• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.275-283
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• 2020

Background: In the absence of a vaccine or treatment, the most pragmatic strategies against an infectious disease pandemic are extensive early detection testing and social distancing. This study aimed to summarize public and workplace responses to Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and show how the Korean system has operated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Daily briefings from the Korean Center for Disease Control and the Central Disaster Management Headquarters were assembled from January 20 to May 15, 2020. Results: By May 15, 2020, 11,018 COVID-19 cases were identified, of which 15.7% occurred in workplaces such as health-care facilities, call centers, sports clubs, coin karaoke, and nightlife destinations. When the first confirmed case was diagnosed, the Korean Center for Disease Control and Central Disaster Management Headquarters responded quickly, emphasizing early detection with numerous tests and a social distancing policy. This slowed the spread of infection without intensive containment, shut down, or mitigation interventions. After entering the public health blue alert level, a business continuity plan was distributed. After entering the orange level, the Ministry of Employment and Labor developed workplace guidelines for COVID-19 consisting of social distancing, flexible working schedules, early identification of workers with suspected infections, and disinfection of workplaces. Owing to the intensive workplace social distancing policy, workplaces remained safe with only small sporadic group infections. Conclusion: The workplace social distancing policy with timely implementation of specific guidelines was a key to preventing a large outbreak of COVID-19 in Korean workplaces. However, sporadic incidents of COVID-19 are still ongoing, and risk assessment in vulnerable workplaces should be continued.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.335-347
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• 2017

Purpose: Defense government agencies in the world continuously try to improve operational efficiency in government quality assurance activities. The purpose of this paper is to propose some suggestions to enhance efficiency of government quality assurance (GQA) activities based on the analysis of the current quality assurance methods of advanced foreign agencies such as DCMA and NATO. Methods: In order to propose new directions, reviews and analyses are executed. (1) Former research results in Korea for enhancing GQA are reviewed, and their limitations are addressed. (2) Updated policies and procedures of the US DCMA and NATO are reviewed and their advantages are presented. (3) Current GQA policies and procedures are contrasted with those of US DCMA and NATO. Results: Suggestions for efficient Korean GQA activities are given in several aspects: GQA paradigm shift, clarification of GQA methods, facility-wide GQA, risk management for suppliers, counterfeit mitigation policy, data collection and control. Conclusion: Reviews on the government quality assurance policies and procedures of DTaQ, DCMA, and NATO are executed and compared with each other. The results of this research are expected to be useful guidelines to improve GQA policies and procedures in Korea, making it possible to realize more efficient GQA activities in Korea.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.11-23
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• 2020

The effectiveness of in situ sediment capping as a technique for heavy metal risk mitigation in Hyeongsan River estuary, South Korea was studied. Sites in the estuary were found previously to show moderate to high levels of contamination of mercury, methylmercury and other heavy metals. A 400 m × 50 m section of the river was selected for a thin layer capping demonstration, where the total area was divided into 4 sections capped with different combinations of capping materials (zeolite, AC/zeolite, AC/sand, zeolite/sand). Pore water concentrations in the different sites were studied using diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT) probes. All capping amendments showed reduction in the pore water concentration of the different heavy metals with top 5 cm showing %reduction greater than 90% for some heavy metals. The relative maxima for the different metals were found to be translated to lower depths with addition of the caps. For two-layered cap with AC, order of placement should be considered since AC can easily be displaced due to its relatively low density. Investigation of methylmercury (MeHg) in the site showed that MeHg and %MeHg in pore water corresponds well with maxima for sulfide, Fe and Mn suggesting mercury methylation as probably coupled with sulfate, Fe and Mn reduction in sediments. Our results showed that thin-layer capping of active sorbents AC and zeolite, in combination with passive sand caps, are potential remediation strategy for sediments contaminated with heavy metals.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.3
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• pp.83-116
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• 2000

