A Time-Series Energy Input-Output Analysis for Building an Infrastructure for the Energy and Environment Policy in South Korea

Over the past 10 years, South Korea has chosen inconsistent strategies with respect to the US–South Korea alliance. On the one hand, Seoul disagreed with Washington about the extended role of United States Forces Korea and the deployment of US missile defence systems in East Asia. On the other hand, these problems ironically coincided with South Korea's strong support for the USA in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. What explains the inconsistency of South Korea's alliance policies? Major schools of thought in international relations have offered explanations, but their analyses are deficient and indeterminate. This article looks at the South Korea–China–North Korea triangle as a new approach to explaining the puzzling behaviour of South Korea. The model shows that South Korea's alliance policies are driven by two causal variables. First, North Korea is an impelling force for South Korea to remain as a strong US alliance partner. This encourages Seoul to maintain cooperation with Washington in wide-ranging alliance tasks. Second, South Korea's policies are likely to reflect the way the nation perceives how useful China is in taming North Korea. The perceived usefulness of China causes Seoul to accommodate China and decrease cooperation with the USA. This might strain the relationship with the USA should South Korea evade alliance missions that might run contrary to China's security interests.

Since the beginning of the Sunshine Policy, South Korea has pursued a flexible and moderate engagement and economic policy towards North Korea, even at the cost of increased tensions with Washington. But while South Korea's policy on inter-Korean relations has undergone a fundamental change, its security policy continues to be rather conservative, firmly grounded in Cold War parameters. This disparity between South Korea's foreign and security policies forms the theme of this chapter. It argues that the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun era should be regarded as a hedging period during which South Korea has sought to change the North's behaviour and interests, while at the same time it has continued with its conservative security policy. The chapter concludes that unless North Korean relations with South Korea and with other regional states, including security relations, undergo some fundamental transformation, the disparity between South Korea's engagement and security policies will continue. Keywords: Cold War; Kim Dae-jung; North Korea; Roh Moo-hyun; security policies; South Korea; Sunshine Policy; Washington

Effectively addressing today’s energy challenges requires advanced technologies along with policies that influence economic markets while advancing the public good.

What is the origin of South Korea's North Korea policy under the Moon Jae-in presidency? Are there any underlying assumptions and perspectives behind this policy? What kind of ideas and values have played out in South Korea's policy toward North Korea? By both exploring the idea of nationalism in current world politics and showing its influence on South Korea's policy discourse and orientation, in this article we argue that nationalism is still a powerful political ideology that affects state foreign policy and plays out as a strong variable in trying to make sense of South Korea's North Korea policy. To test this argument, we analyze recent inter-Korean interactions and illustrate how ethnic nationalism shaped the Moon administration's North Korea policy. As long as ethnic nationalism dominates policy debates and affects the policy orientation, the prospect of inter-Korean relations will not be promising.

IntroductionThis article focuses on the role of identity in the formation of South Korea's foreign policy behavior. Given its geopolitical location at the intersection of neighboring powers' strategic and economic calculations, Korea has been profoundly influenced by the fluctuating regional environment. Indeed, it has inhabited different identities in relation to neighboring countries at different historical junctures. For example, throughout the Japanese occupation of 1910-1945, the Korean War of 1950-1953, and the Cold War, different identities took the form of opposition to Japan, and then North Korea, that is,. an adversarial identity; and, in the case of the U.S., an associational identity.With the demise of the Cold War it was assumed that tension on the Korean Peninsula would ease. In addition, the Republic of Korea's (ROK) dramatic policy shifttoward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), exemplified in President Roh Tae-woo's 7/7 Announcement in 1988-calling for peaceful coexistence-generated an expectation that inter-Korean relations would improve. Indeed, the South's rapprochement toward the North during the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moohyun governments resulted in significantly improved relations. One outcome was the emergence of an affirmative associational national identity toward Pyongyang. However, these rapprochement approaches were abruptly halted by the Lee Myung-bak government.This alerts us to the problematized nature of the South's sense of national identity vis-a-vis the North. An affirmative identity collided with the archetypical adversarial and sat uneasily with serious concerns about Pyongyang's emerging nuclear ambitions, a development which had begun to reshape the post-Cold War regional security environment and to pose a serious challenge to South Korea. This article argues that the essential tension around the nature of changing ROK national identities toward the DPRK holds the key to understanding the sources of Seoul's different foreign policy behaviors.The article proceeds in three parts: firstly, it explores the constructivist analysis, which argues that identity-constructs drive a state's behavior. Building on a critique of the conventional constructivist approach, it suggests how the key concept, identity, recurrently addressed in conventional constructivist texts, might be refreshed, and introduces an alternative analysis of a state's foreign policy development. Secondly, it explores the formation of South Korea's national identity toward North Korea during the Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003), Roh Moo-hyun (2003-2008), and Lee Myung-bak (2008-) governments, and examines how national identity has been constructed and reconstructed in the interplay of domestic, regional and international political realities. It develops a typology that sets out the different ROK policy manifestations and investigates its foreign policy behavior by exploring the historical development of inter-Korean relations and examining the continuities and discontinuities of policy behavior toward North Korea from 1998 onwards. It traces the emergence of the contested nontraditional national identity adopted by South Korea (i.e., affirmative identification toward North Korea), examines how it shaped conceptions of national interests, and investigates subsequent policy outcomes. To conclude, it synthesizes and reflects on theoretical and empirical findings and briefly explores policy implications.Theoretical ApproachesStates determine policy in response to external threats, not only according to the distribution of power and interest, but also to the weight of ideas. The article focuses on how a state may develop a range of foreign policy options based on identity.Conventional ApproachesThe concept of identity has achieved scholarly recognition in recent mainstream international relations ( IR) debate. One result has been a marriage between mainstream IR schools of thought and conventional constructivism. …

