This book is an attempt to review recent development of Islamic finance and to provide the practical guidance and policy implication to experts of financial industry and government in Korea. It consists of three parts such as a theoretical background, a recent development and its future application of Islamic finance in Korea.
The first part provides theories for Islamic finance. First, it explains the conventional banking and finance theory and later we show how Islamic finance provides the conventional banking service with observing the Sharia, the rule of Islam.
The second part shows the recent development of Islamic finance in major countries. More specifically, it explains how the Islamic finance of GCC countries and Iran has been developed for the past decade or more. It also includes the success story of Islamic finance of Malaysia and the role of its development strategy. The cases of its recent development of advanced countries of France, UK, US and Japan are also provided.
Finally, it suggests several practical implications for policy makers and for financial market participants in Korea. For example, it indicates that Korea will be able to take several benefits by utilizing Islamic finance in the international finance market such as portfolio diversification effects.
We believe that this book is the first comprehensive book for Islamic finance in Korea. We hope that it can provide much information to the academicians, market participants and policy makers of financial market and industry in Korea.

It is assessed that Middle East and North Africa (“MENA”) area has large potential for development of a renewable energy industry due to its blessed natural condition suitable for various types of renewable energy generation, such as photovoltaic power generation and wind power generation. However, investment for development of a renewable energy industry and degree of development of such industry has been rather marginal in MENA area as compared to its high potential.
However, as countries in MENA area have started to be concerned with depletion of fossil fuels, including petroleum and natural gas, and how to respond to global climate change, the countries have realized necessity of developing new energy sources and have increased amount of investment for a renewable energy industry. Furthermore, there has been sharp increase of demand for energy in MENA area due to population increase and development of various industries and major countries in MENA area, such as Saudi Arabia and UAE, have expressed that they will take more proactive approach for development of a renewable energy industry. Consequently, it is expected that there will be rapid increase in investment in a renewable energy industry sector. As a matter of fact, many countries in MENA area, including Israel, Morocco, Jordan, and Algeria, have institutionally supported such interest for development of a renewable energy industry by devising new national plans, enacting new legislations and amending relevant laws and regulations for development of a renewable energy industry.
Consequently, Korean companies’ interest toward investment on a renewable energy industry in MENA area is also in an increasing trend and their large-scale investment plans are frequently announced in these days. However, Korean companies have to take multi-dimensional consideration including social, economic and political aspects into account in their investment plans for MENA area to ensure stable development of a renewable energy industry and stable investment result in MENA area. The countries in MENA area contain a high political risk due to proliferation of a civil revolution which was initially provoked in Tunisia, conflicts among different tribes within nations and confrontation with Western countries. Not only that, a risk of general investment in this area is relatively high due to inadequate number of infrastructure for resource development and incomplete nature of regulations and policies on foreign investment. Therefore, Korean companies should take sufficient consideration for these risks in their investment decision and should come up with appropriate countermeasures which the companies can take even before they execute investment plans.
Moreover, since there is also a general risk that the countries in MENA may delay their investment on a renewable energy industry, Korean companies need to devise more systematic and long-term investment plans. In the meantime, the Korean government’s leading role in foreign trade is also critical in order for Korean companies’ successful investment in MENA area. Above all, those Korean companies which are planning to invest in a renewable energy industry in MENA area must find out areas where they have technologic superiorities and specialties. After finding such areas, they must endeavor to proactively promote those superiorities and specialties and to search for plans of strategic cooperation in association with governments in MENA area, government enterprises and companies in this industry.

