• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.345-366
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• 2018

Article 37 of the International Convention on Civil Aviation requires that rules should be adopted to keep in compliance with international standards and recommended practices established by ICAO. As SARPs are revised annually, each ICAO Member State needs to reflect the new content in its national aviation Acts in a timely manner. In recent years, data-driven international standards have been developed because of the important roles of aviation safety data and information-based legislation in accident prevention based on human factors. The Safety Management System and crew Fatigue Risk Management Systems were reviewed as examples of the result of data-driven rulemaking. The safety management system was adopted in 2013 with the introduction of Annex 19 and Chapter 5 of the relevant manual describes safety data collection and analysis systems. Through analysis of safety data and information, decision makers can make informed data-driven decisions. The Republic of Korea introduced Safety Management System in accordance with Article 58 of the Aviation Safety Act for all airlines, maintenance companies, and airport corporations. To support the SMS, both mandatory reporting and voluntary safety reporting systems need to be in place. Up until now, the standard of administrative penal dispensation for violations of the safety management system has been very weak. Various regulations have been developed and implemented in the United States and Europe for the proper legislation of the safety management system. In the wake of the crash of the Colgan aircraft, the US Aviation Safety Committee recommended the US Federal Aviation Administration to establish a system that can identify and manage pilot fatigue hazards. In 2010, a notice of proposed rulemaking was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration and in 2011, the final rule was passed. The legislation was applied to help differentiate risk based on flight according to factors such as the pilot's duty starting time, the availability of the auxiliary crew, and the class of the rest facility. Numerous amounts data and information were analyzed during the rulemaking process, and reflected in the resultant regulations. A cost-benefit analysis, based on the data of the previous 10 year period, was conducted before the final legislation was reached and it was concluded that the cost benefits are positive. The Republic of Korea also currently has a clause on aviation safety legislation related to crew fatigue risk, where an airline can choose either to conform to the traditional flight time limitation standard or fatigue risk management system. In the United States, specifically for the purpose of data-driven rulemaking, the Airline Rulemaking Committee was formed, and operates in this capacity. Considering the advantageous results of the ARC in the US, and the D4S in Europe, this is a system that should definitely be introduced in Korea as well. A cost-benefit analysis is necessary, and can serve to strengthen the resulting legislation. In order to improve the effectiveness of data-based legislation, it is necessary to have reinforcement of experts and through them prepare a more detailed checklist of relevant variables.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.59-70
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to present raw data to systematically and rationally manage the protected trees located in Changwon-si, Korea. This study investigated about the present condition and the information of location, individual, management, health and soil. The results are as follows. The protected trees were located in 26 spots, and species of trees were 9 taxa; Zelkova serrata, Celtis sinensis, Aphananthe aspera, Ginkgo biloba, Carpinus tschonoskii, Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis, Quercus variabilis, Pinus densiflora and Salix glandulosa. In protected tree types, shade trees were the most, and the majority of theirs were 200 years or more in age. The range of altitude was 14~173m, and the number of trees located in flat fields was the most. For location types, village and field and mountain were presented in the order and, in land use, land for building was the most. The range of height was 8.0~30.0m, 0.6~5.1m in crown height, 240~700cm in diameter of breast and 210~800cm in diameter of root. In case of crown area, Zelkova serrata of No.5 was most large. The status boards were mostly installed except No.23 and No.26. The sites with fence were 9 spots, and the site with stonework were 14 spots. The sites with the support beam were 5 spots, and most sites were not covered up with soil. The materials of bottom were soil, gravel and vegetation in the order. The range of withering branch rate was 0~40%, and peeled bark rate was 0~60%. The sites made holes were 23 spots, and the hole size of Aphananthe aspera of No.12 was the largest. The sites disturbed by human trampling were 7 spots, the sites by disease and insects of 2 spots, the sites by injury of 23 spots and the sites by exposed roots of 13 spots. In the results of soil analysis, there showed that acidity was pH 4.5~8.0, organic matter content of 3.5~69.8g/kg, electrical conductivity(EC) of 0.11~2.87dS/m, available $P_2O_5$ of 3.0~490.6mg/kg, exchangeable K of 0.10~1.05cmol+/kg, exchangeable Ca of 1.41~16.45cmol+/kg, exchangeable Mg of 0.37~1.96cmol+/kg, exchangeable Na of 0.25~2.41cmol+/kg and cation exchange capacity(C.E.C) of 8.35~26.55cmol+/kg.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.163-207
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• 2020

