AGING OF DEVELOPMENT: THE SAEMANGEUM TIDELAND RECLAMATION PROJECT (STRP) IN SOUTH KOREA AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO TOWNSHIPS IN AND OUT OF THE STRP A Dissertation by IN HUCK CHOI Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2012 Major Subject: Anthropology AGING OF DEVELOPMENT: THE SAEMANGEUM TIDELAND RECLAMATION PROJECT (STRP) IN SOUTH KOREA AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO TOWNSHIPS IN AND OUT OF THE STRP Copyright 2012 In Huck Choi AGING OF DEVELOPMENT: THE SAEMANGEUM TIDELAND RECLAMATION PROJECT (STRP) IN SOUTH KOREA AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO TOWNSHIPS IN AND OUT OF THE STRP A Dissertation by IN HUCK CHOI Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Cynthia Werner Committee Members, Norbert Dannhaeuser Amanda Stronza D. Bruce Dickson Head of Department, Cynthia Werner May 2012 Major Subject: Anthropology iii ABSTRACT Aging of Development: the Saemangeum Tideland Reclamation Project (STRP) in South Korea and Sustainable Development of the Two Townships in and out of the STRP. (May 2012) In Huck Choi, B.S., Seoul National University; M.A., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Cynthia Werner Is the biggest tideland reclamation project in the world (the STRP) sustainable? Since 1991, the STRP which aims at converting mudflats into 401 km2 farmland and industrial complex has been carried out in the southwestern coast of South Korea. I designed a comparative study between two neighboring rural townships with nearly identical social and ecological features except that one is within the project area and no longer has mudflats, and the other is outside of the project area and has retained its mudflats (an important source of clams). This dissertation answers the question above by comparing, sustainable development indicators and quality of life indicators in the two townships. I expected to find that people living in the township within the project area would be more sustainable because they have gone through with the environment versus development controversy in their own villages and many of them participated in person in protests with the national/local environmental movement organizations. This study uses one of the best known consumption-based sustainable development indicators (SDIs) - Personal Ecological Footprint (PEF), combined with the ethnographic data from the two townships (Gyehwa-township and Simwon-township) – to demonstrate that iv the PEF values of the two townships appear to be the same and the status of quality of life is quite similar. As an explanation of the unexpected result, this study contends that the level of sustainable development of the people in the in-project area (Gyehwa-township) has been more affected by nation-wide economic development trajectory than by a major regional development project (the STRP). The first stage of the STRP - the construction of the dykes - has brought about a significant effect of displacement, which cannot be said to be sustainable. However, the total influence on sustainable development in South Korea by the STRP will be determined by the progress of the second stage - internal development. v DEDICATION To my parents vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Werner, and my committee members, Dr. Dannhaeuser, Dr. Stronza and Dr. Dickson, for their guidance, support, and patience throughout the course of this study. Thanks also to my colleagues in the Anthropology Department. All of them helped me out of trouble whenever I got lost and was struggling. I especially thank Chris, Margie, Jianping, Celia, Hyunae, InSung, and Richa. I also appreciate Cindy’s warm help and encouragement. However, the real gratitude should be given to the villagers of the two townships – Gyehwa-township and Simwon-township: YoungSoo Cho, Sung Kwang Choi, Jae Hyung Lee, and many others (all pseudonyms). Above all, thanks to Edward and Eun Jung and their extreme patience. Finally, without your lifelong support and encouragement, I couldn’t finish my study: my mother and farther. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ iii DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. x LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................................xii 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The STRP: the Biggest Tideland Reclamation Project in the World......................... 2 1.2 Tideland and Tideland Reclamation in Korea from the Ancient Times to the Present .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1 Tideland in Korea ........................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 Tideland reclamation in Korea (Ancient times to the Japanese colonial period) .................................................................................................................. 8 1.2.3 Tideland reclamation in South Korea (Since 1945) ...................................... 10 1.2.4 The progress of the first stage of the STRP: 1991 - 2006 ............................. 11 1.2 The STRP: Is It Sustainable? ................................................................................... 15 1.3 Two Townships: The Key to Understand the STRP ................................................ 21 1.4 Sustainable Development: a Working Definition .................................................... 23 1.5 Research Question ................................................................................................... 24 1.6 Outline of the Study - Research Procedures ............................................................ 27 1.6.1 Section 3 - Organizing a toolbox for a sustainable development study ........ 27 1.6.2 Section 4 and 5 - Comparison of the two townships: Personal Ecological Footprint and other data ..................................................................................... 28 1.6.3 Section 6 – Interpretation of the correlation between sustainable development and the STRP ................................................................................ 29 2. FIELDWORK AND METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 31 2.1 Ethnography of Sustainable Development............................................................... 31 2.2 The Journeys to the Fieldwork Sites ........................................................................ 34 2.3 Methods.................................................................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Surveys and interviews ................................................................................. 37 2.3.2 Participant observation.................................................................................. 41 3. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - A JUNGLE OF RESEARCH FOR A PANACEA ............................................................................................................................. 44 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 44 3.2 The Canopy of the Jungle: Development and Sustainable Development ................ 45 viii 3.2.1 The aging of development of theory and practice and the birth of sustainable development. ................................................................................... 45 3.2.2 The revitalization of growth: mainstream discourses on sustainable development ....................................................................................................... 48 3.2.3 Going down to the lower story of sustainable development jungle. ............. 56 3.3 The Understory and Floor: the Theoretical Issues of Sustainable Development ..... 57 3.3.1 Displacement - the core ethical aspects of sustainable development. .......... 57 3.3.2 Rebound effect - the mechanism of unsustainability of innovation. ............ 59 3.3.3 The commons - the prerequisite of sustainable development. ...................... 63 3.4 A Cross-section of the Jungle: Anthropology and Sustainable Development ......... 68 3.5 Individuals in the Jungle: a Blindspot or a Cul-de-sac? .......................................... 74 3.6 Assembling a Set of Sustainable Development Study Tools ................................... 80 4. SUSTAINABILITY OF CONSUMPTION - PERSONAL ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF THE TWO TOWNSHIPS ......................................................................... 85 4.1 General Comparison of the Two Townships ........................................................... 85 4.2 Ecological Footprint (EF) and the Two Townships in 1989.................................... 93 4.2.1 Ecological Footprint.....................................................................................