• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.5 s.104
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• pp.735-754
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• 2004

This paper provides an overview of political ecology, a body of theory that focuses on the links between political and economic inequality on the one hand, and environmental degradation on the other. Adopting a tripartite classification scheme that identifies three political ecology traditions -'classical', 'democratic' and 'poststructuralist'- the discussion shows the need for a move within the poststructuralist tradition away from a narrow and quasi-idealistic focus on discourse to a more robust philosophical engagement with ontological and epistemological issues grounded in Gilles Deleuze's development of Nietzschean materialism. From there. the author draws on numerous examples from Canada, and surveys the available literature on 'bioregionalism', a relatively new intellectual tradition evolved from the North American environmental social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. The so-called 'bioregional approach' stresses that administrative units need to reflect (rather than transect) eco-geographical and cultural features. Bioregionalism is described and assessed as a potential pragmatic research framework for geographers and other planners wishing to respond proactively to the call for a revamped, poststructuralist political ecology. The paper concludes that a bioregional approach to political ecology avoids the weaknesses identified by certain critics, provides scope for consideration of fundamental philosophical ideas, and as such, represents a practical development of a poststructuralist political ecology.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.289-309
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• 2023

While South Korea's universal healthcare system has garnered attention in public health, the issue of inequality in healthcare service provision among different age groups has incessantly become a significant concern. The focus of this concern is primarily on essential healthcare services, encompassing fundamental aspects of healthcare such as internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatric and adolescent care. This inequality is not limited to differences among age groups (both junior and senior demographics) but also extends to potential disparities in healthcare services based on geographic location, particularly in urban and rural contexts. This paper aims to investigate disparities in primary healthcare service resources in South Korea's evolving economic landscape between 1995 and 2021. We utilize a set of inequality indices with a spatial perspective through geographic cluster analysis. The findings reveal that concerns about inequality have been amplified during various economic events, including the IMF crisis in 1999, the global financial crisis in 2008, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. These years are identified as significant phases that have contributed to manifesting spatial disparities in primary healthcare provisions, with a particular emphasis on the senior-aged population rather than junior or all population groups. Our findings underscore the pressing need to address the unequal distribution of essential healthcare resources as part of preparedness for potential economic impacts, requiring a comprehensive consideration of the interconnected nature of demographic and spatial dimensions in healthcare services.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.377-393
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• 2011

This study aims to indicate the spatial characteristics of the changes in the Korean farm land. In particular, we analyze the spatial diffusion patterns of organic farms increasing rapidly with the growth in the agricultural product markets as well as the demand for safe food and sustainable growth. For the purpose, we examine the changes in the distribution patterns of organic farms between year 2000 and 2005. We analyze the agglomeration pattern by Location Quotient (LQ) and Local indicator of spatial association (LISA). Organic farms have been spread out from the outscuirts of Seoul, the capital city, to the traditional agriculture spetilized area in the southern parts of the nation. In order to analyze the relationships between organic farm distribution and the geographical variables affecting the organic farming, we develop multivariate regression models. Our findings indicate that organic farming is related with the number of agriculture-based business and information technique adaptation as well as the level of education and farmers age.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.119-143
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• 2010

Local administrative districts in Japan have extensively reformed over the last 10 years and have decreased by 40 percent. This study examines the process of the municipal mergers in Japan from the perspective of the politics of space, in addition to a focus on the formation of Tobichi (enclaves). The background and progress of municipal mergers in Japan revealed that the reformation of administrative districts progressed under 'restruction' rather than 'decentralization' to manage a financial crisis of government. As a result, the municipal mergers of Japan have progressed in spatiotemporal inequality. The municipal mergers of the study areas are analyzed in multi-dimensional spatial politics composed of financial and demographic properties, locationality, territoriality, placeness, and the politics of decision making. Administrative districts have a spatial property; the reformation of them should be considered with the specialty and generality of the region.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.1_2
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• pp.27-45
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• 1999

Recently, the changes of industrial location can be explained as the concentration of small and medium manufacturing firms or high technology industries by industrial restructuring in Seoul metropolitan area, and the dispersion of large companies'branch plant into the peripheral region in Korea. Particularly deindustrialization is progressing in the inner city and manufacturing firms disperse into the outer city in Seoul metropolitan area. This study reviews on the structural perspectives for the changing industrial location factors. The development of capitalism organizes economic spacial structures and Its characteristics can be reasons which can raise changes in industrial location. Korean economy rapidly grew in the movement process of international capital. And capital accumulation by continuous economic growth is raising the spatial division of labor or the spatial difference and inequality on land price, wages. the base of labor reproduction. Therefore, these factors are the most reasons to raise the changes of industrial location in Korea. Hereafter the study on these factors, that is, in relation to sociocultural structure and land use structure have to be progress more concretely.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.141-151
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• 2014