Korea has been positioned as the leading country in the industry of clinical trials as the clinical trail of Korea has developed for the recent 10 years. Clinical trial has plays a significant role in the development of medicine and the increase of curability. However, it has inevitable risk as the purpose of the clinical trial is to prove the safety and effectiveness of new drugs. Therefore, the clinical trial should be controlled properly to protect the health of the subjects of clinical trial and to ensure that they exercise a right of self-determination. In this context, the fiduciary duties of doctors who conduct clinical trials is especially important. The Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the relevant regulations define several duties of doctors who conduct clinical trials. In particular, the duty to protection of subjects and the duty to provide information constitute the main fiduciary duties to the subjects. Those are essentially similar to the fiduciary duties of doctors in usual treatment from the perspective of the values promoted by the law and the content of the law. Nonetheless, clinical trials put more emphasis on the duties to provide explanation than in usual treatment. Further research and study are required to establish the concrete standard for the duty of care. However, if the blind pursuit of higher standards for the duty of care or to pass the burden of proof to doctors may result in disrupting the development of clinical trials, limiting the accessibility of patients to new treatment and even violating the principle of sharing damage equally and properly. In addition to these duties, the laws of clinical trials define several duties of doctors. Any decision on whether the violation of the law constitutes the violation of the fiduciary duty and justifies the demand for compensation of damages should be based on whether relevant law aims to protect the safety and benefit of subjects, even if in an incidental way, the degree to which such violation breaches the values promoted by the law and the concrete of violation of benefit of law, the detailed acts of such violation. The legal interests of the subjects can be protected effectively by guaranteeing compliance with those duties and establishing judicial and administrative controls to ensure that the benefit of subjects are protected properly in individual cases.

• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.21-35
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• 2022

With the support of local and central governments, various incentive policies for "green" cars have been established, and the number of electric vehicle users has been rapidly increasing in recent years. As a result, much attention is being given to establishing a user-centered charging infrastructure. A standard for the number of electric vehicle chargers to be supplied is being prepared based on building characteristics, but there is quite limited research on the appropriate ratio of slow and fast chargers based on the characteristics of each place. Therefore, this study derived an appropriate penetration ratio based on data about the distribution ratio of common slow chargers. These data were collected using a survey of actual electric vehicle users. Next, an analysis was done on how to categorize the needs of charging environments and to determine what criteria or characteristics to use for categorization. Based on the results of the survey analysis, three types of places were derived. Type-1 places require 10% of chargers to be slow chargers, Type-2 places require 40-60% of chargers to be slow chargers (i.e., around equal distribution of slow and fast chargers), and Type-3 places require more than 80% of chargers to be slow chargers. The required levels of slow chargers were classified by place type and by individual using latent class cluster analysis, which made it possible to categorize them into five clusters related to socioeconomic variables, vehicle characteristics, traffic, and charging behaviors. It was found that there was a high correlation between charging behavior, weekend travel behavior, gender, and income. The results and insights from this study could be used to establish charging infrastructure policies in the future and to prepare standards for supplying charging infrastructure according to changes in the electric vehicle market.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.629-640
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• 2023

Purpose: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver which is not a result of excessive alcohol consumption. Its global prevalence was estimated to be approximately 32% in the years 1994-2019. More than half of obese individuals and patients with diabetes are reported to have NAFLD as a comorbidity. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) berry on insulin resistance and steatosis in rats fed a high-fructose diet. Methods: Six-week-old Wistar rats were divided into four groups. The control group received a diet consisting of 65% corn starch, while the fructose and experimental groups were fed a diet comprising 65% fructose (FRU) and an FRU diet containing 0.5% (low-dose autumn olive berry group; LAO) or 1.0% (high-dose autumn olive berry group; HAO) ethanol extract of autumn olive berry, respectively, for 10 weeks. Results: The HAO group exhibited significantly lower blood glucose levels compared to the fructose-fed group. Both the LAO and HAO groups showed a substantial reduction in serum insulin levels and insulin resistance when compared to the fructose-fed group. The consumption of LAO and HAO significantly ameliorated dyslipidemia and reduced the levels of triglycerides in the liver compared to the fructose-fed group. Additionally, the consumption of HAO resulted in lower serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities compared to the fructose group. The hepatic expression of the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) and carbohydrate-responsive element-binding protein (ChREBP) was significantly reduced in the LAO and HAO groups compared to the fructose group. Conclusion: Autumn olive berries improved steatosis by ameliorating insulin resistance and down-regulating the lipogenesis proteins in rats fed on high fructose diet.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.254-267
