• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.224-238
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• 2022

North Korea has actively participated in the international community related to environmental agreements. It has proposed various environmental policies internally since the Kim Jong-un regime. In particular, it emphasizes activities related to climate change response, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the conservation of ecosystems including forests and wetlands. In this study, a new security cooperation plan was proposed with an understanding of the climate crisis and environmental regime as a starting point. To this end, trends and recent activities for climate-environment cooperation in the international community and on the Korean Peninsula were analyzed. In addition, North Korea's conditions for cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, technology demand, and the projected future environment of the Korean Peninsula were dealt with. Ultimately, through advice of experts, we were able to discover cooperation agendas by sector and propose short-term and long-term environmental cooperation strategies for the Korean Peninsula based on them. In this study, conditions and directions for cooperation in fields of climate technology, biological resources, air/weather, water environment, biodiversity, renewable energy, bioenergy, and so on were considered comprehensively. Among 21 cooperation agendas discovered in this study, energy showed the largest number of areas. Renewable energy, forest resources, and environmental and meteorological information stood out as agendas that could be cooperated in the short term. As representative initiatives, joint promotion of 'renewable energy' that could contribute to North Korea's energy demand and carbon neutrality and 'forest cooperation' that could be recognized as a source of disaster reduction and greenhouse gas sinks were suggested.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2022

Fish assemblage of total 325 of Korean peninsula estuaries were surveyed to analyze the characteristics of community structure and diversity by sea areas for three years from 2016 to 2018. The scale (stream width) of Korean estuaries were various (14~3,356 m), and 68.9% of all estuaries showed salinity of less than 2 psu. Total 149 species classified into 52 families of fish were identified, and the dominant and sub-dominant species were Tribolodon hakonensis (relative abundance, RA, 12.5%) and Mugil cephalus (RA, 9.5%), respectively. The estuary of the Korean Peninsula had different physical and chemical habitat environments depending on the sea area, and accordingly, fish community structure also showed statistically significant differences (PERMANOVA, Pseudo-F=26.69, P=0.001). In addition, the NMDS (nonmetric multidimensional scaling) results showed the patterns that indicating fish community difference by sea areas, even though low community similarity within sea area (SIMPER, 21.79~26.39%). The estuaries of east sea areas were distinguished from the others in the aspects of which, the higher importance of migratory fishes and endangered species, and that of brackish species were characterized at south sea estuaries. However, the estuaries of west sea showed higher importance of species that have a relation with freshwater (primary freshwater species, exotic species), which is the result that associating with the lower salinity of west sea estuaries because of the high ratio of closed estuaries(78.2%). The SIMPER analysis, scoring the contribution rates of species to community similarity, also showed results corresponding to the tendency of different fish community structures according to each sea area. So far, In Korea, most studies on fish communities in estuaries have been conducted in a single estuary unit, which made it difficult to understand the characteristics of estuaries at the national level, which are prerequisite for policy establishment. In present study, we are providing fish community structure characteristics of Korean estuaries in a national scale, including diversity index, habitat salinity ranges of major species, distribution of migratory species. We are expecting that our results could be utilized as baseline information for establishing management policies or further study of Korean estuaries.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.207-217
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the current status of seagrass species in the Nakdong River estuary from May to June 2023. To survey the seagrass habitat area, the Nakdong River estuary was divided into seven zones. Aerial photography using drones was conducted to find seagrass areas, GPS tracking was carried out on foot in the intertidal zone and by boat and SCUBA diving in the subtidal zone. To analyze the seagrass status, we measured the morphological characteristics, shoot density, and biomass of representative seagrass species in each zone. Four seagrass species were found in this area: Zostera japonica, Z. marina, Ruppia maritima, and Phyllospadix japonicus. The distribution areas of each species was 338.2 ha, 92.9 ha, 0.9 ha, and 1.4 ha, respectively, with a total area of 432.5 ha. Z. japonica was widely distributed in most of the tidal flats and mudflats of the Nakdong River estuary, while Z. marina was restricted to Nulcha-do, Jinu-do, and Dadae-dong. R. maritima occurred within the habitat of Z. japonica in Eulsukdo and Myeongji mudflats, and P. japonicus inhabited rocky areas in Dadae-dong. The shoot density of each species was 4,575.8±338.3 shoots m^-2, 244.8±12.0 shoots m^-2, 11,302.1±290.0 shoots m^-2, and 2862.5±153.5 shoots m^-2, respectively. The biomass of each species was 239.7±18.5 gDW m^-2, 362.3±20.5 gDW m^-2, 33.3±1.2 gDW m^-2, and 1,290.0±37.0 gDW m^-2, respectively. The results of this study revealed that Z. japonica was dominant in the Nakdong River estuary. In particular, Z. japonica habitats of Eulsukdo, Daema-deung, and Myeongji mudflats were identified as the largest in Korea. The Nakdong River estuary is an important site of ecological, environmental, and economic value, and will require continuous investigation and management of the native seagrasses.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.148-155
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• 2024

