• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.38
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• pp.265-302
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• 2008

This paper intends to analyse some legal issues on "Zeroing" which is based on the article 2.4.2 under the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement. "Zeroing" stands for a specific methodology in calculating a general dumping margin for a product in question under which negative individual dumping margins are treated as zero (thus "zeroed") before aggregating all individual dumping margins. The article 2.4.2 of the Anti-dumping Agreement regulates three types of calculating methodology on dumping margin as first symmetrical method(average-to-average: A-A), second symmetrical method(individual-to-individual: I-I) and asymmetrical method(average-to-individual: A-I). However, this article does not have any provisions about the "Zeroing" practice. In their anti-dumping practices, the EC and the United-States calculated dumping margin based on the "Zeroing", but this methodology has been disputed in the Dispute Settlement Body(DSB) of the WTO. This paper analysed their legal problems with some WTO cases in particular concerning EC-Bed Linen, U.S.-Softwood Lumber Zeroing, U.S.-Zeroing(EC) and U.S.-Sunset Review(Japan) cases. On the basis of theses analysis, we can therefore ask some questions as follows; To begin with, although the article 2.4.2 of the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement does not clearly refer to the "Zeroing", how do some developing countries, as the U.S.A and the E.U. calculate dumping margin as the "Zeroing"? Secondly, what is the relationship between the symmetrical method and asymmetrical method to the dumping margin? And if we adopt the zeroing method, what is the different rate to anti-dumping margin? Thirdly, although the Panel decided that the zeroing methodology of dumping margin used by th U.S.A in administrative review between the U.S.A and the E.U, why does the Appellate Body made the decision that the american methodology is incompatible with the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement? Lastly, what will be affected the upper decision taken by the Appellate Body to the DDA negotiation of anti-dumping matters? Even though the WTO Appellate made a decision that the zeroing method is incompatible with the principles of the WTO law, this methodology contains a lot of problems. Some members of the WTO as the U.S.A and the E.U did not officially declare this methodology to abandon, and the debate concerned is arguing. Therefore this paper tried to present the adequate solution in order to promote the zeroing methodology in the international anti-dumping system and practices.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.119-134
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• 2019

This study focuses on a recent WTO SPS dispute related to Korea Import Bans and Testing and Certification Requirements for Radionuclides (DS495) in order to learn from the case and take proactive measures to prevent potential import restrictions by Japan on Korean seafood. Korean-Radionuclides (Japan) emphasizes the importance of sufficient scientific evidence, especially scientific information from relevant international organizations, in an effort to take preventive measures towards Japan's restrictions on Korean seafood imports. Japan claims that a novel parasite, Kudoa septempuctata, in Korean flatfish causes food poisoning. As food poisoning is a serious concern, there is a low possibility that Japan's enhanced monitoring measures would be more trade restrictive than required as prescribed in Article 5.6 of the WTO SPS Agreement. In addition, Korea is the biggest exporter of olive flounder to Japan. Hence, the possibility that similar conditions could be established is low in relation to non-discriminatory principles under the WTO SPS Agreement. Accordingly, we should collect relevant scientific evidence, improve domestic sanitary management of fishery products, and seek export diversification so that we prepare for potential import restrictions by Japan and minimize implications.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.231-257
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• 2017

The particular market situation provision of the WTO Antidumping Agreement is increasingly invoked against what may be described as "input-dumping," but this potentially violates the current Antidumping Agreement rules. This paper examines the practice and recent changes regarding the PMS provision in the US by critically examining relevant antidumping investigations in the US in light of GATT/WTO jurisprudence. Such US practice has not yet been extensively subjected to scholarly examination. The paper finds that the recent legal change in the US widens the scope and applicability of the PMS provision to cover input subsidies, allowing the use of not only surrogate prices but also surrogate costs. Further, the required standard of evidence to find PMS seems to have been diminished in the recent application. A widespread use of the PMS provision in such a deviant way calls for a fundamental review of the current trade remedy rules of the WTO.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.45-57
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• 2010

Background : If different cost efficiency indexes were informed to the same clinic depending on the inclusion or exclusion of pharmacy cost, it may impair the reliability of provider-profiling system. This study aimed to investigate whether the omission of pharmacy cost affects cost-efficiency rankings in medical clinics. Methods : Data for ambulatory care cost at 23,112 medical clinics were collected from the claims database, which was constructed after review by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) of Korea in April 2007. We calculated two types of cost efficiency indexes by inclusion or exclusion of pharmacy cost for a medical clinic. The agreement between the decile rankings of the two indexes was also assessed using the weighted kappa statistic of Landis and Koch. Results : When the cost efficiency index for total cost including pharmacy cost was compared with the index for total cost excluding it, the agreement between the two indexes was only 55%. The agreements between the two indexes were relatively low within specialties which have larger pharmacy volume of total cost and lower correlation between total cost with or without pharmacy cost included than the average level of all the specialties. Conclusion : These results suggest that the omission of pharmacy cost may result in contradictory outcomes that may be confusing to a medical institution and may impair the reliability of provider-profiling systems. It is very important to standardize profiling criteria for the reliability of provider profiling system.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.220-227
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• 2019

Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of wash-in color map in detecting early enhancement of prostate focal lesion compared to whole dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DEC MRI) images. Materials and Methods: This study engaged 50 prostate cancer patients who underwent multiparametric MRI and radical prostatectomy as subjects. An expert [R1] and a trainee [R2] independently evaluated early enhancement and recorded the time needed to review 1) a wash-in color map and 2) whole DCE MRI images. Results: The review of whole DCE images by R1 showed fair agreement with color map by R1, whole images by R2, and color map by R2 (weighted kappa values = 0.59, 0.44, and 0.58, respectively). Both readers took a significantly shorter time to review the color maps as compared to whole images (P < 0.001). Conclusion: A trainee could achieve better agreement with an expert when using wash-in color maps than when using whole DCE MRI images. Also, color maps took a significantly shorter evaluation time than whole images.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.89-120
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• 2006

