The purpose of this study is to characterize long-term (1973~2012) changes in intra-seasonal temperature and extreme low temperature events in winter observed at 61 weather stations in the Republic of Korea and their associations with changes in atmospheric circulation patterns around East Asia. Maps of long-term linear trends clearly show that both temperature means and extreme events in Korea have asymmetrically changed between early winter and late winter. In early winter, changes with statistical significance are less observable, while in late winter reductions in low extreme temperature events as well as increases in temperatures, particularly after mid-1980s, are obviously observed across the study region. Comparisons of tropospheric synoptic climatic fields before and after the mid-1980s demonstrate that in early winter of recent decades, active meridional circulation from the Arctic appeared in western Eurasia and Bering sea, while in late winter, zonal circulation around East Asia associated with positive Arctic Oscillation-like patterns prevailed. These results indicate that asymmetric changes between early and late winter temperatures in Korea are associated with intra-seasonally inconsistent atmospheric circulation patterns around East Asia.

This study aims to examine the dynamics of price changes and trading volume of Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange (KLOFFE) from 2000 to 2008. With augmented analysis, our results support two hypotheses. First, under information spillover, our findings support noise traders’ hypothesis as the time span for variance of past trading volume to cause variance of current return is found to be asymmetric under bull and bear markets. Second, looking at the dynamic relation between volume and volatility of price changes, our findings support Liquidity-Driven Trade hypothesis as past trading volume and subsequent volatility of return exhibit positive correlation. In terms of investors’ behavior in response to the news, we find that investors are more risk taking in bull market and more risk reverse in bear market. Our study suggests that investors should adjust their strategy in the futures market in a dynamic manner as the time span of new information arrival is not consistent. Also, uninformed investors with information asymmetry should expect noninformational trading from informed investors to establish their desired positions for better liquid position.