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Postulating that academic papers can positively impact the actual teaching practices of science teachers, this study analysed the process of understanding and utilising academic papers by science teachers to teach scientific creativity in their schools. The 45--hour graduate course of three science teachers was explored to identify the difficulties teachers encountered in trying to understand academic papers and to discover how to solve these difficulties. Second, which aspects should be considered when developing teaching materials for scientific creativity to be used in schools were analysed. A transformation model of an academic paper was proposed to understand this process, and the results were organised accordingly. According to this model, it was emphasized to translate academic papers from a general and abstract state to a local and concrete state. Therefore, the role of science educators as knowledge translators was discussed for more practical and effective use of academic papers in school. This study is expected to contribute to research-based teaching by linking academic research with teaching practice.

The genesis and spread of COVID-19 around the world since 2020 have caused severe impacts in every aspect of people's lives, from work life to recreation, social activities to physical health. Higher education has not been excluded. Universities have altered curriculum, changed delivery methods, provided more counseling, purchased new technology, and altered attendance policy for classroom, athletic, social and artistic events (Hamlin, 2021). To assess the impacts of these changes on college students, the authors created a questionnaire to ask students about their perceptions of these COVID-related impacts on their own personal lives. The survey had 56 questions about how the virus affected their academic, social, financial, physical and emotional lives. Over 800 students responded with objective input and subjective comments. Due to the volume of data, the authors have split the study into two parts. The survey results for the first part, academic and social aspects of the survey, were published in "Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on College Student Academic and Social Lives," Research in Higher Education Journal Volume 41 (see http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/213347.pdf). It will sometimes be referred to herein to provide clarity to the reader. The actual survey itself can also be found at that site. This paper focuses on the impact of the coronavirus on student financial and physical well-being, which have become major stressors to this age group and have contributed to higher levels of anxiety and depression. It also examines how the virus has affected their social and emotional well-being. Lastly, recommendations are made to help educators understand the severity of the problem, and to take action to provide assistance for those students who have been adversely affected.

Digital contact tracing tools were developed to decrease the spread of COVID-19 by supplementing traditional manual methods. Although these tools have great potential, they were developed rather quickly resulting in tools with varying levels of success. The main issues with these tools are over privacy and who might have access to the information gathered. In general, their effectiveness varied globally, where users expressed privacy concerns associated with sharing identity, illness, and location information. This paper reviews these issues in deployments across Asia, Europe, and the United States. The goal is to begin a discussion that improves the design and development of digital technologies that not only improve the control of infectious disease spread, but also achieve an appropriate standard of privacy and security.

There has been a growing need as preservice teachers develop competencies regarding convergence. Focused on a discussion of blended learning before the COVID-19 pandemic versus online learning in the epidemic, we aimed to explore whether preservice teachers' attitudes toward convergence can be influenced by the learning environment. Participants were a total of three hundred preservice teachers who attended the science teaching method courses training their TPACK at a teachers college in South Korea during the 2018 to 2020 academic years (194 in the blended learning group and 106 in the online learning group). Survey data on five subcomponents of attitudes toward convergence were collected at the start and end of the courses and analyzed using ANOVA and ANCOVA. As result, preservice teachers' responses to the attitudes toward convergence in the pretests have a significant difference, whereas the overall scores in the posttests revealed no significant difference in the modalities of learning environments. Consequently, the preservice teachers engaged in the courses enhanced positive attitudes toward convergence regardless of delivery methods either blended learning or online learning. This paper provides evidence that the two teaching modalities of curriculum studies have the potential to foster preservice teachers' attitudes toward convergence. This study supports that the blended and online learning formats of the course were feasible to induce short-term improvements in bias affective domains under the learning environments of science teaching method courses.

The unprecedented social disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in rapid change within the family and home. This paper uses semi-structured interviews with parents around the globe to examine the following research questions: 1. How have the spatial and temporal organizations of learning and working in the home been altered throughout the COVID-19 pandemic? 2. What are the alterations in the educational processes and the role of the family in response to the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? We found that typical boundaries, those between the roles of family members, between work or school and home, and between leisure time and work time have been fundamentally blurred. While some of these boundaries are more porous than others, families report fundamental shifts, temporary and permanent in the way they organize their home and family, spatially and temporally, and the roles they take on within the family.

Most research has examined flipped learning within the context of face-to-face (F2F) instruction. However, previous research has not effectively explored the possibility of how online synchronous flipped learning influences pre-service teachers (PSTs) in teacher education programs during Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Recognizing the gap in the literature, this paper explored three aspects of online synchronous flipped learning by understanding 1) PSTs' learner engagement, 2) self-directed learning, and 3) learner satisfaction in a Korean university. The data was collected from Korean PST's interviews, reflection notes, and course evaluations. The thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data sources. The study findings showed that PSTs favored a synchronous online FL because it encouraged them to engage in various collaborative activities through Zoom breakout sessions. Also, pre-class materials from online FL can positively enhance the PSTs' self-directed learning process. Based on these findings, this study provides suggestions on how to effectively implement online synchronous flipped learning in teacher education programs.

