• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.739-759
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• 2016

C. Gottsche(1855-1909), the Deutsch geologist, was invited by $M{\ddot{o}}llendorff$ who was the viceminister of foreign affairs in Korea, and travelled through the inland of Korean peninsula in 1884. He covered 2,550km in 138 days. After that journey, he wrote three academic papers about the geography and geology of Korea with the data of that field trip. Those paper bear considerable significance in that they included the first approaches to Korean geography and geology by a field-scientist with a modern academic training. Unlike other two papers focusing on the geology or the minerals, "The Geography of Korea(${\ddot{U}}ber$ Land und Leute in Korea(1886))" has its own value as a historical document, because it shows how the contempory Korea actually appeared to the eye of a $19^{th}$ western field-scientist. As this has not been introduced in Korean acdemic journals yet, this study might contribute to the understanding of how westerners regarded Korea in the end of 19th century.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.701-724
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• 2003

Since the late 19th century, the location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake have been a major theme of debates among the scholars(Prejevalsky, Richthofen, Kozlov, Hedin, Huntington, Stein, Chen etc.) who have been interested in Inner Asia. In the 1980s the problem to find the exact location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake was finally solved by the investigation group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ironically, it was possible to find the solution by drying up of the lake due to the change of land use and the expansion of irrigation system in Tarim basin. Specially the excessive development of this area for agricultural use by the Xinjiang Production-Construction Army Corps since 1949 must have influenced on drying up of Lop-Nor lake. Furthermore it can be observed to be the very similar situation to Lop-Nor lake in many areas of Chinese Inner Asia Frontier. According to this finding, it may be proposed that human factors played an important role in the changes of Lop-Nor lake over the previous years too. This study can give an insight on the ecological interpretation of Inner Asian history and the environmental interpretation of the rising nationalism in this area.