A STUDY ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE KYUNGJU-EUPSUNG IN THE PERIOD OF JAPANESE OCCUPANCY

경주읍성지구의 일제시대 토지소유 변화

This paper discusses the change of land ownership in the urban historical core of Kyungju city in the Period of Japanese occupancy(1910-45) based on the analysis of land register records. Kyungju city was not designated for the cities controlled by urban planning law which was set up in 1912 and 1934. The major purpose of this paper is to clarify the urbanization process of a Korean local city where the formal urban planning projects were not carried out. The focus of the study is the increase of the Japanese landowners and Japanization of the landscape. In the very beginning of occupation, Japanese already owned about 8% of the total land of the city centre where the old Kyungju castle had been located. The ratio of the land owned by Japanese went up to more or less 70% at the end of World war II. The process which the urban core had been replaced for the Japanese is very clearly traced from the analysis of a land register records.