A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE RIVER BASIN MANAGEMENT IN KOREA

Abstract

In the Korean peninsula, which is located at the southern edge of north-east Asia, the 24th olympic game was held on Sept., 1988 in Seoul, the capital city of Republic of Korea. Since the Neolithic Age, the Han River of the 481 kilometer-long flowing through the heart of the Korean peninsula and bisecting Seoul into northern part and southern part, not only has been the nation's political, economic, industrial and cultural center, but also has played major roles in the national defence and security. The Han River also has seen brilliant cultures arise and flourish in its basin, which has left the area with abundant legacy of relics and scores of legends and myths.To the Korean people, the river has been a fear complex of frequent flood damage. Perhaps this must have been a common conception for the most Asian. It seems for hydrologic characteristics of the rivers in Korea that rapid flow and meandering were intensive. For a long period of time, the Korean people lived with carelessness about the river management, thus there were many sufferings from floods and droughts damage which occurred in turn.In the beginning of 20th century, a great flood attacked with unprecedented quantity in the Han River Basin. This flood occurred in 1925 and was recorded as the largest flood up to now. The purpose of this study, because the managements of the Han River Basin have been changed in several ways, is to analyze and to summarize its contents and to go far for river management in the future. The results of the study are summarized by the stages with definition of their major characteristics and activities as follows; Natural river condition with waterway transportation, (until 1910), Channel improvement works with water control (1910-1945), riverside development project with increasing of land use (1946-1960), water resources and hydropower generation project with water use (since 1960), comprehensive the Han River development projects with protection of environment, flood control, and water use (since 1980).