• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.193-207
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• 2024

Purpose - With the increase of non-face-to-face activities due to the spread of COVID-19, O2O industry has grown rapidly which reduces contact points between suppliers and consumers. O2O platform is now recognized as an indispensable channel of distribution, but the voice is getting louder that it is necessary to check how it contributes to the performance of suppliers or how its fee system or contract terms affects the expansion of O2O industry as the leading companies tend to monopolize the market. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, the scope was limited to the restaurant industry in which transactions are the most active among the O2O industry and a regression analysis was done on 775 businesses that had used guarantor service from the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation. Findings - Analysis on the impact of O2O platform system, information, and service quality on the business performance of the sole proprietors revealed that the system quality represented by ease of use and the information quality determined by level of timely, accurate and reliable information provided to the consumers have a statistically significant effect on the improvement of business performance. In addition, the effect of business performance on the loyalty measured by the likelihood of users continuing to use the service as well as recommending it to others was moderated by the satisfaction with contract terms, not by the fee system. Research implications or Originality - Although the number of O2O platform providers has increased manyfold, the membership rate is no more than 20%, which means that the small business owners are still struggling with digital transformation. In order for the O2O industry, which is now commonplace, to form a healthy ecosystem that satisfies both suppliers and consumers, the standard contract guidelines that are acceptable to both parties must be established and the O2O providers must offer services that help suppliers to improve performance.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.67-88
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• 2019

Webtoon is a Korean-style digital comics platform that distributes comics content produced using the characteristic elements of the Internet in a form that can be consumed online. With the recent rapid growth of the webtoon industry and the exponential increase in the supply of webtoon content, the need for effective webtoon content recommendation measures is growing. Webtoons are digital content products that combine pictorial, literary and digital elements. Therefore, webtoons stimulate consumer sentiment by making readers have fun and engaging and empathizing with the situations in which webtoons are produced. In this context, it can be expected that the sentiment that webtoons evoke to consumers will serve as an important criterion for consumers' choice of webtoons. However, there is a lack of research to improve webtoons' recommendation performance by utilizing consumer sentiment. This study is aimed at developing consumer sentiment pattern maps that can support effective recommendations of webtoon content, focusing on consumer sentiments that have not been fully discussed previously. Metadata and consumer sentiments data were collected for 200 works serviced on the Korean webtoon platform 'Naver Webtoon' to conduct this study. 488 sentiment terms were collected for 127 works, excluding those that did not meet the purpose of the analysis. Next, similar or duplicate terms were combined or abstracted in accordance with the bottom-up approach. As a result, we have built webtoons specialized sentiment-index, which are reduced to a total of 63 emotive adjectives. By performing exploratory factor analysis on the constructed sentiment-index, we have derived three important dimensions for classifying webtoon types. The exploratory factor analysis was performed through the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) using varimax factor rotation. The three dimensions were named 'Immersion', 'Touch' and 'Irritant' respectively. Based on this, K-Means clustering was performed and the entire webtoons were classified into four types. Each type was named 'Snack', 'Drama', 'Irritant', and 'Romance'. For each type of webtoon, we wrote webtoon-sentiment 2-Mode network graphs and looked at the characteristics of the sentiment pattern appearing for each type. In addition, through profiling analysis, we were able to derive meaningful strategic implications for each type of webtoon. First, The 'Snack' cluster is a collection of webtoons that are fast-paced and highly entertaining. Many consumers are interested in these webtoons, but they don't rate them well. Also, consumers mostly use simple expressions of sentiment when talking about these webtoons. Webtoons belonging to 'Snack' are expected to appeal to modern people who want to consume content easily and quickly during short travel time, such as commuting time. Secondly, webtoons belonging to 'Drama' are expected to evoke realistic and everyday sentiments rather than exaggerated and light comic ones. When consumers talk about webtoons belonging to a 'Drama' cluster in online, they are found to express a variety of sentiments. It is appropriate to establish an OSMU(One source multi-use) strategy to extend these webtoons to other content such as movies and TV series. Third, the sentiment pattern map of 'Irritant' shows the sentiments that discourage customer interest by stimulating discomfort. Webtoons that evoke these sentiments are hard to get public attention. Artists should pay attention to these sentiments that cause inconvenience to consumers in creating webtoons. Finally, Webtoons belonging to 'Romance' do not evoke a variety of consumer sentiments, but they are interpreted as touching consumers. They are expected to be consumed as 'healing content' targeted at consumers with high levels of stress or mental fatigue in their lives. The results of this study are meaningful in that it identifies the applicability of consumer sentiment in the areas of recommendation and classification of webtoons, and provides guidelines to help members of webtoons' ecosystem better understand consumers and formulate strategies.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.55-69
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• 2021

