• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.3-33
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• 1991

Since the early 1980's, the Korean government has gradually been widening the Korean market to foreign consumer goods. This, combined with the increased purchasing power of the Korean consumers resulting from the continued economic growth of the country, has sparked a spectacular influx of foreign consumer goods into Korea, ranging from BMW's to chopsticks. Import of foreign consumer goods amounted to more than 6 billion dollars in 1989 and is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. The increased import of foreign consumer goods doubtlessly improved the overall welfare of the Korean consumers by providing them with a wider range of options to choose from, by lowering the prices of some of the consumer goods domestically produced, and also by forcing the producers of some Korean goods to face competition with better foreign goods, thus giving them an incentive to raise the quality of their products. However, it is agreed by most economists that this increase in general welfare has been much smaller than what they had expected at the outset. Consumer prices of most imported consumer goods are easily double the import price, and in some cases, more than treble the import prices. Further, there has not been a noticeable drop in the prices of domestically produced consumer goods. Much of the blame has been attributed to the distribution sector of Korea. The objective of this paper is to analyze the imported consumer goods distribution sector of Korea, focusing on the possible sources of the poor performance of that sector, and to make policy suggestions that could potentially increase the welfare. This paper differs from all the previous research by others on this subject in that it analyzes the imported consumer goods distribution sector of Korea as a vertical structure. The distribution sector of an imported consumer good is a vertical structure since it consists of an international market, an import stage, and domestic wholesale and retail markets, in that order vertically. Our study naturally includes the analysis of the vertical restraints as well as the analysis of the industrial organization of each horizontal stage in the vertical structure. Each horizontal component of the imported consumer goods distribution sector is basically a monopolistically competitive market differentiated by characteristics of goods and by the locations and the services of firms. Further, restrictive dealership and resale price maintenance are found to be widely in use. Our main findings are the follwing; First, most consumer goods are imported monopolistically or oligopolistically through restrictive dealership contracts between foreign producers and domestic importers. Such restrictive dealership gives importers market power in the domestic market and explains many of the large discrepancies betwen the consumer prices and the import prices of many goods. Korean anti - trust law does not cover the issues arising from the market power of an importer resulting from a restrictive dealership contract. Second, some major producers of Korean goods are also importers of foreign goods that are substitutes of their products. The import of substitutes by major domestic producers is anti - competitive because it tends to raise the prices of both domestic goods and foreign goods, and also because it reduces the incentive of the domestic producers to raise the quality of their products. Third, wholesalers and retailers widely use resale price maintenance as a price fixing mechanism, and while this is against the anti- trust law, it seldom gets noticed. Fourth, the high level of rents of real estate for commercial use works as an entry barrier to the distribution sector and results in reduced competition by the firms in that sector. Finally, there are information problems. Consumers have inferior information to firms about the quality of a foreign consumer good that they have not tried before. Such information asymmetry often enables firms to raise prices. In addition, information asymmetry between importers frequently delays the import of cheaper substitutes. In order to alleviate the problems indentified above, we suggest the following policy changes. The government should strengthen the anti - trust law and its enforcement to regulate restrictive import contracts, import of competing goods by major domestic producers, and RPM by wholesalers and retailers that is aimed at price fixing. In addition, the government should loosen its tight real estate policy to encourage investment in the distribution sector. Finally, we suggest that the import price revelation policy that has been in use for some items since 1990 be expanded to most imported consumer goods that are introduced for the first time to give consumer better information and be used only for the period of time needed to inform sufficient number of consumers.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.296-306
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• 2014

This study was conducted to survey and analyze the quantity of various organic wastes and to vitalize the utilization of agri-food by-products as raw materials for Total mixed ration (TMR), to improve feed cost savings and the quality of animal products. On-the-spot obstacles for animal farmers, along with legal and institutional alternatives are presented. The results are as follows. First, organic wastes in Korea are managed by the Allbaro system created in the Wastes Control Act, which processes 10,488 tons of cooking oil waste, 832,493 tons of animal and plant residues, 5,740 tons of animal carcasses, 1,171,892 tons of animal residues, and 2,172,415 tons of plant residues including 12,905 tons of rice hull and bran, for a total of 4,205,931 tons. Raw materials for TMR, namely rice hulls and bran as well as plant residues, accounted for 51.7% of the total national organic waste. The top 10 municipalities process 76~100% of all organic wastes and a supply management system is needed for the waste. Second, the 10 major agri-food by-products used as raw materials for TMR are bean curd by-product, rice bran, oil-cake, brewers dried grain, Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS), barley bran, soy sauce by-product, citrus fruit by-product, mushroom by-product and other food by-product (bread, noodles, snacks, etc.). Third, the biggest difficulties in using agri-food by-products are legal obstacles. Because agri-food by-products are regulated as industrial wastes by the Waste Control Act, animal farmers that wish to use them have legal reporting obligations including the installation of recycling facilities. To enable the use of agri-food by-products as raw materials for TMR, waste management system improvements such as 'the end of waste status' and the establishment of more than 10 public distribution centers nationwide are deemed essential.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.263-269
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• 2014