Middle East and North Africa (MENA), one of the major global energy suppliers, is a significant region to Korea’s economy. However, jasmine revolution, democratic movements, arose in Tunisia in January 2011, and rapidly spread to Libya, Egypt and the most countries in MENA. These movements have increased the complexity of political, economic and social environments in MENA, as they collapsed Egyptian government and broke the civil war in Libya. In addition, increase in complexity in MENA raised the global oil prices and became one of new threats to the global economic recovery. Due to the democratic revolution, called Arab Spring, the political and economic systems in MENA have changed radically compared to 2010. These changes in MENA are also rising as serious issues in South Korea, which has high dependency on imports of oil and exports of manufacturing goods. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to analyze MENA’s democratic movements’ impact on Korea’s politics, economy and foreign policies and to establish countermeasures. For research, 16 countries were selected in MENA based on two criteria. First criteria defined whether the country had experienced political instabilities due to recent democratic movements. Second criteria defined whether the country has had close economic and political relationship with Korea. The 16 research countries include Egypt, Libya, Syria, Algeria, Iran, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran, and Yemen. In order to analyze the features of research countries, 16 countries were categorized into three different types: type-I (stable), type-II (transforming) and type-III (unstable). Categorization was based on global competitive index, transparency index, global peace index and each country’s political, social, economic and business environments. Countries in type-I, such as Qatar and UAE were analyzed to have maintained stable political, economic, social and business environments. Countries in type-II, which include Tunisia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have had somewhat unstable political-social or economic-business environments. Finally, countries in type-III, including Libya, Syria, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Yemen, have shown unstable conditions in all political, economic, social and business environments. From a political perspective, type-III countries had longer period of power seized by one man and higher corruption reorganization index when compared to the countries of type-I. From an economic perspective, oil-rich countries in the Gulf had stable economic environments, but oil-poor countries had unstable environments. Unemployment rate of young generation was higher in type-III than in type-I. The growth rate of internet and social network users, which has been the accelerator of the democratic revolution in MENA, was higher in type-III than in type-I. After the Second World War, countries in MENA experienced political instability by the end of 1960s. From 1970s to 2000s, MENA had been under the authoritarian regime period. Recently, MENA has faced the third political shift due to the jasmine revolution. While countries in MENA are facing the third political shift, major countries, which include the U.S., EU, China and Japan, have attempted to strengthen the economic and political cooperation with MENA, according to its own policies. The U.S. has shown diverse foreign policies in MENA to secure oil resources and ensure Israel’s national security. To accomplish it, the U.S. has executed joint-military trainings and negotiated FTA with several countries in MENA. EU has had intimate relationships with MENA due to its close geographical position. EU has provided ODA and other supports to secure energy supply and strengthen economic cooperation with MENA. China has engaged MENA with diplomatic strategies that prioritized its own national interests rather than the political ideology. Also, to find the niche market, China has sustained an intimate relationship with Iran, in which the economic sanction has been imposed by the global society. China has been putting such efforts to improve its reputation among countries in MENA. Japan has kept a rather passive attitude towards political events, but actively engaged in economic events by providing large investments and supports to MENA. Korea has enforced various policies to improve the cooperation with MENA. For instance, Korea has maintained a mutual economic cooperation, established partnership to secure energy resources, and cooperated in the global society with MENA. From a diplomatic perspective, South Korea has focused on building human network and establishing environments for the economic cooperation. From an economic perspective, Korea concentrated on entering the natural resource development industry, securing energy supply and winning plant and construction contracts in MENA. However, recent changes in MENA due to the democratic revolution and political instabilities have led Korea’s government to review overall policies in MENA. Therefore, this paper provides major five political recommendations.

CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is now emerging as one of the most important components of the corporate competitiveness. CSR activities can enhance corporate value by introducing more efficient use of resources and more transparent management. Furthermore, it helps not only satisfy social expections for companies but also produce higher corporate productivity through effective communications with the stakeholders. Especially important is the CSR activities of the companies operating abroad, because they can help companies avoid negative reputation and prevent any possible conflicts arising from business acitivies in foreign soil.

This study focuses on the current states of the CSR activities of the 34 Korean companies in five Latin American countries (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Panama) and tries to locate the tasks ahead to promote CSR activities by the Korean companies in Latin America.
Our study shows that despite relatively high level of awareness of the CSR, only about 30% of the companies surveyed are involved in mentionable level of CSR activities. Most the CSR activities are being performed by the big companies whose names are well known to the consumers. One major problem is that those activities, especially the ones geared to the communities, are engaged in a rather unsystematic way and with almost no consideration for the long term development of the communities and the corporate competitiveness. CSR activities of the Korean companies are “reactive” in nature (responding to the circumstancial needs), rather than “strategic” in the sense that CSR activities are designed and engaged to strengthen corporate competitiveness as well as fulfilling the needs of the communities. Many Korean companies lack efficients organizational structure and budget earmarked for CSR activities.