If the existence and effect of the arbitration agreement becomes an issue in international business transactions, it is the key point how we shall determine the applicable law by national rules for the conflict of laws, or by other methods. The argument in determination of the applicable law to the existence and effect of the arbitration agreement is related to regal nature of the arbitration agreement. As there are foreign factors in international arbitration, therefore we must consider such an aspect. Besides, we have to examine whether the general theory of contract is universally applicable to the arbitration agreement. Currently, it is the general trend that the party's autonomy principle is applicable in determining the applicable law for the arbitration agreement. However, it is a difficult problem to recognize the applicable law chosen by the parties, whether it is based on any regal standard(for example New York Convention or the private international law or the essential quality of the arbitration agreement). In the light of the actual transactions, when the parties don't make a choice of the applicable law expressly, it will finally come down to presuming the party's implied intent. Nevertheless, finding the implied intent is a difficult problem. Some argue that we shall presume the choice of applicable law by an objective standard such as a place of arbitration, to prevent too much expansion of the scope of the recognition. But we need to review that this interpretation harmonizes with the principle of party autonomy. Especially, if we desire to detect the vital point where it is most closely linked to the arbitration agreement, we have to inquire how we will decide such a relation by means of any standard. However, as the existing Arbitration Act doesn't offer the solution to these issues, therefore we have to settle these problems through the development of adjudications and theories.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.39-53
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• 2022

This study conducted a conformity review of Korean shipping industry policy and suggested that the Korean five-year shipping reconstruction policy has not violated the WTO (World Trade Organization) trade law agreement yet. In order to investigate the latest Korean shipping policy, domestic and foreign reports were reviewed, and after that, the WTO's published data and domestic and foreign journals were analyzed. Through this process, this study tried to review the conformity of trade laws by major Korean shipping policies. The shipping industry is a representative service industry, and subsidies for this are not subject to WTO-level regulation in principle. The purpose of Korean shipping industry policy is to support the shipping industry, a type of service industry, and even if the ship-building and manufacturing industries (shipper) indirectly spread benefits in the process, this is unintentional or private-level support. That is, this study concluded that It is understood that Korea's five-year shipping reconstruction policy does not violate the WTO trade law agreement.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.363-394
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• 2012

WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) was designed to liberalize and expand trade in government procurement. Revised GPA was implemented in 1996 and the latest revision was completed (but not yet implemented) in 2012, but as a plurilateral agreement. Since the end of the UR, there has been attempts by various WTO members to liberalize trade in the government procurement market - through an expansion of Parties who are signatories to GPA, and through a negotiated agreement on transparency in government procurement. The attempt to expand the Parties who are signatories to the GPA - attempt to increase the width of the coverage of the agreement - has been somewhat successful, but I argue that the goal should be to further liberate the government procurement markets of the current Party members - to reduce thresholds and other barriers which limit market access even to other GPA members, in other words, to increase the depth of coverage. Taking cue from Korea's FTA, I propose a two-level liberalization of the government procurement market under the GPA: A "light" level which would be the same as the current level of liberalization; and a "deep" level with lower thresholds and less exemptions. I argue that, as seen in Korea, with FTAs, many GPA Parties already have multiple levels of liberalization (i.e, spaghetti-bowl effect of FTAs), but by limiting the levels of liberalization to two, we can seek the best of deep liberalization but reduce the spaghetti-bowl effect.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.357-373
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• 2006

The study aims to explore the individual and group agreement of the direct payment of less-favored areas in Japan. This study was conducted by literature review, specialist interview and field visiting. The results of this study were as follows. First, direct payment policy in Japan was consisted of three components which were to maintaining multiple functions, to reorient agriculture sector, and to revitalizing the community activities. Second, the purposes of direct payments with conversion program is to reorient agriculture and revitalize the community activities which were changed from sustaining existing agriculture. Third, the conditions of group agreement is to make a agreement that a group of farmers should make a five-year agreement stipulating activities necessary to prevent the abandonment of farmland and to be more than one hector, and good agricultural practice or other activities favorable or friendly to environment should be implemented. As individual and group agreement, the land area of direct payment was 662,000 ha in less favored areas. In conclusion after direct payment in less favored areas, the abandonment of farmland was mitigated, and the agricultural production activities and community activities had become more vigorous through the discussion for planning their own land in the village.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.3-25
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• 2022

East Asia's Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) came into force in 2022 as the world's largest free trade agreement. RCEP was concluded, signed and brought into force in the face of major international uncertainty and is a significant boost to the global trading system. RCEP brings Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand into the same agreement with the ten member ASEAN group at its centre. It keeps markets open and updates trade and investment rules in East Asia, a major centre of global economic activity, at a time of rising protectionism when the WTO itself is under threat. The agreement builds on ASEAN's free trade agreements and strengthens ASEAN centrality. One of the pillars of RCEP is an economic cooperation agenda which has its antecedents in ASEAN's approach to bringing along its least developed members and builds on the experience of capacity building in APEC and technical cooperation under the ASEAN Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. There is an opportunity to create a framework that facilitates deeper economic cooperation that involves experience-sharing, extending RCEP's rules and membership at the same time as strengthening political cooperation. The paper suggests some areas that might be best suited to cooperation - that is confidence and trust building instead of or before negotiation - and discusses how non-members may be engaged and the membership expanded. Options such as multilateralising provisions and becoming a platform for policy convergence and coordinating unilateral reforms are canvassed.