• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.305-320
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• 2005

Recently 64 species in Korea have been ranked as rare and endangered taxa by the Ministry of Environment using two categories, I and II. The original threat categories produced by the Ministry of Environment were developed to provide a standard for specifying animals and plants in danger of extinction and has been influential sources of information used in species conservation in Korea. However, the criteria by Ministry of Environment were applied to the whole taxa only by regional boundaries, especially in South Korea, rather than international context, and it also lacked an explicit framework that was necessary to ensure repeatability among taxa because of the absence of quantitative criteria to measure the likelihood of extinction. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed quantitative criteria for assessing the conservation status of species. The threatened species categories, the 2000 IUCN Red List, proposed by SSC (Species Survival Commission) of IUCN have become widely recognized internationally. Details of threatened Korean plants, identified by applying the IUCN threat categories and definitions, were listed and analyzed. The number of species identified as threatened was only 34 out of 64 taxa (48.4%), while the rest of taxa were rejected from the original lists. Many of the species (51.6%, 33 taxa) excluded from the original list proposed by Ministry of Environment do not qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable because these taxa were widely distributed either in Japan or in China/far eastern Russia and there is no evidence of substantial decline in these countries. An evaluation of taxa in Korea has been carried out only based on subjective views and qualitative data, rather than quantitative scientific data, such as rates of decline, distribution range size, population size, and risk of extinction. Therefore, the national lists undermine the credibility of threatened species lists and invite misuse, which have been raised by other cases, qualitative estimate of risk, political influence, uneven taxonomic or geographical coverage. The increasing emphasis on international responsibilities means that global scale is becoming more significant. The current listings by Environment of Ministry of Korea should be challenged, and the government should seek to facilitate the resolution of disagreements. Especially the list should be flexible enough to handle uncertainty and also incorporates detailed, quantitative data. It is suggested that the highest priorities for the Red List should be given to endemic species in Korea first. After setting up the list of endemic species to Korea, quantitative data on population size and structure, distributional range, rated of decline, and habitat fragmentation should be collected as one of long term projects for the Red list categories. Transparency and accountability are the most important key factors. Also, species assessors are named and data sources referenced are required for the future objective evaluations on Korean plant taxa.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.45-76
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• 2000

The purposes of this study were to investigate and understand the present status of various types of "deserts", such as sand desert, gravel desert, rock desert, earth desert, salt desert, desert, rocky desert, gobi desert, sandy desert, clay desert, etc., and the general countermeasures for the combating "desertification" "desertization", and to develop the technologies on the revegetation and restoration for the combating desertification in China. The methods of this study were mainly composed of field surveys on the several experimental sites and research institutes related to combating desertification in China, and examinations on the various technologies for the combating desertification at the Daxing Experimental Station of Beijing Forestry University. The conclusion from this study may be summarized as follows; 1. Status and tendency of desertification in China : China is one of the countries seriously threatened by desertification. Desertification affected areas in China are mainly distributed in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas in China, covering the most regions of the Northeast China (eastern region of Inner-Mongolia), the northern part of the North China (middle and western region of Inner-Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningsha, Gansu) and the western part of the Northwest China (Xinzang, Qinghai, Xizang). The total area affected by desertification in China is approximately 2.622 million $km^2$. It covers 27.3% of the total territory of China. Until recently, it is estimated that the annual spreading ratio of desertification in China is 2,460 $km^2$. Therefore, desertification is mostly serious problems facing to the Chinese people. 2. The causes and environmental effect of desertification : The desertification in China is mainly caused by compound factors, including natural condition and human activities. In China, the desertification is started by the decrease of precipitation, continuous dry and drought, strong wind, wind and water erosion, land degradation and loss of natural vegetation caused by climate variation, and accelerated by the human activities, such as over-cultivating, over-grazing, over-cutting of woods, irrational use of water resources. Because desertification has affected the geographical features, soil nutrients contents, salinity, vegetation coverage and the functions of ecosystem, the environmental deteriorations in the desertification affected areas are very seriously. 3. The fundamental strategies of combating desertification in China are the increase of education and awareness of people through various mass media, the revision of laws to guarantee operation of Desertification Combating Law and to improve many relating laws and regulations, the application of advanced technologies and training of experts, the establishment of discriminative policies, and increasing arrangement of budget-investment, and so on. China, as a signed country in UNCCD, has made efforts for the combating desertification. Korea is also signed country in UNCCD, so we should play an important role in the desertification combating projects of China for the northest asia and global environmental conservation as well as environmental conservation of Korea.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.15
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• pp.29-50
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• 2008