As the pandemic has brought in a paradigm shift in the way we educate and interact with our students, it has also had profound impacts on the practicum of pre-service teacher education. Focusing on the case of 14 South Korean student teachers who completed their teaching practicum in Spring 2020, this paper explores how the new form of teaching practicum, triggered by the current outbreak, affected student teachers' professional development and their views on teaching practice and profession. In particular, it examines the ways by which teaching practicums conducted under unpredictable circumstances negatively or positively affect student teachers' professional identities as teaching practitioners and their motivation to become a teacher. The findings of this study show that the teaching practicum conducted in times of crisis enabled pre-service English language teachers to develop a positive image toward teachers and teaching profession, and realize their potential as innovative and inspiring teachers in the post COVID-19 era.

Problem solving in real life is a core competency commonly adopted in several subjects recently. The real-world problems were rarely resolved with only one domain of knowledge. Thus, convergence education is becoming a trend in many countries. As on-line education is revitalized because of COVID-19, the need for changes to STEAM education is emerging. In December 2019, the on-line education systems quickly settled in schools because of COVID-19. During the first semester of 2020, most school education was conducted as virtual/distance learning classes. It is necessary to analyze how much technology has been used in the STEAM classes in Korea. This paper analyzes the research papers related to the STEAM education in Korea conducted in the last 10 years. By doing this, we analyze what kind of edutechs we were interested in, what kind of STEAM education actually occurred, and to whom it was conducted. The previous research papers analyzed in this paper are the papers in the Korea Citation Index accredited journals and candidate journals. Finally, this paper proposes educational changing factors to be considered for future technologybased STEAM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, socio-economic inequalities have become exacerbated and COVID-19 related hate crimes have increased. This paper explores how citizenship education might be reimagined in response to this context, with the vision of rebuilding a more equitable and compassionate society. By using a collective autobiographical writing approach, this study documented six different autobiographical reflexivities of citizenship education scholars who were from different parts of the world: China, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, Nepal and the United Kingdom. It also observed the way the pandemic played out in the location where they were situated during the research as well as how it played out in their countries of origin, and further, how it affected the civic development in each context. The scholars' range of autobiographical expressions resulted in insights for developing a type of citizenship education, namely, education for active and compassionate citizenship.

Recently, the craze of K-POP contents is promoting the development of Korea's cultural and artistic industries. In particular, with the development of various K-POP contents, including dance, as well as the popularity of K-POP online due to the non-face-to-face social phenomenon of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) era, interest in Korean dance and song has increased. Research on dance Artificial Intelligent (AI), such as artificial intelligence in a virtual environment, deepfake AI that transforms dancers into other people, and creative choreography AI that creates new dances by combining dance and music, is being actively conducted. Recently, the dance creative craze that creates new choreography is in the spotlight. Creative choreography AI technology requires the motions of various dancers to prepare a dance cover. This process causes problems, such as expensive input source datasets and the cost of switching to the target source to be used in the model. There is a problem in that different motions between various dance genres must be considered when converting. To solve this problem, it is necessary to promote creative choreography systems in a new direction while saving costs by enabling creative choreography without the use of expensive motion capture devices and minimizing the manpower of dancers according to consideration of various genres. This paper proposes a system in a virtual environment for automatically generating continuous K-POP creative choreography by deriving postures and gestures based on bidirectional long-short term memory (Bi-LSTM). K-POP dance videos and dance videos are collected in advance as input. Considering a dance video for defining a posture, users who want a choreography, a 3D dance character in the source movie, a new choreography is performed with Bi-LSTM and applied. For learning, considering creativity and popularity at the same time, the next motion is evaluated and selected with probability. If the proposed method is used, the effort for dataset collection can be reduced, and it is possible to provide an intensive AI research environment that generates creative choreography from various existing online dance videos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the COVID-19, it is very significant to explore the dynamic fluctuation of China's export growth to the international market and examine the causes of this fluctuation in a multi-dimensional way. The dynamic fluctuation level is measured in the short and medium-long cycle respectively based on monthly data. Factor decomposition of the dynamic fluctuation is made from the growth effect, the structure effect and the competitiveness effect by the improved CMS model, which results show that the growth effect has decreased first and then increased; The structure effects include market structure effects and commodity structure effects, and the former effect basically fluctuates around the X-axis while there is a negative commodity structure effect; There are different specific competitiveness effects on 21 categories of goods. China should rely on the RCEP agreement to strengthen and stabilize trade cooperation other countries, and strengthen its core position in the industry chain and value chain in the Asia Pacific region. The current paper creatively introduce the trade expansion margin including the ternary margin and product structure into the CMS model, explaining the internal relationship between the trade expansion margin analysis at the product- market level and the CMS analysis at the overall level; meanwhile, this paper analyses the dynamic fluctuation structure of China's export growth to Japan and South Korea through a CMS factor decomposition from the perspective of technological structure and factor ladder, and studies the source and dynamic distribution evolution of this growth pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper uses a SEIR(D) model to analyse the time-varying transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea throughout its multiple stages