The tasks ahead for effective CSR performances include selection and development of the CSR programs which reflect both the core capabilities and the strategic goals of a company. “Reactive CSR” needs to be enhanced to the level of “strategic CSR.” The way a company engages in CSR activities also needs to be changed so that local government and NGOs can participate in the CSR activities of the Korean companies.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) was initiated to comprehensively address various urban problems, including traffic congestion, dependence on fossil fuels, and air pollution, through a close link with the traffic and urban development in cities that heavily rely on vehicles. TOD was driven by the spread of low-density cities such as in the U.S. Asian countries have become very interested in this urban development planning technique because the urban problems that have recently emerged in their metropolitan areas are similar to those experienced by low-density cities in Western countries. Moreover, the gravity of the problems is rapidly increasing.
The social and economic conditions, urban development patterns, traffic systems, and trip patterns in Asia are different, however, from those in Western metropolitan cities such as in the U.S. While the urban diffusion and traffic system developments in Western metropolitan areas gradually changed after the Industrial Revolution, metropolitan areas in Asia’s emerging countries have rapidly experienced what the Western countries had faced, within a short span of time since the 1960s. In addition, while metropolitan areas in North America have urban problems related to their heavy dependence on vehicles due to the wide scope of their low-density roadway systems, metropolitan areas in Asia have mid- and high-density urban structures, relatively low dependence on vehicles, and various types of mixed traffic modes. Moreover, the metropolitan spatial structure in most Asian emerging countries is monocentric, whereas it is more dispersed or polycentric in Western countries. In other words, the serious traffic problems in Asian metropolitan areas arose from their monocentric spatial structure and insufficient traffic infrastructure. Although their dependence on vehicles is relatively low, their traffic congestion and resulting air pollution are reaching a serious level.
This study was spawned by the following question: Is TOD, which was developed to address urban problems in Western countries, applicable to Asian metropolitan areas? To answer this question, the impact and level of convenience of changes in TOD trip modes in major metropolitan areas in developed Asian countries were determined, after which it was assessed if the alternative approaches could solve urban problems related to the traffic, environment, and energy in the Asian metropolitan areas. The Seoul metropolitan area in Korea, the Bangkok metropolitan area in Thailand, and the Manila metropolitan area in the Philippines were chosen as the target subjects. In particular, the study aimed to prove that TOD can be a tool for a comprehensive approach to solving not only traffic problems but also environment and energy issues.
To compare the changes in the TOD trip behavior in the Asian metropolitan areas and their comprehensive TOD benefits, their traffic development features and the concepts of their TOD strategies and their ongoing policy directions both at home and abroad were analyzed. Based on the analysis results, the TOD planning elements and their indexes were induced, and then the impact of such indexes on the TOD trip behavior was evaluated. For the evaluation, the change module of individual trip behavior influenced by the physical environment and the accessibility of a neighborhood unit of the city was analyzed. The result was used to induce a comprehensive TOD benefit by using the conventional 4-step Traffic Demand Model. The analysis indexes of the trip behavior were categorized by trip generation frequency and choice of trip mode, and their experimental analyses were limited to the Seoul metropolitan area. This is because the data for the two other regions had limited availability. The databases for Manila and Bangkok are still being established, as was the database for Seoul, but the analysis technique for Seoul is not applicable to Manila and Bangkok, since some of the data on individual trip behavior and spatial features in the two cities are obsolete or unavailable. Despite these obstacles, comparison of all the available data that were collected for each metropolitan area was still attempted, with the analyzed results of the Seoul case. In detail, the impact of the TOD physical environment and accessibility on the traffic mode distribution ratio in Bangkok was analyzed using the collected data. For Manila, the comprehensive TOD benefit, driven by the increasing number of railroad users near railroad stations, was estimated using the ASIF model. With the comparison of these analyses with that of Seoul, the changes in the trip behavior and the comprehensive TOD benefits in these two cities were also reviewed.