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: Although the shortage of donor is a common problem worldwide, a significant portion of unutilized hearts are classified as marginal donor (MD) hearts. However, research on the correlation between the MD and the prognosis of heart transplantation (HTx) is lacking. This study was conducted to investigate the clinical impact of MD in HTx. Methods: Consecutive 73 HTxs during 2014 and 2021 in a tertiary hospital were analyzed. MD was defined as follows; a donor age >55 years, left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, cold ischemic time >240 minutes, or significant cardiac structural problems. Preoperative characteristics and postoperative hemodynamic data, primary graft dysfunction (PGD), and the survival rate were analyzed. Risk stratification by Index for Mortality Prediction after Cardiac Transplantation (IMPACT) score was performed to examine the outcomes according to the recipient state. Each group was sub-divided into 2 risk groups according to the IMPACT score (low <10 vs. high ≥10). Results: A total of 32 (43.8%) patients received an organ from MDs. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was more frequent in the non-MD group (34.4% vs. 70.7, p=0.007) There was no significant difference in PGD, 30-day mortality and long-term survival between groups. In the subgroup analysis, early outcomes did not differ between low- and high-risk groups. However, the long-term survival was better in the low-risk group (p=0.01). Conclusions: The outcomes of MD group were not significantly different from non-MD group. Particularly, in low-risk recipient, the MD group showed excellent early and long-term outcomes. These results suggest the usability of selected MD hearts without increasing adverse events.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.18
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• pp.9-39
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• 2003

The rule of the Warsaw Convention of 1929 are well known and still being all over the world. The Warsaw Convention is undoubtedly the most widely accepted private international air law treaty with some 140 countries. In the international legal system for air transportation, the Warsaw Convention has played a major role for more than half century, and has been revised many times in consideration of the rapid developments of air high technology, changes of social and economic circumstances, need for the protection of passengers. Some amendments became effective, but others are still not effective. As a result, the whole international legal system for air transportation is at past so complicated and tangled. However, the 'Warsaw system' consists of the Warsaw Convention of 1929 the Guadalajara Convention of 1961, a supplementary convention, and the following six protocols: (1) the Hague Protocol of 1955, (2) the Guatemala Protocol of 1971, (3) the Montreal Additional Protocols, No.1, (4) the Montreal Additional Protocol No.2, (5) the Montreal Additional Protocol No.3, and (6) the Montreal Additional Protocol No.4. of 1975. As a fundamental principle of the air carrier's liability in the international convention and protocols, for instance in the Warsaw Convention and the Hague Protocol, the principle of limited liability and a presumed fault system has been adopted. Subsequently, the Montreal Inter-carrier Agreement of 1966, the Guatemala City Protocol, the Montreal Additional Protocol No.3, and the Montreal Additional Protocol No. 4 of 1975 maintained the limited liability, but substituted the presumed liability system by an absolute liability, that is, strict liability system. The Warsaw System, which sets relatively low compensation limits for victims of aircraft accidents and regulates the limited liability for death and injury of air passengers, had become increasingly outdated. Japanese Airlines and Inter-carrier Agreement of International Air Transport Association in 1995 has been adopted the unlimited liability of air carrier in international flight. The IATA Inter-Carrier Agreement, in which airlines in international air transportation agree to waive the limit of damages, was long and hard in coming, but it was remarkable achievement given the political and economic realities of the world. IATA deserves enormous credit for bringing it about. The Warsaw System is controversial and questionable. In order to find rational solution to disputes between nations which adopted differing liability systems in international air transportation, we need to reform the liability of air carriers the 'Warsaw system' and fundamentally, to unify the liability system among the nations. The International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) will therefore reinforce its efforts to further promote a legal environment that adequately reflects the public interest and the needs of the parties involved. The ICAO Study Group met in April, 1998, together with the Drafting Committee. The time between the "Special Group on the Modernization and Consolidation of the 'Warsaw system'(SGMW)" and the Diplomatic Conference must be actively utilized to arrange for profound studies of the outstanding issues and for wide international consultations with a view to narrowing the scope of differences and preparing for a global international consensus. From 11 to 28 May 1999 the ICAO Headquarters at Montreal hosted a Diplomatic Conference convened to consider, with a view to adoption, a draft Convention intended to modernize and to integrate replace the instruments of the Warsaw system. The Council of ICAO convened this Conference under the Procedure for the Adoption of International Conventions. Some 525 participants from 121 Contracting States of ICAO attended, one non-contracting State, 11 observer delegations from international organizations, a total of 544 registered