of development. This multi-stage estimation of the model parameters offers a better model fit compared to the whole period analysis and shows how the COVID-19's infection patterns change over time, primarily depending on the effectiveness of the public health authority's non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Methods: This paper uses the SEIR(D) compartment model to simulate and estimate the parameters for three distinctive stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea, using a manually compiled COVID-19 epidemic dataset for the period between 18 February 2020 and 08 February 2021. The paper identifies three major stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, conducts multi-stage estimations of the SEIR(D) model parameters, and carefully infers context-dependent meaning of the estimation results to help better understand the unique patterns of the transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in each stage. Results: The original SIR compartment model may produce a poor and even misleading estimation result if it is used to cover the entire period of the epidemic. However, if we use the model carefully in distinctive stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, we can find useful insights into the nature of the transmission of the novel coronavirus and the relative effectiveness of the government's non-pharmaceutical interventions over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea's remarkable success in controlling the spread of COVID-19 during the pre-Omicron period was based on extensive contact tracing and large-scale testing. Here we suggest a general criterion for tracing and testing based on South Korea's experience, and propose a new framework to assess tracing and testing. We reviewed papers on South Korea's response to COVID-19 to capture its concept of tracing and testing. South Korea expanded its testing capabilities to enable group tracing combined with preemptive testing, and to conduct open testing. According to our proposed model, COVID-19 cases are classified into 4 types: confirmed in quarantine, source known, source unknown, and unidentified. The proportion of the first two case types among confirmed cases is defined as "traced proportion", and used as the indicator of tracing and testing effectiveness. In conclusion, South Korea successfully suppressed COVID-19 transmission by maintaining a high traced proportion (> 60%) using group tracing in conjunction with preemptive testing as a complementary strategy to traditional contact tracing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a SEIR(D) model to analyse the time-varying transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea throughout its multiple stages of development. This multi-stage estimation of the model parameters offers a better model fit compared to the whole period analysis and shows how the COVID-19's infection patterns change over time, primarily depending on the effectiveness of the public health authority's non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). This paper uses the SEIR(D) compartment model to simulate and estimate the parameters for three distinctive stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea, using a manually compiled COVID-19 epidemic dataset for the period between 18 February 2020 and 08 February 2021. The paper identifies three major stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, conducts multi-stage estimations of the SEIR(D) model parameters, and carefully infers context-dependent meaning of the estimation results to help better understand the unique patterns of the transmission of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in each stage. The original SIR compartment model may produce a poor and even misleading estimation result if it is used to cover the entire period of the epidemic. However, if we use the model carefully in distinctive stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, we can find useful insights into the nature of the transmission of the novel coronavirus and the relative effectiveness of the government's non-pharmaceutical interventions over time. Identifies three distinctive waves of the COVID-19 epidemic in Korea. Conducts multi-stage estimations of the COVID-19 transmission dynamics using SEIR(D) epidemic models. The transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 vary over time, primarily depending on the relative effectiveness of the government's non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). The SEIR(D) epidemic model is useful and informative, but only when it is used carefully to account for the presence of multiple waves and context-dependent infection patterns in each wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Korean government’s public health responses to the COVID-19 epidemic have achieved a remarkable outcome in terms of the measured number of infected patients and the overall mortality rate. Nonetheless, the public health authority’s various mitigation strategies and vaccination efforts have faced several challenges primarily posed by politically motivated Christian fundamentalists and ultraconservative media’s distorted news framing in Korea. This paper examines how these conservative forces – both religious and political – have undermined the Korean public health authority’s various mitigation efforts and discusses how to address the problems from a public policy point of view. The paper argues that a comprehensive legal reform including the introduction of effective punitive damages in the media market is a necessary minimum to address some of these problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tried to explore the view of religious and non-religious people on severity of coronavirus disease 2019 in South Korea. Authors employs a survey method to investigate if religious people in South Korea have different opinions about the risk and dangers of coronavirus disease 2019 compared to non-religious people. The samples for this research were collected via Google Form and paper-pencil based from the university students of Korea. Correlation coefficient tests was performed and the difference-of-means t-test to see if there was a significant correlation between religiosity and the belief that the coronavirus is dangerous. The results showed that is no strong evidence to support our hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nurses' turnover intention has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Emotional labor is reportedly high among nurses in Korea, and a positive psychological capital can help reduce turnover intention. This cross-sectional study investigated the factors influencing turnover intention in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey data were collected from 155 nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 at a university hospital in South Korea in March 2022. Self-reported and paper-based questionnaires on emotional labor, positive psychological capital, and turnover intention were employed. The mean values for emotional labor, positive psychological capital, and turnover intention were 54.52/80, 58.03/90, and 38.92/50, respectively, and 77.8% of nurses reported planning to quit working. Turnover intention