• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.403-431
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• 2011

The environmental issues including domestic measures to protect public life or health are generally easy to bring the tension between the WTO and its member countries. The standard of review, whether de novo review, total deference, or somewhere in between, is largely important in the WTO's adjudicating mechanism because it is closely related to the appropriate balance of power between sovereign nations and the WTO: The multilateral trading regime, through the proper standard of review, could harmoniously operated without interest conflicts among the member countries and at the same time between the WTO and the member countries. Irrespective the important function of the standard of review in the WTO judicial system, applicable standard of review has not been established in the current SPS Agreement. Furthermore, the nature of the SPS Agreement related in scientific factors, such as scientific experiment, data and assessment prevents the WTO's panel from applying consistent standard of review. Considering the judicial demand for the moderate treatment of the case under the SPS Agreement, this paper explores appropriate standard of review applicable the SPS-related environmental measures, particularly, by analysing the recent SPS-related dispute, US-Hormones Suspension.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.43-69
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• 2008

The labor contract Law has been prepared as an important solution for social stability. After long disputes around the orientations of the law, On June 29, 2007, the new Chinese labor contract law is passed. This law reflects the changing labor relations because of economic reforms like restructuring of the state-owned enterprises and so on. This law contains more market-oriented clauses that are supplemented by corporatist scheme supported by trade unions than the first draft. This law emphasize labor's rights and interests to remove prior labor contract problem. So Chines government see this law as standard law to restructure social relationship and also require firms to corporate social responsibility. Therefore, implementation of the new Chinese labor contract law bring about increasing labor cost, infringement of autonomy for human resource management, rigidity of industrial relations. Under these situation, Korean shipping and port logistics companies need to introduce management system of minimized employment, prepare human resource management in response to long-term employment, maintain favor relationship with trade union, and set up counteiplan about risk of a labor dispute.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.23-44
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• 2014

This study examined the relationship between entrepreneurship, learning competence and the export performance of international new ventures that enterprises entering foreign markets immediately after starting their business in Korea, and the mediating effect of learning competence. A research framework was developed with two entrepreneurship factors(risk taking and innovativeness), learning competence factors, and export performance. Six hypotheses were proposed and tested on 115 samples using LISREL. Research findings suggest that the two entrepreneurship factors positively influenced learning competence. However, export performance was affected by only innovativeness. Also, the learning competence positively affected export performance. Learning competence was found to mediate between entrepreneurship and export performance.

• Strategy21
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• s.37
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• pp.104-143
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• 2015

China's new grand strategy, the "One Belt, One Road Initiative" (also Belt Road Initiative, or BRI) has two primary components: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the "Silk Road Economic Belt" in September 2013 during a visit to Kazakhstan, and the "21^st Century Maritime Silk Route Economic Belt" in a speech to the Indonesian parliament the following month. The BRI is intended to supply China with energy and new markets, and also to integrate the countries of Central Asia, the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), and the Indian Ocean Region - though not Northeast Asia - into the "Chinese Dream". The project will be supported by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), due to open in 2016 with 57 founding members from all around the world, and China has already promised US$ 50 billion in seed funding. China's vision includes networks of energy pipelines, railways, sea port facilities and logistics hubs; these will have obvious commercial benefits, but also huge geopolitical significance. China seems to have two distinct aims: externally, to restore its historical sphere of influence; and internally, to cope with income inequalities by creating middle-class jobs through enhanced trade and the broader development of its economy. In South Korea, opinion on the BRI is sharply polarized. Economic and industrial interests, including Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), support South Korean involvement in the BRI and closer economic interactions with China. They see how the BRI fits nicely with President Park Geun-hye's Eurasia Initiative, and anticipate significant commercial benefits for South Korea from better connections to energy-rich Russia and the consumer markets of Europe and Central Asia. They welcome the prospect of reduced trade barriers between China and South Korea, and of improved transport infrastructure, and perceive the political risks as manageable. But some ardently pro-US pundits worry that the political risks of the BRI are too high. They cast doubt on the feasibility of implementing the BRI, and warn that although it has been portrayed primarily in economic terms, it actually reveals a crucial Chinese geopolitical strategy. They are fearful of China's growing regional dominance, and worried that the BRI is ultimately a means to supplant the prevailing US-led regional security structure and restore the Middle Kingdom order, with China as the only power that matters in the region. According to this view, once China has complete control of the regional logistics hubs and sea ports, this will severely limit the autonomy of China's neighbors, including South Korea, who will have to toe the Chinese line, both economically and politically, or risk their own peace and prosperity.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.81-98
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• 2021

As Korea declared that the entire country is free from ISA (Infectious salmon anaemia) based on the OIE aquatic code in 2019, it is necessary to improve the import quarantine system that meets the level of ISA management in Korea. Currently, Korea imports Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout from countries which have history of ISA outbreak such as Norway and the United States, so there is a constant possibility that trade with these countries will bring ISAV (Infectious salmon anaemia virus) into Korea. Therefore, some amendments to the Aquatic Life Diseases Control Act (ALDCA) are needed to prevent the entry of ISAV into the Korea through international trade. The amendment to the ALDCA should contain a list of countries, zones or compartments that the Korean competent authority has allowed or banned imports of ISA-susceptible fish. In addition, the subordinate statutes or administrative rules of the ALDCA need to be revised so that on-site inspections/audit can be conducted for the evaluation of the ISA management system in exporting countries. After the revision of the subordinate statutes or administrative rules, it is necessary to strengthen the present import conditions in line with those that meet the level of ISA management in Korea. As for the strengthened import conditions, the competent authorities of exporting countries must export only salmonid fish produced in zones or compartments declared freedom of ISA to Korea, and must prove through lab-testing that ISAV should not be detected in the fish exporting to Korea. In addition, official veterinarians/fish health professionals of the exporting country should check the health status of the fish within 72 hours prior to export. Also, competent authorities of the exporting countries must attest that fish storage containers and water, ice and other equipment used for transportation should be cleaned and disinfected to avoid contamination with pathogens, including ISA. Therefore, the proposed measures presented here will further improve the current import condition for salmonid fish and assist decision-making on strategies to reduce the risk of ISA introduction into Korea. Also, it is expected to contribute to maintain the status of ISA-free country.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.199-221
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• 2018

