韓國 地理學에서의 地域政策의 爭點

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review critically current issues on the Korean regional policy in recent geographical researches.

A brief descriprion on the concept of regional policy with its specific attributes is followed by a discussion on why and how the geographic engagement in the regional policy is possible. Through a genetic analysis of the regional policy in Korea after 1945, three remarkable characteristics are recognized: a) economically defined and growth-oriented concept of development, b) problem-oriented goal setting and c) growth centre development strategy with a high concentration of decision making power in the central government; the top-down paradigm. The present situation of extremely polarized regional structure seems to have origin in, if not all, the past regional policies with these characteristics. That is, the overcrowding of the Seoul metropolitan area and the deep engraved regional disparities are attributable to them, with which the Second Comprehensive National Land Development Plan(1982-1991) has to cope. The basic strategy underlying the Plan is to develop three main regional cities, Taejon, Kwangju and Taegu, intensively as primary growth centres. The stratrgy is to check the centripetal forces of Seoul and slow down its growth rate in one side, and to stimulate the lagging regions through the filtering down of growth along the urban hierarchy and the spreading out to the surrounding areas horizontally in another side.