Understanding the Intensity of Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes in the Context of Postcolonial and Socialist Transformation in Kaesong, North Korea

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.

Empirical Comparison of Supervised Learning Methods for Assessing the Stability of Slopes Adjacent to Military Operation Roads

“…In order to propose mid-to long-term management plans for the protection of native plants from invasive species in the ecosystem, a number of studies have been conducted through vegetation surveys in areas with less human disturbance to identify rare plants, endemic plants, naturalized plants [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], and northern lineage plants [8]. The categorization and grading of wetlands formed by topographical characteristics have also been studied by evaluating factors such as vegetation, hydrology, hydraulics, human landscapes, and disturbances [9,10]. However, owing to limited access, some related research on mountain disasters has been carried out by reading satellite images, dividing According to the results of the "Mountain Management Survey and Monitoring in the CACZ" conducted by the Korean Forest Service (South Korea), 3681.3 hectares of damaged mountain land were found in the CACZ.…”