The analysis of the changes in the TOD trip behavior in the Seoul metropolitan area and the impact of the comprehensive TOD benefit by scenario showed that the TOD plan and policies can also be applied to the two other Asian cities, despite their different environmental conditions. The indexes of the trip behavior are related to each other, however, in a somewhat complicated manner. For the probability model of internal/external trip generation, categorized by trip distance and trip frequency, the external trip ratio tends to decrease due to TOD planning. For the choice of trip modes, however, there are planning elements that increase vehicle trips and show adverse relations. For instance, the probability ratio of internal trips decreases as the population density increases, but reliance on vehicles in external trips increases. In this sense, it is necessary to consider these complicated relations as TOD planning elements are applied to a policy.
To project the comprehensive benefit of TOD, this study also tried to analyze the differences between the traffic, energy, and environmental benefits based on the spatial location scenarios of 120,000 housing projects in the Seoul metropolitan area. The scenarios were categorized into that with increasing population density, that with a modified residential/non-residential mixed ratio, and that with an increasing density of 4-leg intersections, which is an index of a narrow street network. Combinations of these scenarios were also analyzed. The results showed that among various planning elements, the urban development density has a higher benefit than the mixed-land-use index. For example, as the population density increases, the comprehensive benefit reaches KRW26.2-39.1 billion/year. On the other hand, as the residential/non-residential mixed ratio changes, the benefit reaches KRW6.9-9.1 billion/year. These prove that the population density has a more significant impact than the mixed-land-use rate, because the population density has a marked impact on the model shift from vehicles, although it increases the external trip generation rate. In addition, the comprehensive benefit of the scenario, where all the three factors increase, is KRW38.6-61.2 billion/year, which is equivalent to a 147-157% increase. This result indicates that the combination of TOD planning elements can bring about much more benefits. Therefore, it is very essential to apply all the TOD planning elements to the policy in Seoul.
The analysis for Bangkok induced the trip patterns (the impact on the trip model shift ratio) according to the TOD planning elements, based on the available database. This analysis proves the effectiveness of TOD in policies, and also differs somewhat from the analysis of the Seoul case since it shows that the density and accessibility are very important planning elements, among others. For example, unlike in Seoul, the population density, employment accessibility, and in-town trip length to the CBD are the only factors that increase the model shift ratio of public transportation. The elements that influence most the model shift ratio of vehicles are the population density, employment accessibility, and trip length to employment centers. In particular, as the population density and employment accessibility increase, the model shift ratio of vehicles decreases. This implies that the TOD planning elements have a positive impact on trip behavior. Selective application of the TOD planning elements should be considered to improve policy effectiveness, however, rather than applying all the elements in the case of Seoul, since the other TOD planning elements in Bangkok were not considered in the analysis.
The analysis for Manila was carried out to identify how the comprehensive TOD benefit changes in accordance with the increasing number of users of public transportation as development projects proceed around railroad stations. In fact, it was not that easy to secure data on individual trip behavior in the Manila metropolitan area. The comprehensive benefit was KRW65.46 billion/year when the influence area was set at 1 km. The figure increased to KRW90.74 billion/year when the influence area was expanded to 2 km. This was not the experimental analysis using the actual TOD trip behavior or patterns, but was done based on the fact that the changes increased by 5% the public transportation usage index within the station influence areas. Therefore, it is difficult to say that some TOD planning elements are better than others in terms of the comprehensive TOD benefit. This analysis has some implications in terms of showing how comprehensively the increasing accessibility of public transportation influences traffic, energy, and environmental benefits.
From the results of the study on the impact of TOD plans on trip behavior and projections of comprehensive traffic, energy, and environmental benefits, three policies are proposed. First, TOD, which was very seriously pursued in Western countries, can also be applied in Asian metropolitan areas. TOD is a strategic concept that controls a low-density and mono-purpose development, focusing on vehicles, and addresses issues related to the environment, traffic, and energy through high-density mixed land use, focusing on public transportation. As in Western countries, TOD can be applied effectively in Asian metropolitan areas that have a relatively lower model shift rate of public transportation and high-density mixed land use. In this sense, this study is very meaningful because it shows that the TOD development strategy is universally applicable.
