| Abstrakt: |
(1) In the East Asian region, the monsoon season characterized by a long rainy spell (jangma 장마 in Korean; baiu 梅雨 in Japanese) from early summer, and followed by typhoon 颱風 (taepung in Korean; taifū in Japanese) has caused tremendous disasters. (2) In the same way as Japan and China, Korea has also suffered from recurring floods caused by a concentration of rainfall and flood inundation during the summer seasons. Remarkably, recent floods have tended to become more severe and long-term due to recent global climate changes. (3) Historically, flood disasters on the Korean Peninsula occurring principally around the lower reaches of the great rivers have frequented the richest rice cultivation areas (Honam Plain 湖南平野) of the southern part as well as the inland area of the middle part of the Korean Peninsula. (4) This study examines the first case of the lower Dongjin-river basin as an endemic flood area in the center of Honam Plain, and the second case of the Imjin & Hant’anriver basins in the middle of the Korean Peninsula. While the first case area has been affected by intensive agricultural and water-control projects since the early Japanese colonial rule in Korea, the second case area has remained a backwater region of dryfield agriculture, long isolated from local development projects. (5) This study aims to explain the vicious cycle of local development and natural disasters in the context of the growing population (urbanization) in the twentieth century through the cases culled from Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
