• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.30-43
• /
• 2003

The geography, circulation pattern, and ecology show that the semi-closed seas of Northwest Pacific be managed as one complete system. Ongoing multilateral cooperative efforts relevant to marine environmental protection in the Northwest Pacific area, include the Working Group for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) established under the auspices of WNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commissions, the UNDP/GEF Programme on Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in East Asian Seas (PEMSEA), the North Pacific Marine Science Organization(PICES), and the United Nations Environment Programme(WNEP)'s Northwest Pacific Action Plan(NOWPAP). The present report firstly describes the current situations on the existing regional cooperative regimes for marine environmental conservation in the Northwest Pacific region, with a special respect to the Northwest Pacific Action Plan(NOWPAP) which was adopted in 1994 by Japan, People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation. Then, problems of the existing regimes are also discussed, together with the suggestion of the possible solutions, focusing on NOWPAP. Suggestions include: 1) the Northeast Asian countries should understand the importance of legally-binding regional convention, and should build up any legally-binding instrument which can function as a big umbrella for real regional cooperation without prejudice to the rights of the States, 2) At present stage, it will be possible to make a regional convention flexible without prejudice to the sovereign right of the States or territorial issues; 3) taking into account that the region often faces many generic political problems that often inhibit the effective collective actions on environmental issues, the leadership from UNEP or other international organizations is required; 4) strong institutional and financial framework should be made, and 5) multilateral efforts to respond to the new marine environmental threats should be taken at the regional level in order to protect the coastal and marine environments in the Northwest Pacific.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.573-580
• /
• 2008

This study aims to measure and to analyze the characteristics of thermal environment of the various permeable pavement materials such as a break stone pavement (Green block cubic), soil protection pavement (Soil tector), soil cement pavement and ceramic brick pavement under the summer outdoor environment. The thermal environment characteristics measured in the study includes the changes of surface temperature during the day, and long and short wave radiation of each pavement surface. The experimental condition is based on the data on the hottest temperature (August 9, 2006, $37.1^{\circ}C$) of the year. The albedo was the highest on the break stone pavement(0.8) from 12:00 to 14:00. The albedo of the ceramic brick pavement, a soil tector pavement and soil cement pavement were 0.35, 0.29 and 0.27 from 12:00 to 14:00, respectively. The peak surface temperature and long wave radiation was the highest on the soil protection pavements($56.6^{\circ}C$/627 W/$m^2$). The peak surface temperatures and long wave radiation on the ceramic brick pavement, a stone brick pavement and soil cement pavement were $51.7^{\circ}C$/627 W/$m^2$, $48.8^{\circ}C$/607 W/$m^2$ and $45.9^{\circ}C$/582 W/$m^2$, respectively. The heat environment was better on the break stone pavement than on the other pavements. This is mainly due to the high albedo of the break stone pavement(0.8) while the albedo value of a ceramic brick pavement, a soil tactor pavement and soil cement pavement were 0.35. 0.29 and 0.27. Large heat capacity($2,629kJ/m^3{\cdot}K$) of the stone brick pavements also contributes to this difference. The heat environment was better on the soil cement pavement than the soil tector pavement. This is mainly due to the evaporation of the soil cement pavement while the active evaporation of the soil tactor pavement was not continued after two days from the rainfall event. To improve the thermal environments in the urban area, it is recommended to raise the albedo of the pavements by brightening the surface color of the pavement materials. Further studies on the pavement materials and the construction methods which can enhance the continuous evapotranspiration from the pavements surface are needed.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.23 no.8
• /
• pp.1447-1453
• /
• 2014

The differentiation of sex is important for species preservation. However, Fairy Pitta is sexually monomorphic and sex of an individual is indistinguishable with its external characteristics. We determined the sex of Fairy Pitta through DNA analysis and investigated the causes and time of injury and mortality and the size based on sex. We collected 21 samples at Jeju Island, Korean Peninsula from 2004 to 2013 and extracted DNA from them and amplified chromo helicase DNA-binding gene from Z and W chromosomes through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). We confirmed their sex with the banding pattern through Agarose gel electrophoresis, i.e. male (ZZ): one banded and female (ZW) two banded. We distinguished the sex of 17 of 21 samples resulting in 9 males and 8 females. Most casualties were recorded in adult of both sexes. Causes of injury and mortality proved that female casualties occurred from window strikes, dehydration, car accident, predation by natural enemies, and male occurred from window strikes, car accident and dehydration. The time of injury and mortality in adults differ by sex. There was no difference between sexes in any of the six size parameters. As the time of injury and mortality differ by sex, the survey on the role and ecological nature by sex in breeding season must be carried out in the future. External measurements may not be reliable for sexing of Fairy Pitta and other traits such as vocal or characteristics are required to identify the sex of individuals in the field.

