Abstract
This study examines the land-use and land-cover changes (LUCCs) in Kaesong, a North Korean city, and the area adjacent to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). An intensity analysis—a framework decomposing LUCCs into interval, category, and transition levels—is applied to the land-cover maps of 1916, 1951, and 2015 to understand the importance of the historical period and associated land regimes (imperialism and socialism) in shaping LUCCs. The five land-cover classes—Built, Agriculture, Forest, Water, and Others—were analyzed among the two historical periods from Imperial Japan’s colonization (1910–1945) and the South–North division since the Korean War (1953–present). The results show that, at the interval level, the colonial period LUCCs were more intensive than the division period. However, >50% of the study area underwent changes during each period. At the category level, river channel modifications were the most intensive, followed by deforestation. In terms of transition, consistent intensity trends from Others to Built and Agriculture were observed across both land regimes. In conclusion, the LUCCs were more intensive under Japanese imperialism than the North Korean socialist regime, but the economic and geographic factors were not substantially affected by such land regimes. These underlying forces may be more significant fundamental drivers of LUCCs than land regimes themselves.
Highlights
Unlike in Europe, centralized socialist regimes are almost uniquely present in East Asia, often shaping their urban landscapes as they can determine the underlying political and socioeconomic forces driving land-use and land-cover changes (LUCCs) [1–3]
It is evident that Kaesong’s LUCC was relatively faster and substantially more intensive during the colonization period by Imperial Japan compared to that when it fell under the jurisdiction of North Korea; the division period still showed a marked LUCC in an absolute sense
We found that multiple aspects of Kaesong’s LUCCs during the colonial period were more intensive than those during the South–North division period, implying that LUCC under the socialist regime has been less dynamic than under Japanese colonization in this region of the Korean Peninsula
Summary
Unlike in Europe, centralized socialist regimes are almost uniquely present in East Asia, often shaping their urban landscapes as they can determine the underlying political and socioeconomic forces driving land-use and land-cover changes (LUCCs) [1–3]. Among Asian urban areas under centralized socialist regimes, LUCCs in cities and border regions of mainland China and Vietnam have been studied extensively via remote sensing data [7–15]. The war between South and North Korea is technically ongoing, with this tension exemplified across the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ represents the buffer zone delineated along the inner border between South and North Korea (i.e., the military demarcation line (MDL)), and both sides must withdraw 2 km from the MDL. Land change in the DMZ has been previously studied, few researchers have focused on the nearby metropolitan areas that are likely to substantially affect the DMZ’s landscape [18–21]
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