• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2011

The underlying principle of environmental conservation and restoration is to receive continuous services from nature. In this context, the basic objective of oil spill response and recovery activities is to allow affected residents to retain sustainability of their daily livelihood and productive environment. Hence, monitoring the status of socio-economic impact and the extent of restoration is an important parameter in the restoration effort to repair the damaged functions of environmental services with oil spill accident. However, assessment of socio-economic impact poses investigators with much difficulties in selecting the most appropriate approaches because the process often involves various stakeholders, directly and indirectly. Moreover, the analyses and interpretation of the results also pose a great challenge. The present study monitored fisheries and tourism numbers which were considered as major local socio-economic indicators of living and production environment affected by M/T Hebei Spirit oil-spill accident. This monitoring was conducted by examining the published papers and statistical reports. This was supplemented by surveying how the local residents actually felt about the damage and recovery for the first time in Korea. The results showed that the rate of the recovery was about 40~50 %, and the rate of the recovery seemed to be slowed or decreased. However, what the local residents actually felt was 2~10 points less than the literature surveys and statistical reports. These results suggested limits to using only the literature and statistical surveys for the traditional socio-economic impact assessment. The study also showed the need to include in the impact assessment process what and how the local residents actual feel about the oil spill damage and recovery process.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.127-145
• /
• 1998

Unlike water or air quality standards that have been established by legislation using potential human health impact as the primary criterion, soil quality depends on the soils primary function and its relevant environmental factors, which is much more site- and soil specific. A properly characterized soil quality assessment system should serve as an indicator of the soil capacity to produce safe and nutritious food, to enhance human and animal health, and to overcome degrative processes. For our proposed example, a high quality soil with regard to maintaining an adequate soil productivity as a food production resources must accommodate soil and water properties, food chain, sustainability and utilization, environment, and profitability, that (i) facilitate water transfer and absorption, (ii) sustain plant growth, (iii) resist physical degradation of soil, (iv) produce a safe food resources, (v) cost-effective agricultural management. Possible soil quality indicators are identified at several levels within the framework for each of these functions. Each indicator is assigned a priority or weight that reflects its relative importance using a multi-objective approach based on principles of systems to be considered. To do this, individual scoring system is differentiated by the several levels from low to very high category or point scoring ranging from 0 to 10, And then weights are multiplied and products are summed to provide an overall soil quality rating based on several physical and chemical indicators. Tlne framework and procedure in developing the soil quality assessment are determined by using information collected from an alternative and conventional farm practices in the regions. The use of an expanded framework for assessing effects of other processes, management practices, or policy issues on soil quality is also considered. To develop one possible form for a soil quality index, we should permit coupling the soil characteristics with assessment system based on soil properties and incoming and resident chemicals. The purpose of this paper is to discuss approaches to defining and assessing soil quality and to suggest the factors to be considered.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.53 no.spc1
• /
• pp.719-730
• /
• 2020

Recognizing a complexity of global water challenges, such as water shortage, water pollution, water-related disasters, and degradation of water environments, this study introduces the newly established concept and definition of water security and water security assessment framework based on the review of previous works on water security. In order to critically assess the situations of water security of each country, an water security assessment framework is employed highlighting the four core areas: 1) social equity; 2) economic efficiency; 3) environmental sustainability; and 4) resilience to water-related disasters. 28 Asian countries have been selected and evaluated for the level of water security, and as a consequence, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea demonstrate a high degree of water security whereas India, Pakistan and the Philippines show a relatively low level of water security. The significance of this study lies in clarifying weak areas in water security as well as suggesting the areas that should be improved for achieving sustainable water management.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2013

This paper investigates the possibility of expanding pay-for-performance (P4P) program as a provider payment system, in terms of financial, economical, and political sustainability. In order to expand the sustainable P4P, P4P should have usefulness in terms of economic value as well as efficiency in the financial aspects of health care. More importantly, the P4P would be politically sustainable only when both providers and consumers can accept. Korea's healthcare system seems to have logical ground for the P4P program financially and economically. However, how well the P4P can work remains to be proven in its implementation. After 43 tertiary hospitals applied the P4P program for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and C-section in 2007, the number of hospitals adopting the P4P program for AMI and C-section has increased to 316 in 2011, and an incentive for hospitals applying the P4P has risen to 2% from 1% of health insurance benefits. This shows that the P4P program introduced by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service is quite successful. In addition, people are aware of the need for improved P4P program and policy alternatives have been already made. Therefore, it is very important to come up with politically supportable strategies that can make providers and consumers accept the P4P program while maintaining the governance of the existing health insurance policy. To this end, there are some tasks to be considered. First, the expansion of the P4P program should be placed on the agenda of the Health Insurance Policy Review Committee, the highest decision-making body, and a separate agency for P4P planning should be established. Second, for more efficient P4P program, the processes of review and assessment, currently carried out separately, should be integrated into a single process. Third, infrastructure to measure the quality of medical services should be sharply expanded. Fourth, the current paradigm for the assessment should be changed. Lastly, a P4P program for consumers should be considered. Given that the consumers in Korea can use medical services freely, the National Health Insurance Corporation could initiate the P4P program for consumers as a means of controlling excessive use of medical services and adjusting consumer's moral hazard.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.155-161
• /
• 2016

