• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.76-89
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• 2012

This study aimed at carrying out a semantic interpretation of the core Design language that seemed to influence deeply in the creation of the ChwuiseokJeong wonlim of Gochang. Especially, this paper aimed at inferring how the spiritual culture of seclusion of the 16th century influenced the creation of the wonlim by understanding the metaphor and symbolism by grasping the transmission meaning and reception meaning of the creators and the people concerned with keywords like Eunil(隱逸: seclusion), Chwuiseok(醉石), and Chilseongam(七星巖). 'Building up a wall' was intentionally carried out in order to represent 'Seven Stars(The Big Dipper)' inside of the wonlim. This is a kind of two-dimensional 'enframement', and a result of active creation of a meaningful landscape. From Chilseongam that was created by assembling, we presumed that Kyung-Hee Kim, Nohgye(蘆溪), the creator showed the recognition and thoughts of astronomy as a Confucian scholar that the ChwuiseokJeong Wonlim where he secluded is the center of the universe. The interpretation of words in Nohgyezip, an anthology, showed that the articles and writtings of Nohgye, his decsendants, and the people of ChwuiseokJeong included alcohols, Chwuiseok, Yeon-Myung Do, and Yuli(栗里) where Do secluded; this means that Nohgye ranked himself with Do because Nohgye also lived in peace by drinking alcohols and enjoying nature like Do did. 'Drinking' was what expressed the mind of Nohgye who wanted to be free and have the joy of enjoying mountains, water, and their landscape like Do did. In other words, 'Drinking' is the symbol of freedom that makes him forget himself and equate himself with nature. These are the representation, imitation, and mimesis of respecting Yeon-Myung Do. As the alegory of 'speaking something with other things' suggested, it is possible to read 'Chwuiseok', came from the story of Yeon-Myung Do, in multiple ways; it superficially points out 'a rock on which he laid when he was drinking', but it also can be interpreted as 'an object' that made him forget his personal troubles. In addition, it means freewill protecting unselfish mind with the spiritual aberration of drinking, 'Chwui(醉)', mentally; also, it can be interpreted metaphorically and broadly as a tool that makes Nohgye reach to the state of nature by the satisfied mind of Yeon-Myung Do. 'Chwuiseok' was a design language that showed the situation of Nohgye by comparing his mind with the mind of Yeon-Myung Do from the Confucian point of view, and a kind of behavioral mimesis based on his respect to Do and 'aesthetic representation of objective reality.' It is not coincidental that this mimesis was shown in the engraved words on Chwuiseok and the creation of ChwuiseokJeong that has the same name with Chwuiseok in Korea and China.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.453-461
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• 2011

This study is to derive a project model based on potential demand for Korean-style houses, focusing on new town detached housing sites that LH supplies and to test validity of the derived model and to present the direction and supply methods of the projects. The existing high-class new town Korean-style housing developments that have been considered were found to have little business value due to problems in choice of location and discordance of demand, so 6 types of projects were established through the methods of changes in planned scale, combined use, and subdivision of plot of land based on the results of survey. The type that has the highest business value among the project models was block-type multifamily houses, and this can be interpreted as the increase in total construction area leading to increase inrevenues of allotment sales due to economies of scale. The feasibility of mass housing model in which small-scale Korean-style houses are combined with amenities was found to be high, and if the same project conditions as those of the block-type multifamily houses are applied, the business value of the Korean-style tenement houses was found to be high. Besides, the high-class housing models within block-type detached housing areas are typical projects that the private sector generally promotes, and the construction cost was found to be most expensive with 910 million won per house. In order to enhance the business value of the Korean-style housing development, collectivization such as choice of location, diversification of demand classes, optimization of house sizes, and combination of uses is needed. And in order to adopt Korean-style houses in the detached housing sites, the adjustments and division of the existing planned plots are needed, and the strategies to cope with new demand through supplying Korean-style housing types of sites can be suggested. Also breaking away from the existing uniform residential development methods, the development method through supplying original land that is natural land not yet developed besides basic infrastructures (main roads and water and sewage) can be considered, and as the construction of more than 1~2 stories building is impossible due to the structure of Korean-style house roof and furniture. So it can be suggested that original land in the form of hilly land is considered to be most suitable to large-scale development projects.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.128-140
