• Land and Housing Review
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2015

North Korean leader Kim, Jung-Il visited Beijing, China, May 2010, when he made a common recognition with Chinese President Hu Jintao on construction of the Rasun SEZ and the Hwanggumpyong-Wyhwado SEZ for development of Economic cooperation between N.Korea and China and accelerating establishment of SEZs in N.Korea. However, after N.Korea's third nuclear test on Feb. 2013, the relationship between N.Korea and China became a little worse. Recently, three nations' border region near Rasun in N.Korea is reconsidered that it is very important place for collaboration between and among 2, 3 or 4 countries, S.Korea, N.Korea, China and Russia. This thesis examined these changes of cooperation and plans among the countries near the border region and proposed some measures for participation of S.Korea on the projects in the Rasun region.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.178-188
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• 2022

This article cites examples of cultural heritages that urgently require protection measures, and the reinterpretation of beacons, fortresses, and extremities identified in the process of conducting a cultural heritage investigation of the DMZ and bordering areas. It is true that there are various difficulties involved in implementing thorough protection measures considering the reality of the two Koreas' division. Despite this, the "Ordinance for the Protection of Military Cultural Properties" and the "Act on the Protection and Investigation of Buried Cultural Heritage" have been enacted and are in effect. In particular, in the "Ordinance for the Protection of Military Cultural Properties," the value of protecting "military assets" is emphasized. The identification and investigation of cultural heritages in the DMZ and border areas must continue. Although field research is currently difficult, the primary investigation conducted by high-altitude terrain analysis and literature research is considered effective. Furthermore, there are parts that require correction and supplementation with future field investigations. Although some trial and error is expected during these various cultural heritage investigations, they need to continue.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.287-306
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• 2017

Since the 1990s, political geographers have focused on the study of the process of border construction. They have shifted from the old morphological and functional approaches to boundary that have focused on the types and functions of boundaries. Recent scholarship on border studies understand boundaries and the border regions as entities with overlapping and competing relationships not as manifestation of territoriality. There has been the emphasis on the multidimensional actors and the historical and cultural legacies inherent in the border region as well. Based on these recent discussions, this study examines how the border region has been constructed by various actors and strategies in Dandong China, the border city between North Korea and China. Several sanctions including UN Security Council have been resolved and implemented in accordance with North Korea's nuclear and missile development, which is a relevant example to examine the "border as relationships" in which strategies of various actors are competing. In addition, this paper has a significance as a case study on the construction process of border and the characteristics of its materiality, which is a way to overcome the limitation of discourse-oriented critical geopolitical research.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 2022

This study analyses how much Korean visits to North Korea have an impact on the North Korean regional economy. It estimates the demand for North Korean tourism via the borders of North Korea, China, and Russia and South Korean expenses to be spent in North Korea. When asked if they are willing to visit North Korea within the next five years in case the pre-conditions of the visit to North Korea are satisfied, approximately 64.1% of the survey respondents indicated 'yes'. To estimate the demand, this research employed the analysis of purchase intention, popular in marketing, based on their willingness to visit. The annual demand for tourism was 4,136,361 persons. The average estimated expense per person is KRW 1,532,000 and the total annual expense is KRW 6,336.9 billion. Assuming that airfare is excluded from the total expense and the expense is made evenly in each tourist destination, the estimated amount to be spent in North Korea is KRW 2,838.7 billion per annum. The backward linkage effect of this expense on the North Korean regional economy is KRW 7,972.1 billion in total production inducement, KRW 2,619.4 billion in value-added inducement, and approximately 2,890,443 persons in employment inducement. The value-added inducement effect is estimated to be approximately 7.6% of the North Korean nominal GDP in 2020. South Korean tourism is expected to have a significant impact on the North Korean economy. As the demand for North Korean tourism is likely to increase steadily due to the expected increase in overseas travel demand by Koreans, inter-Korean cooperation is needed for the development of North Korean tourism infrastructure if conditions improve.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.373-394
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• 2020

The strengthening of multilateral international sanctions against North Korea has raised questions as to how effective they are in exerting pressure on the country's economy. In this paper, we address this question by examining their impact on the country's integration into regional and global apparel production networks. North Korea has in the past decade become an increasingly competitive exporter of apparel on the basis of consignment-based processing arrangements. Official trade data shows a sharp drop in North Korean exports of clothing since the sectoral ban in 2017. There is evidence to suggest, however, that exports have continued on a more informal and clandestine basis. North Korea's integration into apparel production networks has also taken the form of the dispatch of workers to factories in China's northeastern border regions. Yet there is evidence that the recent sanctions imposed on such practices has similarly led to illicit practices such as working on visitors' visas, often with the help of Chinese enterprises and local government. The resilience of North Korea's integration into apparel production networks follows a capitalist logic and is result of the highly profitable nature of apparel production for all actors concerned and a correspondingly strong desire to evade sanctions. As such, the analysis contributes to the literature on sanctions that suggests that the measures may contribute to emergence of growing informal and illicit practices and to the role of the clandestine economy.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.438-457
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• 2019

The main purpose of this paper is to identify the entry types and locational determinants of North Korean workers in cross-border regions between North Korea and China. More specifically, the paper has attempted to divide the entry type of them in the regions into two; 1) entry via transactions between Chinese traders with North Korea and North Korea trade companies, and 2) entry via transactions between Korean-Chinese middlemen and North Korean trade companies. Also, it has analyzed main factors of their locational determinants in the spatial contexts of the regions. There have been changes in two perspectives in terms of the entry paths and types of them in accordance with the transformation of characteristics of United Nations sanction against North Korea from 'call-upon' to 'decide' after UN Security Council Resolution 2094 in 2013. Firstly, main agents who have dealing with North Korean trade companies which have right to dispatch North Korean workers have been changed from Chinese traders into Korean-Chinese brokers who are specialized in the introduction of North Korean workers with one-stop service from visa administrative to labor managements. Secondly, there has been a transfer of North Korean workers in the regions from formal to informal workers who has been admitted into China with a short stay or a tourist visa, and then remained illegally to be employed in China. Therefore, as demands on service which is able to guarantee the security of North Korean informal workers and their managements have increased, Korean-Chinese brokers have been stimulated in the regions after the operation of real international sanctions against overseas North Korean workers. In addition, the main factors of their locational determinants in cross-border regions between North Korea and China are could be analyzed in three perspectives; 1) an increase in real wages in accordance with the reform of the Chinese social insurance system after 2011, 2) the structural vulnerability of labor markets in the regions, 3) the utilization of stable and manageable workers.