correlated with emotional labor (r = 0.17; p = 0.041) and had no significant relationship with positive psychological capital. Sex (β = 0.24; p = 0.003) and emotional labor (β = 0.18; p = 0.019) affected turnover intention, with 9% explanatory power. Female nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 had a higher turnover intention than male nurses. Finally, the higher the emotional labor of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19, the higher the turnover intention. To reduce the turnover intention of nurses, hospitals need to help them enhance their emotional labor and positive psychological capital by establishing measures such as emotional coaching programs or psychological capital interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with weak or no symptoms accelerate the spread of COVID-19 through various mutations and require more aggressive and active means of validating the COVID-19 infection. More than 30% of patients are reported as asymptomatic infection after the delta mutation spread in Korea. It means that there is a need for a means to more actively and accurately validate the infection of the epidemic via pre-symptomatic detection, besides confirming the infection via the symptoms. Mishara et al. (Nat Biomed Eng 4, 1208–1220, 2020) reported that physiological data collected from smartwatches could be an indicator to suspect COVID-19 infection. It shows that it is possible to identify an abnormal state suspected of COVID-19 by applying an anomaly detection method for the smartwatch's physiological data and identifying the subject's abnormal state to be observed. This paper proposes to apply the One Class-Support Vector Machine (OC-SVM) for pre-symptomatic COVID-19 detection. We show that OC-SVM can provide better performance than the Mahalanobis distance-based method used by Mishara et al. (Nat Biomed Eng 4, 1208–1220, 2020) in three aspects: earlier (23.5–40% earlier) and more detection (13.2–19.1% relative better) and fewer false positives. As a result, we could conclude that OC-SVM using Resting Heart Rate (RHR) with 350 and 300 moving average size is the most recommended technique for COVID-19 pre-symptomatic detection based on physiological data from the smartwatch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes new ways of missional engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards in Korea. While Covid-19 is inflicting serious damage on the entire Korean society, the damage to the Protestant churches is serious. The local government’s prohibition of ‘in-person gathering’ for worship resulted in the decrease of membership and endangered the unique paradigm of ‘in-gathering’-centred ecclesiology in Korean Protestant churches. The study tried to understand how local congregations coped with the changed situation in their missional engagement. Three congregations were used as case studies of how the local congregations responded to their missional tasks during the pandemic. With some preliminary assessments from these case studies, the paper suggests three ways of missional engagement of local congregation in Korea during the pandemic and even after the pandemic: 1) engaging personal fellowship using narratives, 2) performing a habitual ethical lifestyle, and 3) embracing the practice of hospitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating normalising constants is important across a range of topics in statistical learning, notably Bayesian model selection. However, in many realistic problems this involves the integration of analytically intractable, high-dimensional distributions, and therefore requires the use of stochastic methods such as thermodynamic integration (TI). In this paper we apply a simple but under-appreciated variation of the TI method, here referred to as referenced TI, which computes a single model's normalising constant in an efficient way by using a judiciously chosen reference density. The advantages of the approach and theoretical considerations are set out, along with pedagogical 1 and 2D examples. The approach is shown to be useful in practice when applied to a real problem —to perform model selection for a semi-mechanistic hierarchical Bayesian model of COVID-19 transmission in South Korea involving the integration of a 200D density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes descriptive research to identify the effects of job stress, COVID-19 self-care behavior, and COVID-19 vaccination status according to the infection and non-infection of COVID-19 on anxiety about the COVID-19 infection among firefighters in South Korea. Data from 205 firefighters working at 10 fire stations were collected from 26 January to 16 February 2023. The variables used were job stress, COVID-19 self-care behavior, COVID-19 vaccination status, and COVID-19 infection anxiety. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression. In subjects who were infected with COVID-19, the factors that significantly affected infection anxiety were job stress (β = 0.247, p = 0.011) and self-care behavior (β = 0.343, p = 0.011). In subjects who were not infected with COVID-19, the factors that significantly affected infection anxiety were marriage status (unmarried) (β = −0.260, p = 0.005) and self-care behavior (β = 0.374, p = 0.001). These results demonstrate that the infection anxiety of firefighters should be prevented, and their physical and mental health should be promoted by considering job stress, self-care behavior, and personal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional infrastructure provides a context for leadership to implement its policies. Yet prior studies on South Korea's successful COVID-19 response have focused primarily on the administration's leadership, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), and the learning effects from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Using South Korea as a case study, this paper introduces a theoretical framework that captures various institutional determinants to explain its COVID-19 response. Applying Williamson's (2000) theoretical framework on the four layers of social institutions, we show how two institutional infrastructures Confucian and — collective norms and legacies of the business-government networks may have — contributed to South Korea's COVID-19 response through policy compliance, supportive R&D policies and inter-ministry collaboration. One of the key implications of our research lies in the learning effects of MERS, which may have been limited without institutional infrastructure like business-government networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The public experienced loss of resources, including their health and property during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conservation of Resources (COR) theory is a useful tool to explain the effect of resource loss on mental health. This paper examines the effect of resource loss on depression and peritraumatic distress considering the situational and social context of the COVID-19 pandemic applying COR theory. Methods: An online survey was conducted for Gyeonggi residents when the second wave of COVID-19 in South Korea declined (5 October to 13 October 2020); 2,548 subjects were included in the hierarchical linear