Many countries throughout the world have enacted laws on terrorism in the light of the changes that time has brought to them, geographical features, cultural values, and environmental elements. Especially some advanced European nations prescribe the definition of terrorism, the purpose of terrorism, the behavior of terrorism, and the types of crimes related to terrorism and so on for the following reason that it is more vital for the authorities concerned to investigate and punish terrorists after the rise of terrorism. In this regard, this paper analyzes legislative countermoves against terrorists of advanced countries such as France, Germany, and England and through this sheds light on the need of future anti-terrorism bills. The legislative basic guidelines directly to manipulate future terrors based on theories derived from this study could be summarized as follows. In the first place, providing laws on direct investigative power and harsher punishment to those involved in terrorism is a prerequisite for social security and thus the presidential directive of the state anti-terrorism action guidelines just deals with administrative measures without any effective response to terrorism. Hence it is urgent to make anti-terrorism bill concerning investigation and punishment of terrorists. In the second place, it is associated with the objectives of terror. The expression "all sorts of" stated in Korean law is so quite unclear that it can not fulfill the required conditions for naming it "crime". Comprehending provisoes of the crime that meets the purpose of the terrorists is necessary in order to investigate and inflict punishment on them. Therefore, it is advisable to establish specific and precise principles such as political, social, ideological, and religious purpose of terrorists in the bill. In the third place, to meet the flow of times of technicalization, informatization, such provisoes as destruction of electronic data system, crimes related to nuclear materials, purchases of weapons by terrorists, tax administration for prohibition of sale, and arson should be considered in terror bill. In the fourth place, nonselective attack toward unspecified individuals has become a serious issue in our society. Terrorists leave poisonous foods or beverages to crowded place or dump toxic chemicals into river intentionally. Therefore more strict regulations must be included in terror bill to prevent possible terrorist attacks.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2022

This study analyzed the relationship between the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates and habitat changes in open estuaries among the sites included in the national estuary monitoring program. The estuary survey was conducted under the "Guidelines for Investigation and Evaluation of Biometric Networks" and classified by sea area, 80 places in the East Sea, 102 places in the South Sea, and 19 places in the West Sea were investigated. In a total of 201 open estuaries, benthic macroinvertebrates were identified with 4 phyla, 9 classes, 41 orders, 139 families, 269 species and 196 species in the East Sea, 182 species in the South Sea, and 90 species in the West Sea. The highest population densities were Insecta in the East Sea, the Malacostraca in the South Sea, and the Annelida in the West Sea. Through SIMPER analysis, species contributing to the similarity of benthic macroinvertebrates communities in each sea area were identified. Some species greatly influenced the similarity of clusters. The benthic community in the East Sea was affected by the salinity, so the contribution rate of freshwater species was high. On the other hand, the benthic communities of the South and West Seas showed species compositions are influenced by the substrate composition. As results, the benthic macroinvertebrate community in Korean estuaries was impacted by salinity and substrate simultaneously, and the close relationship with geographical distance was not observed. The result of this study is expected to be used to respond to environmental changes by identifying and predicting changes in the diversity and distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in Korea estuaries.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.543-557
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• 2021

Because aerosols have different spectral characteristics according to the size and composition of the particle and to the satellite sensors, a comparative analysis of aerosol products from various satellite sensors is required. In South Korea, however, a comprehensive study for the comparison of various official satellite AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) products for a long period is not easily found. In this paper, we aimed to assess the performance of the AOD products from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), Himawari-8, and Sentinel-3 by referring to the AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) sun photometer observations for the period between January 2015 and December 2019. Seasonal and geographical characteristics of the accuracy of satellite AOD were also analyzed. The MODIS products, which were accumulated for a long time and optimized by the new MAIAC (Multiangle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction) algorithm, showed the best accuracy (CC=0.836) and were followed by the products from VIIRS and Himawari-8. On the other hand, Sentinel-3 AOD did not appear to have a good quality because it was recently launched and not sufficiently optimized yet, according to ESA (European Space Agency). The AOD of MODIS, VIIRS, and Himawari-8 did not show a significant difference in accuracy according to season and to urban vs. non-urban regions, but the mixed pixel problem was partly found in a few coastal regions. Because AOD is an essential component for atmospheric correction, the result of this study can be a reference to the future work for the atmospheric correction for the Korean CAS (Compact Advanced Satellite) series.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 1983