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• 2021

This study applied the theory of Landscape Ecology to representative resources of Jeju Olle-gil, which is a representative subject of walking tourism, to identify ecological characteristics and to establish a technique for landscape ecological analysis of Olle-gil resources. Jeju Olle Trail type based on the biotope type, major land use, vegetation status around Olle Trail and roads were divided into 12 types. Based on the type of ecological tourism resource classification, the Jeju Olle-gil walking tourism resource classification was divided into seven types of natural resources and seven types of humanities resources, and each resource was characterized by Geotope, Biotope, and Anthropopope, just like the landscape ecology system. Geotope resources are strong in landscape characteristics such as coast and beach, rocks, bedrocks, waterfalls, geology and Jusangjeolli Cliff, Oreum and craters, water resources, and landscape viewpoints. The Biotope resources showed strong ecological characteristics due to large tree and protected tree, Gotjawal, forest road and vegetation communities, biological habitat, vegetation landscape view point. Antropotope include Culture of Jeju Haenyeo and traditional culture, potting and lighthouses, experience facilities, temples and churches, military and beacon facilities, other historical and cultural facilities, and cultural landscape views. Jeju Olle Trail The representative resources for each type of Jeju Olle Trail are coastal, Oreum, Gotjawal, field and Stonewall Fencing farming land, Jeju Village and Stone wall of Jeju. In order to learn about the components and various functions of the resources representing the Olle Trail's ecological culture, the landscape ecological technique was interpreted. Looking at the ecological and cultural characteristics of coastal, the coast includes black basalt rocks, coastal vegetation, coastal grasslands, coastal rock vegetation, winter migratory birds and Jeju haenyeo. Oreum is a unique volcanic topography, which includes circular and oval mountain bodies, oreum vegetation, crater wetlands, the origin and legend of the name of Oreum, the legend of the name of Oreum, the culture of grazing horses, the use of military purposes, the object of folk belief, and the view from the summit. Gotjawal features rocky bumps, unique microclimate formation, Gotjawal vegetation, geographical names, the culture of charcoal being baked in the past, and bizarre shapes of trees and vines. Field walls include the structure and shape of field walls, field cultivation crops, field wall habitats, Jeju agricultural culture, and field walls. The village includes a stone wall and roof structure built from basalt, a pavilion at the entrance of the village, a yard and garden inside the house, a view of the lives of local people, and an alleyway view. These resources have slowly changed with the long lives of humans, and are now unique to Jeju Island. By providing contents specialized for each type of Olle Trail, tourists who walk on Olle will be able to experience the Olle Trail in depth as they learn the story of the resources, and will be able to increase the sustainable use and satisfaction of Jeju Olle Trail users.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.18-43
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• 2011

The results of study on planting and cultivate of Hong Man-Seon(1643~1715)'s 'Salimkyungjae(The Economy of Forest)' the first summative textbook of agricultural skill of South Korea, are as follows. First, 'Salimkyungjae' suggests that one can enrich oneself, eat fruits in fall, enjoy the shade of trees in summer, and enjoy flowers in spring if one plants tree with 10 year plan with knowledge of ecology. Second, the number of plants had increased continuously from the early Chosun Dynasty to the mid Chosun Dynasty. The 52 plants in the book are classified into 31 trees, 8 shrubs, 3 others, and 10 herbs, and 28 of them are fruit trees. Hence, we can see that the book is for the promotion of welfare. Third, planting(transplantation) is the best on January of the lunar calendar, and the second on February, and fertile soil should be added much. Trees must be planted as deep as once it was planted, and buttressed. It will sprout well if it is planted at the depth of one inch, and planting a cutting should be carried out at the early March with 5 inch and finger-thick branches. Grafting is the best when it begins to sprout. Fruit trees will bear many fruits if they are grafted at the direction of South, and fruits will be greater if the trees' branches are cutting off on January. Especially, January was selected for the best season of planting traditionally. Fourth, flower trees are planted or sowed with manure around January and February of the lunar calendar, and it is recommended to replant them into flowerpots with manure when having flower buds around March and April of the lunar calendar. It would bloom earlier when using water mixed with stable manure, and sulfur smoke can