regression analysis. Results: COVID-19 infection-related experiences, resource losses (e.g., financial burden, deterioration of health, and decline of self-esteem), and fear of stigma were related to elevated levels of peritraumatic distress and depression. Risk perception was associated with peritraumatic distress. Reduced income or job loss were related to depression. Social support was a protective factor for mental health. Conclusions: This study suggests that we need to focus on COVID-19 infection-related experiences and loss of daily resources in order to understand mental health deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it is important to monitor the mental health of medically and socially vulnerable groups and those who have lost resources due to the pandemic and to provide them with social support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To model the COVID-19 infection and develop effective control measures, this paper proposes an SEIR-type epidemic model considering the impact of face-mask wearing and vaccination. Firstly, the effective reproduction number and the threshold conditions are obtained. Secondly, based on the data of South Korea from January 20, 2022 to March 21, 2022, the model parameters are estimated. Finally, a sensitivity analysis and the numerical study are conducted. The results show that the face-mask wearing is associated with 83 % and 90 % reductions in the numbers of cumulative cases and newly confirmed cases, respectively, after a period of 60 days, when the face mask wearing rate increases by 15 % . Furthermore, the vaccination rate is associated with 75 % and 80 % reductions in the numbers of cumulative cases and the newly confirmed cases, respectively, after the same period of 60 days when the vaccination rate is increased by 15 % . A combined measure involving face-mask wearing and vaccination may be more effective and reasonable in preventing and controlling this infection. It is also suggested that disease control departments should strongly recommended the wearing of face masks s as well as vaccination to prevent the unvaccinated people from becoming infected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While learning management systems and video conferencing platforms have become a pivotal means for implementing emergency remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, the integration of mobile technologies into online teaching has been largely recommended in order to create an interactive educational environment. Focusing on the case of an English Language Program in South Korea, this study investigates the actual use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) applications as a learning aid in online language classrooms and how this was implemented in creating interactive language learning environments during the current outbreak. Based on a questionnaire survey collected from 979 students, it then compares students' level of perceived satisfaction with their language learning and communication in online language classrooms between the group of students that used MIM during instruction and the group that did not. The discussion presented in this paper provides language educators, school administrators and policymakers at all levels with practical suggestions and ideas to consider, given that our daily communication has become highly dependent on and is increasingly mediated by mobile digital communication technologies and new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to probe the influence of innovation spillovers in the artificial intelligence (AI) and financial technology (Fin-tech) industries on the value of the internet of things (IoT) companies. Python was utilized to download public information from Yahoo Finance, and then the GARCH model was used to extract the fluctuations of cross-industry innovation spillovers. Next, the Fama–French three-factor model was used to explore the interactive changes between variables. The panel data regression analysis indicates that the more firms accept innovation spillovers from other industries, the better the excess return; however, this effect differs because of industrial attributes and the environmental changes induced by COVID-19. Additionally, this study finds that investing in large-cap growth stocks of IoT firms is more likely to yield excess returns. Finally, the study yields lessons for policy leverage to accelerate the upgrading and transformation of innovation-interactive industries by referring to the practices of Singapore and South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the changes in the ICT and global value chains (GVCs) after the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: This study compared the difference between Korea' domestic ICT industries, ICT imports and ICT exports before and after the COVID-19 outbreak by using trade data of ICT products and national economic indicators, and presents growth strategy for the ICT industry in the post-COVID 19 era. For this purpose, this study determined the causalities between Korea's imports/exports of ICT products and composite Indexes before and after COVID-19, and derived implications in the ICT industry environment after the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: Analysis results showed the following changes in Korea's ICT industry in the post-COVID-19 world. (1) Non-face-to-face and contact-free technologies related sectors in the ICT industry, such as the semiconductor sector, have grown exponentially; (2) as the USA has grown as the new key player, the causal relationship with China, a key player of the GVC in the pre-COVID-19 era, disappeared; and (3) the GVC of the ICT industry is not a rigid one-way vertical structure, but is changing to a flexible structure influenced by cooperation and competition between countries. Originality/value: The results indicate that it is essential to constantly develop new ICT sectors that make use of non-face-to-face and contact-free technologies in the post-COVID-19 era, and the main strategies in response to the changed GVC would be taking the initiative by securing source technologies and expanding through cooperation with other GVCs and resource sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we define characteristic axioms for 3D matrix games and extend the definitions of the decision criteria under uncertainty to three dimensions in order to investigate the simultaneous effect of two different states on the decision process. We first redefine the Laplace, Wald, Hurwicz, and Savage criteria in 3D. We present a new definition depending on only the ∞-norm of the 3D payoff matrix for the Laplace criterion in 3D. Then, we demonstrate that the Laplace criterion in 3D explicitly satisfies all the proposed axioms, as well as the other three criteria. Moreover, we illustrate a fundamental example for a three-dimensional matrix with 3D figures and show the usage of each criterion in detail. In the second example, we model a decision process during the COVID-19 pandemic for South Korea to show the applicability of the 3D decision criteria using real data with two different states of nature for individuals' actions for the quarantine. Additionally, we present an agricultural insurance problem and analyze the effects of the hailstorm and different speeds of wind on the harvest by the 3D criteria. