• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.325-334
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• 2016

Both 1900 years of historic literature and recent instrumental seismic records indicate the Korean Peninsula has repeatedly experienced small and large earthquakes. This study has used historical and instrumental records of Korea to investigate the characteristics of earthquakes in the peninsula. Results of GIS spatial analyses indicate Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, is more vulnerable to the earthquake hazard than that of other regions in the Korean Peninsula. It is also noted that Pyongyang is exposed to high risks of other natural and social disasters because of the high population density and concentrated infra structures. Scenario shake map drawn up assuming a magnitude 6.7 earthquake, which was experienced in A.D. 502 in the area, indicates that 51.1% of the city are exposed to PGA 0.24 g or higher. Recent statistics by the Statistics Korea also indicates the North Korea is far more vulnerable to disasters than those in the South Korea. Results of the preliminary study provide essential information for comprehensive understanding of earthquake hazard estimation in Korea including the North Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2009

Objectives : This study presents a scientific basis for the establishment of an environmental health contingency plan for dealing with accidental coastal oil spills and suggests some strategies for use in an environmental health emergency. Methods : We reviewed the existing literature, and analyzed the various fundamental factors involved in response strategies for oil spill. Our analysis included data derived from Hebei Spirit oil spill and used air dispersion modeling. Results : Spill amounts of more than 1,000 kl can affect the health of residents along the coast, especially those who belong to vulnerable groups. Almost 30% of South Korean population lives in the vicinity of the coast. The area that is at the highest risk for a spill and that has the greatest number of people at risk is the stretch of coastline from Busan to Tongyeong. The most prevalent types of oil spilt in Korean waters have been crude oil and bunker-C oil, both of which have relatively high specific gravity and contain volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals. In the case of a spill of more than 1,000 kl, it may be necessary to evacuate vulnerable and sensitive groups. Conclusions : The government should establish environmental health planning that considers the spill amount, the types of oil, and the distance between the spot of the accident and the coast, and should assemble a response team that includes environmental health specialists to prepare for the future oil spill.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.233-243
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• 2013

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the individual and community level factors which were influencing the severe injury patients' death and transfer at discharge. Methods: Analysis data is based on Korean National Hospital Discharge In-depth Survey Data released by the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2006 to 2008. Study subjects was 11,026 inpatients with of severe injury. For multi-level analysis, socio-demographic characteristics, injury related characteristics, hospitalization related characteristics were used as individual level factors, and socio-environmental characteristics and health care resource characteristics were used as community level factors. Results: As to community level factors affecting mortality of severe injury, the possibility of death was also high in cases of less numbers of surgeons per a population of 100,000 and more number of operation beds. As to community level factors affecting transfer of severe injury, vulnerable areas with higher social deprivation index and low population density had higher possibility of transfer. Conclusion: Both individual level factors and community level factors affected clinical outcomes of treatment for severe injury. In particular, since there happened higher death and transfer of severe injury in socioeconomic and medical vulnerable areas, special efforts for establishing preventive policy and care system for injury in national and area level should be directed toward such areas.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.77-87
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• 2020

National parks and other protected areas often do not adequately protect national biodiversity because they were originally created for socio-economic and/or aesthetic values. The Korean government has committed to expanding the extent of protected areas to fulfill its commitments to the Aichi Biodiversity Convention. To do so, it is necessary to quantify the current levels of biodiversity representation within existing protected areas and to identify additional conservation needs for vulnerable species and ecological systems. In this study, we assess the proportion of species ranges found in South Korea's protected areas, for the species documented in the 3^rd National Ecosystem Survey. We modeled the range distribution of 3,645 species in the following taxonomic groups; plants (1,545 species), mammals (35), birds (132), herptiles (35), and insects (1,898) using the MaxEnt species distribution model and calculated how much of each species' range is within protected areas. On average, 17.4% of plant species' ranges are represented in protected areas, while for mammals and insects an average 12.0% is currently conserved. Conservation representation for herptiles averages 9.3%, while it is 8.6% for birds. Although large proportions of species that have restricted distributions should be represented in protected areas, 17 plant species, two insects (Parnassius bremeri and Lasioglossum occidens), and one bird species (Phylloscopus inornatus) with ranges smaller than 1,000 ㎢ have less than 10% of their ranges within protected areas. Establishing specific conservation goals such as the protection of endangered species or vulnerable taxonomic groups will increase the efficiency of the biodiversity conservation strategies. In addition, lowland coastal areas are critical for biodiversity conservation because the protected areas in South Korea are mainly composed of high mountainous areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2019

More than 64% of Korea's land is occupied by mountain regions, which have terrain characteristics that make it vulnerable to mountain disasters. The trails of Taebaeksan Mountain National Park-the region considered in this study-are located in the vicinity of steep slopes, and therefore, the region is vulnerable to landslides and debris flow during heavy storms. In this study, a slope stability model, which is a deterministic analysis method, was used to examine the potential occurrence of landslides. According to the soil classification of the detailed soil map, the specific weight of soil, effective cohesion, internal friction angle of soil, effective soil depth, and ground slope were used as the parameters of the model, and slope stability was evaluated based on the DEM of a 1 m grid. The results of the slope stability analysis showed that the more hazardous the area was, the closer the ratio of groundwater/effective soil depth is to 1.0. Further, many of the private houses and commercial facilities in the lower part of the national park were shown to be exposed to danger.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.367-381
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the status of dental care in underserved areas of Korea. Methods: This study targeted 229 cities in Korea. The analytical index was revised and supplemented with variables related to dental care, and the "oral health level" indexes were further selected to provide a total of 20 analytical indexes. All selected indexes were converted into T scores (cited by the Korea Health Promotion Institute) and subjectively weighted. Finally, the regional oral health indices and areas were derived. PASW Statistics 25.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) was used to analyze descriptive statistics. Results: Gyeongbuk Cheongsong-gun had the highest dental underserved index. The city with the highest regional oral health underserved index was Jeonnam Shinan-gun. Daegu Jung-gu had the lowest dental underserved index and regional oral health underserved index. Regional gaps existed between dental care and the regional oral health underserved index according to the city province (p<0.001). Conclusions: To continuously evaluate oral health conditions and projects centered on vulnerable areas, it is necessary to develop indicators to derive vulnerable areas for dental care and to develop effective public dental policies.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.351-368
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• 2021