• Information Systems Review
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.1-29
• /
• 2016

The radical changes in the business environment have motivated firms to exert serious efforts in managing sustainable development. This study identified the effects of sustainable development on the perceived performance of firms from the viewpoint of the balanced scorecard. Independent variables include economic efforts (of efficiency and ethic of accounting and fairness), environmental efforts (management and energy control), and social efforts (consumer protection and contribution for local community). The result from the analysis of data collected in this research suggests that sustainable development efforts are the critical sources of the incorporated performance of firms. The consumer protection efforts of the local community determine the competitiveness of a firm in managing social responsibility and creating value and social activities. Efforts to reconsider efficiency determine the competitiveness of a firm, becoming the critical factors that determine sustainable performance. Energy control facilitates value creation for the environment through cooperation and harmonization with nature, resulting in sustainable business performances through the vitalization of practical establishments and operations. Sustainable management needs to meet international standards, cooperation, and harmony. These standards are based on the economic, environmental, and social efforts that enable firms to adopt sustainable management efforts that are suitable for their own systems.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.30 no.6 s.112
• /
• pp.447-455
• /
• 2006

Together with the trend of enhancement in domestic industrial development and economic progress due to import and export, the demand for construction of the roads, bridges, especially port facilities, and several coastal protection and ocean structures is increasing rapidly. MOMAF of Korean Government is driving construction cf 9 new ports and renovation cf the existing fishery ports. Among these structures most of bridge base, wharves, dolphins, quays, and jetties are being newly built cf steel or concrete pile. As the base, supporting bulkheads, and piles are underwater after construction, it is difficult to figure out the status of structures and not enough to get maintenance and strengthen the structures. Every year, moreover, these works suck the government budget due to higher incomplete maintenance expense for protection from corrosions cf structures and increased underwater construction period. For the purpose cf cutting down the expense cf government budget, it is necessary to extend the life cycle of the existing structures. Therefore, we developed a new method for maintenance of submerged structures near the waterline by allowing dry work environment with the floating caisson. The method shows easy to move around the working area and handle. It also showed not only a significant reduction of maintenance expenses and time for anti-corrosion work but also better protection This will be a milestone to reduce the maintenance and construction expenses for the shore and water structures.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2020

Background: Recently, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) lowered the dose limit for the eye lens from 150 mSv to 20 mSv, highlighting the importance of accurate lens dose estimation. The ICRP reference computational phantoms used for lens dose calculation are mostly based on the data of Caucasian population, and thus might be inappropriate for Korean population. Materials and Methods: In the present study, a detailed Korean eye model was constructed by determining nine ocular dimensions using the data of Korean subjects. The developed eye model was then incorporated into the adult male and female mesh-type reference Korean phantoms (MRKPs), which were then used to calculate lens doses for photons and electrons in idealized irradiation geometries. The calculated lens doses were finally compared with those calculated with the ICRP mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCPs) to observe the effect of ethnic difference on lens dose. Results and Discussion: The lens doses calculated with the MRKPs and the MRCPs were not much different for photons for the entire energy range considered in the present study. For electrons, the differences were generally small, but exceptionally large differences were found at a specific energy range (0.5-1 MeV), the maximum differences being about 10 times at 0.6 MeV in the anteroposterior geometry; the differences are mainly due to the difference in the depth of the lens between the MRCPs and the MRKPs. Conclusion: The MRCPs are generally considered acceptable for lens dose calculations for Korean population, except for the electrons at the energy range of 0.5-1 MeV for which it is suggested to use the MRKPs incorporating the Korean eye model developed in the present study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
• /
• 2006.06b
• /
• pp.163-170
• /
• 2006

Together with the trend of enhancement in domestic industrial development and economic progress due to import and export, the demand for construction of the roads, bridges, especially port facilities, and several coastal protection and ocean structures is increasing rapidly. MOMAF of Korean Government is driving construction of 9 new ports and renovation of the existing fishery ports. Among these structures most of bridge base, wharves, dolphins, quays, and jetties are being newly built of steel or concrete pile. As the base, supporting bulkheads, and piles are underwater after construction, it is difficult to figure out the status of structures and not enough to get maintenance and strengthen the structures. Every year, moreover, these works suck the government budget due to higher incomplete maintenance expense for protection from corrosions of structures and increased underwater construction period. For the purpose of cutting down the expense of government budget, it is necessary to extend the life cycle of the existing structures. Therefore, we developed a new method for maintenance of submerged structures near the waterline by allowing dry work environment with the floating caisson. The method shows easy to move around the working area and handle. It also showed not only a significant reduction maintenance expenses and time for anti-corrosion work but also better protection. This will be a milestone to reduce the maintenance and construction expenses for the shore and water structures.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.158-166
• /
• 2022