participants took part in the historic three-week conference which began on 10 May. The Conference was a success since it adopted a new Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. The 1999 Montreal Convention, created and signed by representatives of 52 countries at an international conference convened by ICAO at Montreal on May 28, 1999, came into effect on November 4, 2003. Representatives of 30 countries have now formally ratified the Convention under their respective national procedures and ratification of the United States, which was the 30th country to ratify, took place on September 5, 2003. Under Article 53.6 of the Montreal Convention, it enters into force on the 60th day following the deposit of the 30th instrument of ratification or acceptation. The United States' ratification was deposited with ICAO on September 5, 2003. The ICAO have succeeded in modernizing and consolidating a 70-year old system of international instruments of private international law into one legal instrument that will provide, for years to come, an adequate level of compensation for those involved in international aircraft accidents. An international diplomatic conference on air law by ICAO of 1999 succeeded in adopting a new regime for air carrier liability, replacing the Warsaw Convention and five other related legal instruments with a single convention that provided for unlimited liability in relation to passengers. Victims of international air accidents and their families will be better protected and compensated under the new Montreal Convention, which modernizes and consolidates a seventy-five year old system of international instruments of private international law into one legal instrument. A major feature of the new legal instrument is the concept of unlimited liability. Whereas the Warsaw Convention set a limit of 125,000 Gold Francs (approximately US$ 8,300) in case of death or injury to passengers, the Montreal Convention introduces a two-tier system. The first tier includes strict liability up to l00,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDR: approximately US$ 135,000), irrespective of a carrier's fault. The second tier is based on presumption of fault of a carrier and has no limit of liability. The 1999 Montreal Convention also includes the following main elements; 1. In cases of aircraft accidents, air carriers are called upon to provide advance payments, without delay, to assist entitled persons in meeting immediate economic needs; the amount of this initial payment will be subject to national law and will be deductable from the final settlement; 2. Air carriers must submit proof of insurance, thereby ensuring the availability of financial resources in cases of automatic payments or litigation; 3. The legal action for damages resulting from the death or injury of a passenger may be filed in the country where, at the time of the accident, the passenger had his or her principal and permanent residence, subject to certain conditions. The new Montreal Convention of 1999 included the 5th jurisdiction - the place of residence of the claimant. The acceptance of the 5th jurisdiction is a diplomatic victory for the US and it can be realistically expected that claimants' lawyers will use every opportunity to file the claim in the US jurisdiction - it brings advantages in the liberal system of discovery, much wider scope of compensable non-economic damages than anywhere else in the world and the jury system prone to very generous awards. 4. The facilitation in the recovery of damages without the need for lengthy litigation, and simplification and modernization of documentation related to passengers. In developing this new Montreal Convention, we were able to reach a delicate balance between the needs and interests of all partners in international civil aviation, States, the travelling public, air carriers and the transport industry. Unlike the Warsaw Convention, the threshold of l00,000 SDR specified by the Montreal Convention, as well as remaining liability limits in relation to air passengers and delay, are subject to periodic review and may be revised once every five years. The primary aim of unification of private law as well as the new Montreal Convention is not only to remove or to minimize the conflict of laws but also to avoid conflict of jurisdictions. In order to find a rational solution to disputes between nations which have adopted differing liability systems in international air transport, we need fundamentally to reform their countries's domestic air law based on the new Montreal Convention. It is a desirable and necessary for us to ratify rapidly the new Montreal Convention by the contracting states of lCAO including the Republic of Korea. According to the Korean and Japanese ideas, airlines should not only pay compensation to passengers immediately after the accident, but also the so-called 'condolence' money to the next of kin. Condolence money is a gift to help a dead person's spirit in the hereafter : it is given on account of the grief and sorrow suffered by the next of kin, and it has risen considerably over the years. The total amount of the Korean and Japanese claims in the case of death is calculated on the basis of the loss of earned income, funeral expenses and material demage (baggage etc.), plus condolence money. The economic and social change will be occurred continuously after conclusion of the new Montreal Convention. In addition, the real value of life and human right will be enhanced substantially. The amount of compensation for damage caused by aircraft accident has increased in dollar amount as well as in volume. All air carrier's liability should extend to loss of expectation of leisure activities, as well as to damage to property, and mental and physical injuries. When victims are not satisfied with the amount of the compensation for damage caused by aircraft accident for which an airline corporation is liable under the current liability system. I also would like to propose my opinion that it is reasonable and necessary for us to interpret broadly the meaning of the bodily injury on Article 17 of the new Montreal Convention so as to be included the mental injury and condolence. Furthermore, Korea and Japan has not existed the Air Transport Act regulated the civil liability of air carrier such as Air Transport Act (Luftverkehrsgestz) in Germany. It is necessary for us to enact "the Korean Air Transport Contract Act (provisional title)" in order to regulate the civil liability of air carrier including the protection of the victims and injured persons caused by aircraft accident.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.18