For the national economic development, the participation of women in the social and economic activities is crucial. The popularization of start-ups, digital transformation, and WEconomy trends have lowered the barriers to opportunities for women to start a business and provide an environment in which women can grow faster. This paper examines the significance and process of success of women entrepreneurs and the characteristics of innovation strategies and achievements by linking the recently changing business environment of a company, factors influencing the success of women entrepreneurship, and innovation activities. To this end, four companies' cases were analyzed in the fields of distribution/service and consumer products/services, which are areas of large investment among female startups. The result shows that women entrepreneurs recognize the meaning of success as creating and continuing to create a 'corporate value through establishing a trust relationship with customers' within the 'balance between personal life and work.' In terms of the business ecosystem, women entrepreneurs strive for 'business activities based on the win-win growth of consumers, producers and sellers' for success, and rather 'focus on the process with a problem-solving approach' rather than achieving performance-oriented goals. Also through excellent power of observation, flexibility, and execution power, women entrepreneurs conduct business by adapting to changing trends. In terms of innovation activities, the innovation strategy of women-led companies puts priority on 'creating the value customers want' and focuses on innovation in the 'customer-centric business model' rather than technological innovation. As such, women-led companies show several differentiated characteristics, which enable them to create corporate value and achieve sustainable growth. The barriers to challenges and opportunities for women to start a business have been lowered, and an ecosystem has been created for female startups to grow. But why are there still so few women entrepreneurs, and the answer to where we need to close these gaps is ultimately a close analysis and investigation of the field. We must present milestones for growth steps through the accumulation of case studies of women startups that have exited. In addition, women can stand as economic agents only when the policy targets are subdivided and specific approaches to child-rearing and childcare for women entrepreneurs must be taken. This paper expects to serve as basic data for follow-up studies and become the basis of research for women entrepreneurs to grow as economic agents.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.215-235
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• 2024

As artificial intelligence (AI) technology is recognized as a key technology that will determine future national competitiveness, competition for AI technology and industry promotion policies in major countries is intensifying. This study aims to present implications for domestic policy making by analyzing the policies of major countries on the start-up of AI companies, which are the basis of the AI industry ecosystem. The top four countries and the EU for the number of new investment attraction companies in the 2023 AI Index announced by the HAI Research Institute at Stanford University in the United States were selected, The United States enacted the National AI Initiative Act (NAIIA) in 2021. Through this law, The US Government is promoting continued leadership in the United States in AI R&D, developing reliable AI systems in the public and private sectors, building an AI system ecosystem across society, and strengthening DB management and access to AI policies conducted by all federal agencies. In the 14th Five-Year (2021-2025) Plan and 2035 Long-term Goals held in 2021, China has specified AI as the first of the seven strategic high-tech technologies, and is developing policies aimed at becoming the No. 1 AI global powerhouse by 2030. The UK is investing in innovative R&D companies through the 'Future Fund Breakthrough' in 2021, and is expanding related investments by preparing national strategies to leap forward as AI leaders, such as the implementation plan of the national AI strategy in 2022. Israel is supporting technology investment in start-up companies centered on the Innovation Agency, and the Innovation Agency is leading mid- to long-term investments of 2 to 15 years and regulatory reforms for new technologies. The EU is strengthening its digital innovation hub network and creating the InvestEU (European Strategic Investment Fund) and AI investment fund to support the use of AI by SMEs. This study aims to contribute to analyzing the policies of major foreign countries in making AI company start-up policies and providing a basis for Korea's strategy search. The limitations of the study are the limitations of the countries to be analyzed and the failure to attempt comparative analysis of the policy environments of the countries under the same conditions.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.51-67
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• 2016

