• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.48-56
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• 2023

Background: Few studies have assessed exposure to chemicals in the context of environmental vulnerability with a focus on exposure among populations living in certain geographical areas. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate cadmium exposure levels and kidney damage indices in environmentally and socioeconomically vulnerable populations, with further subgrouping according to economic status. Methods: Four areas were selected to represent geographical vulnerability (two environmentally vulnerable populations and two socioeconomically vulnerable populations). Among them, population groups with lower socioeconomic status (SES) were separately classified. Urinary cadmium (UCd), beta2-microglobulin (β2-MG), and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) levels were analyzed in samples from 245 residents of these four areas. Results: Geometric means of concentrations of UCd (0.97~2.02 ㎍/g creatinine) in all selected populations (N, 245; mean age, 67.8~70.9 years old) were higher than the national reference values (0.39 for adults and 0.78 ㎍/g creatinine for people in their 60s). Participants with a lower SES had higher UCd and NAG concentrations than did non-low SES participants. In the lower SES group, there was a significant association between UCd and NAG concentrations; however, there was no such correlation in the non-low SES group. Conclusions: Consistent with the findings of previous studies evaluating chemical exposure and associated health effects in specific populations, the findings of this study suggest that individuals with a low SES may be more vulnerable to exposure and related health effects.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.305-313
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• 2023

With an increasing interest in the commercialization of research results in the present societal climate, especially in the construction industry, preliminary product analysis plays a critical role when introducing a new product to the market. It significantly influences the product's success or failure. In this context, this study aims to investigate the utility of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) as a management strategy tool for preliminary analysis in the commercialization of new architectural technologies. The study specifically assesses a smart ball product engineered for pipeline inspection. The evaluation is carried out based on product quality, convenience, and usability categories. Seventeen factors are recognized as sub-items, and a survey is conducted among relevant experts and consumer groups. From the survey, four key items are chosen: "Keep up the good work," "Concentrate here," "Low priority," and "Possible overkill." Suitable strategic measures are derived for each item. By conducting a correlation analysis between product importance and performance, this study offers a method to establish priority directions for future development. This analysis assists in identifying areas that necessitate improvement or additional focus to increase the product's commercial potential. On the whole, this study contributes to understanding and applying Importance-Performance Analysis as a valuable tool in the preliminary analysis and commercialization of novel technologies in the field of architecture.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.145-166
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• 2022

Purpose - The field of online videos has seen rapid changes in information and communications technology (ICT) development. Despite active academic research on the use of online platforms, few studies have analyzed the relative importance among the factors determined. In this study, the relative importance of factors found in previous studies was identified for users of online video platforms in China and Korea. Through this, factors that should be considered first in research on online video use were derived. In addition, the quality level of online video platforms currently used in China and Korea was measured and used for analysis. The analysis results can provide information for companies to enter Chinese and Korean markets and also be useful to platform providers aiming to increase usage. Design/methodology - Among the factors of Online Video Usage identified in previous studies, 13 factors to be studied were selected through focus group interviews and hierarchized into 2 layers. For the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), each factor was designed as a pairwise comparison questionnaire. The survey included questions on the quality of online video platform currently in use. Data collection was conducted on 16 platforms in China and 11 platforms in Korea, and the relative importance of factors and user perspectives was compared and analyzed using importance performance analysis (IPA). In the analytical process, platforms were divided into over-the-top (OTT) group and Creator group according to the weight of user-generated content, and data analysis focused on these groups. Findings - As a result of AHP, China and Korea showed both "Fun" and "Interests" factors at the top, while the importance of the Entertainment factor "Vicarious satisfaction" was very different for China and Korea. "Relationship with content creators" was the most important factor in China, but it ranked the lowest in Korea. The IPA showed that the factors with high importance and performance were fun, interests, and easy accessibility for both China and Korea. In contrast, the factors that showed low performance compared to high importance in China were relationship with content creators, relationship with acquaintances/friends, and trustworthiness. As for Korea, vicarious satisfaction was observed; thus, this study has raised the need for academic and industrial interest in vicarious satisfaction. The results show that fun, interests, vicarious satisfaction, and easy accessibility of the platform are factors that must be included in further studies on online videos. Originality/value - Existing studies related to the use of online platforms have derived factors or focused on the influence relationship between factors and performance. However, few studies have analyzed the relative importance among the determined factors. This paper explores factors to be considered in future studies by deriving the relative importance between these factors from the perspective of users in China and Korea.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.23
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• pp.347-358
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• 2016

