• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.77-88
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• 2015

Advanced geological surveys and exploration activities were first carried out in Korea in 1884 in accordance with a treaty of friendship and commerce between Great Britain and Korea and a treaty of friendship and commerce between Germany and Korea. The first paper by Gottsche, C. was also published in a German Journal in 1886. Efforts toward independent acquisition of Western geological survey and exploration technology were actively promoted by the Korean Empire in the early 1900s, but were frustrated by the Japanese Empire. Systematic geological surveys and exploration were conducted in Korea by Japanese geologists during the Japanese occupation. A basic geological maps(61sheets), a bulletin on the geological survey of Korea, a bulletin and technical report on deposits in Korea, and a coalfield geological survey report were published during this period. Overall, the intentions under lying the geological surveys and exploration activities by foreigners in Korea prior to the Japanese occupation were questionable. However, the results of these surveys and explorations themselves can be evaluated as positive in terms of academic performance.