[Column] The Korea Island Promotion Agency Should Rightfully Be Located in the Mokpo Area, the 'Island Capital of Korea'

Professor Kang Bong-ryong, Department of History, National Mokpo University (Former Director of the Institute of Library and Cultural Studies)

Kang Bong-ryong, Professor of History at National Mokpo University (Former Director of the Institute of Island Culture)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Public interest in islands remains minimal, and negative prejudices are widespread. Islands have often been excessively portrayed as lands of barbarism by highlighting incidents such as ‘teacher sexual assault cases’ and ‘salt farm slave cases.’

For them, the fact that islands are actually crime-free zones is of no concern at all. Even in proud articles boasting that the Purple Bridge on Anjwa Island in Sinan is being spotlighted as a tourist attraction by CNN and Fox News in the U.S., following Germany and Hong Kong, the comments are invariably filled with unspeakable criticism.

Proper national island policies have also been minimal. Since the first enactment of the ‘Island Development Promotion Act’ in 1988, the ‘Comprehensive Island Development 10-Year Plan’ has been implemented in three phases, and the fourth plan is currently underway, but there has been no consistent island policy control tower to enforce these plans. About five or six government ministries have only executed their respective budgets according to their interests. Although nominally the Ministry of the Interior and Safety oversees island policy, it is insufficient.

Discussion on the Establishment of ‘Island Day’ and the Island Promotion Agency Arises in the Mokpo Area.

The Mokpo University Island Culture Research Institute, which has devoted nearly 40 years solely to island research since its establishment, began internal discussions in 2012 on the urgent need for an island policy control tower. In 2013, these discussions were expanded with Jeollanam-do Province.

In 2014, Jeollanam-do proposed the establishment of an ‘Island Development Promotion Agency’ as a new government-funded project. This was the first proposal for the establishment of the Island Promotion Agency.

However, in a situation where indifference toward islands persisted, the initial proposal was not accepted. The Island Culture Research Institute did not give up and deepened internal discussions and research.

They reviewed domestic circumstances and foreign cases and specifically examined the feasibility of the Island Promotion Agency. Consequently, in 2017, they resumed consultations with Jeollanam-do and prepared a plan under the name ‘Korea Island Development Promotion Agency,’ proposing it as a campaign pledge to presidential candidates during the 19th presidential election at the provincial level.

Having experienced the painful setback in 2014, the Institute realized the necessity of spreading national consensus on the value of islands. Therefore, they decided to simultaneously campaign for the establishment of ‘Island Day’ as a national commemorative day.

In 2016, Professor Hong Seon-gi of the Island Culture Research Institute (currently Chairman of the Korea Island Foundation) first proposed the establishment of ‘Island Day’ through a column. At that time, the author, as the director of the Institute, led the campaign for ‘Island Day’ establishment with active promotional support from Mokpo MBC and cooperation from then Jeollanam-do Governor Lee Nak-yeon and Mokpo district lawmaker Park Ji-won.

As a result, on February 28, 2018, a legal amendment was successfully passed with Representative Park Ji-won’s sponsorship, making ‘Island Day’ the world’s first national commemorative day. August 8 is the world’s first Island Day.

The establishment of Island Day gave momentum to the push for the Island Promotion Agency. On June 16 of the same year, the Prime Minister’s Office (then led by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon) announced plans to establish the (tentatively named) Korea Island Development Research Promotion Agency, following a proposal from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

After more than two years of effort, on December 1, 2020, the ‘Island Development Promotion Act’ was renamed the ‘Island Development Promotion Act,’ and a legal amendment specifying the establishment of the ‘Korea Island Promotion Agency’ was passed, sponsored by Kim Won-yi, the Mokpo district lawmaker, and Seo Sam-seok, the lawmaker for Sinan, Muan, and Yeongam districts, thereby legally institutionalizing the establishment of the Island Promotion Agency.

Why the Island Promotion Agency Must Be Established in the Mokpo Area

Thus, the establishment of Island Day and the Island Promotion Agency began and was completed by politicians from the Mokpo area. There were good reasons for this.

First, the Mokpo area encompasses the world-renowned archipelago sea area including Sinan County, Jindo County, and Wando County. 65% of Korea’s islands are concentrated in Jeollanam-do, and over 70% of Jeollanam-do’s islands are concentrated in the Mokpo area. The fact that Mokpo was called the ‘Island Capital’ by Maeil Shinbo in 1926 and that Korea’s first island research institute, the Island Culture Research Institute, was established at Mokpo University in 1983 stems from this background.

Moreover, the Mokpo area is located at the junction of Korea’s archipelago seas connecting the West Sea and the South Sea, where most of Korea’s islands are distributed. In the 9th century, Jang Bogo governed the Mokpo archipelago centered on Wando’s islands and dominated East Asian maritime activities connecting China (then Tang) and Japan, precisely because of the Mokpo archipelago’s strategic location.

Jang Bogo’s maritime activities historically prove that the Mokpo area is the most suitable place to nationalize and globalize island development.

These circumstances alone provide sufficient conditions and reasons for the Island Promotion Agency to be located in the Mokpo area. Additionally, the cause and justification of national balanced development cannot be ignored.

The imbalance between the Busan area and the Mokpo area, which form the east-west axes of the Korean Peninsula, is so severe that it has become an obstacle to national development. While the Busan area is completing a ‘marine cluster’ through the concentration of marine-related institutions and establishing itself as the ‘Northeast Asia Marine Capital’ with the new port and airport in Gadeokdo as its focus, the Mokpo area has yet to find its identity and is still wandering.

The Mokpo area must take the attraction of the Island Promotion Agency as the starting point for establishing its identity. Taking advantage of the Island Promotion Agency’s attraction, it should gather other domestic and international island-related institutions to create an ‘island cluster,’ establish its status as the ‘Island Capital,’ and build another responsible national axis to balance the country. This mission lies with the Mokpo area.

The Gateway to the Archipelago Sea Make the Mokpo Area the ‘Island Capital of Korea’

On the 8th, the application deadline for hosting the Island Promotion Agency closed. It is known that five provinces and nine local governments submitted applications. Unfortunately, Mokpo City and Sinan County each submitted separate applications.

Mokpo City is the gateway city to the Mokpo archipelago sea area, and Sinan County, which has the most islands, along with Jindo and Wando counties, forms the core local government of Korea’s largest archipelago sea area.

Currently, Mokpo City and Sinan County are separate local governments, but it is undeniable that they share the same historical and living community. Concerned that the division between Mokpo City and Sinan County might undermine the legitimacy of attracting the Island Promotion Agency to the Mokpo area, civic groups from both areas voluntarily held a press conference on the 11th and issued a statement urging agreement on a unified application afterward.

The best option is for Mokpo City and Sinan County to submit a single joint application from the start. However, since that did not happen, it is now a fait accompli. It is time to pursue the second-best option, as urged by civic groups, for the two local governments to agree on a unified application afterward.

We sincerely hope that the two local governments will seriously recognize the aspirations of local residents and the nation and participate in the cause of promoting the development of the Mokpo area, Jeollanam-do, and further, Korea’s island development by sincerely agreeing on a unified application afterward.

If the two local governments ultimately betray that aspiration, the last resort will be to expect a strategic government decision for island development and national balanced development.

As someone who led the campaign for the establishment of Island Day and the Island Promotion Agency, I earnestly hope that Mokpo City and Sinan County will proactively unite without waiting for the government’s decision as a last resort.

Furthermore, regardless of any circumstances, I fervently hope that the government will carefully consider that establishing the Island Promotion Agency in the Mokpo area is the best option for the century-long plan of national island policy and national balanced development.