• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.65-83
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• 1994

Sevaral problems of administrative area sysem in Korea have been brought up for a long time. Because its frame has remained since Chosun and Japanese colonial period in spite of changing local administrative environment in accordance with rapid industrialization and urbanization. Recent reform of city (Shi)- county (Gun) integration is derived from this argument. But problems which permeate deeply overall system cannot be solved by partial reorganization of Shi-Gun. They may be rationalized only through the reform of the whole system. The aims of this study are to analyze problems of administrative area system entirelr and to discuss the direction of its reform from that point of view. Major problems of administrative area system are summed up into the followings. Firstly, it is found that administrative hierarchies are too many levels. Contemporary administrative hierarchical structure is 4 levels: regional autonomous government (Tukpyolshi, Jik'halshi, Do), local autonomous government (Shi, Gun), two leveis of auxiliary administrative area (Up, Myun and Ri). These hierarchies were established in late period of Chosun which transportation was undeveloped and residential activity space was confined. But today developing transportion and expanding sphere of life don't need administrative hierarchical structurl with many levels. Besides developing administrative technology reduces administrative space by degrees. Many levels of contemporary administrative hierarchical structure are main factor of administrative inefficency, discording with settlement system. Second problem is that Tukpyolshi and Jik'halshi - cities under direct control of the central government as metropolitan area - underbounded cities. Underbounded city discomforts residential life and increases external elects of local pulic services. Especially this problem is Seoul, Pusan and Daegu. Third problem is that Do-areas are mostly two larger in integrating into single sphere of life. In fact each of them consistes of two or three sphere of life. Fourth Problem is metropolitan government system that central city is seperated from complementary area, i.e. Do. It brings about weakening the economic force of Do. Fifth problem is that several cities divided single sphere of life. It is main factor of finantial inefficency and facing difficult regional administration. Finally necessity of rural parish (Myun.) is diminished gradually with higher order center oriented activty of rural residents. First of all administrative area system should corresponds with substantial sphere of life in order to solve these problems. Followings are some key directions this study proposes on the reform of administrative area system from that standpoint. 1. Principles of reorgnization -- integration of central dty with complementary area. -- correspondence of administrative hierarchical structure with settlement system. -- correspondence of boundary of administrative area with sphere of life. 2. Reform strategy -- Jik'halshi is integrated with Do and is under the contol of Do. -- Small Seoul shi (city) which have special functions as captal is demarcated in Seoul tukpyolshi and 22 autonomous distrcts of Seoul tukpyolshi is integrated into 3-4 cities. -- Neighboring cities (Shies) in single sphere of life are intrgrated into single city (Shj). -- Myun and Ri are abolished in rural region and new unit of local administrative area on the basis of lowest order sphere of life into which 3-4 Ries are integrated replaces them.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.40 no.6 s.111
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• pp.613-630
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• 2005

In this article, the author inquired the multi-layered sphere of a commoner's settlement of Jangha-ri in modem times to approach the territoriality and socio-spatial characteristics of it. This settlement has originated in a lineage settlement of Jinju-Gang, and has experienced socio-spatial cohesion since its making(the 17th Century). Especially, it is found that the territoriality of Jangha-ri has fluctuated in times and has obtained multi-layeredness according to the human-nature relationship, to the social relationship, and to the political relationship of villagers. As a result, it is interpreted that the socio-spatial characteristics and territoriality of Jangha-ri in modem times do not only have a physical reality, but also social, political, cultural one.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-34
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• 1997

The impact of a central place on daily living over wide outlying territory has been one of traditional subjects in the field of urban geography. The flow of rural population toward the central city of Chinju characterizes the population movement in Western Kyungnam, where the spillover of urban population into outlying areas, an especially prominent phenomenon in American society, does not occur. The central city of Chinju is supposed to be the most favored settlement area in Western Kyungnam. More than two thousands of teachers. who live in Chinju, cross the city boundary each morning to do their jobs in Western Kyungnam. But only ninety teachers living outside Chinju commute to the workplace in the city. The teachers willingly spend hours commuting each day to enjoy better quality of life in the central city. In fact, the central city of Chinju functions as bedroom communities for many middle-class workers in Western Kyungnam. On the basis of teachers' commuting behavior, four levels of Chinju's urban spheres are identified in Western Kyungnam. As Table-6 and Figure-2 show, the first-order level of Chinju's sphere includes most Myuns of Sanchung/Hadong Guns and some Myuns of Sachun/Gosung Guns. The second-order level comprises Sanchung/Sachun Eubs and many Myuns of Sachun /Gosung Guns. The third-order level is made up of Samchunpo, Hadong/Gosung/Eryung/Namhae/Habchun/Hamyang Eups, and many Myuns of Eryung/Namhae/Habchun Guns. And all of Guchang Gun and most Myuns of Hamyang Gun belong to the fourth-order level of Chinju's sphere. The influence sphere of Metropolitan Chinju is extended farther in the direction of less competition with other metropolises. Such a situation occurs to the west and south of Chinju. Daily commuting, defined as the journeys to and from work, is an excellent indicator for delimiting urban spheres of influence.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.45-71
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• 1991

The landscape systems in Korean island settlements can be recognized as results of ingabitants' ecological adptation to the isolated environment with the limited natural resources. Both the fishery dominant industry in island society and ecological nature of its environments seem to have influenced on inhabitants' environmental cognition as well as the physical landscape of island villages such as its location, spatial pattern in each village, housing form and so on. This study was done mainly by both refering to the related documents and direct observations in case study areas, and results of the study can be summarized as follows. 1. In general, the landscape of an individual island seems to take more innate characteristics of island's own, corresponding to the degree of isolation from mainland. That is, while the landscape of island in neighboring waters takes both inland-like and island-innate landscape character at the same time, the one in the open sea far from land takes more innate landscape character of all island's own in the aspects of village location, land use and housing density etc. 2. The convex landform of most islands brings about more centrifugal village allocation than centripetal allocation in most inland villages. And thus most villages in each island face extremely diverse directions different from the south facing preference in most inland rural villages. 3. Most island villages tend to be located along the ecologically transitional strip between land and sea, so called 'line of life', rather than between hilly slope and flat land as being in most inland village locations. So they are located with marine ecology bounded fishing ground ahead and land ecology bounded agricultural site at the back of them. 4. The settlement pattern of the island fishing villages shows more compact spatial structure than that of inland agricultural villages, due to the absolute limits of usable land resources and the adaptation to the marine environment with severe sea winds and waves or for the easy accessability to the fishing grounds. And also the managerial patterns of public owned sea weed catching ground, which take each family as the unit of usership rather than an individual, seem to make the villagescape more compact and the size of Individual residence smaller than that of inland agricultural village. 5. The folk shrine('Dand') systems, in persrective of villagescape, represent innate environmental cognition of island inhabitants above all other cultural landscape elements in the island. Usually the kinds and the meanings of island's communal shrine and its allocative patternsin island villagescape are composed of set with binary opposition, for example 'Upper shrine(representing 'earth', 'mountain' or 'fire')' and 'Lower Shrine(representing 'sea', 'dragon' or 'water') are those. They are usually located at contrary positions in villagescape each other. That is, they are located at 'the virtical center or visual terminus(Upper shrine at hillside behind the village)' and 'the border or entrance(Lower Shrine at seashore in front of the village)'. Each of these shirines' divinity coincides with each subsystem of island's natural eco-system(earth sphere vs marine sphere) and they also contribute to ecological conservation, bonded with the 'Sacred Forest(usually with another function of windbreak)' or 'Sacred Natural Fountain' nearby them, which are representatives of island's natural resources.