This research is to explore resident's assessment of the Automated Vacuum Waste Collection System (AVWCS), which is devised to attain sustainability of residential environment. A number of AVWCS has been installed in Gyeonggi Province, so 283 households in 11 new public housing estates of 5 cities participated in a self-administered questionnaire survey. The data collected from 133 respondents in for-sale housing estates and 150 participants in rental housing estates, and the primary findings were as follows: a vast majority of both owners and renters had neither been aware of nor used the system before moving to their current housing estate. Also, most of the respondents learned how to use the AVWCS from on-site housing management staff, and the learning among renters was greatly delayed. Renters were in stronger favor of the system than owners, and their satisfaction was greater than the counterpart. Although few items were unsatisfactory, many emphasized that AVWCS should be augmented with user-centered, environmentally friendly features, and also they viewed that the system would substantially contribute to sustainable urban environment.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.191-204
• /
• 2010

Recently, the CO2 emission and energy consumption have become critical global issues to decide the future of nations. Especially, the spread of IT products and the increased use of internet and web applications result in the energy consumption and CO2 emission of IT industry though information technologies drive global economic growth. EU, the United States, Japan and other developed countries are using IT related environmental regulations such as WEEE(Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), RoHS(Restriction of the use of Certain Hazardous Substance), REACH(Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of CHemicals) and EuP(Energy using Product), and have established systematic green business/IT strategies to enhance the competitiveness of IT industry. For example, the Japan government proposed the "Green IT initiative" for being compatible with economic growth and environmental protection. Not only energy saving technologies but energy saving systems have been developed for accomplishing sustainable development. Korea's CO2 emission and energy consumption continuously have grown at comparatively high rates. They are related to its industrial structure depending on high energy-consuming industries such as iron and steel Industry, automotive industry, shipbuilding industry, semiconductor industry, and so on. In particular, export proportion of IT manufacturing is quite high in Korea. For example, the global market share of the semiconductor such as DRAM was about 80% in 2008. Accordingly, Korea needs to establish a systematic strategy to respond to the global environmental regulations and to maintain competitiveness in the IT industry. However, green competitiveness of Korea ranked 11th among 15 major countries and R&D budget for green technology is not large enough to develop energy-saving technologies for infrastructure and value chain of low-carbon society though that grows at high rates. Moreover, there are no concrete action plans in Korea. This research aims to deduce the priorities of the Korean green business/IT strategies to use multi attribute weighted average method. We selected a panel of 19 experts who work at the green business related firms such as HP, IBM, Fujitsu and so on, and selected six assessment indices such as the urgency of the technology development, the technology gap between Korea and the developed countries, the effect of import substitution, the spillover effect of technology, the market growth, and the export potential of the package or stand-alone products by existing literature review. We submitted questionnaires at approximately weekly intervals to them for priorities of the green business/IT strategies. The strategies broadly classify as follows. The first strategy which consists of the green business/IT policy and standardization, process and performance management and IT industry and legislative alignment relates to government's role in the green economy. The second strategy relates to IT to support environment sustainability such as the travel and ways of working management, printer output and recycling, intelligent building, printer rationalization and collaboration and connectivity. The last strategy relates to green IT systems, services and usage such as the data center consolidation and energy management, hardware recycle decommission, server and storage virtualization, device power management, and service supplier management. All the questionnaires were assessed via a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very little" to "very large." Our findings show that the IT to support environment sustainability is prior to the other strategies. In detail, the green business /IT policy and standardization is the most important in the government's role. The strategies of intelligent building and the travel and ways of working management are prior to the others for supporting environment sustainability. Finally, the strategies for the data center consolidation and energy management and server and storage virtualization have the huge influence for green IT systems, services and usage This research results the following implications. The amount of energy consumption and CO2 emissions of IT equipment including electrical business equipment will need to be clearly indicated in order to manage the effect of green business/IT strategy. And it is necessary to develop tools that measure the performance of green business/IT by each step. Additionally, intelligent building could grow up in energy-saving, growth of low carbon and related industries together. It is necessary to expand the affect of virtualization though adjusting and controlling the relationship between the management teams.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.299-310
• /
• 2014