Second, this study proved that the development density, among other TOD planning elements, can augment traffic, energy, and environmental benefits by inducing changes in trip behavior. The analysis for Seoul showed that the increase in the population density more significantly increased the benefit through the trip model shift. The analysis for the Bangkok metropolitan area showed the same possibility. In short, population density can consistently induce the reduction of vehicle use and increase in public transportation use. Accordingly, efforts must be made to apply TOD planning in Asian metropolitan areas, especially with respect to the development density.
Third, based on the experimental analysis of the TOD planning elements, this study implies the need to formulate diverse policy strategies for Asian metropolitan areas, since these elements have various impacts on the choice of trip mode, the trip degeneration frequency, and the trip distance. For example, if the results of the analysis for Seoul were presumed to be the same as those of other Asian metropolitan areas, the traffic policy for the reduction of dependence on vehicles can be changed in accordance with which trip behavior are preferred to be modified. In other words, when an attempt was made to address traffic congestion by reducing the trip distance, it was necessary to set up a policy that emphasizes the mixed-land-use ratio rather than the population density. On the other hand, when an attempt was made to shift the trip models, a policy focused on the development density was needed. This is because a decrease in the trip distance can promote trip self-sufficiency, and a trip model shift tends to reduce dependence on vehicles. When these two strategies are applied at the same time, however, the impact can be offset due to their complicated effects. Therefore, a more effective and achievable strategic approach is needed to identify the serious traffic issues that metropolitan areas are facing. The comprehensive approach that uses the TOD planning elements tends to increase the overall traffic, energy, and environmental benefits, but the impact should be closely reviewed and applied through a cost-effective approach.
This study was limited in two aspects: data availability and policies for practical application. The initial purpose of this study was to assess the possibility of TOD application and to discern patterns in the three selected cities (Seoul, Bangkok, and Manila) using a single analysis methodology and the same data. There were some limits in securing data for the current year, however, so the final result was induced through a partial comparison. Therefore, another study must be conducted to address the limits of this study. In addition, it was not sufficiently revealed in this study that the metropolitan areas have different TOD planning elements. Of course, the study should be continued to disclose the origins of the analysis results. In this regard, a more in-depth study should be conducted to determine why the statistical similarity, direction, and size of the TOD planning elements can have distinguishable impacts, depending on the history, culture, and social and economic conditions of the city.
This study also proved that TOD plans induce changes in trip behavior that can have traffic, energy, and environmental benefits. To ensure that these plans would be applied, however, the systemic conditions and problems should be analyzed and relevant studies to come up with improvement measures should be conducted. These were not addressed in this study, since its purpose did not include the suggestion of strategies for realizing TOD. The identification of the system conditions and the study of improvement measures are indispensable, though. Therefore, the future study should review the systemic conditions of urban development, the planning of traffic facilities, and financing methods. In addition, of course, efforts to come up with measures for applying TOD are needed.

With regard to global development aid, international organizations such as the UN and OECD/DAC recommend ODA projects to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Against this backdrop, Korea, which joined the OECD/DAC in November 2009, has a responsibility to respond to the demand of such international communities. Meanwhile, North Africa and the Middle East have similar political, economic, social and cultural structures, and Korea secures an energy source, crude oil, from these regions. Thus, given the demand of the international community and our relationship with the regions to be analyzed in this study, economic cooperation with the regions is highly critical. When it comes to the fishery industry of the regions, while the production volume, supply and consumption are on a steady rise, the industry remains underdeveloped due to lack of fishery infrastructure and its focus on capture fisheries. Given these characteristics, new patterns can be developed for the economic cooperation with the countries of the regions through various fishery-related cooperative businesses based on our advanced knowledge and know-how on the fishery industry. