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Port Facility Security as a Management Function
Published in Kenneth Christopher, Port Security Management, 2014
A fortress, using a military understanding of the term, is a facility specially designed to protect its inhabitants from attack. Historically, fortresses were built using specific defenses, such as high walls and moats, to deter an attacking army from invading the safety of the protected space. As weapons and armies became more sophisticated, the ability of a nation’s fortresses to withstand invasion diminished. The term fortress mentality, from a security planning perspective, refers to an approach that tries to effect security precautions without considering their costs or effects on organizational productivity (Schultz and Shumway 2001, p. 14). Consider the challenges facing an urban police chief. Crime may go up in certain neighborhoods but remain static in others. The citizens in the neighborhoods where more crime is occurring may clamor for more police officers. Should the chief shift officers from the more stable neighborhoods to the high crime areas? Perhaps a police officer on every block in the high crime neighborhood will have a positive effect. But what would be the effect of removing officers from the other neighborhoods? Is it a realistic solution to build a “police fortress” in the high crime areas at the expense of citizens and residents in other neighborhoods of the city? Similarly, in port security planning managers must weigh the effective costs of security on the entire organization. It may be a simple solution to respond to a growing threat that a terrorist group might deploy a chemical weapon of mass destruction in an attack on a port. Does this mean that the port should search every person, vehicle, and container that comes into the port? What impact will this have on operations? The challenge for managers in port security planning is to trade the fortress mentality for one that balances security with commerce. There is no suggestion here that security risks should be ignored in favor of a “business at all costs mentality.” Rather, the balancing of commercial activities with sensible security precautions demands that security managers remain highly attuned and responsive to the security risk environment and work to implement mitigation efforts that can be quickly implemented or scaled back in direct response to the nature and levels of the threats being faced by the port.
Changing perceptions of the Qing Dynasty in the Late Joseon Dynasty and Chinese style architecture that emerged in Joseon in the 18th century
Published in Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 2022
In the Yeonhaengnoks and The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, the yeonhaengsa left written records describing the characteristics and excellence of the technology used to build the fortresses that appeared in China. In particular, Kim Changup compared the size of Joseon and Chinese fortresses in his writings, entitled Yeonhaeng-ilgi, and wrote an article describing the grandeur and size of the Chinese fortresses.19“凡城皆甎築 而高三丈以上 山海關最壯 撫寧縣‚ 玉田縣‚ 豐潤縣‚ 三河縣及諸驛堡 莫不有城 而其高皆不下三丈 縣以上 城皆有十字街樓二簷或三簷 金碧照曜半空 [Author’s interpretation as follow] All [Chinese] fortresses were built with bricks and are three times higher than that of man, and are the best among the great palaces in the mountains and sea. It is comfortable and has a jade-like field and a bountiful harvest, and the sea is on three sides, and the small banks of all yug become lively within the fortress. [The fortress of Joseon] is not three times higher than a man. Above the [China] fortress, the watchtower of the cross shines in a golden blue color at two and three floors” (Kim Early 18th century but year unknown, Sancheonpungsong Chongnok). In Bukhagui, Bak Jega criticized the materials used in Korean fortress-building. Both bricks and battlements were used in China, while Joseon used rocks and a wooden cache to construct fortress walls. He argued that the Chinese walls were superior and more solid than Korean walls. The yeonhaengsa pointed out the inefficiency and drawbacks associated with Joseon technology stone-wall technology while praising the effectiveness of Chinese fortress-building methods.Is the so-called fortress a facility to defend against the enemy? If not, then is it a facility to be abandoned and run away from when an enemy invades? If it is the latter, I don’t know. If it is the former, it can be said that there is no such thing as a fortress in our country. Why on earth do I say this? … [ellipsis] … It’s a good idea to make a battlement from the cost of installing a wooden cache (Bak 2003, 43).