Although sawdust cultivation of shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is becoming more common, it is insufficiently competitive in spring and autumn, the best time to breed shiitake. Thus, it is urgently needed to develop a technique for all year round cultivation of shiitake using mushroom growing beds. In the present study, the temperature changes according to the location of shiitake cultivation facilities were investigated. We confirmed that a refrigerator, an air conditioner, triple membranes, shiitake cultivation beds, fog nozzles which were installed in the shiitake cultivation facilities play an important role in keeping the low temperature. Bag cultivation of shiitake was tested in temperature variation from $14^{\circ}C$ to $29^{\circ}C$ with a $3^{\circ}C$ interval to know its cultivating temperature range in hot summer season. In summary, the sawdust cultivation of shiitake is possible when the temperature difference between top and bottom is maintained below $1^{\circ}C$. And the temperature of the shiitake cultivation facilities should be maintained below $23^{\circ}C$ in the induction period for fruitbody formation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 2009

In this study, seasoning sauces were prepared with Geranium thunbergii sieb. et Zucc. (1%, PGT), Crataegi fructus (1%, PCF) and their combination (0.5% PGT + 0.5% PCF, bPMGC) and then the quality characteristics of the sauces and seasoned pork were investigated. The lightness, redness and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of the sauces were increased by the addition of Crataegi fructus. Sensory qualities such as taste, color and overall acceptability were scored higher in the sauce prepared with Crataegi fructus than the control. The viable cell counts of pork seasoned with the various sauces were 5.04 CFU/g (control), 4.59 CFU/g (PGT), 3.88 CFU/g (PCF) and 4.38 CFU/g (PMGC) after storage for 15 days at $4^{\circ}C$, respectively. The coliform count of the control pork was below 1.0 CFU/g after storage for 25 days and coliform were not detected in PGT, PCF and PMGC after storage for 10 days at $4^{\circ}C$. The thiobarbitunc acid reaotive substance values of PGT, PCF and PMGC were significantly lower than that of control, but volatile basic nitrogen contents were not significantly different between the treated and untreated pork samples during storage. Cooking loss increased in all treatments during storage for 25 days and their water holding capacity increased during storage for 10 days and decreased thereafter. The lightness, redness and yellowness values of PCF were higher than those of the control. The sensory qualities of PCF, including taste, color and overall acceptability, were significantly improved compared to the control. Finally, the pork seasoned with the sauce containing 1% Crataegi fructus extract had significantly improved shelflife, water holding capacity, inhibition of rancidity, color and sensory quality.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.173-177
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• 2022

Mushroom production in Korea is concentrated on five major mushroom types. To create a new source of income for farmers, it is necessary to establish new mushroom production and marketing systems. This study was conducted to evaluate the marketability of and establish a marketing strategy for Pleurotus nebrodensis variety 'Uram'. The evaluation of distributors showed that it was necessary to cultivate mushrooms of uniform shape and size, to compensate for their low storability, and to sell them in small packages. The consumer evaluation showed that the texture of P. nebrodensis had the highest level of satisfaction for quality, but the levels of satisfaction for size and shape were low. In the consumer evaluation, as in the distributor evaluation, improvements in cultivation were found to be necessary, as the storage time is short due to a high moisture content. An evaluation of the market gave the following results regarding the marketing strategy. It was found to be necessary to consider the production of mushrooms of a uniform shape and size and sell them in small packages in the range of 150 to 300 g. The price of the mushrooms should be set using a high-end strategy for high-end sales. The mushrooms should be introduced to local food and eco-friendly stores in the early stages of production. Subsequently, if farmhouse production increases, shipments should be made to wholesale markets through a regular contract. Finally, considering that P. nebrodensis is an unfamiliar mushroom to consumers, it is necessary to promote it by increasing the accessibility of consumers through tasting events and experience groups.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.103-119
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• 2023