This study investigated the ecological characteristics of Odontobutis platycephala at Jaho stream from January to December 2022. The riverbed structure of the species' habitat was rich in cobble and pebble. The water was deep, ranging from 22 to 153 cm, with an average of 64 cm, and the stream velocity was rapid at 0.89 (0.42-1.46) m/sec. The ratio of females to males was 1:1.02, and the total length of collected individuals ranged from 38 to 156 mm. The age according to the total length frequency distribution as of May indicated that the group with a total length of 38-69 mm was one year old, the group with 60-99 mm was two years old, the group with 100-139 mm was three years old, and the group 140-156 mm was four years or older. As a secondary gender characteristic, the genital papilla was cylindrical in females and cone-shaped with a pointed tip in males. Some females with a length ranging from 60 to 69 mm and all females 70 mm or longer were sexually mature. Some males with a length ranging from 70 to 79 mm and all males 80 mm or longer were sexually mature. The spawning season was from May to July, and the water temperature was between 17 ℃ and 28 ℃ during that period. The prosperous spawning season was June (24 ℃). The average number of eggs in the ovaries was 988 (284-2,722) per mature female, and the mature eggs were yellowish and spherical with a mean diameter of 1.46 (1.19-1.71) mm. The correlation between total length and body weight is BW=0.00000006TL^3.12 with the constant a as 0.00000006 and the parameter b as 3.12. The mean condition factor (K) was 1.44 (0.96-2.26), and the slope was negative at -0.0007

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.421-432
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• 1991

This study was conducted to investigate the intake of a kind of Gom-Tang (Beef soup made with internal organs and bone), which is the Korean traditional food, and factors affecting the eating behavior of customers. Two hundred male customers of a H Korean Restaurant specialized in Gom-Tang, which is a well-known restaurant in Seoul, were surveyed from June 26 to 29, 1990. The results were shown as follows. (1) ${\ulcorner}$Frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$ were very high. Those who took a kind of Gom-Tang ${\ulcorner}$more than once a week${\lrcorner}$ were 66.5% of the subjects. Those who evaluated ${\ulcorner}$good${\lrcorner}$ for the taste and flavor were 86.5% and 59.0% of the subjects, respectively. (2) The reasons why they chose a kind of Gom-Tang from among many Korean traditional foods were ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$phygiological condition${\lrcorner}$ in ${\ulcorner}$high frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group. ${\ulcorner}$Phygiological condition${\lrcorner}$ was more critical factor than ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$ in ${\ulcorner}$low frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group. (3) The effect of the intake of a kind of Gom-Tang on health was evaluated as ${\ulcorner}$healthy${\lrcorner}$ (80.5%). ${\ulcorner}$No effect${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$harmful${\lrcorner}$ were 30.5% and 6.5%, respectively. (4) ${\ulcorner}$High frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group, mainly more than 50 years of age, had a high ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$food knowledge${\lrcorner}$ as well as positive ${\ulcorner}$eating behavior${\lrcorner}$ and ${\ulcorner}$healthy state${\lrcorner}$, ${\ulcorner}$Middle frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group, mainly the forties, had a high ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$, but had less positive ${\ulcorner}$eating behavior${\lrcorner}$ than ${\ulcorner}$high frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group. ${\ulcorner}$Low frequency of intake${\lrcorner}$ group, mainly the twenties and thirties, had a medial ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$. They took a kind of Gom-Tang for reasons of ${\ulcorner}$on the recommendation of friends${\lrcorner}$ better than ${\ulcorner}$preference${\lrcorner}$. Foregoing results showed that ${\ulcorner}$a kind of Gom-Tang${\lrcorner}$ was a typical food recognized as ${\ulcorner}$healthy${\lrcorner}$ as well as ${\ulcorner}$delicious${\lrcorner}$. This may suggest that ${\ulcorner}$a kind of Gom-Tang${\lrcorner}$ is a candidate for the effective food on nutritional education.