Urban development-related growth in recent years has become a qualitative growth based on regional identity, rather than a hardware-based growth. For this purpose, strategic approaches to the value of cultural assets of the city are required for competitiveness of the city. In this paper, I seek a model for urban regeneration and regional development through empirical case studies of cultural assets and utilize the 'Seoul Fairy Tale Festival' in terms of strengthening regional competitiveness. By analyzing detailed elements of the 'Seoul Fairy Tale Festival' case, the hardware infrastructure, software and governance structures, diverse contentsware, ecosystem characteristics centered on the humanware, and circular structure was studied. As a feature of cultural assets, combined with the management of physical assets and operations of several programs, was the basis for creating a synergy effect of creating an identity for the region. In addition, it was confirmed the possibility of a regional-rehabilitation type of urban regeneration that is based on the expansion of existing facilities, and a regional-innovation type of urban regeneration that is based on a fusion of characteristics. This analysis is significant in terms of the possibility of large urban regeneration based on cultural assets associated with the festival, as well as physical assets and by combining various governance stakeholders for the festival, it can be concluded that it provided an indigenous virtuous cycle.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.242-249
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• 2006

Potential impacts of the future climate change on crop production can be inferred by crop simulations at a landscape scale, if the climate data may be provided at appropriate spatial scales. Northern Gyunggi Province is one of the few prospective regions in South Korea for growing quality soybeans. Any geographical shift of production areas under the changing climate may influence the current land planning policy in this region. A soybean growth simulation was performed at 342 land units in northern Gyunggi province to test the potential geographical shift of the current production areas for quality soybeans in the near future (form 2011 to 2100). The land units for soybean cultivation were selected by the land use, the soil characteristics, and the minimum arable land area. Daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation, the number of rain days and solar radiation were extracted for each land unit from the future digital climate models (DCM, 2011-2040, 2041-2070, 2071-2100). Daily weather data for 30 years were randomly generated for each land unit for each normal year by using a well-known statistical method. They were used to run CROPGRO-Soybean model to simulate the growth, phonology, and yields of 3 cultivars representing different maturity groups grown at 342 land units. According to the model calculations, the warming trend in this region will accelerate the flowering and physiological maturity of all cultivars, resulting in a 7 to 9 days reduction in overall growing season and a 1 to 15% reduction in grain yield of early to medium maturity cultivars. There was a slight increase in grain yield of the late maturing cultivar under the projected climate by 2070, but a decreasing tend was dominant by the year 2100.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-202
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• 2007

The normalized difference in incident solar energy between a target surface and a level surface (overheating index, OHI) is useful in eliminating estimation error of site-specific maximum temperature in complex terrain. Due to the complexity in its calculation, however, an empirical proxy variable called northern exposure index (NEI) which combines slope and aspect has been used to estimate OHI based on empirical relationships between the two. An experiment with real-world landscape and temperature data was carried out to evaluate performance of the NEI - derived OHI (N-OHI) in reduction of spatial interpolation error for daily maximum temperature compared with that by the original OHI. We collected daily maximum temperature data from 7 sites in a mountainous watershed with a $149 km^2$ area and a 795m elevation range ($651{\sim}1,445m$) in Pyongchang, Kangwon province. Northern exposure index was calculated for the entire 166,050 grid cells constituting the watershed based on a 30-m digital elevation model. Daily OHI was calculated for the same watershed ana regressed to the variation of NEI. The regression equations were used to estimate N-OHI for 15th of each month. Deviations in daily maximum temperature at 7 sites from those measured at the nearby synoptic station were calculated from June 2006 to February 2007 and regressed to the N-OHI. The same procedure was repeated with the original OHI values. The ratio sum of square errors contributable by the N-OHI were 0.46 (winter), 0.24 (fall), and 0.01 (summer), while those by the original OHI were 0.52, 0.37 and 0.15, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2001

