• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.505-520
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• 2011

This study is aimed to examine the change on extreme precipitation events in South Korea. The country is divided into six basins, and seven extreme precipitation indices-related to heavy rainfall are analyzed at sixty weather stations. The increasing trend in amount of heavy rainfall is more stable than that in days of heavy rainfall. The increasing trend is the most stable when days of rainfall are more than 50 mm, or rainfall is over the 95th percentile. The precipitation indices-related to heavy rainfall was mostly increasing during analysis period. Especially, basins of the Han river, the upper Nakdong river, and the Eastern coast show significantly increasing trends compared to the other basins. However, the increasing trends of the Geum river and the Seomjin river are not statistically significant. Heavy rainfall events had stably increased in the Han and the Nakdong rivers since the mid-1970s. However, the number of stably increasing regions has decreased since the mid-2000s. It means that the frequency and intensity of the recent heavy rainfall become more irregular.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.334-343
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• 2014

The number of malaria cases has been undulating for the past 10 years in Korea since the reemergence of malaria in early 1990's. Considering the spatial variations of malaria incidence across the northmost border areas near the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the occurrence of the disease seems to be influenced by the natural and human environment in the region. Malaria is an infectious disease that is transmitted to humans by the bites of vector-mosquitoes that carry malaria parasites, and its incidence rate depends on specific climatic and sociodemographic factors. This study found that the spatial characteristics of malaria incidence have varied depending on relative proportions of mosquito habitats, distance between mosquito habitats and human residence, the physical and sociodemographic environments of the city by urbanization, and local topography.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.627-641
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• 2008

There have been frequent reorganizations of administrative areas and place-names in China since 1949. These reorganizations were practiced with the two institutions 'city control over surrounding counties(shiguanxianzhi)' and 'county transform to city(shigaixian)' based on the socialist commodity supply system(gongxiaozhidu) and civil registration system(hukouzhidu). In this article I will try to discuss the influence and meaning of these reorganizations on the minority nationalities districts in frontier China. The Conclusions are as follows: The increase of the number of cities and the reorganization of the place-names in the minority nationalities districts is not the result of the increase of population or advancement of industrial structure but the result of Han people having non agriculture registration(feinongyehukou) population's increase. Therefore the reorganizations of administrative areas and place-names was a process of inclusion of the minority nationalities areas as a part of the Chinese territory(guotu) more perfective than before.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.483-494
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• 2001

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relation between regional identity and national identity in a regional textbook in Korea. In geography education, regional textbooks are curriculum materials which represent regional identity based on territorial difference from other regions. In local curriculum level, the harmony between national unity and regional identity is to be pursued as educational objective. However, this harmony appears to be distorted in the school textbook in Je-Ju Province, a case region. For example, Confucian cultural landscapes are represented as otherness in regional discourses, but togetherness in the regional textbook. Also, the regional textbook implies that the boundary of external territorialization is mainly not regions but nations, and it seems to intend that leasers get a sense of place towards their region as periphery of nation. Therefore, we argue that regional identity, which must be stressed in a regional textbook, is marginalized in a case region.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.16-38
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• 1994