Low-carbon production of iron and steel: Technology options, economic assessment, and policy

We provide a comprehensive review of family policy in South Korea (Korea hereafter) for international readers. Alarmed by recent social and demographic changes, the Korean government has started to establish explicit family policies from the mid 2000s. These policies have signified a symbolic attention shift to family matters in the history of social policy in Korea. In this paper, we focus on three areas of family policy: (a) work-family policies, (b) a healthy family policy, and (c) a policy for multi-cultural families. Work-family policies aim to help working families with young children balance work responsibilities and family caregiving through multiple leave options and child care support. The Framework Act on Healthy Families, the first explicit family policy in Korea, requires local governments to provide family services through Healthy Family Support Centers. The Multi-Cultural Family Support Act also established a formal support system for multi-cultural families with immigrant spouses, a population group that has recently increased in Korea. We further discuss the domestic and comparative contexts of Korean family policy and provide suggestions for the remaining challenges.

Purpose This paper aims to present the trajectory of corporate family-friendly policies (FFPs) in South Korea, as it evolved from an emerging economy to a developed country. The adoption of FFPs by South Korean corporations since the 1960s has been shaped by a dynamic interplay of cultural, political, economic, legal, social and organizational forces. The authors use the example of South Korea to propose a three-stage conceptual model for the adoption of FFPs in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach Adopting the institution-based view, the authors explore the theoretical framework for implementing FFPs in corporations in emerging economies. This paper uses South Korea as a case study, reviewing its economic and corporate transitions from the early 1960s through 2023. The authors analyze cultural and macro-level forces, including political, economic, legal and social contexts to understand their impact on the adoption of FFPs. Findings The adoption of FFPs in South Korea encompassed three historical stages – embryonic, stagnant and leaping. The embryonic stage brought the birth of social interest in a worker-friendly environment, alongside rapid economic growth. In the stagnant stage, economic growth plateaued, resulting in stalled discussions of FFPs. In the leaping stage, economic recovery raised employee expectations, societal demands for FFPs to address ultralow fertility rates intensified and corporations adopted FFPs. All three stages are apparent in an emerging economy that is undergoing rapid growth and industrialization. Originality/value There has been scant investigation into the historical adoption of FFPs by emerging economies. The findings enrich the international literature by proposing a developmental model of the adoption of FFPs in emerging economies.