Social enterprises provide the job and social service to the weak classes at the same time. As the weak classes such as the aged and disabled who are the main consumers of social enterprises are restricted in moving and gradual approach, so social service providers are required to decide the location by considering their gradual approach more than anythingelse. Therefore, in case of deciding the location of social enterprises it is more important than anythingelse for the social enterprises to select the location by considering the demand of social service of the region preferentially unlike the principles of deciding the location of ordinary enterprises. However, it has been expected that the main causes of various supplying and consuming sides which are provided not only to the ordinary but also the social enterprises might be distributed indiscriminately and unequally in the space of national land by diverse main causes such as the kinds of the products, concentration of the consuming sides, manpower distribution and others, and in this study, what have been used for the examination of regional distribution characteristics of social enterprises which have been operated by being distributed regionally were LQ technique, and the regional distribution characteristics of social enterprises of Korea have been suggested after having them analyzed. This study has the aim of providing the suggestions for the establishment of the policies for the promotion of social enterprises in the future by clarifying the present situations and characteristics of regional distribution of social enterprises of Korea which have been functioning as the suppliers of private social service, and what are required at this time are the political support and social agreement for the location and growth through continuous studies.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.73-90
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• 2015

This article focuses on geo-institutional differentiation and a multi-scalar analysis of emerging capitalist development in Laos. It discusses the impact of the Greater Mekong Subregion on new institutional economic and economic geographical arrangements. It demonstrates the usefulness of the varieties of Asian capitalism approach. The rubber industry was chosen to unravel emerging but various sub-national institutional arrangements linked to higher scale levels. Rubber is a growing agribusiness industry throughout the country, led by the insatiable demand from China. Overall, this study shows that the capitalist development of the rubber industry features much geo-institutional differentiation, due to the different strategies of Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese investors. Since Laos is still in transition from a state-led economy to something else, it is impossible at this to identify the exact number capitalisms. Yet, the evidence on rubber clearly lays bare the presence of multiple institutional arrangements. Without more inclusiveness, however, the implications for regional development are worrying. Exclusive arrangements will most likely lead to more uneven regional development and higher regional inequality. To refine theories on sub-national varieties of capitalism in developing countries it is instructive to consider more explicitly the notion of regional personal capitalisms and the complex interplay between national and regional states and relationships between capital accumulation and livelihood analyses.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.64-88
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• 2010

Rapidly increasing transnational migration can be seen as a typical process which has proceeded under macro-contexts of socio-spatial characters of origin and destination country and their relationships, shaped with global uneven regional development in the process of glocalization and development of transportation and communication on the global level. In order to consider macro-contexts of transnational migration, this paper emphasizes the concept of multicultural space and some key elements implied in it, that is, place, territory, network, scale (suggested by Jessop et al.) and spatial flow and difference. As results of questionnaire analysis of foreign immigrants' recognition of macro-contexts, this paper suggests some findings: that is, a high level of recognition of all types of foreign immigrants on global changes, the most negative recognition of migrant workers among 4 types of foreign immigrants on economic and social conditions of their origin country, a positive recognition of people in all regions of their origin (except few countries such as Japan) on international migration, and a low level of their recognition in all types on S. Korea's characters as their destination country.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.606-623
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• 2004

Emergency medical service pertains highly to the public service sector which has to be provided equally in a society and evenly in a spatial dimension by the government. However, emergency medical centers in Korea are inequally distributed in a space and also human capital, facility, and equipment for emergency medical centers show clear disparity among regions. This research analyzed the spatial balance of the demand supply level for emergency medical service in Seoul by constructing the potential demand surface map and supply surface map for this service. The surface map of demand-supply balance for emergency medical service was constructed by GIS based map algebra algorism. The results by this analysis very clearly reveal the spatial disparity of emergency medical service. The places where are over-represented by demand level compared to their supply level are estimated to require an additional establishment of emergency medical centers in the near future. While, the places where are over-represented by supply level compared to their potential demand for emergency medical services indicate the possibility of problems in the management of emergency medical centers because of a surplus in the supply of emergency medical services. The results of this research can be utilized in providing valuable information for the adequate provision of emergency medical centers and for the estimation of range on the service area of emergency medical services.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.428-446
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• 2004

This paper is to analyze citizens' consciousness on urban changes during the 1900s in the sectors of economy, politics and socio-culture of large cities in Korea, especially comparing them in Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, and Kywangju. The items of questionnaire are drawn from theories on each sector of new urbanization of large city in Western countries, that is, that of post-Fordism, of urban governance, of post-modernism, and of sustainable city. Some major findings of this questionnaire analysis are as follows. First, on the change of large cities in general, citizens think that the sectors of spatial structure, and of socio-culture of the cities were changed more than those of urban economy and of urban politics. Secondly, in the sector of urban economy, citizens recognize that the obstructing factors of development, that is, the lack of regional capital and the absence of head-quarter of large firms, which seems to be resulted from uneven regional development in the previous periods were much more serious than others, while acknowledging the importance of high-tech industry. Thirdly, in the sector of urban politics, citizens think that the centralized structure of politics and of political parties was still problematic, while acknowledging the importance of entrepreneur mind of urban governor. Finally, in the sector of urban socio-culture, citizens emphasize the development of telecommunication, the popularization of private automobile and the increasing use of credit card, as three major factors which have exercised major impacts on the development of urban socio-culture.