The design of children's hospitals is highly dependent on color schemes. As a space shared together by both adults and children, the design of children's hospitals require color coordination that takes account of the users' characteristics. However, because the majority of prior research on color perception has focused overly on the emotional aspects, there is a necessity for more rational and scientific analyses to identify the characteristics of the visual perception of colors. Adopting this perspective in analyzing the characteristics of the visual perception of colors, this study aims to move beyond the abstract to focus on more objective methods, such as eye-tracking experiments, to examine the characteristics of hospital visitors' visual attention with respect to colors. Visual perception tracking experiment was conducted on the 2 chosen experimental images with a target group made up of adults and children, the following results were found. Firstly, spaces created with the preference colors of the different groups were found to develop a characteristic of developing higher attention. Secondly, observing the common tendencies for attention for adults and children, the highest region for visual concentration was formed towards the middle, as attention progresses to lower stages visually focused area changes in the order of upper-middle, left and right, and lower regions and edge regions show characteristics of not triggering attention Thirdly, it is understood that children's level of attention drops a lot faster than adults when identifying space therefore it is suspected that children need more elaborate color coordination than adults.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.211-241
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• 2023

With rapidly changing technological implementation of operating systems of businesses, the Ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been undergoing digital transformation to its overall operations with the intent to innovate information and knowledge management (IKM) strategies since the mid-2000s. However, assessment as to the effectiveness of implemented IKM has been inadequately analyzed. This study aims to assess the concepts and limitations of the MOFA's current IKM strategies and the methods it employs to deliver its IKM framework, in light of strengthening the organizational ambidexterity and absorptive capacity, and also fostering organizational innovation through a qualitative study that involves interviews and analysis of reports from MOFA. The MOFA's IKM possesses dynamic capabilities to adapt to changing digital technologies. However, the institution's IKM is constrained by limitations associated with the utilization of the IKM system such as a structure that handles confidential documents and a lack of a collaborative system for IKM, and external limitations such as changes in the domestic political situation governing MOFA's priorities and the hierarchy of government organizations. Consequently, developing the organizational ambidexterity and absorptive capacity was not possible. To develop an IKM framework for organizational innovation, the MOFA must devise a way to minimize the impact of external changes by overcoming internal limitations. To that end, a detailed study on the development of a practically usable IKM system should include establishing a dialogue between job groups and enhancing employee competency in preparation for a changing environment.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.733-749
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• 2011

The purpose of this research are as follows. The first is to investigate the mediating effect of interpersonal skill on the relationship between the ability to use Internet and social activity among the 50's and 60's. The second is to compare 60's latent mean of core variables with 50's ones in terms of information gap. The data was Seoul welfare panel data made by Seoul welfare foundation in 2008 and the total subject was 941(50's=644, 60's=297). When it comes to the research methods, structured equation analysis for verifying the mediating effect and latent mean analysis for comparing the two groups were practiced. The results of this research are as follows. First of all, interpersonal skill did function as partial mediator. Second, according to the latent mean analysis, the group of 50's showed a more higher level of the ability to use Internet. On the other hand, the group of 60's revealed a more active social participation. In conclusion, Information educational programs should focus on Internet communication skill for enhancing social activities of the elderly and consider the differentiations among the elder generations.

• The Korean Journal of Woman Psychology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.97-113
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• 2011