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that brings 3D matrices in decision and game theories together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally shifted the way human beings interact, both as individuals and groups, in the face of such a widespread outbreak. This paper seeks to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on intergroup emotions and attitudes within an intractable intergroup conflict, specifically, through the lens of the Korean conflict. Using a two-wave, cross-sectional design, this study was able to track the profound psychological changes in intergroup emotions and attitudes both prior to the pandemic and during its onslaught. Results of these two wave representative samples show that South Korean citizens demonstrated higher levels of fear of their neighbors in North Korea after the outbreak of COVID-19 than before. In turn, this led to increased societal support of hostile government policies towards North Koreans. Conversely, the same participants exhibited higher levels of empathy towards North Koreans during the pandemic, which led to a higher willingness to collaborate with their outgroup. This dual effect on intergroup emotions within intractable conflicts brings forth new avenues from which societies may be able to restrain the destructive influence of the COVID-19 threat on intergroup relations — as well as harvesting its constructive potential for reconciling warring intergroup relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a compartment model (SVEIHRM model) based on a system of ordinary differential equations to simulate the pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).Emergence of mutant viruses gave rise to multiple peaks in the number of confirmed cases. Vaccine developers and WHO suggest individuals to receive multiple vaccinations (the primary and the secondary vaccinations and booster shots) to mitigate transmission of COVID-19. Taking this into account, we include compartments for multiple vaccinations and mutant viruses of COVID-19 in the model. In particular, our model considers breakthrough infection according to the antibody formation rate following multiple vaccinations. We obtain the effective reproduction numbers of the original virus, the Delta, and the Omicron variants by fitting this model to data in Korea. Additionally, we provide various simulations adjusting the daily vaccination rate and the timing of vaccination to investigate the effects of these two vaccine-related measures on the number of infected individuals. We also show that starting vaccinations early is the key to reduce the number of infected individuals. Delaying the start date requires increasing substantially the rate of vaccination to achieve similar target results. In the sensitivity analysis on the vaccination rate of Korean data, it is shown that a 10% increase (decrease) in vaccination rates can reduce (increase) the number of confirmed cases by 35.22% (82.82%), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pandemics historically have killed as many people as the wars that have beset this world, yet the resources committed to pandemic prevention and response are a fraction of the resources we commit to security. This paper examines the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 by analysing the preparedness and responses of the UK, the USA, Germany, and South Korea. We will evidence that the UK and USA lacked the levels of preparedness that global health reports indicated, and that their responses were diametrically opposite of those of Germany and South Korea. We argue that decades of deregulation and privatization due to neoliberal, free-market economics by the UK and USA led to the Great Recession of 2008. This, in turn, led to economic collapse and austerity (increased neoliberalism), which negatively impacted investment in healthcare in the UK and USA. This resulted in very different levels of preparedness and responses by the four countries under the microscope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The outbreak of COVID19 has led to a global health and economic crisis. Although no approved treatment exists to date, vaccine prototypes, antiviral medication, preventive measures, and treatment strategies are studied by scientists and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. The objective of this paper is to examine the COVID19 death cases in South Korea in order to identify the distinct features of the deceased, such as sex, age, underlying medical conditions, which can be targeted when searching for a COVID19 treatment strategy. Material and Methods: Data regarding sex, age, and underlying conditions of the deceased and current cases was obtained from South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and the Korean Statistical Information Service (data retrieved on May 21, 2020). The data were examined to identify any trends between the parameters using direct statistical analysis. Personal variables of COVID19 patients were studied, such as their sex, age, and preexisting health conditions. The data were analyzed in terms of possible factors leading to COVID19 complications and resulting in patients' deaths. Results: As of May 21, 2020, 11142 confirmed cases and 264 deaths were reported in South Korea. Sex has not had an impact on the death rate, but it directly correlates with age. No deaths were reported for cases of individuals under 30 years old, and only five deaths were reported between the ages of 30 and 50. Additionally, 98.5 % of victims suffered from an underlying condition. The primary underlying condition in deceased cases was related to circulatory system disorders. The results of the statistical analysis were further used to devise a classification of COVID19 risk factors. It consists of three categories ranging from low to high-risk levels. Conclusion: Treatment targeted at patients over 60 years old and with circulatory system disorders can reduce the death rate of COVID19 infected patients in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted our everyday life. Along with the fear of getting infected or of having loved ones infected, the lifestyle changes and the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic have profound impact on mental health of the general population. While numerous studies on immediate psychological responses to COVID-19 are being published, there is a lack of discussion on its possible long-term sequelae. In this study, we systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed longitudinal studies that examined mental health of the general population prior to and during the pandemic. Furthermore, we explored the long-term psychiatric implications of the pandemic with data from South Korea. Our analysis showed that the number of suicidal deaths during the pandemic was lower than the previous years in many countries, which is in contrast with the increased depression, anxiety, and psychological distress in the general population in South Korea as well as in other countries. To explain this phenomenon, we propose a possibility of delayed impacts. The post-traumatic stress, long-term consequences of social