative system versus the minority representative system, the single-member constituency versus the multi-member constituency, the absolute majority system versus the relative majority system, and the majority representative system versus the proportional representative system. Next, the principles of representation, proportionality, democracy, direct ballot, and equal ballot are discussed to evaluate the decisions made by the Constitutional Court of Korea. In the current electoral system of the National Assembly, the equivalence between its constituency member and its proportional representation member is very low in terms of proportionality between votes received and seats allotted. Finally, the coherence between proportional representation and other political institutions is examined. Strengthening the proportionality of parliamentary elections alone does not necessarily increase the proportionality of the entire power structure.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.5-33
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• 2020

Ahead of the 21st Korean National Assembly Election, the congressional election law was revised, and the semi-mixed member proportional system was introduced. The purpose of the revision of the election law was to increase the proportionality and representativeness of the election system through the institutional reform in the direction of promoting a multi-party system. This study shows that the effect of the introduction of the semi-mixed proportional system was compared with the election results when the previous proportional representative system was maintained. There was no significant difference from the results. This study reveals that contrary to the intention of institutional design to revitalize the multi-party system, the two large political parties took the most seats after democratization in 1987, resulting in an unintended consequences. In addition, with regard to the recent argument for party realignment, the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions have been dealigned in the Yeongnam regional cleavage, and are undergoing a process of party realignment. It has not yet entered the stage of realignment, but remains in the stage of fluid dealignment.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.525-544
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• 1999

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were one of the first airborne pollutants to be identified as being carcinogenic. This class of compounds is ubiquitous in the urban atmosphere, and has therefore undergone considerable scrutiny for the last three decades. PAH can be formed in any incomplete combustion or high temperature pyrolytic process involving materials containing carbon and hydrogen, such as fossil fuels. In this paper, the literature on the occurrence, ambient levels, and atmospheric fate and behaviour of airbonrne PAH has been reviewed, with a particular emphasis on the role of automobile sources in PAH emissions. Sampling and analytical techniques for the determination of PAH in air have also been examined. In addition, health implications and legislative aspects of human exposure to airborne PAH have been briefly reviewed. Finally, future requirements for better understanding of the atmospheric behaviour of PAH recommended.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 1992

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) is defined as an activity designed to identify and predict the impact on the environment. In the process of an EIA, the quantitative evaluation is generally performed for the air and water quality which have the national environmental quality standards. But the predicted values for the air and water quality are simply compared to the environmental standards. At present, the EIA process of Korea has no consideration for the possible human health risk resulting from the development projects. Environmental Health Impact Assessment(EHIA) is an applied methodology of EIA to estimate the acceptable health risk caused by a specified level of environmental pollutants. Estimating the excessive lifetime risk that is a possibility of dying of a certain disease by environmental contaminants, is useful as an evaluation technique of EHIA. It is recommanded the decision-makers to make efficient use of EHIA not only the development projects but also legislative proposals, policies and programmes in future.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2018

Riverfront plays an important role as accessible and inclusive public space for residents, and a riverfront development and management has become a social and environmental issue. The purpose of this study is to analyze Korean legislation and guidelines applied in a riverfront assessment process to identify any legislative problems. To this end, major laws, regulations, national river management plans, and various guidelines related to river management were reviewed. The followings are the suggestions proposed for future improvement. First, clear and consistent definitions on riverfront areas and its spatial range are required across the laws. Also, recreational activities and facilities in riverfront should be categorized and listed for possible development and maintenance. Second, it is necessary to develop an objective and unified riverfront assessment system. Also, guidelines for surveying and evaluating the conditions and potentials of riverfront should be developed. Third, efforts should be made to revise related laws and guidelines to enable comprehensive and systematic approach in design, planning, implementation, maintenance of riverfront. Improving the related legislations and streamlining an riverfront assessment process can help create environmentally-friendly riverfront spaces and mange them efficiently.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.426-436
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• 2024

Nuclear security has been emphasized to ensure the safety of the environment and humans, as well as to protect nuclear materials and facilities from malicious attacks. With increasing utilization of nuclear energy and emerging potential threats, there has been a renewed focus on nuclear security. Korea has made efforts to enhance the regulatory oversight processes, both for general and specific legislative systems. While Korea has demonstrated effective nuclear security activities, continuous efforts are necessary to maintain a high level of security and to improve regulatory efficiency in alignment with international standards. In this study, the comprehensive regulatory oversight framework for the security of Korean nuclear facilities has been investigated. For reference, the U.S. regulatory oversight frameworks for nuclear facilities, with a focus on nuclear security, and the motivations of changes in regulatory oversight framework have been identified. By comparing these regulatory programs and frameworks, insights and considerations for enhancing nuclear security regulations have been identified. A comprehensive security inspection program tailored for the Korean regulatory oversight framework has been proposed, and has been preliminarily applied to hypothetical conditions for further discussion.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.263-272
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• 2018

