The National Atlas of Korea
South Korea · National Geographic Information Institute · 2009
Related Reviews & Articles
Book Review: The National Atlas of Korea
K.C. Fraser · 2011
The atlas reviewed here is, as its foreword indicates, a concise version of one with the same title published in 2007. Readers familiar with the political situation will wish to know what is meant by “Korea” in this context. The answer is that this is a South Korean publication and that most of the thematic maps therefore represent the South (the Republic of Korea) only; it is unlikely that the relevant information would have been available for the North. However, some of the physical maps show the whole peninsula.The total number of maps is about 380, with about 50 pages of explanatory text and a gazetteer. It appears that the concise version of the atlas must have been developed by reducing the size of most of the maps to a quarter of a page somewhat less than A3 in size, with the result that their scale is usually 1:5,000,000, and although well reproduced, they use a very small size of lettering. However, about 60 of the maps are of full‐page size, in particular a series of topographical maps of the whole peninsula at a scale of 1:500,000. Many readers may wonder why, uniquely, the quarter‐mile‐long island of Dokdo is favoured with a 1:10,000 map. The explanation – not stated in the Atlas – is that this remote island is also claimed by Japan (and this controversy, by the way, explains why the Korean Navy's largest warship is named after such a small island).
Development Directions for the National Atlas of the Republic of Korea through a Comparative Analysis of National Atlases
정재준; 황철수 · 2017
The South Korean government published national atlases twice, in 2007 and from 2014 to 2016. The national atlas published between 2014 and 2016 is regarded as more advanced than the 2007 edition in terms of both format and content. However, it still leaves room for improvement in the quality of maps, infographics, and descriptive text compared to models from advanced countries. Furthermore, given the rapidly increasing demand for spatial information in the 21st century and the widespread use of computer technology across society, the national atlas also requires complementary work on its digital systems. Against this background, this paper aims to propose directions for the development of future national atlases of South Korea. To this end, the production and development processes of national atlases were analyzed by dividing them into domestic and international cases, with international cases further examined by separating print and digital formats. Based on this analysis, development strategies for the South Korean national atlas were proposed from four perspectives: the advancement of print-format national atlases, the transition to digital national atlases adopting an atlas information system, the establishment of a system for continuous updates to the national atlas, and institutional mechanisms for producing the national atlas.
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