restrictions, and maladaptive response to the "new normal" are discussed in the paper. COVID-19 being an unprecedented global crisis, more research and international collaboration are needed to understand, to treat, and to prevent its long-term effects on our mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION This study examined the association between smoking status and death from COVID-19. METHODS This study used nationwide cohort data collected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, linking to information on all individuals who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The smoking status of subjects who participated twice in national health screenings between 2015 and 2018 was measured. This study investigated death from COVID-19 among those who tested positive from 1 January to 30 May 2020. RESULTS This study included 4259 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Korea. After adjusting for all potential confounding factors, current smokers (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=3.75; 95% CI: 1.23-11.36) and recent quitters (AOR=3.74; 95% CI: 1.12-12.53) were associated with an increased risk of death from COVID-19 compared to never smokers. Compared with current smokers, long-term quitters (AOR=0.33; 95% CI: 0.11-0.95) and never smokers (AOR=0.27; 95% CI: 0.09-0.81) were associated with a reduced risk of death from COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Smoking was associated with an increased risk of death among patients with COVID-19. Given the lower possibility of death in long-term quitters with COVID-19, continuous smoking cessation among smokers or recent quitters is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how big data analytics pushed the limits of individuals' accountability as South Korea tried to control and contain coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Design/methodology/approach: The authors draw upon Deleuzo-Guattarian framework elaborating how a surveillant assemblage was rhizomatically created and operated to monitor a segment of the population holding them accountable. Publicly available secondary data, such as press release from the government and media coverage, were used. Findings: A COVID-19 Smart Management System and a Self-Quarantine Safety Protection App constituted a surveillance assemblage operating in a "state-form". This comprises the central government departments, local councils, policing systems, providers of telecommunication and financial services, and independent groups of people. This assemblage pushed the limits of accountability as individuals who tested positive or might bear possible future risks of the infection and transmission were held accountable for their locations and health conditions. Practical implications: Policymakers may consider constructing this type of state-form for containing and controlling pandemics, such as COVID-19, while dealing with the issue of undermined privacy. Social implications: The mass may consider to what extent individuals' personal information should be protected and how to hold the governments accountable for the legitimate use of such information. Originality/value: While accountability studies have largely focussed on formal organisations, the authors illustrated how a broader context of a state-form, harnessing big data analytics, pushes the limits of accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We describe the circumstances and adaptations in the South Korean medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss areas in need of improvement in preparation of a worsening situation or for similar future public health crises. Methods: Literature reviews, focusing on research papers about medical educational changes in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic were performed. Selective data collected from a nationwide online survey by the Korean Association of Medical Colleges on the status of curricular changes in medical schools during the COVID-19 was presented. Results: All lectures have moved online, but clinical students continued their hospital placements during the pandemic, except for the first 3-5 weeks during the first surge in 2020. Initial technical naivety of the faculty and lack of technical resources were short-lived and the medical students settled well showing a much higher than expected student satisfaction level over online education. Practical skills sessions which benefit most from onsite hands-on experiences such as anatomy dissection, were delivered through a blended approach in some medical school. Student evaluation is the area of least change, mainly due to the students' lack of trust in online assessments. Conclusion: South Korea' underwent major changes in medical education brought upon COVID-19 and the readiness of the technology adoption has been much increased. Student evaluation is the area of least transformation. Adoption of a programmatic assessment system should be considered to enhance not only learning but also improve trust among stakeholders of medical schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the case of 'drive-thru' services newly introduced and tried in libraries in Korea under the influence of COVID-19, and to develop and propose a service model so that this service can be continuously applied to all libraries in the future. Therefore, the method of study was selected and analyzed by selecting one of the representative libraries that provide related services in Seoul Special City, Incheon Metropolitan City, and Anyang City of Gyeonggi Province. In addition, a focus group interview was conducted with twelve people in charge to find a way to apply the drive-thru service to the library. As a result, the library's drive-thru service is a way to fulfill the library's original purpose of providing information materials while minimizing faceto-face contact with users. It was concluded that it is a suitable method for a library of complex buildings, where there is a lack of parking space. In addition, it was deduced that it may be one of the ways to use the library efficiently for office workers who are unable to use library services during the opening hours. Therefore, if the drive-thru service is implemented according to the developed model, it is expected to increase the library visit rate and data utilization rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To control the surging prices of KF94 masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic in South Korea, the government mandated 80% of medical masks to be sold as "public masks" at a fixed price. The mask prices came down quickly, ensuring public health and suppressing the spread of the pandemic, and the sales of KF94 masks reverted to the free market system on July 12, 2020. This paper aims to evaluate the unintended consequence of public masks to mitigate any negative effects for future deployment. Methods: The relationship between the offline and online prices of KF94 masks and the production quantity of medical masks was estimated using the data after July 12, 2020 (the "free market" period), and, given the regression results, counterfactual analyses were conducted to predict what the offline and online prices of KF94 masks would have been before