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to formulate business strategies to cooperate with the fishery industry and other fishery-related industries in the Middle East and North Africa through basic studies of the fishery industry and fishery products distribution and processing sector of the regions. The poverty-related indexes of the regions show similar levels to those of Southeast Asian countries except for a few oil-producing countries. That is, although countries in the regions are not as poor as Sub-Saharan Africa, they are still considered poor from a global perspective. Thus, the function and role of the fishery industry, a food-supplying industry, are increasingly gaining more importance. From a broad perspective, while the production volume of the fishery industry in the regions is not relatively as large as those of other regions, its growth rate is high, and the people in the regions rely on fishery products as primary source of protein, which is a distinctive trend of the regions that will be further reinforced due to religious reasons. Based on this status, as well as SWOT analysis of the economic cooperation with the countries in the regions, existing fisheries-related cooperative activities (including the private sector), their poverty levels, the ODA provision status of Korea, the political status of the countries in the regions (whether country-rebuilding is required after the Jasmine Revolution), etc., Algeria, Tunisia and Libya have been selected as the priority countries for cooperation, and the status of their fishery industries and ODA assistance to these countries have been examined in detail. According to the findings of the examination, when it comes to the fishery industry, while the production volume of Algeria is the largest among the three countries, Tunisia is the most advanced in terms of the quality of production. Libya is underdeveloped in both production volume and productivity. Since the three countries are particularly underdeveloped in terms of the infrastructure of the fishery product-producing area, production methods (fishing boats and gears) and the development level of the farming industry, investment in these sectors can bring about remarkable development in the fishery industry of the countries. The status of ODA provision by countries around the world for the three countries shows the following distinctive characteristics. First, they have close relationships for economic cooperation with the countries that colonized them in the past. While Tunisia and Algeria are in a close cooperative relationship mainly with France, Libya turns to Italy. Second, they are in a close relationship for economic cooperation with advanced countries that import crude oil from them; Libya is in a close relationship with Germany. Meanwhile, fishery-related ODA is provided by a few countries – particularly Spain, Norway, Italy and Japan – unlike general ODA, and Korea has just recently begun to provide fishery-related ODA to Tunisia and Algeria. In order to promote fishery-related cooperation with North Africa and the Middle East through this case analysis, the following directions are required. Generally speaking, the directions of ODA cooperation are based on humanitarianism, reciprocity and pragmatism, and it is deemed that reciprocity should be applied to the countries due to the fact that they are not such least-developed regions as Sub-Saharan Africa; the cooperative tendency of other countries in an economic cooperative relationship with the regions (particularly ODA providers); and the relationship between Korea and the regions. Detailed strategies based on these basic directions are as follows：first, selection and concentration of economic cooperation is required in consideration of the political circumstances of the regions (the Arab Spring Uprisings); second, since the regions are in close proximity to EU countries, they can be utilized as a round-about export base for the export of Korean fishery products to EU countries; third, the fishery-related ODA for the regions should be based on a vertically-integrated management system in consideration of the development stage of the countries; fourth, in order to continue fishery-related cooperation with the regions, recipients of ODA need to improve their capabilities voluntarily through human resources-nurturing efforts; fifth, a cooperative network should be established among fishery experts for more effective and reliable fishery-related cooperation. Based on these basic directions and strategies, a few business types can be suggested：farming business based on vertically-integrated management, infrastructure improvement business for fishery products-producing areas focused on fishing port development, cooperative business related to the country-rebuilding project of the regions, etc. This study has conducted basic studies aimed at promoting fishery-related cooperation with North Africa and the Middle East to fulfill its purpose. Since it was impossible to conduct studies on all the countries in the regions due to time and cost constraints, three key countries have been selected to ensure the efficiency of this study. It is deemed to be necessary to continue conducting studies on the regions to overcome these limitations.

Solid waste management is one of the growing urban and environmental problems that Guatemala is experiencing, in relation with the rapid population growth and urbanization. Generation of solid waste is rapidly growing -- the per capita generation has tripled in recent 8 years -- yet the collection and management system is still ineffective, and is unable to provide an adequate foundation for resource and energy recovery from the waste. Only about 30% of solid waste generated in the nation is collected by private or public collection services, and the rest is mostly burned or dumped anywhere, causing many environmental and health problems. The collected wastes are mostly landfilled, but most of the landfills are unsanitary ones, for which adequate management practices are not applied. Organic wastes or recyclables, which are the basis for resource and energy recovery, are not systematically collected or separated -- they typically are all mixed together and go directly to the landfill. Organic wastes from rural areas, such as livestock manure or agricultural by-products, are also not being well used for resource and energy recovery, through composting or biogas generation. Also, the legal and institutional framework for waste management is not well established, and the investment for capital and human resources is insufficient too.