The spatial structure of Korea has been changed drastically during the second half of this century. The events such as the Korean War and the resultant division of the Korean Peninsular into two Koreas, rapid industrialization and urbanization are the major causes among others for the spatial changes of the nation. The changes in turn have spawned a number of spatial problems. It is time, we argue, to diagnose how much the nation is now ill-structured, and to discuss of which directions the long-term spatial management be reoriented. A delphi survey was conducted during the early 1993 to fulfill such research needs. Questionnaires were distributed among geographers, planners, and high governmental officials throughout the nation. These 'experts of spatial problems' were requested to evaluate the past spatial policies and strategies, and to identify spatial and environmental problems at the national, regional and local levels. The survey included questions with regard to the spatial problems in North Korea too. A complementary literature survey in the fields of spatial sciences was accomplished as well in order to identify the major research interests and issues with regard to the nations's spatial structure. The delphi survey results indicatee that the present spatial structure: in relation to consumption, housing and economic activities is satisfactory in overall, while rather poor in terms of education, leisure and community activities. Most of the experts consider infrastructural improvements are urgent in the areas of roads, waste disposal facilitles, railroads, harbors, water supply and drainage systems. The over-concentration of economic, social and political function in the Seoul Metropolitan Region is perceived to be the most serious spatial problem in Korea. The long-term solutions suggested are strategies toward a more balanced regional development as well as toward a cleaner environment. The concensus among the experts for the short-term solution is the redistribution of population and industries from the Seoul Metropolitan Region to the intermediate and small cities. The land use policies and concurrent large-scale infrastructural projects are evaluated largely pertinent and desirable in general. It is, however, suggested that development projects be conducted in a more harmonious way with environment. The survey respondents suggest that the present environmental management policies should be reexamined critically. With regard to regional and local problems, transportation and pollutions are thought to be most serious in the Seoul Metropolitan Region, while employment opportunities, and information, education and health care services are most deprived in small cities and rural areas. The majority of the experts consider a city size of 250, 000-500, 000 population is desirable to live within. Respondents beileve that North Korea's physical environment is still not aggravated much whereas its infrastructural provisions are largely pool. The co-authors of this research figure a "environmentaly sound and spatially balanced Korean Penninsular" as the ideal type of spatial structure in Korea. The basic guidelines toward this ideal prototype are suggested: the recovery of spetial integrity, progressive restructuring of the nation, land uses geared to public welfare rather than private interests, and eco-humanistic approach in spatial policies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.522-540
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• 2012

The main aim of the paper is to identify the position or status of Korean economic geography in changing global economic geography by reviewing papers published in Korean geographical journals since the mid-1950s. Since the late 20th century as economic geography has developed significantly with the introduction of new research issues, methodologies, and theory and concepts, economic geography in Korea also has gone through rapid development in terms of both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The paper attempts to analyze trends in Korean economic geography by reviewing agricultural, industrial, commercial geographies, and others since the mid-1950s. The review of economic geography in Korea would be based on four periods classified by research issues and approaches; foundation (~1950s), positioning (1960s and 1970s), jump and rush (1980s and mid-1990s), and transitional period (late 1990s~). Agricultural geography in Korea has decreased due to increases of the interests in industrial geography since the 1980s. In particular, since the late 1990s industrial geography has undergone a significant transition in accordance with the emergence of new theories of institutional perspectives, centering around issues on value chains, innovative cluster, cooperative and competitive networks, foreign direct investment, flexible specialization and venture ecology. Along with this, there has been changes in the interest of commercial geography in Korea from researches on periodical markets, the structure of store formats, and distributions by commodity, to researches on producer services and retailer's locational behaviors and commercial supremacy according to the emergence of new store formats. Since the late 1990s, many researches and discussions associated with the new economic geography began to emerge in Korea. Various research issues are focused on analyzing changes of local, regional and global economic spaces and their processes in relation to institutional perspectives, knowledge and innovation, production chain and innovative networks, industrial clusters and RIS, and geographies of service. Although economic geography in Korea has developed significantly both in quantitative and qualitative perspectives, we pointed out that it has still limited in some specific scope and issues. Therefore, it is likely to imply that its scope and issues should be diversified with new perspectives and approaches.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.523-535
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• 2005

This study is aimed at researching the applicability of teaching-learning models in highschool geography class by designing the models on the basis of geographical experience the learners go through everyday life. The procedures and results of the application of the models are as followed. First, the systematization of the teaching concepts should be preceded to internalize the learners cognitive development, that is, to systemize cognitive structure. The concrete learning points of geographical concepts from the units about Migration and Population Changes are systemized with 'migration' as a higher concept, 'moving type' as basic concept, 'moving factors' as the lower concept. Everyday geographical experiences the students can go through are surveyed. Second, as preparation for the geography class, hand-outs about family-moving history and the change of the family number were used as basic material for real class teaching activity, showing the learners' general concepts are very effective as basic units which can be easily understood and accessed to. Third, with the experimental class, the geography class should secure the flexibility on the teaching-learning process. The result of applying the newly developed teaching-learning model to actual geography classes was that experimental group had higher achievement rate than the compared group with general teaching-learning model applied to. The result of analyzing students' response of the new teaching-learning model was that the students were interested and satisfied emphatically and they showed positive response in regard to practical use of the contents. Here, it is noticeable that the new teaching-learning model causes the students to be interested. But it's also found that there's no big difference in improving the students' inquisitive mind.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.753-765
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• 2011