Since the Korean government has decided to apply the policy of BIM (Building Information Modeling) to the entire construction industry, it has experienced a positive trend in adoption and utilization. BIM can reduce workloads by building model objects into libraries that conform to standards and enable consistent quality, data integrity, and compatibility. In the domestic architecture, civil engineering, and the overseas landscape architecture sectors, many BIM library standardization studies have been conducted, and guidelines have been established based on them. Currently, basic research and attempts to introduce BIM are being made in Korean landscape architecture field, but the diffusion has been delayed due to difficulties in application. This can be addressed by enhancing the efficiency of BIM work using standardized libraries. Therefore, this study aims to provide a starting point for discussions and present a classification system for objects and attribute information that can be referred to when creating landscape libraries in practice. The standardization of landscape BIM library was explored from two directions: object classification and attribute information items. First, the Korean construction information classification system, product inventory classification system, landscape design and construction standards, and BIM object classification of the NLA (Norwegian Association of Landscape Architects) were referred to classify landscape objects. As a result, the objects were divided into 12 subcategories, including 'trees', 'shrubs', 'ground cover and others', 'outdoor installation', 'outdoor lighting facility', 'stairs and ramp', 'outdoor wall', 'outdoor structure', 'pavement', 'curb', 'irrigation', and 'drainage' under five major categories: 'landscape plant', 'landscape facility', 'landscape structure', 'landscape pavement', and 'irrigation and drainage'. Next, the attribute information for the objects was extracted and structured. To do this, the common attribute information items of the KBIMS (Korean BIM Standard) were included, and the object attribute information items that vary according to the type of objects were included by referring to the PDT (Product Data Template) of the LI (UK Landscape Institute). As a result, the common attributes included information on 'identification', 'distribution', 'classification', and 'manufacture and supply' information, while the object attributes included information on 'naming', 'specifications', 'installation or construction', 'performance', 'sustainability', and 'operations and maintenance'. The significance of this study lies in establishing the foundation for the introduction of landscape BIM through the standardization of library objects, which will enhance the efficiency of modeling tasks and improve the data consistency of BIM models across various disciplines in the construction industry.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2006

Regardless of the recent observed warmer winters in Korea, more freeze injuries and associated economic losses are reported in fruit industry than ever before. Existing freeze-frost forecasting systems employ only daily minimum temperature for judging the potential damage on dormant flowering buds but cannot accommodate potential biological responses such as short-term acclimation of plants to severe weather episodes as well as annual variation in climate. We introduce 'dormancy depth', in addition to daily minimum temperature, as a complementary criterion for judging the potential damage of freezing temperatures on dormant flowering buds of grape vines. Dormancy depth can be estimated by a phonology model driven by daily maximum and minimum temperature and is expected to make a reasonable proxy for physiological tolerance of buds to low temperature. Dormancy depth at a selected site was estimated for a climatological normal year by this model, and we found a close similarity in time course change pattern between the estimated dormancy depth and the known cold tolerance of fruit trees. Inter-annual and spatial variation in dormancy depth were identified by this method, showing the feasibility of using dormancy depth as a proxy indicator for tolerance to low temperature during the winter season. The model was applied to 10 vineyards which were recently damaged by a cold spell, and a temperature-dormancy depth-freeze injury relationship was formulated into an exponential-saturation model which can be used for judging freeze risk under a given set of temperature and dormancy depth. Based on this model and the expected lowest temperature with a 10-year recurrence interval, a freeze risk probability map was produced for Hwaseong County, Korea. The results seemed to explain why the vineyards in the warmer part of Hwaseong County have been hit by more freeBe damage than those in the cooler part of the county. A dormancy depth-minimum temperature dual engine freeze warning system was designed for vineyards in major production counties in Korea by combining the site-specific dormancy depth and minimum temperature forecasts with the freeze risk model. In this system, daily accumulation of thermal time since last fall leads to the dormancy state (depth) for today. The regional minimum temperature forecast for tomorrow by the Korea Meteorological Administration is converted to the site specific forecast at a 30m resolution. These data are input to the freeze risk model and the percent damage probability is calculated for each grid cell and mapped for the entire county. Similar approaches may be used to develop freeze warning systems for other deciduous fruit trees.