This research is primarily intended to develop a decision-making support system about the natural environment in the country by integrating various formats of spatial data into a comprehensive GIS database. The first part of the research is to design GIS database as a means of combining thematic cartographic data with field survey records. Ecosystem records acquired by a field sampling have been reproduced as digital thematic maps. The database also included various natural environment related data (map for forestry, soil, national park etc.) collected from many other agencies. The second part of the research is devoted to the design of efficient man-machine interfaces. A key concern in the GUI (graphic user interface) design process was to address the need to handle and to manage large databases by non-GIS experts. The system has been checked experimentally, enabled the users to quarry the data required simply and execute spatial analysis accommodating versatile alternatives in decision-making process. Detailed visual maps can be generated over large areas quickly and easily. The system will serve to increase the scientific and objective decision-making by overcoming serious constraints suffered from the past non-GIS-based approach. It is anticipated that this research output could be used as a valuable reference in building a nationwide natural environment GIS-DB (database) in the central and local governments.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.74
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• pp.177-196
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• 2015

This paper aims to plan a new research program on the parallel relationship between Korean press and political power, by providing concepts on the mode of existence of professional journalists in Korea. In the midst of the economic crisis of Korean journalism, relative deteriorisation in the political democracy and the liberty of press, and changes in news ecosystem due to the revolution of digital news, the status of professional journalists is at stake. In these circumstances, this paper argues that many existing researches on journalistic professionalism need to be reconstructed in the perspective of professional project. It enables, first of all, an evaluation on actual issues of professional journalists from the actor perspective, i.e. economic interests, social closure, regulative bargain with the authority. Secondly, concerning decoupling phenomenon of journalism and democracy which became salient in the contemporary society, this study raises a necessity to create new logical relations around concepts of journalist professionalism. And we will find, in this situation, a beginning of new evaluation on the mode of existence of professional journalists, that has been possibly developped within the old, assymetric relationship between State-press. And finally, this study proposes to consider a category of professional journalists as a vehicle that helps to conceptualize the old, parallel relationship between Korean press and political power.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2011

While high-definition precipitation maps with a 270 m spatial resolution are available for South Korea, there is little information on geospatial availability of precipitation water for the famine - plagued North Korea. The restricted data access and sparse observations prohibit application of the widely used PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) to North Korea for fine-resolution mapping of precipitation. A hybrid method which complements the PRISM grid with a sub-grid scale elevation function is suggested to estimate precipitation for remote areas with little data such as North Korea. The fine scale elevation - precipitation regressions for four sloping aspects were derived from 546 observation points in South Korea. A 'virtual' elevation surface at a 270 m grid spacing was generated by inverse distance weighed averaging of the station elevations of 78 KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) synoptic stations. A 'real' elevation surface made up from both 78 synoptic and 468 automated weather stations (AWS) was also generated and subtracted from the virtual surface to get elevation difference at each point. The same procedure was done for monthly precipitation to get the precipitation difference at each point. A regression analysis was applied to derive the aspect - specific coefficient of precipitation change with a unit increase in elevation. The elevation difference between 'virtual' and 'real' surface was calculated for each 270m grid points across North Korea and the regression coefficients were applied to obtain the precipitation corrections for the PRISM grid. The correction terms are now added to the PRISM generated low resolution (~2.4 km) precipitation map to produce the 270 m high resolution map compatible with those available for South Korea. According to the final product, the spatial average precipitation for entire territory of North Korea is 1,196 mm for a climatological normal year (1971-2000) with standard deviation of 298 mm.