• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.41-63
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• 2016

Energy policy is known to have higher path dependency among policy fields (Kuper and van Soest, 2003; OECD, 2012; Kikkawa, 2013) and is a critical component of the infrastructure development undertaken in the early stages of nation building. Actor roles, such as those played by interest groups, are firmly formed, making it unlikely that institutional change can be implemented. In resource-challenged Japan, energy policy is an especially critical policy area for the Japanese government. In comparing energy policy making in Japan and Germany, Japan’s policy community is relatively firm (Hartwig et al., 2015), and it is improbable that institutional change can occur. The Japanese government’s approach to energy policy has shifted incrementally in the past half century, with the most recent being the 2012 implementation of the “Feed-In Tariff Law” (Act on Special Measures Concerning Procurement of Renewable Electric Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities), which encourages new investment in renewable electricity generation and promotes the use of renewable energy. Yet, who were the actors involved and the factors that influenced the establishment of this new law? This study attempts to assess the factors associated with implementing the law as well as the roles of the relevant major actors. In answering this question, we focus on identifying the policy networks among government, political parties, and interest groups, which suggests that success in persuading key economic groups could be a factor in promoting the law. Our data is based on the “Global Environmental Policy Network Survey 2012-2013 (GEPON2)” which was conducted immediately after the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake with respondents including political parties, the government, interest groups, and civil society organizations. Our results suggest that the Feed in Tariff (FIT) Law’s network structure is similar to the information network and support network, and that the actors at the center of the network support the FIT Law. The strength of our research lays in our focus on political networks and their contributing mechanism to the law’s implementation through analysis of the political process. From an academic perspective, identifying the key actors and factors may be significant in explaining institutional change in policy areas with high path dependency. Close examination of this issue also has implications for a society that can promote renewable and sustainable energy resources.

• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2021

The growing literature on smart tourism and the increasing number of smart tourism initiatives demonstrate that the idea of smart tourism is captivating and that its potential is great. However, its concrete implementation so far has lacked the transformative focus called for by smart development principles. This paper suggests that conceptualizing smart tourism development as a utopian endeavor that requires critiquing the status quo and collective imagining of better tourism and good destinations could help smart tourism efforts transcend their instrumental, short-term, and fragmented character. It further introduces the concept of the Smart Tourism Mindset to propose that, as a utopian enterprise, smart tourism needs to be guided by specific values and traits that permeate actors at all levels. The paper concludes by calling for a greater focus on identifying what these values and traits are and how to best establish and communicate the Smart Tourism Mindset.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.140-157
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• 2012

Most of global citizens in the globalization era want to live peacefully in the symbiotic relationship among each region or locality with its identity. From this perspective, the new regionalist models of development such as new industrial districts, industrial clusters, regional innovation systems, and global city-regions isn't helpful to most of regions because they were developed to increase the global competitiveness of industrial region from a few advanced industrial areas. This study attempts to develop 'regional differential development' as an alternative regional development theory. This theory puts emphasis on the truth that the difference or differential industry between regions in the real world connotes two essential values of development like the symbiosis of global citizens and the regional identity. Regional differential development seeks the development of regional differential industry on the basis of geographical elements with differential advantage, and hence it reviews significantly geographical elements including location, natural environment(landform, soil, climate, etc.), natural resources, population, transportation, culture, and landscape which appear substantially differently among regions. And to realize regional differential development successfully, it is crucial that actors(government, company, related institutions, and regional residents) actively participate and play each complementary role in the relationship of cooperation and conflict. Further study needs to secure the universal validity of this theory through many empirical studies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.178-199
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• 2014

Changwon Industrial Complex is commonly framed as the best example of strong initiative of the Korean developmental state. And this explanation has been given in the theoretical frame of 'neo-Weberian accounts' i.e., strongly 'national-territorial' and state-centric terms of the predominant. I argue that a geopolitical economy approach focusing on the historical background of the development of Changwon Industrial Complex will shed light on crucial sociospatial dimensions of the Korean developmental state's industrial complex success. I examine, in particular, the multi-scalar processes through which the changes of the industrial complex building plans for the promotion of machine industry in 1960's have been influenced by the complex and dynamic interactions among social actors acting at diverse geographical scales. I show that the formation of the industrial complex in Korea was more heavily influenced by the interactions, contestations, and collaborations among social actors, acting in and through the state, rather than by the state initiative.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.86-94
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• 2015

This study is carried out to critically explore the direction of the improvement of the protection clauses of minor artists which is the core of Popular Culture Art Industrial Development Act enforced from July 29, 2014. The analysis shows that the law accepted the social issues such as the prevention of procuring minor prostitution, slave contracts(unfair long-term contracts), and third party's profit-extortion. However, the law missing or not specifically stated about age-based differential enforcement of work hours, dangerous acting scenes shouldn't be forced to minors, right to sleep, health, and study, as well as the penalty regulations in violation of each clause. Consequently, the Act's revision and supplementation is necessary to fully meet above insufficiencies referring to foreign practices.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.65-95
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• 2014