be used in order to change the flower color from red to white. Flowerpots would be placed at half shaded lot with being supported by bricks. Pomegranate, gardenia, camellia and four-season flower should be planted after flowers fallen. When flower trees are beside walls, they need to be rotated frequently since their branches all point toward house. Seeds need to be preserved in a sunny hut, where its entrance and ventilating openings would be at south because it is convenient to manage pots. Fifth, insects hidden at fruit trees would be destroyed by torch smoke when roosters cry on New year's day of the lunar calendar. Insects would be decoyed into straw hanged at dawn of Cheongmyeongday(淸明日). Insects on fruit trees would be controlled using sulfur powder to close up holes or sulfur smoke to fumigate. Particularly, it suggests that utilization of fertile soil would be the best solution for growing health plants and preventing pest.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.31-48
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• 2019

The artificial ground freezing (AGF) method is a groundwater cutoff and/or ground reinforcement method suitable for constructing underground structures in soft ground and urban areas. The AGF method conducts a freezing process by employing a refrigerant circulating through a set of embedded freezing pipes to form frozen walls serving as excavation supports and/or cutoff walls. However, thermal expansion of the pore water during freezing may cause excessive deformation of the ground. On the other hand, as the frozen soil is thawed after completion of the construction, mechanical characteristics of the thawed soil are changed due to the plastic deformation of the ground and the rearrangement of soil fabric. This paper performed a field experiment to evaluate the freezing rate of marine clay in the application of the AGF method. The field experiment was carried out by circulating liquid nitrogen, which is a cryogenic refrigerant, through one freezing pipe installed at a depth of 3.2 m in the ground. Also, a piezo-cone penetration test (CPTu) and a lateral load test (LLT) were performed on the marine clay before and after application of the AGF method to evaluate a change in strength and stiffness of it, which was induced by freezing-thawing. The experimental results indicate that about 11.9 tons of liquid nitrogen were consumed for 3.5 days to form a cylindrical frozen body with a volume of about $2.12m^3$. In addition, the strength and stiffness of the ground were reduced by 48.5% and 22.7%, respectively, after a freezing-thawing cycle.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.429-438
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• 2023

The forest in the lower Tumen River serves as an important ecosystem spanning the territories of North Korea, Russia, and China, and it provides habitat and movement corridors for diverse mammals, including the endangered Amur tiger (Panthera tigris) and Amur leopard (Panthera pardus). This study focuses on the Mijiang area, situated as a potential ecological corridor connecting North Korea and China in the lower Tumen River, playing a crucial role in conserving and restoring the biodiversity of the Korean Peninsula. This study aimed to identify mammal species and estimate their relative abundance, occupancy, and distribution based on the 48 camera traps installed in the Mijiang area from May 2019 to May 2021. The results confirmed the presence of 18 mammal species in the Mijiang area, including large carnivores like tigers and leopards. Among the dominant mammals, four species of ungulates showed high occupancy and detection rates, particularly the Roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) and Wild boar (Sus scrofa). The roe deer was distributed across all areas with a predicted high occupancy rate of 0.97, influenced by altitude, urban residential areas, and patch density. Wild boars showed a predicted occupancy rate of 0.73 and were distributed throughout the entire area, with factors such as wetland ratio, grazing intensity, and spatial heterogeneity in aspects of the landscape influencing their occupancy and detection rates. Sika deer (Cervus nippon) exhibited a predicted occupancy rate of 0.48, confined to specific areas, influenced by slope, habitat fragmentation diversity affecting detection rates, and the ratio of open forests impacting occupancy. Water deer (Hydropotes inermis) displayed a very low occupancy rate of 0.06 along the Tumen River Basin, with higher occupancy in lower altitude areas and increased detection in locations with high spatial heterogeneity in aspects. This study confirmed that the Mijiang area serves as a habitat supporting diverse mammals in the lower Tumen River while also playing a crucial role in facilitating animal movement and habitat connectivity. Additionally, the occupancy prediction model developed in this study is expected to contribute to predicting mammal distribution within the disrupted Tumen River basin due to human interference and identifying and protecting potential ecological corridors in this transboundary region.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.16-37
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• 2018

