2018, Vol.18, No.2

Journal of the Korean Cartographic Association 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.34

pISSN : 1598-6160
https://journal.kci.go.kr/jkca

Since the 19th century, numerous modern historical atlases have been produced in the Anglosphere, and its tradition has been maintained to this day. As a result, the historical atlases published in the Anglosphere are used as a key reference in the publication of the historical atlases in many other countries, including South Korea. Despite their reputation, however, these historical atlases have considerable cartographic and historical geographic problems. In this study, I analysed historical maps related to the Northeast Asian region, contained in the Times Complete World History and the DK World History Atlas. The analysis found problems such as lack of basic cartographic elements such as a scale bar, a north arrow, inappropriate representations of geographical elements such as coastlines and streams, inappropriate marking of borders, and the Korean Peninsula shape. In terms of historical geography, the exaggeration of the territories of commanderies of Han China, the question of the pronouncing of the name of Balhae Kingdom and the problem of marking of Chinese territory on the Korean Peninsula were identified. Moreover, It was found that Dokdo was not drawn, and the name of East Sea was juxtaposed with Sea of Japan with few exceptions in these two historical atlases.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the representational accuracy of terrain in 1:50,000 Topographic Map of the Korean Peninsula, which was made during the Japanese colonial period, using the spatial analysis techniques of GIS. For this, contour lines were digitized based on the rectified image of the topographical map. The benchmark for comparison is the contour lines of the current 1:25,000 digital map. Digital elevation models (DEM) were extracted from contour lines and surface analysis, overlay analysis, 3D analysis, and hydrological analysis were performed using them. The accuracy of topographical representation was assessed qualitatively or quantitatively by means of hillshade, elevation difference, elevation profile, the location of stream networks, stream order and length, sinuosity, and the location of ridges. The main results obtained from a case study on Bukhansan and Seoraksan Mountain are follows. First, the accuracy of topographical representation around Bukhansan Mountain, which is adjacent to Seoul, is higher than that of Seoraksan Mountain in both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Second, the map making methods such as the symbolization of special terrains and the estimation of elevation based on the triangulation resulted in different or incorrect topographical representation. Third, accessibility and observability of terrain seems to affect the accuracy of terrain representation. The south slope of Seoraksan Mountain, which is easier to access and observe than the northern slope, was more accurately represented. The accuracy difference between Bukhansan and Seoraksan Mountain seems to be related to the importance of mapping areas in colonial management and development.

Although surveys and discussion on individual natural heritage in Korea, it is difficult to find the general fact sheets for natural heritage. We collected spatial data and ran spatial analyses on one hundred ten legally-designated natural heritages and nine valleys and eight sceneries on which poetry had been written since Joseon dynasty. Natural Heritage ranged zero to 1900 meter in height, with average of 200 meter. The ratio of long axis to short axis ranged 1 to seventy- eight with a median of 2.1. Gangwon has the most number among the provinces, while Seoguipo-si ranked the highest at the level of Si, Gun, and Gu. Considering locational certainty, nine valleys and eight sceneries distributed more in Gyeongbuk and Chungbuk Provinces in the contrast of Natural Heritages. The results of various spatial analyses will be able to apply story telling materials. Considering Natural Heritage and nine valleys together, we found some overlapping cases and separated cases. We added discussion the potential studies on the relationship attribute names of geographic names to nine valleys and eight sceneries.