Nationally, tunnel and underground constructions are necessary for the environmental sustainability and the efficient use of land space. For the importance of eco-friendly circumstances, 2-arch or large road tunnel has been designed so far. However, such a 2-arch or large tunnel has problems in terms of cost, constructability, construction period, and maintenance. Therefore, in this study, tunnel behavior and stability of rock pillar according to the pillar width and cover depth for parallel tunnels are investigated by performing FE analysis and using empirical formula. According to the results, Rock pillar is reinforced for distributed vertical load by Tie-Bolt due to unpredicted ground deformation, and the reinforced rock pillar's behaviour from the FE analysis shows a quite good agreement with field measurement. According to ground conditions, if the pillar width of the parallel tunnels is reduced, it can be more efficient in use of the tunnel space compared to previous tunnels.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.259-281
• /
• 2009

The ICELT(In-Service Certificate in English Language Teaching) is a highly practical course-based English teacher education program which integrates classroom teaching and off-site teacher training. This case study analyzes the three-year implementation of the ICELT program in Korea and discusses its effects and the implications for improving the inservice English teacher education system. It has been found that the course participants were satisfied with the quality of its execution, thinking that it contributed to their professional development in the areas of teaching practice, methodology and language competence. The study has identified several success factors as shared program goals among the course participants, including systematic selection of course participants, well-qualified tutors and the proper provision of resources including syllabus, teaching materials and course assessment system. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that attention needs to be paid to generalized application of the ICELT for English teacher education due to the limitations such as the heavy workload caused by the program, lack of course participants' collaboration with other teachers at their schools and tutors' poor understanding of the Korean education context. Bearing this in mind, the implications for improving the inservice English teacher education system in Korea have been discussed. Finally, further studies have been suggested, which are concerned with in-depth investigation in exploring the division of roles between native English speaking tutors and Korean ones and the impact of the program on the sustainability of course participants' professional development and the impact on schools.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.47-61
• /
• 2004

Purpose: The goal of this paper is to offer practical suggestions for developing, implementing, and maintaining a successful school mental health program based on the model of a school mental health program for middle school students at the Namgu Hyosarang adolescent Mental Health Center. The model will be divided into six areas and the challenges and future direction of this program: creative approach to funding, creative staffing, education, training, needs assessment & resource mapping, collaboration and partnerships in a school mental health program, and developing an outcome evaluation research. Method: This is a descriptive study of the school mental health program model for middle school students of Namgu Hyosarang Adolescent Mental Health Center implemented over a four year period. Conclusion: Within this paper, a blueprint that can guide the development and implementation of school mental health programs has been offered. The actual application of this model will vary depending on the structure and goals of individual programs and schools. This model of our center has been identified as an effective school mental health program and the actual application program in regular learning times to middle school students. Establishing guidelines about the types of activities necessary for the successful implementation and sustainability of a school mental health program constitutes the first step in standardizing this process, and the school mental health movement continues to receive national recognition as a viable services delivery model for adolescents in need of mental health services. The recommendations outlined indicate that a school mental health program is more effective and necessary than the clinical service of a psychiatric hospital for adolescents' emotional/behavioral problems.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.17 no.8
• /
• pp.857-869
• /
• 2008

The objective of this research is to apply more scientific, quantitative methods and procedures of environmental investigation to the development of the natural environment and the improvement of the human environment during the establishment of a sewage treatment plant and special facilities using environmental accounting. This research was performed to develop a method of strategic environmental assessment on the operation of sewage treatment plant and reuse of shellfish seeding areas through the use of environmental accounting based on EMERGY evaluation. The result was applied to marine environment policy in order to evaluate the real wealth of the regional environment and economy for both the present phase and the proposed developed phase. Using results from the comparison of EMERGY indices between the present situation and future scenarios, cost benefit analysis was performed for three different scenarios: (I) construction of a new sewage treatment plant, (2) relocation and recovery of the shellfish seeding area, and (3) relocation and re-seeding of shellfish area and construction of a new sewage treatment plant. Cost-benefit ratios of the three scenarios are 1.88, 0.94, and 1.38, respectively.