Tourist behavior has been a major topic in tourism research. Since the construction of Saemangeum seawall, May 2010, it has been working actively to make a tourist complex fishing port project of Bi-eung port, with the increase of tourists visiting to Saemangeum seawall and Bi-eung port. The purpose of this study is to analyze tourist behaviors conducted in Bi-eung port of Gunsan area. Most of the tourists were the residence of the Jeonbuk, and one-day tourists mostly consisted of families and friends. It was examined that the main destinations were Saemangeum seawall and Bi-eung port. The major complaints of tourists were the lack of parking and convenience facilities. In order to activate the tourism of Bi-eung port, it is required the landscape maintenance and place marketing of Bi-eung port. The satisfaction indicators about tourism base on facilities such as accessibility, promotion and information, tourism products and food, linkage of tourist places and tourism resource with surrounding areas, and the related tourism programs show as below average, respectively. Seven kinds of tourism infrastructure as measured by indicators below average in satisfaction with the analysis but Comprehensive assessment as a tourist destination was the relatively high levels.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.69-80
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• 1995

As Korean traditional peasant farming has come to a commercialization since 1970s, the spatial structure of Korean agriculture also has been gradually restructured by principle of not subsistance but economy. This epochal transformation of agriculture and its spatial structure in Korea are comparable with the first agricultural revolution in Europe. Facing this turning point, it is essential to redefine the nature and significance of agricultural geography in Korea through the review of the outcomes of about 200 studies published since 1950s in Korea of which twelve is concerned with locational analysis. The purpose of this study is to review the trend and characteristics of location studies on Korean agriculture. Major findings are as follows: (1) Since 1950s the location studies of agriculture recorded only 12 papers which occupy no more than 6% of studies of agricultural geography in Korea. This fewness suggests that the location study of agriculture in Korea is yet at the stage of beginning. (2) In spite of the fewness the studies, carried out mainly in 1980s, contributed considerably to clarify the locational characteristics of Korean agriculture especially in the spatial variations of crops, dairy farming and cropping system, the impacts of agricultural labors, the location strategy of mountain agriculture, and the responses of farmers to hazard. (3) In approach and methodology, two thirds of the studies has taken traditional empiricist view and other, positivist. And most studies adopted classic and neo-classic locational theories as their theoretical base in description and explanation. In degree of development, the location studies of agriculture in Korea seems to be about 20 years delayed compared to that of the advanced countries in terms of approach and methodology. (4) Such tradition of the location studies reflects not only the conservative nature of agricultural geography of Korea but also the early stage of capitalism of Korean agriculture.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.454-472
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• 2014

This study is to analyze the approaches of development discourse and its representation in geography curriculum and textbooks for middle school in Korea. The paper examines the spectrum of development discourse in terms of modernization theory, dependency theory, neoliberalism, grassroots development, sustainable development, postcolonism, post-structuralism and post-development. The findings on geography textbook analysis based on them are as follows. First, Most of the textbooks don't include the definition and operational definition on development and sustainable development. Second, development indicators rely on normal economic indicators like GDP or GNI per capita. HDI that includes GDP per capita, level of education and life expectancy is treated in some of the textbooks, and gender index is never presented. Third, a textbook still uses biased terms such as developed and most developed countries instead of developing countries. Fourth, in plans to solve economic unequality and geographical problems, personal level is treated less than the global, nation and NGOs. Finally, statements on sustainable development contain only intergenerational equity, not intergenerational equity. And approaches on sustainable development are based on technocentric approaches more than ecocentric approaches. Thus geography textbooks should be carefully written on development discourse by authors.