This research examined the collection and management system of solid wastes in Guatemala, focusing on resource and energy recovery, on three levels: an overview of the system on the national level, a case study of large city with Guatemala City, and a case study of rural municipality with Sansare. Based on the research, we derived the policy recommendations and the international cooperation strategies between Korea and Guatemala. Our policy recommendations for Guatemalan waste collection and management system are: (1) establishing the legal/institutional foundation and the policy goal of resource/energy recovery, (2) enhancing the collection rate through expanding and strengthening the collection services and discouraging the unauthorized dumping, (3) establishing the separation system of recyclables and organic wastes, and (4) modernization of final disposition facilities and investment for resource and energy recovery facilities. Accordingly, the international cooperation between Korea and Guatemala can take various forms, including knowledge cooperation of disseminating Korean policy cases as volume-based waste fees or resource circulation policy, educational cooperation through capacity building programs of government officials, and technology cooperation or development assistance based on our experience of managing landfills, utilizing the landfill site after expiration, or waste-to-energy. It seems to be the right time for cooperation with Guatemala in the area of waste management, as Guatemala is beginning to establish the management system and the need for investment is still high.

CEPA (Comprehensive Economic partnership Agreement) started from January, 2010 between Korea and India is expected to be catalysis to bridge two countries in many areas such as economic collaborations, cultural understandings, diplomatic partnerships, and human interactions. As CEPA emphasizes human relations, interactions of labor and human resources will bring about huge economic effect to both countries.

India has the second largest population in the world. This made India rich in laborforces and higher economic growth especially past 5 years. India demonstrates about 8% annual GDP growth with increasingrate of education level of population. Korea regards India as a key trade partner in various areas. 2000’s see phenomenal increase in trade to India, especially after CEPA,economic collaboration accelerated trade amount about 40% growth to 17billion dollars. This counts 7th largest trade partner in Korea. Nevertheless, human resource exchange does not follow the trade growth pattern. In 2010, only 50 thousand Indians visited Korea, where 80 thousand Koreans visited India in 2009.
The research intended to provide basic methodologiesto develop partnerships in both human resource interactions and economic collaborations. The research has two perspectives. The first view is the research for Indian labors working in Korea.
The study hired both structured questionnaire survey andin depth interview. The study found that Indian human resources are relatively satisfied with the working conditions and wages. However, the keen sense of considerations such as education of children and spouse daily activities are required.
The second view is the research for Korean human resources working in India. As the number of Koreans working in India is scarce, the study adopted in-depth personal interview method. Theresult shows that most Koreans are hired for marketing purposes to Korea. Koreans are suffered by lack of utilities such as water, electricity and sewage. Mostly they were not satisfied with the wage level.
The research found the situations and recommendations for both countries. The recommendations from the research are two folds. Firstly, in order to compensate the lack of domestic labors, we need to have longer term relationships with Indian partners such as colleges and universities and some other research institutions in India. Secondly, in order to develop job opportunities in India, institutional support rather than individual relations are essential. As most needs for Korean labor forces are limited to correspond to Korean institution, institutional relations are more effective.
The research is without limitations. As the sample size is quite limited, the sampling bias is the main limitation.The study may lack in external validity. However, the study can shed a light concerning Indian and Korean labor exchange and mutual benefit by labor collaboration.

The cooperative relations between Korea and oil-rich Arab World since 1970s, have grown up in the fields of economic and political arenas. This growing relationship has been a natural outcome of interdependency of today’s world based on mutual calculations of national interests. However, little attentions have been paid to cultural and historical aspects of the relations. Perhaps, these intangible aspects have been overshadowed by the burgeoning boom of economic transactions between Korea and Arab-Middle Eastern countries. Reflecting this asymmetric trend prevalent in the today’s research, this paper is designed to list up all the possible source materials on mutual relations between two worlds focusing on Muslim’s description on ancient and medieval Korea and Korean peoples. We believe that a study on these materials and historical sources shall surely strengthen mutual cooperation and better understanding each other, furthermore these cultural and academic approaches can be one of the most efficient tool for sustainable cooperation with Muslim world in the days to come.
