Oh Seok KIM, Korea University , Korea (Republic of)
Tomáš VÁCLAVÍK, Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia
Mi Sun PARK, Seoul National University, Korea (Republic of)
Marco NEUBERT, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Germany
This study examines the land-use and land-cover changes (LUCCs) in Kaesong, a North Korean city and the adjacent Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). An intensity analysis—a framework decomposing LUCCs into the interval, category, and transition levels—is applied to the land-cover maps of 1916, 1951, and 2015 to understand how important historical events and the land regimes (imperialism and socialism) shaped the LUCCs. The land-covers are divided into five categories: Built, Cultivated, Forest, Water, and Others. The historical events are: Imperial Japan’s colonization (1910–1945) and the South-North separation ever since the Korean War (1953–present). The results show that the LUCCs during the colonial period were more intensive than during the separation period at the interval level; for each period, more than 50 % of the study area underwent changes. At the category level, the river channel modification turned out more intensive than any other LUCCs. In terms of transition, each land category was primarily converted from at least one category. In conclusion, the LUCCs were more intensive under the imperialism than the socialist regime, but the economic and geographic factors were not susbstantially affected by such land regimes. These underlying forces may be more fundamental drivers of LUCCs than land regimes themselves.
Keywords: land-use and land-cover change|imperialism|socialism|intensity analysis|historical map
A103051OK