The Problem of Social Cost

Since its introduction, telemedicine for patients with chronic diseases has been studied in various clinical settings. However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness and medical safety of the nationwide adoption of telemedicine. This study aimed to analyze the effects of telemedicine on chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic under a temporary telemedicine policy in South Korea using national claims data. Health insurance claims data were extracted over 2 years: 1 year before (from February 24, 2019, to February 23, 2020) and 1 year after the policy was implemented (from February 24, 2020, to February 23, 2021). We included all patients who used telemedicine at least once in the first year after the policy was implemented and compared them with a control group of patients who never used telemedicine. The comparison focused on health care use; the medication possession ratio (MPR); and admission rates to general wards (GWs), emergency departments (EDs), and intensive care units (ICUs) using difference-in-differences analysis. A total of 4 chronic diseases were targeted: hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and common mental disorders. A total of 1,773,454 patients with hypertension; 795,869 patients with DM; 37,460 patients with COPD; and 167,084 patients with common mental disorders were analyzed in this study. Patients diagnosed with hypertension or DM showed increased MPRs without an increase in GW, ED, or ICU admission rates during the policy year. Moreover, patients in the DM group who did not use telemedicine had higher rates of ED, GW, and ICU admissions, and patients in the hypertension group had higher rates of GW or ICU admissions after 1 year of policy implementation. This trend was not evident in COPD and common mental disorders. The temporary telemedicine policy was effective in increasing medication adherence and reducing admission rates for patients with hypertension and DM; however, the efficacy of the policy was limited for patients with COPD and common mental disorders. Future studies are required to demonstrate the long-term effects of telemedicine policies with various outcome measures reflecting disease characteristics.

This article provides an overview of the national sport policy in South Korea (Korea, hereafter). The article is organized into four sections. The first section briefly describes the government’s involvement in sport and various landmarks in the development of Korean sport policy. In the second section, the current administrative structure and funding is discussed, focusing on the machinery of government, the body responsible for sport. The third section studies the significance of the not-for-profit and commercial sectors and their involvement with public policy in sport. The final section identifies several emergent public policy priorities and funding trends, and discusses the importance of sport as a political issue.

The asymmetric information is originally economic theory explaining why the market works imperfectly. However, asymmetric information is a common phenomenon that can be found easily in governments as well as in markets. A problem of crime control policy in South Korea stems from the asymmetric information. The problem is that the Korean National Police (KNP) have all information about crime but the KNP usually do not publicize it. As a result, the community knows little about crime activity and this imbalance of crime information has made it very difficult for the KNP and the community to work effectively to fight against crimes. Furthermore, the lack of communication has created the detrimental public relations for the KNP. For the problem of the crime control policy in Korea, increasing the channels of communication between the KNP and the public should be suggested as a remedy. However, before founding various communication channels with the public, it should be achieved as premises that the KNP firstly build more accurate crime report system and establish reliable crime statistics. The problem of asymmetric information of the KNP can only be resolved if the KNP establish the transparent crime statistics and increase communication channels to service essential crime information to the public. With this vital crime information, the community is expected to make a better decision about their safety issues. By the same token, the ameliorated public relations of the KNP are anticipated. This study is to analyze relevant information on asymmetric information and suggest recommendations for the KNP to solve this problem.

BackgroundStrong public support can increase the likelihood of adopting tobacco control policies. We assessed support for six commercial tobacco endgame policies in South Korea: limiting the nicotine in cigarettes, banning...

IntroductionWhile many countries have successfully promoted generic drug use, South Korea faces challenges with low utilization and high expenditure shares, despite various policy reforms. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of generic drug policies in South Korea, by comparing the prices, competition, and usage trends of generic drugs between South Korea and the Group of Twenty (G20) countries.MethodsWe analyzed 26 off-patent active ingredients marketed in South Korea and G20 countries from 2014 to 2023. Generic drug prices were calculated by dividing total sales by total volume in 2023, with the average price for each country subsequently determined. Generic competition was measured by the number of generic drugs available in each country. The usage trends of generic drugs were assessed using the sales and volume ratios of off-patent original drugs to generic drugs in 2023.ResultsSouth Korea had more generic drugs for 19 of the 26 analyzed ingredients (73.1%) compared to other G20 countries. However, for recently off-patent ingredients, the number of generic drugs was smaller in South Korea. The generic prices for 18 ingredients (69.2%) were lower in South Korea than in the G20 and Advanced Eight (A8) countries. Similar to the generic competition, generics with larger market sizes had higher prices in South Korea. Conversely, the prices of recently off-patent ingredients were higher in South Korea compared to the G20 countries. For 24 ingredients (92.3%), the sales and volume ratios of generic drugs in South Korea were considerably lower compared to the G20 countries.ConclusionThis study confirms that the pharmaceutical policies and regulatory frameworks for generic drug are fragmented and inefficient in South Korea. Consequently, these fragmented and inefficient policies disrupt the virtuous cycle mechanism of generic price and usage driven by effective competition. To address these challenges and promote the use of generic drugs, the findings of this study suggest the need to develop and implement policies in South Korea that focus on optimizing the pharmaceutical expenditure structure, enhancing post-listing price management system for generic drugs, supporting the accelerated development of generic drugs, and promoting the prescription and use of generic drugs.

