A geographical study of the Korean Tobacoo forming region

韓國 煙草載培地域의 地理學的 硏究

The purpose of this study is to clarify how the Korean tobacco farming region has been geographically formed by natural and cultural environments, and to examine and cultural environments, and to examine whether it can be recognized as a major part of agricultultural regions. The questions asked in this study are associated with the spatial diffusion of tobacco cultivation, the patterns and processes of the farming region from 1900 to 1960, and the regional characteristics of the concentrated farming area since 1960. The study is inductively approached and most data used were collected from old records and field works. The delineation of the tobacco farming region was derived by applying the concept of the uniform region. Tobacco was introduced through Japan during the years of Kwang Hae Kun (1616-1622). According to the old records, three places, Waekwan, Dongrae, and Ulsan, were the first tobacco raising areas. In the 1700's the well-known tobacco farming regions were scattered all around the nation in places like Jinan, Samdeung, Seongcheon, Gangdong, Yeongweol and Yeongyang. This distributon pattern suggests that tobacco farming in Korea developed spatially along main traffic routes before the 1700's. Untill the 1920's the pattern of tobacco regions was relatively static. Since the 1920's, it has shown a pattern of concentration in the Choongbuk province, where the new highly productive yellow tobacco has been introduced. It was not until the 1960's that yellow tobacco instead of the native variety came to be cultivated all over the country. In the 1960's, the tobacco farming region tended to be concentrated and localized in north western Choongnam, northern Cheonbuk, Choongbuk, and Kyeongbuk including Cheongsong, Andong, and Yeongyang. Since 1970, tobacco production has declined in some of the former major areas of cultivation in terms of its density, while there have appeared highly concentrated areas in Cheongsong and Andong, centered around Yeongyand. There has also emerged a secondary major concentrated area along the coast including such places as Kochang, Yeongkwang and Mooan. The appearance of the Yeongyang tobacco area as the most important core region can be described as follows; at first this area has the disadvantage of being in competition with other places for selling cash crops besides tobacco, because it is located in a mountain zone and it is far from the major metropolises of Seoul and Pusan. Thus has been formed the farming mentality that agricultural management makes the most profit on farming tobacco because tobacco is stable in price and selling routes. As a result of this longstanding belief, these areas (Yeongyang, Cheongsong and Andong) have developed into tobacco concentrated regions. Finally, the tobacco concentrated regions of Korea have changed through time. The factors affecting this change have been the kind of tobacco grown, the monopoly system, agricultural techniques and the expansion of arable land through the clearing of slopes. In conclusion, the research indicates that the localized and concentrated patterns of tobacco cultivation are geographically typical. Thus, recognition of tobacco farming region is important to understanding the agricultural region of Korea as a whole.