Many concerns have been raised for importance of disaster management after 1990's numerous urban disasters in Korea. When the primary function of government is to protect lives and property of citizens, disaster management should be included in the mainstream of public administration and many hazard countermeasures should be carried out for that purpose. The principal purpose of this research is to establish ways and means needed to improve the disaster management system in Korea. This paper is split into five chapters. Chapter I is the introduction part. Chapter II introduces the reader to a disaster management theory, and deals with various disaster management systems of foreign countries such as the U.S.A. and Japan, Chapter III describes and characterizes the Korea's current disaster management system. The Korean disaster management system has been reestablished through the enactment of the Disaster Management Act of 1995 and the full revision of Natural Hazards Management Act of 1995 after series of catastrophic man-made disasters since 1993. Chapter IV is devoted to the establishment of an effective disaster management system in Korea. In this chapter, I discusses measures needed to improve the quality of CDMB(Central Disaster Management Bureau)'s service to the people. I strongly reemphasize the effectiveness of a comprehensive risk-based, all-hazard national emergency management system that addresses preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. To that end the Administration should develop legislation, new policies, and organizational plans to invigorate the agency with a refocussed mission. Chapter V is a conclusion. As the demand for citizens'welfare has been continuously increased in the localization, the importance of disaster management is emerging subject in the public sector. The disaster management carries out complicated affairs and manages diverse objects, the cooperation/connection system of the central-local government and citizens, and non-governmental organization should be established.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.46-53
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• 2016

Wooden cultural heritage is vulnerable to fire, flooding and other hazards. Therefore, an effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategy for them should include preventive measures in a full range of management. These were used to construct a disaster safety system for 508 wooden cultural heritage items by the Cultural Heritage Administration. According to the type of ownership and administration, national and public heritage is controlled by personal management or commissional management. Among them, it is arranged with the safety security institute for important cultural properties. In addition, they have problems of field management with no computerization about the management information for a disaster facility system. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a DB platform that can share information with many users who need to manage cultural heritage. Through a field survey, it is feasible to develop a disaster facility system to provide the information, such as the main data, quantity and location.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.346-358
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• 2016

This study built the volcano Data Base(DB) of 289 active volcanoes around the Korean Peninsula, Japan, China (include Taiwan), and Russia Kamchatka area. Twenty nine more hazardous volcanoes including Baekdusan, Ulleungdo and 27 Japanese volcanoes that can cause a widespread ash-fall on the Korean peninsula by potentially explosive eruption were selected. This selection was based on the presence of volcanic activity, whether or not containing dangerous explosive eruption rock types, distance from Seoul, and volcanoes having Plinian eruption history with volcanic explosivity index (VEI) 4 or more. The results of this study are utilized for screening high-risk volcanoes that may affect the volcanic disaster caused by a widespread fallout ash. By predicting the extent of spread of ash caused by these hazardous volcanic activities and by analyzing the impact on the Korean peninsula, we suggest that it should be used for helping to predict volcanic ash damages and conduct hazards mitigation research as well.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.15-35
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• 2012

Mercury (Hg) is a global environmental pollutant that has been the cause of many public concerns. One particular concern about Hg in aquatic systems is its trophic transfer and biomagnification in food chains. For example, the Hg concentration increases with the increase of food chain level. Fish at the top of food chain can accumulate high concentrations of Hg (especially the toxic form, methylmercury, MeHg), which is then transferred to humans through seafood consumption. Various biological and physiochemical conditions can significantly affect the bioaccumulation of Hg-including both its inorganic (Hg(II)) and organic (MeHg) forms-in fish. There have been numerous measurements of Hg concentrations in marine and freshwater fish worldwide. Many of these studies have attempted to identify the processes leading to variations of Hg concentrations in fish species from different habitats. The development of a biokinetic model over the past decade has helped improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bioaccumulation processes of Hg in aquatic animals. In this review, I will discuss how the biokinetic modeling approach can be used to reveal the interesting biodynamics of Hg in fish, such as the trophic transfer and exposure route of Hg(II) and MeHg, as well as growth enrichment (the increases in Hg concentration with fish size) and biomass dilution (the decreases in Hg concentration with increasing phytoplankton biomass). I will also discuss the relevance of studying the subcellular fates of Hg to predict the Hg bioaccessibility and detoxification in fish. Future challenges will be to understand the inter- and intra-species differences in Hg accumulation and the management/mitigation of Hg pollution in both marine and freshwater fish based on our knowledge of Hg biodynamics.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02a
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• pp.269-272
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• 2008