Background: The effects of radiation on the health of radiation workers who are constantly susceptible to occupational exposure must be assessed based on an accurate and reliable reconstruction of organ-absorbed doses that can be calculated using personal dosimeter readings measured as H_p(10) and dose conversion coefficients. However, the data used in the dose reconstruction contain significant biases arising from the lack of reality and could result in an inaccurate measure of organ-absorbed doses. Therefore, this study quantified the biases involved in organ dose reconstruction and calculated the bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose coefficients for the use in epidemiological studies of Korean radiation workers. Materials and Methods: Two major biases were considered: (a) the bias in H_p(10) arising from the difference between the dosimeter calibration geometry and the actual exposure geometry, and (b) the bias in air kerma-to-H_p(10) conversion coefficients resulting from geometric differences between the human body and slab phantom. The biases were quantified by implementing personal dosimeters on the slab and human phantoms coupled with a Monte Carlo method and considered to calculate the bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose conversion coefficients. Results and Discussion: The bias in H_p(10) was significant for large incident angles and low energies (e.g., 0.32 for right lateral at 218 keV), whereas the bias in dose coefficients was significant for the posteroanterior (PA) geometry only (e.g., 0.79 at 218 keV). The bias-corrected H_p(10)-to-organ-absorbed dose conversion coefficients derived in this study were up to 3.09- fold greater than those from the International Commission on Radiological Protection publications without considering the biases. Conclusion: The obtained results will aid future studies in assessing the health effects of occupational exposure of Korean radiation workers. The bias-corrected dose coefficients of this study can be used to calculate organ doses for Korean radiation workers based on personal dose records.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.7 no.5
• /
• pp.12-25
• /
• 2004

Integration system of conservation ecology, ecosystem management and land planing in landscape scale is major principle strategy for national management system of environmental resource and biodiversity. Current conservation strategy is concerned with not only population and habitat level but also ecosystem and landscape level. In especially, ecological networking to link core areas or major habitat patches is most eminent and emerging issue in European Union (EU) and North America. Moreover, the promotion of national ecological network system in EU is focused on national cooperation to construct ecological corridor for key habitat that distributed in many countries. Integrating landscape ecology into conservation ecology and restoration have important role to stimulate the network system in regional and national level. In this review paper, comprehensive and necessary considerations arisen from the view of landscape ecology were discussed for the present situations of wildlife conservation and management in Korea compared with other countries. Especially, the conservation strategy and policy of biodiversity were addressed in broad sense including habitat protection, legal approaches, and ecological network programs. Finally, a national ecological network system was suggested for environmental policy in Korea in global consideration after the Korean Unification.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.187-210
• /
• 2009

Space law(or outer space law) and the law of the sea are branches of international law dealing with activities in geographical ares which do not or do only in part come under national sovereignty. Legal rules pertaining to the outer space and sea began to develop once activities emerged in those areas: amongst others, activities dealing with transportation, research, exploration, defense and exploitation. Naturally the law of the sea developed first, followed, early in the twentieth century, by air law, and later in the century by space law. Obviously the law of the sea, of the air and of outer space influence each other. Ideas have been borrowed from one field and applied to another. This article examines some analogies and differences between the outer space law and the law of the sea, especially from the perspective of the legal status, the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources and environment. As far as the comparisons of the legal status between the outer space and high seas are concerned the two areas are res extra commercium. The latter is res extra commercium based on both the customary international law and treaty, however, the former is different respectively according to the customary law and treaty. Under international customary law, whilst outer space constitutes res extra commercium, celestial bodies are res nullius. However as among contracting States of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, both outer space and celestial bodies are declared res extra commercium. As for the comparisons of the exploration and exploitation of natural resources between the Moon including other celestial bodies in 1979 Moon Agreement and the deep sea bed in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the both areas are the common heritage of mankind. The latter gives us very systematic models such as International Sea-bed Authority, however, the international regime for the former will be established as the exploitation of the natural resources of the celestial bodies other than the Earth is about to become feasible. Thus Moon Agreement could not impose a moratorium, but would merely permit orderly attempts to establish that such exploitation was in fact feasible and practicable, by allowing experimental beginnings and thereafter pilot operations. As Professor Carl Christol said until the parties of the Moon Agreement were able to put into operation the legal regime for the equitable sharing of benefits, they would remain free to disregard the Common Heritage of Mankind principle. Parties to one or both of the agreements would retain jurisdiction over national space activities. In so far as the comparisons of the protection of the environment between the outer space and sea is concerned the legal instruments for the latter are more systematically developed than the former. In the case of the former there are growing tendencies of concerning the environmental threats arising from space activities these days. There is no separate legal instrument to deal with those problems.