The recent decades have seen a growing rate of international cooperation in science, technology, and innovation (STI) including in the field of green technologies. However, current approaches to national systems of innovation (NSI) have not kept up with this development. International aspects are rather treated as external conditions within which policymakers operate and respond but not influence. This paper tackles this problem by applying a refined NSI concept that includes an international dimension and complements past frameworks by focusing on those Korean government policies, actors, and activities relevant for the internationalization of STI. Austria and Korea have both formulated differing strategies to acquire international leading positions in the field of innovation and the development of green technologies. In the first step, the paper assesses Korea's international activities within the field of green technologies that transcend national boundaries and establish international connections. The government has still a strong influence on selecting technology areas for strategic funding but our findings show that international STI actors have difficulties in identifying the appropriate point of contact to initiate cooperation or apply for related funding. Second, an external perspective on Korea's international collaborations in the field of green technologies is offered. Austria has tentatively identified the East Asian country as a second-priority cooperation partner for its future STI internationalization activities. Interviews with Austrian stakeholders in the field of green technologies indicate a high interest in cooperation with Korea that is facilitated by a similar business culture based on personal networks. Moreover, researchers and policymakers referred to a shared need of small countries for intelligent decision-making processes regarding potential cooperation partners abroad. However, in order to enhance awareness, visibility and demand for Korean STI cooperation in European countries, more long-term funding programs featuring a more permanent point of contact should be introduced.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.47-66
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• 2004

The relationship between innovation policies and locational competitiveness has emerged as an important area in the analysis of economic development, reflecting both the centralisation and decentralisation of globalising economic activities. The underlying spatial and institutional components are subject to a pattern of cumulative causation in which strategic interventions of policy actors exercise a decisive role in shaping competitive advantages, while promoting interactions with local and foreign partners both from the private and public sectors. The Singaporean development experience illustrated these strategic interdependencies of innovation policies and locational competitiveness. Based on her role as a manufacturing and service hub, Singapore is viewed as an infrastructural nodal point which is interconnected to global production networks. Paralleling efforts in the domain of technological innovation, Singapore's policies for locational competitiveness aim at an adaptive harmonisation of the needs of international investors with local developmental objectives. This orientation characterises also current efforts in promoting Singapore as a knowledge agglomeration with a distinct science base, expanding R&D operations and an innovation-driven pattern of economic development. In conclusion, the locational rationale of Singapore's innovation policies provides lessons for dealing with the spatial and institutional implications of technological globalisation.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 1998

Rural communities have been isolated from social and economic changes underway in the broader society. Trends towed an urbanized society have depopulated many rural areas (Flora, et al, 1992). The South Korean government has targeted efforts toward an urban centered economic development policy, which has neglected the rural areas. The South Korean government also has indoctrinated rural community development with a quick-fix approach. Self-directed economic organizations based in rural South Korea began to emerge in the late 1980s. Since the 1980s, South Korean agricultural sectors have been overshadowed by globalism. McMichael (1996) stated that rural communities have two options. A immunity should either End its niche (i.e. the commodities or products that can have advantages in the international trade market) or protest against globalism to survive if rural communities fail to find a niche under globalism. South Korean neat communities did not have enough natural resources nor enough money to invest for their rural community economic development programs. These limitations made it difficult for South Korean coral communities to compete in a global economic environment. Israel, Coleman, and Ilvento (1993) stated that local leadership is a critical component in the ability of communities to respond to lang-standing problems and emerging needs. Swinth and Alexander (1990) asserted that rural leaders are critical actors in rural community development. Whether rural communities succeed in finding their niche or not, the role of rural community leaders is important for rural communities to find ways to cope in the international agriculture market.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.214-225
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• 2013

Current production systems have been recognized as having contributed a dramatic growth in the Korean film industry. However, industry voices feel that the role of these production systems should be reorganized as the industry faces further needs for development process. Film development process involves item selection, scenario completion process, and packaging process, which include choosing the right director and actors in order to increase the chances of completion of the film as well as increasing probability of investment funds. Thus, film development is a very creative and practical businesslike activity at the same time. The purpose of this report is to study the producers' role and problems by comparing Korean film development processes to 'Produced By' of the PGA(Producers Guild of America) and suggest a solution for the improvement.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.67-92
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• 2016

Employing a newly developed conceptual framework of the tasks and activities that comprise today's digital scholarly undertaking and their potentially reputation building, maintaining and enhancing components, the efforts of ResearchGate in supporting scholars' reputation building endeavours were put under the microscope. Not unexpectedly, RG performs well in regard to basic research activities. Clearly, too, with ten metrics at its disposal, RG is in a league of its own when it comes to monitoring individual research reputation. Where RG falls down is regarding scholarly activities that do not concern pure research and so especially teaching. Its claim to have created a new way of measuring reputation is only partially true because if it wants to do so genuinely then it needs to extend the range of scholarly activities covered. RG also falls short in informing members as to the nature and changes to its service and of embracing new actors, such as citizen scientists and amateur experts.