The internationalization of venture firms is of importance resulting from the increased opportunities as well as the entry barriers faced in this process. This study is to investigate barrier factors affecting Korean venture firms' internationalization. Among these factors, we measured relative weights using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Literatures regarding global firm's internationalization was reviewed, and barriers were classified environment, corporate and CEO barriers. Multiple variables were used in order to measure their relative significance. We surveyed executives of venture firms comprising two groups: first, 15 global venture firms, and secondly, gradually internationalizing firms. The two groups show contradictory results as environment barriers are the primary for born-global ventures and corporate barriers are the primary for gradually internationalizing ventures. Concerning corporate barriers, the lack of marketing capability is the highest barrier for both groups. The CEO barrier is the lowest for both groups. Regarding corporate barriers, gradually internationalizing ventures considers the risk of business as highest, whereas born-global ventures features the lack of R&D capacity as highest Results of this paper imply that firms should consider priority and sequential approaches in facing environment, corporate and CEO barriers.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.203-229
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• 2016

Korean general trading companies had started their business to benchmark and to adopt the successful new business models of the Japanese ones. Nevertheless, the strategic gaps between Korean and Japanese GTCs, Sogo-Shosha, still exist, including financial profitability and managerial competencies. In this regard, it is academically and practically required to find out the differences between Korean and Japanese GTCs. This study overviews the previous researches and the business cases to understand the features of GTCs and to get recent and meaningful factors which are related with the rebirth of Sogo-Shosha. Thereafter, in-depth interviews with industry experts and scholars and subsequent investigations were also conducted to suggest meaningful implications for both academicians and practitioners with the found factors. This study suggests four fundamental differences between the Korean and Japanese GTCs: ① the origin and growth path, ② business ownership, governance strategies and contracts management, ③ availabilities of investment portfolio and risk management, ④ business operation system and organizational culture. This study suggests meaningful implications for Korean GTCs to apply the experiences and lessons learned from Japanese Sogo-Shosha into their own business.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.189-208
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• 2023

This paper analyzed the dynamic conditional correlation between the Korean ETS market, energy market and stock market. This paper conducted an empirical analysis using daily data of Korea's carbon credit trading price, WTI crude oil futures price, and KOSPI index from February 2, 2015 to December 30, 2021. First, the volatility of the three markets was analyzed using the GARCH model, and then the dynamic conditional correlations between the three markets were studied using the bivariate DCC-GARCH model. The research results are as follows. First, it was found that the Korean ETS market has a higher rate of return and higher investment risk than the stock market. Second, the yield volatility of the Korean ETS market was found to be most affected by external shocks and least affected by the volatility information of the market itself. Third, the correlation between the Korean ETS market and the stock market was stronger than that of the WTI crude oil futures market. This paper analyzed the correlation between the Korean ETS market, energy market, and stock market and confirmed that the level of financialization in the Korean ETS market is quite low.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.361-374
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• 2015

Endocirne disruptors (EDs) can cause fertility decrease, developmental disorder, and even cancer in animals. Until 90's, EDs were used in various synthetic products including paints, coatings, detergents, plastics, and plasticizers. Currently, in several countries, the production, trade and use of EDs or EDs-suspected chemicals have been regulated while activity to screen the alternatives for EDs including bisphenol-A, phthalate and nonylphenol is active. Although various toxicity test method was developed and applied for screening of alternatives, however, the safety of alternatives has been not fully demonstrated. Some alternatives have high structural similarity with existing EDs, raising the possible risk of endocrine disruption by alternatives. In an effort to develop the safe alternatives, we reviewed the effects of EDs such as bisphenol-A, phthalates, nonylphenol and their substituents. In addition, in-silico analysis for endocrine disrupting activities of some alternatives was presented.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to investigate empirically the characteristics of financial structure by using 76 fisheries corporations in Korea, and to suggest implications of the empirical results for government's financial policy for fisheries corporations. For the empirical test, we choose the following factors as the explanatory variables of cross-sectional regression analysis:firm-size(SIZE), collateral value of assets(TFATA), business risk(BRISK), growth(GROWTH), effective tax(ET), profitability(PROFIT). Two different debt ratios are used as dependent variables. One is defined as the ratio of total debt to total assets and the other is as that of long-term debt to total asset in terms of book value. The sample consists of 76 fisheries firms and sample period is 14 years from 1982 till 1995. From the results of cross-sectional regression analysis, the adjusted R$^2$values were high, 16∼79% and the overall F values indicated to be statistically significant. The results of cross sectional regression analysis show that the characteristics of financial structure fur fisheries corporations are as follows ; (1) Firm-size and collateral value of assets are the major factors of financial structure for fisheries corporations. That is, the larger firm-size the higher is debt ratio. This means that financial institutions conventionally lend more collateral loans with fixed assets like land, building rather than management capacities or credits. (2) To be consistent with a pecking-order theory, the higher is profitability the lower is debt ratio in fisheries corporations. (3) Corporations with high effective tax rate have lower financial leverage. Although the empirical results are inconsistent with traditional static trade-off theory, we think it would be attributed to government's various tax shelterings for fisheries which are likely to reduce tax shield effect of interests.