To study ecological characteristics of Sagitiaria pygmaea and Sagittaria trifolia occurring in Korea their propagules were collected from 3 locations (Sagittaria pygmaea: Chuncheon, Suweon, Milyang; Sagittaria trifolia: Suweon, Iri, Jeonju) in 1981, cultured and replanted 4 times (May 20, June 5, June 20, July 5) in 1982. Sagitraria pygmaea from Suweon flowered earlier than those from Chuncheon and Milyang in the plants planted on May 20, but this was reversed in another planting dates. Three storied inflorescence was observed newly in Sagittaria pygmaea. Sagittaria pygmaea from Iri and Jeonju had more number of tillers, but less number of tubers per tiller than those from Suweon. Sagittaria rrifolia from Chuncheon flowered earlier than those from Suweon and Milyang. Sagirtaria trifolia from Milyang was narrower in the upper leaf width and less in the number of tubers per plant than those from Chuncheon and Suweon. Each of local collections may be regarded as different ecotype based on the above differences.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.144-155
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• 2011

The infraspecific taxa of Adonis amurensis Regel et Radde are currently known to include one subspecies (subsp. nanus Y. Lee), two varieties (var. ramosa Makino, and var. dissectipetalis Y. Lee) and two forms (for. argentatus Y. Lee, and for. viridescensicalyx Y. Lee). Among them, the remaining three taxa except for subsp. nanus and var. dissectipetalis are unified with A. amurensis. Therefore, we examined the morphological characteristics and geographical distribution of A. amurensis in effort to elucidate the taxonomic status of subsp. nanus and var. dissectipetalis. After the subsp. nanus samples had been transplanted from their type locality, i.e. highland at more than 1,000 m above sea level, to a lowland habitat, we measured the samples' morphological characteristics. The range of values we recorded of the plant height and floral diameter from the subsp. nanus samples were within the parameters used to characterize A. amurensis. Accordingly, subsp. nanus has been characterized as an ecophene of A. amurensis. It is considered as a synonym of A. amurensis. Among the populations of A. amurensis (sensu Y.Lee, author), those with highly dissected petals at their apices have previously been described as var. dissectipetalis. However, this characteristic has been observed together with obtuse or rounded petal apices not only in one population but also in a single individual. However, populations with these characteristics belong to A. pseudoamurensis due to the simultaneous development of leaves and flowers, branched stems, acute leaf apices, and petals that are shorter than sepals. Therefore, we suggest that A. amurensis var. dissectipetalis be unified with A. pseudoamurensis. Very useful characteristics for distinguishing A. amurensis from its relative species are anthesis, the presence or absence of branches, the development of scales into normal leaves, the relative length of the sepals and petals, and the position of the stipules. A. amurensis is geographically restricted to E. Asia, including E. Siberia, and especially on the Korean Peninsula, it is distributed throughout the northern provinces of Gyeonggi province and in Gangwon province, Gyeongbuk province (Mt. Bohyeon-san) and Jeonbuk province (Mt Jeoksang-san) along Baekdudaegan mountain.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.87-97
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• 2019

The study began in recent years with the aim of grasping the nation's medical status following the fast-growing trend of international medical tourism and attracting foreign patients, among other things, Busan, which ranks second in attracting foreign patients after the nation's capital, Seoul, has been highly active in the past eight years, with foreign patients rising by about 426 percent, and Russian patients entering the sea. In addition, Gimhae and Changwon, the Busan-based Gyeongsangnam-do region, ranked first and second in number of foreign residents, and are inhabited by a variety of foreign workers. Medical institutions, such as hospitals, should be able to find directions within hospitals. It is also a space where information in various languages, including Korean, English, Chinese, or Russian, must be delivered in a single medium. Based on this research, the purpose of this research is to provide converged information that helps foreigners who are not familiar with Korean language easily understand the proposed recognition system when visiting hospitals. Therefore, this paper is applied to a multi-language survey of six medical institutions (A, B, C, D, E, F) at the university hospital in Busan, and 10 medical institutions (R, J) in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province with high foreign residents. Research results and contents are as follows. First, the results of analyzing the design of the sinusoidal system show that the font uses colorless Gothic fonts, arrows, and pictograms to introduce the design of a typical hospital sign system. Second, the results of the multi-lingual situation were found to have only two languages in the system, such as Korean and English, and to have four languages, including Korean, English, Chinese, and Russian, according to their geographical location. However, it was judged that most medical institutions currently have only two languages (Korean, English) that may cause some discomfort in terms of language for foreign patients in non-English speaking countries. Based on these findings, it is necessary to propose designs that are considered by Koreans as well as foreign users in the use of multilingual hospital sign systems.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_2
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• pp.1691-1707
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• 2022

