• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.89 no.2
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• pp.260-274
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• 2000

The purposes of this study were to reveal the backgrounds, process, and evaluation of the "Forest Survey Project(1910)" and to determine the influence of the "Comments on the Classification of Forest Land Ownership in Korea(1910)", which was based upon the results of the project, on forest policy in the early period of the General-Government of Korea. The forest survey project was conducted by two Japanese, Kiuchi and Saito, to understand the forest distribution in the Korean Peninsula by ownership and stand. However, the accuracy of the project was very low due to the lack of budget and time. Especially, village forests and special easement forests in the northern peninsula were classified into the Nation Forest without Administration caused by the informality and arbitrariness of the survey. Nevertheless, the General-Government of Korea used the results of the survey for establishing the forest policy on the classification of the forest land ownership in Korea at that time. The "Comments on the Classification of Forest Land Ownership in Korea(1910)" was based upon the results of the survey as mentioned above. The comments was realized as colonial forest policy through the Forest Ordinance in 1911 and a series of policies consolidating the modern forest ownership. To conclude, the "Forest Survey Project" was used to establish colonial forest policy in the early of the General-Government of Korea while its accuracy was truly low. Moreover, the "Comments on the Classification of Forest Land Ownership in Korea" had a great influence on the formulating the directions and details of colonial forest policy in Korea under the rule of Japanese Imperialism.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.418-428
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to analyze and clarify the forest information shown in the Korean Peninsula Forest Distribution Map (KPFDM) printed in 1910. First, the background, process, results, and reliability of the Forest Survey Project (1910), which is the basis of the KPFDM, were evaluated. Next, the information of the KPFDM, preserved as a paper map, was digitized to show forest status and forest type. The results of the analysis can be summarized as follows: Analyzing the Korean peninsula of the 1910 period in terms of the present South and North Korean regions, stocked forests were found to be more widely distributed (73%) in the northern region. The southern region largely consisted of deforested areas, with young-growth trees and unstocked forests making up 80% of all forests there. The northern region had abundant natural forests, with 80% of the forests in Yanggang-do, which currently includes Mt. Baekdu and the Hyesan area, composed of stocked forests. Pinus densiflora was found about 2.7 times more often in the southern region than in the northern region. Large numbers of coniferous trees excluding Pinus densiflora were found in the northern region. In particular, 53% of the forests and 72% of the stocking land in the southern region were composed of Pinus densiflora.