• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.20 no.spc1
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• pp.12-29
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to identify the social issues discussed in Korea regarding Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), the most advanced ICT field in the shipbuilding industry, and to suggest policy implications. In recent years, it has become important to reflect social issues of public interest in the policymaking process. For this reason, an increasing number of studies use media data and social media to identify public opinion. In this study, we collected 2,843 domestic media articles related to MASS from 2017 to 2022, when MASS was officially discussed at the International Maritime Organization, and analyzed them using text mining techniques. Through term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) analysis, major keywords such as 'shipbuilding,' 'shipping,' 'US,' and 'HD Hyundai' were derived. For LDA topic modeling, we selected eight topics with the highest coherence score (-2.2) and analyzed the main news for each topic. According to the combined analysis of five years, the topics '1. Technology integration of the shipbuilding industry' and '3. Shipping industry in the post-COVID-19 era' received the most media attention, each accounting for 16%. Conversely, the topic '5. MASS pilotage areas' received the least media attention, accounting for 8 percent. Based on the results of the study, the implications for policy, society, and international security are as follows. First, from a policy perspective, the government should consider the current situation of each industry sector and introduce MASS in stages and carefully, as they will affect the shipbuilding, port, and shipping industries, and a radical introduction may cause various adverse effects. Second, from a social perspective, while the positive aspects of MASS are often reported, there are also negative issues such as cybersecurity issues and the loss of seafarer jobs, which require institutional development and strategic commercialization timing. Third, from a security perspective, MASS are expected to change the paradigm of future maritime warfare, and South Korea is promoting the construction of a maritime unmanned system-based power, but it emphasizes the need for a clear plan and military leadership to secure and develop the technology. This study has academic and policy implications by shedding light on the multidimensional political and social issues of MASS through news data analysis, and suggesting implications from national, regional, strategic, and security perspectives beyond legal and institutional discussions.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.77-98
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• 1998

In general, spatial imbalance in regional growth is a major cause of social and political conflicts within a state. In Korea, this inequality has functioned as a threat to the state's integration. With the economic development policies by regional industrialization over the past three decades, most of the industrial activities have been concentrated in Seoul and Pusan metropolitan areas, which are surrounded by Kyonggi, Kyongnam provinces respectively. Compared to these areas, Chonnam and Chonbuk provinces have lagged behind in economic development. Therefore, in order to increase the regional economic development of the southwestern region in Korea, the central government has been enforcing several policies aimed at regional industrialization since the 1980s. The purpose of this study focuses on the regional economic impacts of a newly established industrial estate-Yulchon industrial complex- which would act as a regional growth center in the Kwangyang bay area. The Kwangyang bay area consists of several industrial estates such as Kwangyang Iron and Steel Co. and its related industrial complex, Chuam rural industrial estate, Yeochon industrial complex, and so on. In addition, the Kwangyang container port was constructed in 1997. The Kwangyang bay area has been changing to a new industrial district in the southwestern part of Korea as a result of industrialization policies which were activated by central government. The Yulchon industrial complex, which is expected to be completed in 2001, would draw many manufacturing plants. For example, Hyundai Motors Co. has a plan to locate a new automobile assembly plant within the estate. As the plan has high probability to be realized, it will be interesting to study the effects a new automobile assembly plant and its related production linkages have on the region. This study is to estimate the expected structural characteristics of automobile production activities in Yulchon. The following details will be discussed: the regional economic impacts of a new automobile industry in Yulchon industrial complex, the production linkage formation via hierarchical subcontracting systems, the alternative strategies to promote the growth of regional economies, and the scheme to improve the auto-parts and components industry in Kwangju and Chonnam provinces by establishing auto-mobile production function. Automoblie industry generally gives great influences on not only regional economies but the related industries, for example, the firms producing automotive components. If a new plant producing automobiles and its related firms producing components are to be established in Yulchon, they will affect on the regional development directions and change the regional characteristics of industrial structure. In order to increase the spread effects of the new industry in Yulchon industrial complex, almost all of the automobile production processes must be organized concurrently within a limited range of distance. There is an imperative that the co-operation system should be structured between the assembly firm and many firms producing its components. In addition to those, it would be required such as the effective division of labors between the firms, much more capabilities in the technical innovations, and the reconstruction of interrelationship between the labor unions and the firms' managers.