The current study was conducted to explore the relations among college students' narcissistic personality, depression, and psychopathy. This study investigated how narcissistic personality and depression variables relate to psychopathy variables. For this purpose, an assessment battery consisting of Narcissistic Personality Inventory(NPI), Narcissistic Personality Disorder Scale: NPDS), BDI, Self-Reported Psychopathy Scale(SRPS), and Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised. PPI-R was administered to 1003 college students (501 males and 502 females). For comparison with the levels of pathological narcissism, the participants were devided two groups( above 33%, below 33% ) based on their scores of the NPDS, According to the results, males had more overt narcissistic personality, and females felt more depressive and psychopathic. The higher level group on the NPDS had higher scores on the NPI, BDI, SRPS and PPI-R. The students' narcissistic personality had relations to depression and psychopathy, but the results were different according to the kind of inventories(PPI-R or SRPS, NPI or NPDS). The implications and limitations of this study, as well as some suggestions for future research, were suggested.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1-32
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to investigate upon a diversification strategy through market creation of CJ Group, which has contributed in positioning of the firm as one of the leading conglomerates in South Korea. With such objective, the background of CJ Group, followed by its business diversification strategies were explored, with reference to several case studies. The history of CJ Group began with establishment of CheilJedang Industrial Corporation in 1953, as the first domestic sugar producer and exporter of South Korea. The corporation gradually expanded its business ever since at both national and global level, to include the fields of food production, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life chemicals. Later, CheilJedang (CJ) Group was established as an affiliate of CheilJedang Industrial Corporation. With such independence, extension of business has been witnessed across the industries of media, entertainment, finance, information technology and distribution. Thus, the current CJ Group pursues to define itself as a progressive global living culture company with four major business categories from food and food service, biotechnology, entertainment and media, and logistics. Despite its success in today's market, CJ Group underwent hardships in its business diversification in 1990s due to indiscreet management, along with the Asian financial crisis. Here, many firms overcame the financial difficulties by taking advantage of the exchange rate for overseas expansion. Though, CJ Group tried to differentiate itself by focusing on the domestic market by creating something out of nothing. Hence, CJ Group takes a unique position among many cases of business diversification and their categorization. In an effort to identify and classify the types of growth experienced by the top 30 companies in South Korea, the firms were categorized into four groups according to their diversification strategies adapted after the Asian financial crisis. Based on the mode and time of entry, corporations were identified either as the 'Explorer', 'Invader', 'Venture Capitalist', or 'Assimilator'. Here, the majority of the firms showed the qualities of Invader, entering mature markets through large-scaled mergers and acquisitions. However, CJ Group was the only firm that was categorized as an Explorer, for its focus on the newly emerging service sector in culture-contents industry. This diversification strategy through market creation is worth examining, due to its contribution in generating simultaneous growth between the market and the company itself. Diverse brands of CJ Group have been referred to as case studies in this regard, from 'Hatban', 'Cine de Chef', 'VIPS' to 'CJ GLS'. These four businesses, each to represent processed food, film, restaurant service, and logistics industries respectively, show CJ Group's effectiveness in creating a whole new category of goods and services that are innovative. In fact, such businesses not only contributed in advancement of consumers' wellbeing, but toward generating additional value and employment. It is true that the diversification strategy of CJ Group requires long-term capital investment with high risk, compared to the other strategies mentioned in the paper. However, this model does create high employment and additional values that are positive to both the society and the firm itself. Therefore, the paper comes to a conclusion that the diversification strategy through market creation conveys the most positive impact relative to the others.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.155-176
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• 2014

The previous researches of gambling have been rather focused on the legal gambling industry and gambling addiction and ignored the issue of illegal gambling. But, illegal gambling in Korea has been continuously growing in its volume and the numbers of the relevant mental and social problems such as gambling addiction, crimes, suicides, and etc. have been increasing rapidly. The present study investigated the psychological characteristics of illegal gamblers with comparing gamblers who never experienced illegal gambling (NE), who experienced illegal gambling but participate mainly in legal gambling (EIG), and who participate mainly in illegal gambling (MIG). 1317 NEs, 177 EIGs, and 37 MIGs were recruited and completed an online survey that measured individual dispositions (risk-taking tendency, regulatory focus, locus of control), attitudes towards gambling regulations, misconception of illegal gambling, motives (monetary, excitement, socialization), and emotions. First, EIGs and MIGs, compared to NEs, preferred risk-taking, and EIGs were more promotion focused than NEs. Also, EIGs perceived illegal gambling as less illegal and tended to hold more misconceptions about illegal gambling, compared to NEs. Furthermore, EIGs and MIGs had stronger monetary and excitement motivation than NEs. Finally, MIGs were more likely to feel anxious than other groups. Focusing on the illegality of gambling, the characteristics of illegal gamblers are discussed and political implication on illegal gambling is suggested.

• Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.190-208
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• 2018

Objectives To initiate and develop a treatment guideline in multidisciplinary approaches for related professions who are either working and/or living with children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders who show behavioral problems. Methods To collect and reflect opinions from multiple professions who assumedly have different interventions or mediations on behavioral problems, a self-report survey and Focus Group Interview (FGI) were conducted for a group of child and adolescent psychiatrists, behavioral therapists, special education teachers, social welfare workers, and caregivers. Results According to a self-report survey and FGI results from multiple professional groups, aggressive behavior is the mostly common behavioral problem necessitating urgent interventions. However, both mainly used intervention strategies and effective treatment methods were different depending on professional backgrounds, such as pharmacological treatment, parent training, and behavior therapy, even though they shared an importance of improving communication skills. In addition, there was a common understanding of necessity to include parent training in a guideline. Lastly the data suggested lack of proper treatment facilities, qualified behavior therapists, and lack of standardized treatment guideline in the field needed to be improved for a quality of current therapeutic services. Conclusion It is supported that several subjects should be included in the guidelines, such as how to deal with aggressive behavior, parent training, and biological aspects of neurodevelopmental disorders. Also, it is expected that publishing the guideline would be helpful to above multiple professions as it is investigated that there are lack of treatment facility and qualified behavioral therapists compared to need at the moment.