According to the Arabic-Persian-Ottoman manuscripts in the medieval period, even though documented references are few and far between, sufficient remain to give proof of substantial commerce between Korea and the Middle East.
In particular, 󰡔Kushnameh󰡕, an ancient Persian epic in which we can find huge quantity of description on Shilla (ba-shilla), is important source to enlighten new sense of Shilla history. The preliminary research by an Iranian scholar Dr. Daryoosh Akbarzade, clearly shows us that the Persian prince named Abitin together with his peoples immigrated to Shilla under sincere patronage of Shilla king, Tayhur. The Sassanid prince married Frarang, a Shilla princess and contributed a lot to Shilla society. In these points, it is not at all surprising that the Koreans were in close contact with Muslims and the Sassanid peoples even before Islamic advent. Two different cultures thus naturally met and blended with each other. Though sources from Korean annals record Muslims travelling to and from the Korean peninsula in the early part of the eleventh century, Muslims apparently first attempted to make contact with the Korean peninsula the latter part of Shilla period (57 BC-935 AD). This development is well supported by accounts on Korea called ‘Shilla’ found in 22 Islamic books of geography, history and travel written by seventeen Muslim scholars ranging from Ibn Khurdādbih of the mid-9th century to A’bul Fazl of the early sixteenth century. Even during the time of Koryo-Joson period, Korea is quite well-known to Muslim world, which can be verified by tomb stone, Muslim written sources and Korean Annals.
In this concern, it is the very time to review and reflect mutual relations and cultural confluence through history between the Middle East and Korea. We hope that this preliminary survey and source list as the basic references shall encourage young scholars of both worlds to pay more attention in cultural studies.

Islamism and Tribalism in the Arab Political Change / Jeongmin Seo The political change, which has erupted in Tunisia in the beginning of 2011, has affected other Arab countries. Egypt, Libya and Yemen have followed the case of Tunisia and the Syrian government has now faced a serious challenge from the grassroots resistant movement. This report aims at understanding the fundamental nature of the current political change in the Arab world in order to offer new perspectives which can be utilized to set up a series of new strategies and policies toward the Arab World. Islamism and tribalism as fundamental elements of national identity and political and economic system in the Arab world have been crucial players in the current political change and the future politico-economic structure and system. Thus, it is important to examine how these two ideologies or traditions would affect the future Arab political and economic systems and structures. In Islamism, the pro-government religious establishment has lost its political gravity, while anti-government Islamist movements have expanded its activities within the new political environment. Like the cases of Tunisia, Egypt, and Morocco, the newly established Islamist parties would continue their victories in various elections and enlarge their influence in formulating new legal, political, and economic structures and systems. In tribalism, some countries like Libya, Yemen, and Syria have witnessed tribal conflicts in the process of political change and this tribal rivalry would affect decision-making process in the future. Nevertheless, the Gulf countries, where dominant clans and tribes have monopolized the political and economic power, would engage themselves in some level of pluralism. In this rapid change of political environment, the Korean government and business circles should change the existing strategies toward the region. A new perspective based on cultural exchange and understanding would be needed. “Arab Spring” 2011 and Changes of US Foreign Policy towards the Middle East / Nam-sik In When it comes to US foreign policy towards the Middle East, a dramatic trend of democratic movement in and around Arab states marks a watershed for totally new approach. In the aftermath of tragic 9⋅11, Bush doctrine was initiated and adopted as a main policy platform, which includes moral absolutism, hegemonic unilateralism and offensive realism. Newly adopted doctrinal standard intended to establish democratic states in the Middle East. But it was not successful. Due to heavy consumption of budget and human resources in both war theatres in Iraq and Afghanistan, fatigue increased and finally the US had to change its own strategy towards the Middle East. Obama administration has been trying to make an every effort to alleviate burden of Anti-American sentiment in and around region. In doing so, the US adopted totally new approach to region. Which is so called 'Obama doctrine' including epistemological relativism, splendid disegagement from Iraq and Afghanistan and relying on multilateral cooperation instead of hegemonic unilateralism.