Seungho Lee

Environmental Movements and Social Organizations in Shanghai

This research aims to analyze environmental movements and social organizations in Shanghai since the late 1990s. The study reveals that civil society in Shanghai has increasingly had an impact on environmentally unfriendly policies given the priority of economic well-being in every aspect of society. The development of social organizations in environmental protection in Shanghai was identified through fieldwork carried out in 2002. Alongside existing social organizations already engaged in environmental protection, there was also an emergence of new social organizations. Most of the environmental NGOs in Shanghai—spearheaded by university students—lack capacity to exert much influence on environmental policies. In addition to student-based environmental NGOs, other types of social organizations include government-organized NGOs (GONGOs), local communities (shequ), the media, and international NGOs. The study evaluates how the local environmental NGOs in Shanghai evolved and survived in the transitional period interacting with other social organizations. It is concluded that a collaboration of GONGOs, NGOs, and various environmental groups together with international NGOs has led to the formation of a civil force that influences Shanghais environmental policymaking.

Benefit sharing in the Mekong River basin

This study aims to evaluate the extent to which the cooperative relationship between China and the downstream countries in the Mekong River basin has evolved in relation to the various benefits shared between these riparian countries from the 1990s to the present. Benefit sharing is deployed as an analytical framework. Larger benefits obtained through cooperation have led China to become more cooperative with the downstream countries, as seen in the Greater Mekong Subregion programme. The establishment of a new form of cooperation in the river basin hinges upon the ability to share the socio-economic, political, and energy security benefits.

Governance in a River Restoration Project in South Korea: The Case of Incheon

This research aims to explore an emergence of river governance in Incheon, South Korea, in relation to the Incheon Stream Restoration Project from 2003 to 2010. The purpose of the project is to restore local streams in Incheon for improvement of ecological restoration, water quality, flood prevention, and waterfront amenities for local residents. The project epitomizes the ethos of river governance through accommodation of views from various stakeholders, such as the government, nongovernmental organizations, local residents, and experts through establishment of the Stream Restoration Propulsion Group (SRPG). The enactment of the Special Ordinance for the SRPG has served to help the governance system work in the project. The interim assessment of the project in terms of river governance and ecological restoration indicates that the project has achieved a good degree of river governance coupled with a limited range of ecological restoration. The key to the success of the project hinges upon a continuous collaboration between the stakeholders to achieve river restoration, particularly political bargaining between the government and the other stakeholders.

Detection of Hantaan virus RNA from anti‐Hantaan virus IgG seronegative rodents in a highly endemic area, the Republic of Korea

Hantaan virus (HTNV), of the family Bunyaviridae, causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in humans. Although the majority of epidemiologic studies have found that rodents are seropositive for hantavirus‐specific immunoglobulin, the discovery of hantavirus RNA in seronegative hosts has led to an investigation of the presence of HTNV RNA in rodents captured in HFRS endemic areas. HTNV RNA was detected in seven (3.8%) of 186 anti‐HTNV IgG seronegative rodents in Republic of Korea (ROK) during 2013–2014. RT‐qPCR for HTNV RNA revealed dynamic virus–host interactions of HTNV in areas of high endemicity, providing important insights into the epidemiology of hantaviruses.

Evaluation of Virtual Water Calculation Method in Korea

Virtual water is defined as the volume of water to produce commodities and provide services, which has been developed by Tony Allan since the early 1990s. This research aims to evaluate a volume of virtual water trade in Korea from 1998 to 2007 by applying the evaluation method of unit virtual water volume to agricultural, live stock and industrial products, which is developed by Chapagain and Hoekstra (2004). Also, the concept of water footprint is deployed to quantify the volume of virtual water trade between countries. The study attempts to assess the appropriateness of the evaluation method of unit virtual water volume by employing the method to calculate the total amount of agricultural products in Korea and comparing this with the amount of agricultural water demand in the Korea Water Vision 2006. The research outcome shows that Korea has a net virtual water import of 32 billion on average in the form of agricultural, live stock and industrial commodities whose volume gradually increases. The gap between the volume of virtual water import of agricultural and live stock commodities and the total volume of agricultural water use reaches approximately 600 million . This figure can be negligible considering the total volume of water demand in Korea, around 16 billion , which demonstrates the validity of the evaluation method in terms of analyzing water balance.