In this study, difference in chemical composition of $PM_{2.5}$ observed between the year 2013 and 2015 at six air quality intensive monitoring stations (Bangryenogdo (BR), Seoul (SL), Daejeon (DJ), Gwangju (GJ), Ulsan (US), and Jeju (JJ)) was investigated and the possible factors causing their difference were also discussed. $PM_{2.5}$, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), and water-soluble ionic species concentrations were observed on a hourly basis in the six stations. The difference in chemical composition by regions was examined based on emissions of gaseous criteria pollutants (CO, $SO_2$, and $NO_2$), meteorological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), and origins and transport pathways of air masses. For the years 2013 and 2014, annual average $PM_{2.5}$ was in the order of SL ($${\sim_=}DJ$$)>GJ>BR>US>JJ, but the highest concentration in 2015 was found at DJ, following by GJ ($${\sim_=}SJ$$)>BR>US>JJ. Similar patterns were found in $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$. Lower $PM_{2.5}$ at SL than at DJ and GJ was resulted from low concentrations of secondary ionic species. Annual average concentrations of OC and EC by regions had no big difference among the years, but their patterns were distinct from the $PM_{2.5}$, $SO{_4}^{2-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, and $NH_4{^+}$ concentrations by regions. 4-day air mass backward trajectory calculations indicated that in the event of daily average $PM_{2.5}$ exceeding the monthly average values, >70% of the air masses reaching the all stations were coming from northeastern Chinese polluted regions, indicating the long-range transportation (LTP) was an important contributor to $PM_{2.5}$ and its chemical composition at the stations. Lower concentrations of secondary ionic species and $PM_{2.5}$ at SL in 2015 than those at DJ and GJ sites were due to the decrease in impact by LTP from polluted Chinese regions, rather than the difference in local emissions of criteria gas pollutants ($SO_2$, $NO_2$, and $NH_3$) among the SL, DJ, and GJ sites. The difference in annual average $SO{_4}^{2-}$ by regions was resulted from combination of the difference in local $SO_2$ emissions and chemical conversion of $SO_2$ to $SO{_4}^{2-}$, and LTP from China. However, the $SO{_4}^{2-}$ at the sites were more influenced by LTP than the formation by chemical transformation of locally emitted $SO_2$. The $NO_3{^-}$ increase was closely associated with the increase in local emissions of nitrogen oxides at four urban sites except for the BR and JJ, as well as the LTP with a small contribution. Among the meterological parameters (wind speed, temperature, and relative humidity), the ambient temperature was most important factor to control the variation of $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical components concentrations. In other words, as the average temperature increases, the $PM_{2.5}$, OC, EC, and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations showed a decreasing tendency, especially with a prominent feature in $NO_3{^-}$. Results from a case study that examined the $PM_{2.5}$ and its major chemical data observed between February 19 and March 2, 2014 at the all stations suggest that ambient $SO{_4}^{2-}$ and $NO_3{^-}$ concentrations are not necessarily proportional to the concentrations of their precursor emissions because the rates at which they form and their gas/particle partitioning may be controlled by factors (e.g., long range transportation) other than the concentration of the precursor gases.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.166-182
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• 1994

Kyonggi Province in the late Chosun dynasty was a center of superior government offices including 'Han' River water-road transportation and was located in the middle of an 'X'-shaped arterial road network. Because of these reasons, Kyonggi Province had a faster inflow of commodities, informations and technics compared with the other province. At this period of time, every local 'Eup' (name of administrative district) had not been affected by their above administrative districts and had their own autonomy. For this reason, every 'Eup' could be developed as a town, even if its size was small when it had sufficient internal growing conditions. Moreover, the markets ('Si-Jon') in big towns and periodical markets which were spread over the Kyonggi Province played role of commercial functions of town. And because military bases for the defence of the royal capital in Kyonggi Province also took parts of a non-agricultural city role, Xyonggi Provinc had much more possibilities of growing as a town rather than the other provinces. The towns of the late Chosun Dynasty were, except the capital and superior administrative districts which were governed by the 'You-Su', small towns which had only about 3, 000-5, 000 people. Most of the town dewellers were local officials, nobles, merchants, craftmen and slaves. And the farmers who lived near town became a pseudo-towner through suburb agriculture. Among these people, the merchants were leaders of townization. The downtowns were affected by the landform and traffic roads. The most fundamental function of towns were administrative. The opcial's