• Korean Security Journal
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• no.49
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• pp.217-246
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• 2016

Most of the North Korean defectors are the socially disadvantaged, and formed the lowest class in South Korean society. Their main objectives are to achieve economic wealth. In this process, North Korean defectors have often committed the crime or have been criminal victims. The purpose of this study was to propose the effective preventive measures after analyzing the actual situation of North Korean defectors in criminal behaviors and criminal damages. This research has studied of the literature on the criminal behavior and the criminal damage by North Korean defectors, utilized the relevant statistical data, cited the news for the relevant cases, and proposed the effective preventive measures of criminal behaviors and criminal damages of North Korean defectors by doing in-depth interviews with personal protection officer First, in order to prevent criminal activity by North Korean defectors, we should uplift the identity as the members of Korean society, systemize the initial adapt education, enlarge the employment protection and the resettlement helper system, manage North Korean defectors according to adaptive type, develop the network, establish the management department for the defectors, strengthen the training of prison inmates, and strengthen the management of unprotected people. Next, in order to prevent the criminal damages of North Korean refugees, we should manage vulnerable North Korean defectors effectively, maintain the liaison between the personal protection officer and North Korean defector, arrange the personal safety measures in advance when traveling abroad, enhance the legal education for usual living in Korean society, and perform the re-education for the female socialization.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.94-105
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• 2010

Recently, resettlement problems of low income groups in the urban regeneration area have been issued in Korea because they have no capability to purchase (or lease) redeveloped housing (or apartment). There are several approaches for supplying affordable housing and one of these is the bidding system which can reduce construction cost. However, the lowest bidding system has many problems such as dumping and substandard quality. In this context, this study proposed bidding system based on technical proposal applying the concept of the lowest total combined bid price for optimization of bid price, reduction of construction cost and period, and maintenance of suitable quality. This bidding system embraces the best value and cost plus time concept on the basis of an improved lowest price bidding system. It consists of the following components: work unit based, project unit based, and period reducing technical proposals. The proposed bidding system for determining bidders are designed to evaluate the adequacy of each technical proposal in the order of the combined minimum price in an effort to effectively optimize bid prices and reduce the construction periods, as well as to maintain a minimum appropriate quality.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.509-532
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• 2013

Minimum Housing Standard is an instrument to cope with the problems of public health and community hygiene, deterioration of working class housing conditions appeared commonly in the process of capitalist industrialization and rapid rural-to-urban migration. This paper aims to examine the institutionalization of histories of minimum housing standard in the advanced countries, and analyze the spatio-temporal changes and characteristics of households failing to meet the New Minimum Housing Standard in Seoul Metropolitan since 1995. The analysis of this paper is based on the census data on population and housing. The results are as follows; Households failing to meet the New Minimum Housing Standard in Seoul are 501,000 households(1.368 million person, 14.4%). This means Seoul has overtaken the national average 11.8% for the first time and there are structurally marginal band of households who can not improve the housing conditions by themselves. In addition, the fact that the rate of Seoul households living in the marginal shelter including the basement and rooftop room is the highest in Korea means the housing quality issues of Seoul is serious. Spatial distribution of households failing to meet the standard is divided into the northeast area and the southwest area in Seoul. Main features of the households are female-headed families, middle and old-aged people, divorce families, lower educated people, under and graduate students, non-apartments, dweller in 15~20 year old houses.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.94-110
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• 2008

This study examines the unemployment and labor market demand dynamics as well as their implication for social exclusion in the metropolitan areas of Korea since the financial crisis of 1997. The unemployment research containing significant implication for social exclusion is a key area to be explored with the research of skill and income polarization due to structural economic transformation. Skill polarization usually results in the job loss for some people, which most likely leads to the economic deprivation and social exclusion. The unemployment rate and its regional disparity began to fall since 2000, but the disparity reversed to increase after 2005. The labor market dynamics of the metropolitan areas are turned out to be related with the size of the city and the relative shares of both manufacturing and service sectors. In addition, the employment growth is turned out to be related with the changes of both output and productivity. It is also found that the unemployment is affected with the job change and the tertiarization of the economy. However, it is of more significance to recognize that the dynamics and patterns of the labor market in the metropolitan areas are quite spatially differentiated and the differentiation is likely determined by the factors such as industrial structure, employment dynamics and job demand changes.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.310-321
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• 2013

The paper aims to understand the concept of social innovation and its development stages emerging as a new regional development policy trend and to define the role of public sector for social innovation. Spatial policy issues that urban development corporations to carry out development projects for regional policy need to deal with have expanded to include crucial social issues such as poverty, quality of life and happiness. Therefore it is increasingly significant for them to take social innovation into consideration. In this context, this study formulates evaluation framework for the role of public sector in social innovation and investigates its position and limitation in social innovation practices. As a result, almost all corporations have made various efforts for promoting both public purposes of housing and land development and social contribution for the community. However, few corporations have achieved organizational capacity building and idea implementation for social innovation. Growing demand for social innovation in both spatial and regional policies tends to bring up profound challenges to public regional development agencies including urban development corporations. It is then a time to seek to carry out related researches and policy option formulation for social innovation in the near future.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.36
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• pp.309-338
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• 1998

