落島 정주여건 개선에 관한 연구

Abstract

This paper focuses on the settlement conditions on remote islands in Korea and examines the islands’ environment to find ways to improve the conditions. First, the concepts and scope of the term “remote islands” is defined based on dictionary definitions, provisions of existing laws and prior research. As a result, a remote island is referred to as “an island that is inconvenient to access as it is located at a considerable distance from the mainland”, or more precisely, an island that is not linked with other land(including other islands through which the mainland could be reached) and that is more than 8 kilometers away from other land and less than 3 hours sailing from any mainland harbor. By this definition, the number of remote islands in Korea is 271, which is 58% of the total number (463) of inhabited islands. In order to understand the settlement conditions on these remote islands, I conducted data analysis based on available islands’ survey records, a questionnaire survey of the residents and a field survey of six sampled remote islands. Analysis of the islands’ survey records revealed that the living environment on remote islands was worse than on islands in general. The residents' survey collected data on what were considered the most inconvenient points, obstacles to development of the island, and facilities and activities required for improvement. Together with the data from the field survey, this also pointed out the poor living conditions. Especially, the residents felt many inconveniences with regard to transportation(the number of passenger ships and direct sea routes), drinking water(the lack of potable water), and medical care(access to medical facilities and the emergency medical system). Given the ascertained situation, the study identifies the tasks for improving the settlement conditions on the remote islands and suggests ways to address particular issues. Short-term policies and projects to improve settlement conditions include “reorganization of the remote islands’ sea routes”, “maintenance of the remote islands’fishing ports”, “support for strengthening the remote islands’ comprehensive development projects”, and “cooperation with private enterprises”. Long-term policies and projects to improve settlement conditions include “reform of related laws to improve the settlement conditions on the remote islands”, “continuation of systematic field surveys and database development of the remote islands”, “establishment of specialized development plans considering the remote islands’ characteristics”, and “establishment of an intermediate support organization and securement of professional manpower”.