grade, which was dispatched to the local administrative district ('Kun' or 'Hyun'), was decided by the size of population and agricultural land of each county. Large county which was governed by a high ranking opcial had more possibilities to develop as a large town. Because they supervised other opcials of lower rank and obtained more land and population for the town. The phonomena of farm abandonment after the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592-1598 stimulated the development of towns for commercial function. The commercial functions of towns were evident in the Si-Jon or Nan-Jon (names of markets) in the big cities such as Hansung and Kaesung, meanffwhile in the local areas it was emerged in the shape of periodical market networks as allied with near markets (which were called as Jang-Si) or permanent markets which were grown up from periodical markets. These facts of commercial development induced the birth of commercial town. Kyonggi Province showed the weak points of its defense system during both wars (Japanese Invasion in 1592 and Manchu's Invasion in 1636). The government reinforced its defense system by adding 4 'You-Su-Bus' and several military bases. Each local districts ('Eup'), where Geo-Jins were established, were stimulated to be a town while Jin-Kwan system were, adjusted and enforced. Among Dok-Jins(name of solitary military bases), Youngjongjin was grown up as a large garrison town which only played a role of defense. The number of towns that took roles of non-agricultural functions in Kyonggi Province was 52. Among these towns, 29 were developed as big towns which had above 3, 000 people and most of these towns were located on the northwest-southeast axes of 'X'-shaped arterial trafic network in the Chosn Dynasty, This fact points out that the traffic road is one of the important causes of the development of towns. When we make hierarchy of the towns of Kyonggi Province according to its population and how many functions it had, we can make it as 6 grades. The virst grade town 'Hansung' was the biggest central town of administration, commerce and defdnse. The 2nd grade town includes 'Kaesung' which had historical inertia that it had been the capital of the Koryo Dynesty. The 3rd grade towns include some 'You- Su-Bus' such as Soowon, Kanghwa, Kwangju and also include Mapo, Yongsan and from this we can imagine that the commercial development in the late Chosun Dynasty extremely affected the townization. The 4th-6th grade towns had smiliar population but it can be discriminated by how many town functions it had. So the 4th grade towns were the core of administration, commerce and defense function. 5th grade towns had administrative functions and one of commercial and defense functions. 6th grade towns had only one of these functions. When we research and town conditions of each grades as the ratio of non-agricultural population, we can find out that the towns from the 1st grade to 4th grade show difference by degree of townization but from the 4th grade to 6th grade towns do not show big difference in general.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.90-102
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• 2012

Sansuyucheop by Heojoobugun(虛舟府君) as the subject of this study is a 십이-width picture album by the eldest grandson of 11 generations for Goseong Lee family, Lee Jong Ak(李宗岳: 1726-1773), a figure having five habits(五癖) for ancient documents(古書癖), playing the gayageum(彈琴癖), flowering plant(花卉癖), paintings and calligraphic works(書畵癖) and boating(舟遊癖) etc., who boated with 18 relatives, and those by marriage from old home, home of mother's side, wife's home, and his home for 5 days Apr. 4 through 8, 1763, starting from Imcheonggak, through Yangjeong(羊汀), Chiltan(七灘), Sabin Auditorium(泗濱書院), Seonchang(船倉), Nakyeon(落淵), Seonchal(仙刹), Seonyujeong(仙遊亭), Mongseongak(夢仙閣), Baekwoonjeong(白雲亭) and Naeap Village(川前里), Iho(伊湖), Seoeodae(鮮魚帶) to the returning point, Bangujeong(伴鷗亭), cruised magnificent views around Banbyeoncheon called 'Andong 8 Gyeong' or 'Imhagugok', and whenever the boat anchored, appreciated the scenery at each point, and enjoyed and loved arts playing the geomungo. This study reached following findings through grasping physical, ecological, visual and aesthetic changes about the places, sceneries, plant elements and past and current scenery of the width pictures expressed at this Sansuyucheop. The refinement on the boat seeing the clear river water, white sand beach, fantastically-shaped cliffs expressed at this Sansuyucheop, exchanging poems and calligraphies, and enjoying the geomungo is a good example displaying the play culture of high-class in Joseon Dynasty. Also construction of Imha Dam and Andong Dam has caused serious visual and ecological changes, making us not enable to feel the original mood of the background spots such as Yangjeonggwabeom(羊汀過帆), Chiltanhuseon(七灘候船), Sasubeomjoo(泗水泛舟), Seonchanggyeram(船倉繫纜), Nakyeonmosaek(落淵莫色), Mangcheonguido(輞川歸棹), Ihojeongdo(伊湖停棹), but only discern then landscape or sentiment through the landscape described at the canvas. The 1st picture(Donghohaeram, 東湖解纜), and the 11th picture(Seoeobanjo, 鮮魚返照) of Heojoobugun's Sansuyucheop expressed trees thought to be fallen, brad-leaf tall trees, and the 9th