This paper, by applying a reliability-based framework, develops seismic vulnerability macrozonation maps for Tehran, the capital and one of the most earthquake-vulnerable city of Iran. Seismic performance assessment of 3-, 4- and 5-story steel moment resisting frames (SMRFs), designed according to ASCE/SEI 41-17 and Iranian Code of Practice for Seismic Resistant Design of Buildings (2800 Standard), is investigated in terms of overall maximum inter-story drift ratio (MIDR) and unit repair cost ratio which is hereafter known as "damage ratio". To this end, Tehran city is first meshed into a network of 66 points to numerically locate low- to mid-rise SMRFs. Active faults around Tehran are next modeled explicitly. Two different combination of faults, based on available seismological data, are then developed to explore the impact of choosing a proper seismic scenario. In addition, soil effect is exclusively addressed. After building analytical models, reliability methods in combination with structure-specific probabilistic models are applied to predict demand and damage ratio of structures in a cost-effective paradigm. Due to capability of proposed methodology incorporating both aleatory and epistemic uncertainties explicitly, this framework which is centered on the regional demand and damage ratio estimation via structure-specific characteristics can efficiently pave the way for decision makers to find the most vulnerable area in a regional scale. This technical basis can also be adapted to any other structures which the demand and/or damage ratio prediction models are developed.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2D
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• pp.341-347
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• 2006

Geographically Imha basin is adjacent to Andong basin, but the occurrence of turbid water in each reservoir by storm events shows big differences. Hence, it is very important to identify the reason for these large differences. This study compared and analyzed soil erosion using the semi-empirical soil erosion model, RUSLE for both Imha and Andong basin, especially with emphasis on high-density turbid water. The agricultural district, which is the most vulnerable to soil erosion, was intensively analyzed based on land cover map produced by Ministry of Environment. As a result, the portion of the agricultural area is 11.88% for Andong basin, while it is 14.95% for Imha basin. Also all RUSLE factors excepts practice factor turned out to be higher for Imha basin. This means that the basin characteristics such as soil texture, terrain, and land cover for Imha basin is more vulnerable to soil erosion. Estimation of soil erosion by RUSLE for Andong and Imha basin is 1,275,806 ton and 1,501,608 ton, respectively, showing higher soil erosion by 225,802 ton for Imha basin.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.563-572
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• 2023

Objectives: The high readmission rate of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has led to the worldwide establishment of proactive measures for identifying and mitigating readmissions. This study aimed to identify factors associated with readmission, as well as groups particularly vulnerable to readmission that require transitional care services. Methods: To apply transitional care services that are compatible with Korea's circumstances, targeted groups that are particularly vulnerable to readmission should be identified. Therefore, using the National Health Insurance Service's Senior Cohort database, we analyzed data from 4874 patients who were first hospitalized with COPD from 2009 to 2019 to define and analyze readmissions within 30 days after discharge. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors correlated with readmission within 30 days. Results: The likelihood of readmission was associated with older age (for individuals in their 80s vs. those in their 50s: odds ratio [OR], 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 2.12), medical insurance type (for workplace subscribers vs. local subscribers: OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.99), type of hospital (those with 300 beds or more vs. fewer beds: OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.90), and healthcare organization location (provincial areas vs. the capital area: OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.14 to 2.41). Conclusions: Older patients, patients holding a local subscriber insurance qualification, individuals admitted to hospitals with fewer than 300 beds, and those admitted to provincial hospitals are suggested to be higher-priority for transitional care services.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.10.1-10.10
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• 2023

The purpose of this paper was to review the problems relating to Korea's occupational health services and suggest ways to improve them. Korea can be classified as a welfare state type of conservative corporatism partially interwoven with liberalism. While experiencing compressed economic growth, the economic sectors of developed (excess areas) and developing (deficient areas) countries are interwoven. Therefore, it is necessary to perfect conservative corporatism along with a complementary reinforcement of liberal contents and to apply a multilayered approach focusing on complementing the deficient areas. It is essential to form a national representative indicator related to occupational health, and a strategy for selection and concentration is needed. The proposed central indicator is the occupational health coverage rate (OHCR), which is the number of workers who have applied for mandatory occupational health services under the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the numerator with the total working population in the denominator. This paper proposes ways to raise the OHCR, which is currently at the level of 25%-40%, to 70%-80%, which is the level of Japan, Germany, and France. To achieve this target, it is necessary to focus on small businesses and vulnerable workers. This is an area of market failure and requires the active input of community-oriented public resources. For access to larger workplaces, the marketability of services should be strengthened and personal intervention using digital health resources should be actively attempted. Taking a national perspective, work environment improvement committees with tripartite (labor, management, and government) participation for improvement of the working environment need to be established at the center and in the regions. Through this, prevention funds linked to industrial accident compensation and prevention could be used efficiently. A national chemical substance management system must be established to monitor the health of workers and the general public.