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• pp.135-183
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• 2003

Aerospace force is a determining factor in a modem war. The combat field is expanding to space. Thus, the legitimacy of establishing aerospace force is no longer an debating issue, but "how should we establish aerospace force" has become an issue to the military. The standard limiting on the military use of space should be non-aggressive use as asserted by the U.S., rather than non-military use as asserted by the former Soviet Union. The former Soviet Union's argument is not even strongly supported by the current Russia government, and realistically is hard to be applied. Thus, the multi-purpose satellite used for military surveillance or a commercial satellite employed for military communication are allowed under the U.S. principle of peaceful use of space. In this regard, Air Force may be free to develop a military surveillance satellite and a communication satellite with civilian research institute. Although MTCR, entered into with the U.S., restricts the development of space-launching vehicle for the export purpose, the development of space-launching vehicle by the Korea Air Force or Korea Aerospace Research Institute is beyond the scope of application of MTCR, and Air Force may just operate a satellite in the orbit for the military purpose. The primary task for multi-purpose satellite is a remote sensing; SAR sensor with high resolution is mainly employed for military use. Therefore, a system that enables Air Force, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and Agency for Defense Development to conduct joint-research and development should be instituted. U.S. Air Force has dismantled its own space-launching vehicle step by step, and, instead, has increased using private space launching vehicle. In addition, Military communication has been operated separately from civil communication services or broadcasting services due to the special circumstances unique to the military setting. However, joint-operation of communication facility by the military and civil users is preferred because this reduces financial burden resulting from separate operation of military satellite. During the Gulf War, U.S. armed forces employed commercial satellites for its military communication. Korea's participation in space technology research is a little bit behind in time, considering its economic scale. In terms of budget, Korea is to spend 5 trillion won for 15 years for the space activities. However, Japan has 2 trillion won annul budget for the same activities. Because the development of space industry during initial fostering period does not apply to profit-making business, government supports are inevitable. All space development programs of other foreign countries are entirely supported by each government, and, only recently, private industry started participating in limited area such as a communication satellite and broadcasting satellite, Particularly, Korea's space industry is in an infant stage, which largely demands government supports. Government support should be in the form of investment or financial contribution, rather than in the form of loan or borrowing. Compared to other advanced countries in space industry, Korea needs more budget and professional research staff. Naturally, for the efficient and systemic space development and for the prevention of overlapping and distraction of power, it is necessary to enact space-related statutes, which would provide dear vision for the Korea space development. Furthermore, the fact that a variety of departments are running their own space development program requires a centralized and single space-industry development system. Prior to discussing how to coordinate or integrate space programs between Agency for Defense Development and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, it is a prerequisite to establish, namely, "Space Operations Center"in the Air Force, which would determine policy and strategy in operating space forces. For the establishment of "Space Operations Center," policy determinations by the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chief of Staff are required. Especially, space surveillance system through using a military surveillance satellite and communication satellite, which would lay foundation for independent defense, shall be established with reference to Japan's space force plan. In order to resolve issues related to MTCR, Air Force would use space-launching vehicle of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Moreover, defense budge should be appropriated for using multi-purpose satellite and communication satellite. The Ministry of National Defense needs to appropriate 2.5 trillion won budget for space operations, which amounts to Japan's surveillance satellite operating budges.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.320-328
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• 2008