Cheonji Lake, the caldera of Baekdu Mountain, located on the border of the Korean Peninsula and China, alternates between melting and freezing seasonally. There is a magma chamber beneath Cheonji, and variations in the magma chamber cause volcanic antecedents such as changes in the temperature and water pressure of hot spring water. Consequently, there is an abnormal region in Cheonji where ice melts quicker than in other areas, freezes late even during the freezing period, and has a high-temperature water surface. The abnormal area is a discharge region for hot spring water, and its ice gradient may be used to monitor volcanic activity. However, due to geographical, political and spatial issues, periodic observation of abnormal regions of Cheonji is limited. In this study, the degree of ice change in the optimal region was quantified using a Landsat -5/-7/-8 optical satellite image and a Modified U-Net regression model. From January 22, 1985 to December 8, 2020, the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) band of 83 Landsat images including anomalous regions was utilized. Using the relative spectral reflectance of water and ice in the VNIR band, unique data were generated for quantitative ice variability monitoring. To preserve as much information as possible from the visible and near-infrared bands, ice gradient was noticed by applying it to U-Net with two encoders, achieving good prediction accuracy with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 140 and a correlation value of 0.9968. Since the ice change value can be seen with high precision from Landsat images using Modified U-Net in the future may be utilized as one of the methods to monitor Baekdu Mountain's volcanic activity, and a more specific volcano monitoring system can be built.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.39 no.6_3
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• pp.1779-1790
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• 2023

Satellite-based fog detection algorithms are being developed to detect fog in real-time over a wide area, with a focus on the Korean Peninsula (KorPen). The GEO-KOMPSAT-2A/Advanced Meteorological Imager (GK2A/AMI, GK2A) satellite offers an excellent temporal resolution (10 min) and a spatial resolution (500 m), while GEO-KOMPSAT-2B/Geostationary Ocean Color Imager-II (GK2B/GOCI-II, GK2B) provides an excellent spatial resolution (250 m) but poor temporal resolution (1 h) with only visible channels. To enhance the fog detection level (10 min, 250 m), we developed a fused GK2AB fog detection algorithm (FDA) of GK2A and GK2B. The GK2AB FDA comprises three main steps. First, the Korea Meteorological Satellite Center's GK2A daytime fog detection algorithm is utilized to detect fog, considering various optical and physical characteristics. In the second step, GK2B data is extrapolated to 10-min intervals by matching GK2A pixels based on the closest time and location when GK2B observes the KorPen. For reflectance, GK2B normalized visible (NVIS) is corrected using GK2A NVIS of the same time, considering the difference in wavelength range and observation geometry. GK2B NVIS is extrapolated at 10-min intervals using the 10-min changes in GK2A NVIS. In the final step, the extrapolated GK2B NVIS, solar zenith angle, and outputs of GK2A FDA are utilized as input data for machine learning (decision tree) to develop the GK2AB FDA, which detects fog at a resolution of 250 m and a 10-min interval based on geographical locations. Six and four cases were used for the training and validation of GK2AB FDA, respectively. Quantitative verification of GK2AB FDA utilized ground observation data on visibility, wind speed, and relative humidity. Compared to GK2A FDA, GK2AB FDA exhibited a fourfold increase in spatial resolution, resulting in more detailed discrimination between fog and non-fog pixels. In general, irrespective of the validation method, the probability of detection (POD) and the Hanssen-Kuiper Skill score (KSS) are high or similar, indicating that it better detects previously undetected fog pixels. However, GK2AB FDA, compared to GK2A FDA, tends to over-detect fog with a higher false alarm ratio and bias.