July 12, 2020 (the "public masks" period) had the sales of medical masks reverted to the free market system a month earlier than July 12, 2020. Results: The prolonged deployment of public masks distorted the ratio of offline and online prices of KF94 masks and kept the prices artificially high at its later stage. How much higher? The online price of privately sold KF94 masks would have been roughly thirty to forty percent lower and the offline price roughly three to four percent lower if public masks ended four weeks earlier. Conclusion: The government intervention achieved its intended consequence of controlling the surging prices of KF94 masks at the early days of Covid-19, but the prolonged use of public masks had the unintended consequence of distorting market outcomes. The lesson? The government intervention should be kept brief, and the free market system should return as soon as the crisis subsides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is regarded as a highly contagious disease that has challenged the healthcare systems worldwide with confirmed cases approaching 12 million and more than 50,000 deaths. Considering the worldwide cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it remains a pandemic and the vaccines and therapeutic agents have yet to be developed to stop the spread of this outbreak. Due to the unavailability of specific treatment for the COVID-19, it can be viewed that the risk of cluster infection will continue to be present within the intermittent and small-scale outbreaks. Though the COVID-19 has been identified as a communicable disease, the preventive measures and response policies in South Korea are effectively serving the purpose and gained the confidence to overcome the COVID-19 crisis. This paper includes the exploratory data analysis of COVID-19 cases in South Korea till July 8, 2020. South Korea has reported the lowest death rate with the majority of the deaths, associated with persons with underlying health conditions or elderly infected individuals. Currently the infected patients (total 989) remaining in South Korea are mild cases owing to its robust health care system and quarantine inspection procedures followed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Although the COVID-19 countermeasures taken by the South Korean government may not be conclusive or universal for all, but its exemplary approach to tackle COVID-19 can aid countries across the globe to strengthen their response system for the future outbreak of such an infectious disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: The public must routinely practice precautionary behaviors to control the spread of COVID-19, as no vaccines and antiviral treatments are currently available. This paper examines the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to COVID-19 and their relationships and identified the pandemic's vulnerable populations to provide recommendations for behavioral interventions and policies.Methods: Data collection took place over 3 days (June 26-29) via an online survey 5 months after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed the first COVID case in South Korea; 970 subjects were included in the statistical data analysis.Results: Knowledge directly affected both attitudes (e.g., perceived risk and efficacy belief) and practices (e.g., personal hygiene practices and social distancing). Among the influencing factors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, efficacy belief was the most influential and significant practice factor. It mediated the relationship between knowledge and all three preventive behaviors (wearing facial masks, practicing hand hygiene, and avoiding crowded places). The level of knowledge varied by sociodemographic characteristics. Females (β = 0.06, p <  0.05) and individuals with higher levels of education (β = 0.06, p <  0.05) demonstrated higher levels of knowledge.Conclusion: To increase precautionary behaviors among the public, health officials and policymakers must promote knowledge and efficacy belief. Future interventions and policies should also be developed in a 'person-centered' approach, targeting vulnerable subgroups, embracing them, and closing the gap of KAP toward COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial neural network is considered one of the most efficient methods in processing huge data sets that can be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, prediction, forecasting etc. It has a great prospective in engineering as well as in medical applications. The present work employs artificial neural network-based curve fitting techniques in prediction and forecasting of the Covid-19 number of rising cases and death cases in India, USA, France, and UK, considering the progressive trends of China and South Korea. In this paper, three cases are considered to analyze the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic viz., (i) forecasting as per the present trend of rising cases of different countries (ii) forecasting of one week following up with the improvement trends as per China and South Korea, and (iii) forecasting if followed up the progressive trends as per China and South Korea before a week. The results have shown that ANN can efficiently forecast the future cases of COVID 19 outbreak of any country. The study shows that the confirmed cases of India, USA, France and UK could be about 50,000 to 1,60,000, 12,00,000 to 17,00,000, 1,40,000 to 1,50,000 and 2,40,000 to 2,50,000 respectively and may take about 2 to 10 months based on progressive trends of China and South Korea. Similarly, the death toll for these countries just before controlling could be about 1600 to 4000 for India, 1,00,000 to 1,35,000 for USA, 40,000 to 55,000 for France, 35,000 to 47,000 for UK during the same period of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper has the purpose to discuss how corporate networks’ big linkers constitute a development opportunity area in Latin America. Method: We employ a qualitative analysis that blends social networks literature and builds on interlocking directorates (IntDs) theory with a fascinating case study labeled the ‘Patient 31’ phenomenon that occurred during the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea. Main results: We generate managerial and conceptual insights on the diffusion processes of business practices, which have a series of profound implications for theory and practice on how corporate networks present differences in their diffusion ability. Relevance/Originality: Viral contagion processes are not a secret for health sciences, but they are still under researched in the context of managerial practices regarding diffusion processes. The COVID-19 virus has been (and is) a significant threat for global health since the beginning of 2020, as well as an operational challenge for almost every organization around the world. Theoretical/Methodological contributions: The results highlight the superspreaders’ high diffusion power, warn about the risks of including ‘Patient 31’- type of spreaders as members of the firms’ boards, and also provide recommendations on how policy makers could harness this diffusion ability over the organizational networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]