Background: Numerous surgical devices for mitral repair have been used in the past with good results. In this study we describe a simple annuloplasty technique with using a new device ($Mitracon^{(R)}$). The aim of this study was to assess its efficacy and surgical results with using $Mitracon^{(R)}$. Material and Method: From May 2003 to October 2005, 46 patients (21 women and 25 men (mean age of $51.4{\pm}17.8$ years) with mitral regurgitation from various causes were treated with either the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ (the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ group) or the Capentier Edward rigid ring (the CE group). The median follow-up duration was 18.9 months. Result: The mean grade of mitral regurgitation before and immediately after surgery in the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ group and the CE group decreased from $3.2{\pm}0.8$ to $0.6{\pm}0.7$ and $3.4{\pm}0.7$ to $0.3{\pm}0.5$, respectively. There were no significant changes in the ejection fraction either between the two groups or before and immediately after surgery. No deaths were seen in either group. Early postoperative echocardiography of all 46 patients showed only trivial mitral regurgitation or none at all. Echocardiography at a median of 18.9 months also showed no progression in mitral regurgitation. The mean grade of mitral regurgitation in the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ group at this time point decreased from $3.2{\pm}0.8$ to $0.8{\pm}0.7$ (p<0.05). The CE group also showed a similar degree of decrease from $3.4{\pm}0.7$ to $0.3{\pm}0.6$ (p<0.05). The mitral valve area in the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ group at 1 year follow-up was $3.3{\pm}0.9cm^2$. The mitral valve area in the CE group was $2.7{\pm}0.6cm^2$. The mean mitral pressure gradient in the $Mitracon^{(R)}$ group at 1 year follow-up was $3.1{\pm}1.3$ mmHg. The mean pressure gradient in the CE group was $4.5{\pm}2.1$ mmHg, although any statistical significant difference for this between the groups was not reached. Conclusion: The present study showed the described technique to be safe and effective in the intermediate term. Because long term results are unavailable, a more extensive prospective randomized multicenter trial may be warranted to determine whether this procedure should be generally applied for repair of mitral valve disease.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.111-131
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• 2015

There are only a handful number of research conducted on pattern analysis of corporate distress as compared with research for bankruptcy prediction. The few that exists mainly focus on audited firms because financial data collection is easier for these firms. But in reality, corporate financial distress is a far more common and critical phenomenon for non-audited firms which are mainly comprised of small and medium sized firms. The purpose of this paper is to classify non-audited firms under distress according to their financial ratio using data mining; Self-Organizing Map (SOM). SOM is a type of artificial neural network that is trained using unsupervised learning to produce a lower dimensional discretized representation of the input space of the training samples, called a map. SOM is different from other artificial neural networks as it applies competitive learning as opposed to error-correction learning such as backpropagation with gradient descent, and in the sense that it uses a neighborhood function to preserve the topological properties of the input space. It is one of the popular and successful clustering algorithm. In this study, we classify types of financial distress firms, specially, non-audited firms. In the empirical test, we collect 10 financial ratios of 100 non-audited firms under distress in 2004 for the previous two years (2002 and 2003). Using these financial ratios and the SOM algorithm, five distinct patterns were distinguished. In pattern 1, financial distress was very serious in almost all financial ratios. 12% of the firms are included in these patterns. In pattern 2, financial distress was weak in almost financial ratios. 14% of the firms are included in pattern 2. In pattern 3, growth ratio was the worst among all patterns. It is speculated that the firms of this pattern may be under distress due to severe competition in their industries. Approximately 30% of the firms fell into this group. In pattern 4, the growth ratio was higher than any other pattern but the cash ratio and profitability ratio were not at the level of the growth ratio. It is concluded that the firms of this pattern were under distress in pursuit of expanding their business. About 25% of the firms were in this pattern. Last, pattern 5 encompassed very solvent firms. Perhaps firms of this pattern were distressed due to a bad short-term strategic decision or due to problems with the enterpriser of the firms. Approximately 18% of the firms were under this pattern. This study has the academic and empirical contribution. In the perspectives of the academic contribution, non-audited companies that tend to be easily bankrupt and have the unstructured or easily manipulated financial data are classified by the data mining technology (Self-Organizing Map) rather than big sized audited firms that have the well prepared and reliable financial data. In the perspectives of the empirical one, even though the financial data of the non-audited firms are conducted to analyze, it is useful for find out the first order symptom of financial distress, which makes us to forecast the prediction of bankruptcy of the firms and to manage the early warning and alert signal. These are the academic and empirical contribution of this study. The limitation of this research is to analyze only 100 corporates due to the difficulty of collecting the financial data of the non-audited firms, which make us to be hard to proceed to the analysis by the category or size difference. Also, non-financial qualitative data is crucial for the analysis of bankruptcy. Thus, the non-financial qualitative factor is taken into account for the next study. This study sheds some light on the non-audited small and medium sized firms' distress prediction in the future.