Earticle

This study examined whether depression mediated the relationship between perceived health status and suicidal ideation among elderly male prisoners in South Korea. Male inmates aged 50 years or older in the correctional facilities were surveyed in December 2020; 141 male participants were included in the statistical analysis. The hierarchical regression results showed that suicidal ideation increased with poorer perceived health among elderly male inmates. Further, perceived health status negatively affected depression, while depression positively affected suicidal ideation. Depression had a significant partial mediating effect between perceived health and suicidal ideation. First-time offenders were more vulnerable to suicide risk than repeat offenders. These findings highlight the need for treatment programs and cognitive-behavioral models to identify inmates' psychosocial risk factors, and assess their mental health. Additionally, correctional facility staff should be educated in suicide prevention, and systematic crisis intervention programs should be provided for those who attempt suicide. This study contributes consideration of the Korean context to the literature on the association among perceived health status, depression, and suicidal ideation in elderly male inmates.

In the non-Capital area of South Korea, it was found that the cause of the population decline was not solely due to the recent low birth rate. The severe population decline in the non-Capital area is due to the migration of the population to the Capital area. Therefore, this study looked at what regional development factors affect the local population increase. As a result of the regression analysis, the factors affecting population decline were the old housing rate, % of population in library service area, ratio of single-person households over 65, and water supply rate. As factors affecting population growth, green rate, number of residents in charge per 119 safety center, ratio of the school-age population within the elementary school service area, and urban park area per 1,000 people were derived. Based on the results of the empirical analysis, in order to respond to the crisis of local population decline, policies were proposed to remove the factors of population decrease and to activate the factors of population increase in non-Capital areas.

A nuclear/radiological incident is known as a low-probability and high-impact disaster, yet it is catastrophic when it actually happens. Therefore intensive preparation for an effective response is required and many institutions and stakeholders are involved in the preparedness phase. This research is to examine the inter-agency coordination model on nuclear/Radiological incident response in the United States and aims to extract policy implications. In order to do so, the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex to the Response and Recovery Federal Interagency Operational Plan was studied with a focus on the interagency coordination program in the United States. This study reviewed the Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee (FRPCC) and Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program (REPP) in the United States and examined the role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a lead entity for federal response activities for the nuclear/radiological event. This study suggests establishing a central government program to support local governments for radiological emergency preparedness activities and coordination efforts among stakeholders.

This paper tries to elicit implications of policies that are required for a society to move forward in a safe direction by conducting empirical analyses of the effects of industrial safety and health policy literacy on policy satisfaction and the moderating effects of the communication within the organization. The Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute (OSHRI) under the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) has conducted the "2018 Occupational Safety and Health Survey" to identify the current state of safety and health activities within workplaces. After analyzing the data, the paper concluded that higher industrial safety and health policy literacy increases policy satisfaction. Communication within the organization does not have a direct impact on policy literacy. It causes a negative moderating effect on the relationship between policy literacy and policy satisfaction. This research can be seen as relevant through this political approach and the empirical analysis results since it can provide attempts from the political and managerial perspective and practical implications for creating safe work spaces to the industrial safety and health research area, which is mainly comprised of a behavioral approach.

The purpose of this study is to present improvement measures according to the relative importance through expert AHP analysis to improve the personnel hearing system of metropolitan governments. For the analysis, the opinions of professors related to administration and policy studies and experts in confirmation hearings were collected. As a result of the analysis, in order to improve the hearing system, the scope of the documents submitted to the hearing should be improved first, and the influence that can actually reflect the results of the hearing should be secured. Above all, it can be seen that the qualification verification of candidates requires intensive verification focusing on expertise and understanding of provincial government. The hearing system is also characterized by the higher the issue and interest in candidates for public office, the more focused public opinion is formed on morality rather than expertise.