Nonprescription drugs have become increasingly important in Korean healthcare. By leveraging lower-cost drugs and reducing expenditure associated with fewer physician visits, the nonprescription segment can deliver tremendous value to individual consumers and the Korean healthcare system. Many countries have provided simpler and more rapid routes to market entry for qualifying nonprescription drug products, using the established data on drug safety and efficacy, as well as public and professional opinion. In US, the FDA waived the pre-approval process for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs marketed through the OTC Monograph Process. In Australia and Canada, different OTC product application levels are defined, with a reduced level of assessment required when the risks to consumers are considered low. Japan established a new OTC evaluation system in 2014 to facilitate the Rx-to-OTC switch process. The legislative framework for medicinal products in the European Union allows for drugs to be approved with reference to appropriate bibliographic data for old active substances with well-established uses. Through a comparison of the regulatory framework and the requirements for nonprescription approval process in different countries, several ways to improve regulatory practice for the evaluation of nonprescription drugs in Korea have been suggested.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.91-124
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• 2021

In May 2019, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety revised the "Pharmaceutical Determination and Adjustment Criteria" with the content of differentially calculating the price of generic drugs according to the registration of the drug substance and meeting the requirements for their own bioequivalence test. According to this revised rule, if their own bioequivalence test is not conducted, even the generic drugs that have already been approved would be lowered in price. I wondered whether this system was introduced with sufficient public legal considerations regarding its legislative purposes and means. Therefore, I reviewed the contents of the revised notice based on whether or not it is valid to determine and adjust the price of generic drugs in terms of the legitimacy of legislative purposes and the proportionality principle after introducing the history and background of the rule. First, I raised a question as to whether the purpose of preventing the overrun of generic drugs is indeed legitimate in terms of the legitimacy of the purpose. In order for the revised notice of "reduction of drug prices when the test requirements are not met," to meet the conformity principle, the premise that it is difficult to recognize safety and effectiveness through consignment (joint) bioequivalence test or that these tests are insufficient in safety and efficacy verification than their own test must be established. Nevertheless, it seems that suffficient review has not been carried out. In order to achieve the purpose of securing safety and effectiveness, the focus should be on 'reinforcement of the standards for bioequivalence test and the management of the bioequivalence test itself' rather than whether it is a their own test or a consignment (joint) test. Third, it is contrary to the necessity and substantiality principle that strict standards are uniformly applied to the products that can be considered to have been sufficiently verified for safety and effectiveness after a considerable period of time has passed after the product approval. In many cases, revised administrative legislations quickly enacted and amended in the state of lack of legal review or consensus, while the regulatory effects resulting from it are quite direct and specific to the regulated person. In this respect, I emphasized that the administrative legislative process also requires substantial review and prior control of the regulatory purposes and means, and that the participation of stakeholders in the legislative procedure is to be strengthened.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.183-187
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• 2007

During the recent decades in democratic and industrialized countries, government policies for governing technological innovation and risks to environment and human health have undergone significant changes. The shift from a top-down legislative approach to a more inclusive and deliberative atmosphere is, putatively the most prominent change. Such a move is often described as a move from government to governance. In the governance of technology and risk, public engagement has been a major strategy in technology decision-making process. This article aims to look into the changes in the procedural modes of technology decision-making process. It discusses the main viewpoints that have been placed on the basis of such a move. Also, it further relates the changes in local decision-making process to science and technology decision-making at global level. It argues that the democratic and reflexive trends in local science and technology decision-making will be the basis upon which to shape and respond to global governance system: while international decision-making process would require accountability in integrating different values and rationalities, such accountability may be sustained and reinforced depending on the robustness of the local decisions and social choices.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.83-94
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• 2020

Backgrounds : To reduce the patients' economic burden of herbal decoctions use, in 2012, Korean government decided to implement the pilot project of herbal decoctions coverage in the National Health Insurance. Objectives : This study aimed to analyze the policy decision-making process for the pilot insurance project in 2012. Methods : Official documents, research papers, statistical reports, and news articles, etc. on the coverage of herbal decoctions were searched and collected. We used the Kingdon's Policy Stream Model to analyze how the policy of pilot project of herbal decoctions coverage was decided, and who were the main activists for the decision-making process. Results : Components to be included in the 'Problem stream' were the decline in the profits of Korean Medicine institutions, the contraction of the herbal decoctions use, and the fiscal surplus of National Health Insurance. In the 'Policy stream', there were several model studies for herbal decoctions coverage, and examples of herbal benefits in other social insurances. In the 'Political stream', there were the legislative initiatives by member of the National Assembly and the promotion of insurance coverage by the Association of Korean Medicine(AKOM), etc. Policy window for herbal decoctions coverage was opened by the combination of these three streams with the efforts of policy activists, such as the executives of AKOM, and policy researchers. Conclusions : The policy decision process for health insurance coverage of herbal decoctions was analyzed using Kingdon's model, and the analysis shows that the combination of political streams and entrepreneurs' competencies can be an important driving force in policy decision making.