The American military occupations of Korea(1945-1948) and Japan(1945-1952) after the second world war had great influences on the history of the two countries, the contents and results were, however, quite different. This study attempts to analyze the similarities and differences, the determinants of the social welfare policy, and their long-term effects on the later social welfare policies in the two countries. For the purpose of this study, it uses a comparative case study on the public assistant policies of the two countries during the American military occupation. The conclusions of this study are summarized as follows. Firstly, although the American military occupations of the two countries faced the similar social problems during the same period, their countermeasures were quite different from each other. In Korea, the American military occupation hardly tried to establish a substantial social welfare system by making laws, but, mainly relying on temporary emergency relief, they just aimed for social control. On the other hand, in Japan, the American military occupation tried to improve the existing social welfare system in terms of the principles of demilitarization and democratization. Secondly, the political determinants of the social welfare policy in the two countries were much more important than the socioeconomic determinants. Especially the differences in the basic military occupation principles, the administration structure, and the roles of the indigenous ruling classes acted upon the different social welfare policies of Korea and Japan. Thirdly, the long-term effects on the later social welfare policies in the two countries was different. In Korea, the American military occupation hardly contributed to modernize the social welfare policy. Therefore, the unsystematic premodern relief system continued to exist for a long time. On the other hand, in Japan, the American military occupation contributed to modernizing the social welfare policy in terms of ideology and system and formed the groundwork for developing the later social welfare policies.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.219-243
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• 2005

Homeless people have remained one of the most disadvantaged groups in Korea. Therefore this study aims at examining how the homeless evaluate their quality of life and which factors influence their quality of life. The subjects of this study were 185 homeless adults residing on the street, in the shelter, and in substandard housing in Daejeon Metropolitan City. With a view to collecting the data effectively, different approaches have been taken for each type of homelessness in this study. By using the Korean Version of WHOQOL-BREF(brief version of WHO quality of life measure), this study has examined the current circumstance of the homeless and identified the predictors of their quality of life. The results of this study reconfirm low quality of life of homeless people. Also the results of this study indicate that the important factors influencing their quality of life are age, receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, alcohol use, alcohol addiction, housing type, and recognition by others. Predictors of each domain of quality of life differ to some extent. Statistically significant predictors of physical health are receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, and housing type. Psychological health is significantly influenced by age, receipt of public assistance, perceived health status, housing type, and recognition by others. Significant predictors of social relations are alcohol use, housing type, and recognition by others. Environment is significantly influenced by perceived health status, housing type, and recognition by others. On the basis of the findings of this empirical analysis, some measures conducive to the improvement of quality of life of homeless people are suggested. Only a few studies have been conducted to delve into the quality of life of the displaced group in Korea. In such a context, the significance of this study lies in identifying the circumstances of the homeless as a basic work for upgrading their quality of life on the one hand, and in empirically testing the major predictors of each domain of their quality of life on the other.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2007

Global warming crisis due primarily to continued green house gas emission requires impending change to renewable alternative energy than continuously depending on exhausting fossil fuels. Bioenergy including biodiesel and bioethanol are considered good alternatives because of their renewable and sustainable nature. Bioethanol is currently being produced by using sucrose from sugar beet, grain starches or lignocellulosic biomass as sources of ethanol fermentation. However, grain production requires significant amount of fossil fuel inputs during agricultural practices, which means less competitive in reducing the level of green house gas emission. By contrast, cellulosic bioethanol can use naturally-growing, not-for-food biomass as a source of ethanol fermentation. In this respect, cellulosic ethanol than grain starch ethanol is considered a more appropriate as a alternative renewable energy. However, commercialization of cellulosic ethanol depends heavily on technology development. Processes such as securing enough biomass optimized for economic processing, pretreatment technology for better access of polymer-hydrolyzing enzymes, saccharification of recalcitrant lignocellulosic materials, and simultaneous fermentation of different sugars including 6-carbon glucose as well as 5-carbon xylose or arabinose waits for greater improvement in technologies. Although it seems to be a long way to go until commercialization, it should broadly benefit farmers with novel source of income, environment with greener and reduced level of global warming, and national economy with increased energy security. Mission-oriented strategies for cellulosic ethanol development participated by government funding agency and different disciplines of sciences and technologies should certainly open up a new era of renewable energy.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.405-421
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• 2019

International aid to North Korea remains far below the humanitarian needs of vulnerable people. This paper examines the trajectory of international humanitarian assistance to North Korea over the last two decades with the focus on its decline in the context of the country's nuclear standoff and corresponding stringent sanctions. In so doing, the paper addresses major problems associated with North Korea's reception of foreign aid and operational constraints placed on humanitarian activities in the country. It shows that humanitarian assistance to North Korea has been largely shaped by geopolitical dynamics. A survey of UN reports and statistics also suggests a shifting trend in recent international aid to North Korea. The decline of aid and multiple operational obstacles faced by humanitarian organizations, for instance, have led to a fall in agricultural support and a proportional rise in health and related services. While UN Security Council resolutions include an exemption provision, humanitarian assistance to North Korea has been constrained by stringent sanctions, which have led to adverse consequences for the civilian population. In this regard, the paper suggests some policy directions for international aid to North Korea amidst negotiations over denuclearization, while stressing an urgent need to address the negative impact of sanctions on vulnerable groups in the country.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.66 no.4
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• pp.53-75
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• 2014

The current status of Korean social work can be summarized as multiple complexities and ambiguities not only in ideological but in practical aspects. Although they have long been considered as an unique feature of social work as one of representative human service professions, the extent of such complexities are now reaching the culmination enough to raise the questions about the very nature of social work practice. This study aims to analyse such ambiguities and complexities around the field of social work in a systematic ways with the theory of liquid modernization, an creative framework for modern society, coined by Zygmunt Bauman who is now considered as one of the leading sociologist and thinker. The study shows clearly that social work in Korea is nowadays entering the phase of liquid modern society and specific features of liquidity of modern society such as consumerism, privatization, corruption of publicity etc are founded in the areas of social work. To make it worse, social work are thinking about the anachronical response to this flow of liquidity by selecting the strategies useful in solid modern era, not in the liquid one. In this context, the study suggests that social work practice have to prepare to adequate measures to secure its own autonomy and sustain genuine identification from the ruthless melting power of liquid modern society.