The seismic fragility curves of a structure represents the probability of exceeding the prescribed structural damage given various levels of ground motion intensityand the seismic fragility curve is essential to evaluation of structural performance and assessment of risk and loss of structures. The purpose of this paper is to develop seismic fragility functions for bridge structures in Koreaby reviewing those of advanced countries. Therefore, at first, we investigated development conditions of the seismic fragility functions. And the next highway bridges in Korea are classified into a number of categories and several typical bridges are selected to estimate seismic fragilities for using this analysis method in Korea. Finally, fragility curves for PSC Box girder bridge are estimated. The results show that the bridge classification and damage state play an important role in estimation of seismic damage and seismic fragility analysis for bridge structures.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1489-1494
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• 2013

Tsunami happens rarely enough to allow a false sense of security, but when they do occur, there may be just minutes or hours for people to reach a safe location. Natural disasters like tsunami are inevitable and it is almost impossible to fully recoup damages caused by the disasters. However, it is possible to minimize the potential risk by developing early warning strategies. GIS modelling with its geoprocessing and analysis capability can play a crucial role in efficient mitigation and management of disaster. This study aims at developing integrated spatial information system processing model supporting tsunami evacuation action planning using geo-information technology such as GIS. The integration process classified into four phases. And in each phase, required input data and GIS processes are decided. The main effort in minimizing casualties in tsunami disaster is to evacuate people from the hazard area before tsunami strikes by means of either horizontal or vertical evacuation. The study provides essential spatial information for local decision making related with people's evacuation in tsunami-prone areas based on a modeling approach transferable to other coastal areas.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.50-50
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• 2017

도시홍수의 잠재적 위험은 홍수경감계획이 발전됨에 따라 감소하지만, 침수피해 가능성은 도시화와 도시 확장에 따라 증가한다. 침수피해 가능성에 대한 사전 파악 및 위험도 분석은 대규모 침수재해 발생 시의 위기관리에도 도움을 준다. 또한, 경제적 피해에 대한 예측은 재해발생 후 복구 및 복원 작업에 필요한 자원 할당에 매우 유용하며, 잠재적 홍수 피해에 대한 예측은 장기적인 홍수경감계획과 재해관리에 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 다차원 침수해석 모형의 결과로 산정 가능한 침수심, 유속 등의 지표들을 복합적으로 고려하여 침수위험도를 산정하고, 침수 발생 위험이 있는 지역의 인문 사회 경제적 지표를 통해 피해 저감 및 복구성을 반영하기 위한 재해 취약인자를 선정하여 해당 지역에 대한 취약도를 산정하였다. 또한, 분석된 위험도와 취약도의 연산으로 통합리스크 분석을 실시하여 침수 발생 시 해당지역에 대한 피해 예상과 지역별 상대평가가 가능하도록 하였다. 위험도와 취약도 및 리스크 분석은 다양한 인자를 동시에 고려하기 위해 여러 개의 기준에 대한 선호도를 결정하거나 최적 대안을 선택하는 다기준의사결정(MCDM)기법을 적용하였으며, MCDM기법 중 보편적으로 많이 이용되는 TOPSIS기법을 적용하였다. 이러한 리스크 분석은 우리나라 전체, 특정 시도, 시군구, 읍면동 간의 침수피해와 관련한 상대적 비교 평가가 가능하며, 대응 및 대비의 관점에서 저감 대책 수립의 우선 지역을 도출하는 데 활용될 수 있을 것이며, 침수피해 발생 후, 리스크가 큰 지역에 대해 우선적으로 복구 조치가 이뤄질 수 있을 것이다. 또한, 한정된 지자체 예산 안에서 도시홍수 피해 경감 대책 수립을 위한 의사결정에 활용될 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.