• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.89-107
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• 2008

Marine environment is subject serious destruction because of frequent accidents during exploration of marine resources and overseas transport. Also, as many industrial enterprises discharge high volume of wastes and contamination, marine pollution has become a serious threat to people (especially in China). China is quickly becoming a world economic leader of the 21st century. Rapid industrialization and social changes have raised the standard of living of millions of the Chinese, mainly in the areas of East and South East coast. The process of industrialization, however, is often followed by deterioration of the marine environment and rarely turned around until a country has increased its standard of living. Solving these array of problems will take decades and currently the government is addressing minor specific issues only. Fortunately, the Chinese government has enacted a number of marine pollution control laws. On 25 December 1999, the 13th Session of the Ninth Standing Commettee of the National People's Congress passed the amended the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China. This Law establishes rights and responsibilities of the relevant departments concerning marine environment management and provides for two new chapters on "Marine Environment Supervision" and "Marine Ecological Protection", along with "Supervision of Pollution Prevention for Marine Construction Projects", "Marine Ecological Protection" and "Marine Environment Pollution Prevention for Marine Construction Projects". Also, the Law was amended with provisions for integrated pollution discharge control system and oil spillage emergency response plan and enhanced legal responsibilities. Chinese government recognizes that international and national experience can be useful for China to prevent further ecological degradation of the marine environment.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2017.04a
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• pp.158-158
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• 2017

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.99-109
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• 2000

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(hereinafter referred as "the Law") adopted in 1982 was enacted on November 16, 1994. South Korea, China, and Japan signed and ratified the Law, respectively. These three countries announced their domestic laws relating to Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) with reserving their applications. The enactment of the Law and announcement of EEZ inevitably brought new order on the seas. The New Fishery Agreement based on the Law with EEZ was concluded between South Korea and Japan and ratified by each country′s parliament. Another New Fishery Agreement between South Korea and China is also going to be concluded in near future. The New Fishery Agreements, however, do not include regulations relating to the marine scientific research, the protection of the marine environment, and so forth, which are essential for the States to fully implement the Law According to the New Fishery Agreements, it is impossible for the Coastal States to excercise their jurisdiction. Because the agreement of delimitation ocean boundaries among the three countries are not easy to settle, provisional agreements can only be concluded. Thus, many problems including the sovereignty over Dok-do between South Korea and Japan and delimitation of EEZ between South Korea and China can be arose anytime. This paper investigates the problems and possible counter measures in legal excercise on the seas by South Korean Government. The above mentioned problems introduced by the New Fishery Agreements include potential problems in the Middle Sea Zone, Provisional Zone, and so forth. In this paper, only the legal aspect of the Zones will be discussed excluding the law enforcement and the economic aspect of the Zones.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.112-118
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to analyze endangered species laws and systems in China from the viewpoint of the importance of protecting biodiversity and to propose suggestions for existing wildlife protection laws in China to improve efficacy. Since the People's Republic of China Wildlife Protection Act was promulgated and enforced in 1988, China has found that urgent amendments are necessary because of neglected management of the act. The content of the Wildlife Protection Act of China is not only monotonous and unsystematic, but also needs modification and supplementation because it is pre-modern and does not meet current demands. In comparison with other countries, the purpose of China's legislation, supervision system, scope of protection and public participation system differ. China's Wildlife Protection Act is also hindered by confusion in the legislative protection system, lack of an administrative compensation system, difficulties in implementation, deterioration of legal efficiency, lack of content and operations, and lack of a list of species that should be is protected. This paper proposes measures for improvement to solve this confusion in the legislative system for the endangered species protection law to establish a legal system suitable for the current situation in China.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Navigation
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.77-97
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• 1995

The protection of the marine environment is one of the main international legal problems in recent years. In parallel with the industrial development, a great quantity of chemical materials were used and in consequence, mass transportation of oil and other dangerous materials was required on the one hand, and discharge of industrial wasters drew also the attention on the other hand. Furthermore, oil tankers accidents, mass use of nuclear materials, sea-bed exploration and exploitation stimulated further deep human concern on the marine environment. The expansion of international concern to new and more dangerous sources of marine pollution regarded more strict and legal control on the Oil Tanker(DWT 95, 000tons, Cb=0.805) model. Calculation results are compared to the international, especially regional level. In particular, this study is concerned with the preservation of the Northeast Asian Seas surrounded by Japan, the Russian Far East, South Korea, North Korea, China and Taiwan. These adjacent countries must intensify cooperation regarding the prevention, reduction and control of the contamination of the sea. And this cooperation between the States concerned should, as much as possible, be aimed at maximizing the effectiveness of measures to prevent or abate transboundary environmental pollution. To achieve this purpose, States concerned should be imposed upon duties such as duty to assess the environmental impact, duty to inform, duty to consult and duty to assist on the basis of general principle of international law, international customary law and other various resolutions of international bodies. Depending on the nature and extent of actual or potential transboundary pollution with the use of a natural resource or the environment in general the establishment of some form of institutionalized cooperation between the States concerned may become useful or indispensable. The functions of this Organization are, inter alia, to keep the implementation of the Convention and the protocals under continuous observation, to make recommendations on regional or sub-regional rules and standards to be elaborated and on measures to be taken by the Contracting Parties, to be notified of any grave and imminent danger from pollution or threat of pollution by the Contracting Parties and to promote in close cooperation with appropriate governmental bodies additional measures to protect the marine environment of the Northeast Asian Seas, and so on. Above mentioned countries, first of all, are located within the Northeast Asian Seas geographically and, therefore, take responsibilities of preserving the clean sea against marine interferences regardless of any difference of the social, political and economic systems. They must be followed under the UNCLOS and other marine conventions. Under the present circumstances, Northeast Asian Seas will become dead seas in case that there is no instant and prompt action against pollution. Hence we have an absolute obligation to promote the development of the mandatory international environmental law, which in turn can faciliate more effective implementation of the regional cooperation by the neighbouring states within this area.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.120-129
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• 2006

This paper aims at investigating the developments and challenges of Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP), a regional cooperation mechanism to protect marine environment in Northeast Asia. As one of 16 UNEP's Regional Seas Program, NOWPAP has evolved since its inception in 1994. Based on the belief that a cooperative institution may work more efficiently to address common regional concerns on marine environment, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea have developed NOWPAP under the UNEP's leadership. NOWPAP now has its own independent secretariat, and 4 regional activity centers while expanding its partnership with other institutions. However, NOWPAP must address several challenges that it now faces for better achievement of its goals. They include consideration of unique geopolitical situation in this region, participation of North Korea, incorporation of sustainable development concept in its activities, reconsideration of equal opportunity principle for more efficient cooperation, and securing sufficient financial resources.