picture(Unjeongpungbeom, 雲亭風帆) formed a pine forest called 'Gaeho(開湖)' by Uncheongong planting 1,000 pine trees with the village people in 1617. In addition, Seunggyeongdo expressed ever-green needle leaf trees at the natural topography, and fallen-leaf tall trees around the pavilion and building. Comparative consideration of Heojoobugun's Sansuyucheop and Shinam's Dongyusipsogi(東遊十小記) showed that the location of Samgok is assumed to be Macheon and Chiltan, so Imhagugok is assumed to start from Baekunjeong of Ilgok, Igok from Imcheon and Imcheon auditorium, Samgok from Mangcheon and Chiltan, Sagok from Sabin Auditorium of Sasoo, Ogok from Songseok, Yukgok from Sooseok of Seonchang, Chilgok from Nakyeonhyeonryu, Palgok from Seonchalsa and Seonyoojeong, and Gugok from Pyong Yuheo. This study can be significant in that it could clarify that Heojoobugun's Sansuyucheop is judged to be valuable in exquisitively expressing the coast of Banbyeon River, the biggest branch stream in the Nakdong River at the latter half of Joseon Dynasty, and as a vital diagrammatical historical data to make a comparative analysis of currently rarely-seen ancestors' life traces and landscape factors with present ones.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.312-323
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• 2003

This writer absolutely agrees with the government that regional disequilibrium is severe enough to consider moving the administrative capital. Pursuing this course solely to establish a balanced development, however, is not a convincing enough reason. The capital city is directly related to not only the social and economic situation but, much more importantly, to the domestic political situation as well. In the mid-1970s, the proposal by the Third Republic to move the capital city temporarily was based completely on security reasons. At e time, the then opposition leader Kim, Dae-jung said that establishing a safe distance from the demilitarized zone(DMZ) reflected a typically military decision. His view was that retaining the capital city close to the DMZ would show more consideration for the will of the people to defend their own country. In fact, independent Pakistan moved its capital city from Karachi to Islamabad, situated dose to Kashmir the subject of hot territorial dispute with India. It is regrettable that no consideration has been given to the urgent political situation in the Korean peninsula, which is presently enveloped in a dense nuclear fog. As a person requires health to pursue his/her dream, a country must have security to implement a balanced territorial development. According to current urban theories, the fate of a country depends on its major cities. A negligently guarded capital city runs the risk of becoming hostage and bringing ruin to the whole country. In this vein, North Koreas undoubted main target of attack in the armed communist reunification of Korea is Seoul. For the preservation of our state, therefore, it is only right that Seoul must be shielded to prevent becoming hostage to North Korea. The location of the US Armed Forces to the north of the capital city is based on the judgment that defense of Seoul is of absolute importance. At the same time, regardless of their different standpoints, South and North Korea agree that division of the Korean people into two separate countries is abnormal. Reunification, which so far has defied all predictions, may be realized earlier than anyone expects. The day of reunification seems to be the best day for the relocation of the capital city. Building a proper capital city would take at least twenty years, and a capital city cannot be dragged from one place to another. On the day of a free and democratic reunification, a national agreement will be reached naturally to find a nationally symbolic city as in Brazil or Australia. Even if security does not pose a problem, the governments way of thinking would not greatly contribute to the balanced development of the country. The Chungcheon region, which is earmarked as the new location of the capital city, has been the greatest beneficiary of its proximity to the capital region. Not being a disadvantaged region, locating the capital city there would not help alleviate regional disparity. If it is absolutely necessary to find a candidate region at present, considering security, balanced regional development and post-reunification scenario of the future, Cheolwon area located in the middle of the Korean peninsula may be a plausible choice. Even if the transfer of capital is delayed in consideration of the present political conflict between the South and the North Koreas, there is a definite shortcut to realizing a balanced regional development. It can be found not in the geographical dispersal of the central government, but in the decentralization of power to the provinces. If the government has surplus money to build a new symbolic capital city, it is only right that it should improve, for instance, the quality of drinking water which now everyone eschews, and to help the regional subway authority whose chronic deficit state resoled in a recent disastrous accident. And it is proper to time the transfer of capital city to coincide with that of the reunification of Korea whenever Providence intends.