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 “双碳”目标下闽三角碳排放脱钩状态及驱动机制分析 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202201270257 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划项目（2016YFC0502902） Decoupling status and driving mechanisms of carbon emissions in the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian under "carbon peaking and neutrality" goals Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFC0502902) 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:快速城市化背景下，建设低碳城市群是实现"双碳"目标的最佳方式。在碳排放核算的基础上，使用Tapio脱钩模型和LMDI方法对闽三角以及厦门、漳州和泉州的脱钩状态和碳排放的驱动机制进行了研究。主要结论如下：（1）2005-2017年闽三角碳排放和人均碳排放均持续增加，二者有相同的变化趋势。闽三角的工业中心泉州有最高的碳排放和人均碳排放。发展型城市漳州碳排放最低，但碳排放和人均碳排放增长率均最高。服务型城市厦门碳排放增长率最低。（2）闽三角的脱钩状态逐渐改善，平均脱钩系数为1.03，脱钩状态为扩张性连接。厦门、漳州和泉州的平均脱钩系数分别为0.45、2.70和1.10，3个城市分别以弱脱钩、扩张负脱钩和扩张性连接状态为主。（3）人均GDP和人口规模是闽三角碳排放的正向因素，能源结构和能源强度是负向因素。正向因素的贡献在下降，负向因素的贡献在升高。人均GDP和能源结构分别对漳州和厦门碳排放有最强的促进和抑制效应。能源强度对3个城市碳排放变化的效应不同。（4）人口扩张促进碳排放增加，使碳排放与经济发展无法脱钩。人口规模对闽三角碳减排无脱钩努力。能源结构优化和能源强度下降有助于碳排放与经济发展脱钩，是闽三角碳减排的强脱钩努力和弱脱钩努力。能源强度对泉州碳减排无脱钩努力。优化能源结构是闽三角实现碳减排和"双碳"目标的关键。已经脱钩的厦门宜尽早制定碳达峰行动计划，引领闽三角的碳达峰行动。漳州可通过升级产业结构实现减排。泉州必须提升能源效率才能降低碳排放。 Abstract:Developing low-carbon urban agglomeration is the best way to achieve "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" goals under the background of rapid urbanization. Based on carbon emissions accounting, the Tapio decoupling model and the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method are utilized to analyze the decoupling status and driving mechanisms of carbon emissions of the Golden Triangle of Southern Fujian (GTSF), Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. The main findings are as follows:(1) Carbon emissions and carbon emissions per capita both kept increasing from 2005 and 2017, with the same trend. Quanzhou, an industrial center of the GTSF, has the highest carbon emissions and carbon emissions per capita. Zhangzhou, a developing city, has the least carbon emissions but the highest growth rate of carbon emissions and carbon emissions per capita. Xiamen, a service-oriented city, holds the lowest growth rate of carbon emissions. (2) Decoupling status of the GTSF has improved. The average decoupling index of the GTSF is 1.03, and the decoupling status is dominated by the expansive connection. The average decoupling indices of Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou are 0.45, 2.70 and 1.10, respectively. The dominant decoupling status of the three cities is weak decoupling, expansive negative decoupling, and the expansive connection, respectively. (3) Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and population size are positive factors of carbon emissions of the GTSF, while energy structure and energy intensity are negative factors. The contribution of the positive factors is decreasing, while the contribution of the negative factors is increasing. GDP per capita and energy structure have the strongest promoting effects and inhibiting effects on carbon emissions of Zhangzhou and Xiamen, respectively. The effects of energy intensity on carbon emissions of the three cities are different. (4) Population expansion leads to an increase in carbon emissions, which is not conducive to the decoupling of carbon emissions and economic development. Population size has no decoupling efforts on carbon emissions reduction of the GTSF. The optimization of energy structure and the decline of energy intensity contribute to the decoupling of carbon emissions and economic development. Energy structure and energy intensity are the strong decoupling efforts and the weak decoupling efforts of carbon emissions reduction of the GTSF, respectively. Energy intensity has no decoupling efforts on carbon emissions reduction of Quanzhou. For the GTSF, optimizing energy structure is the key to realize carbon emissions reduction and "carbon peaking and neutrality" goals. It is suggested that Xiamen, which has been decoupled, should formulate carbon emissions peaking action plans, and lead the peaking actions of the GTSF. Zhangzhou can achieve carbon emissions reduction by upgrading industrial structure. Carbon emissions reduction of Quanzhou depends on the improvement of energy efficiency. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献