Chun Doo-hwan (born 18 January 1931) was a Korean military officer and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Sentenced to death in 1996, Chun was later pardoned by President Kim Dae-jung, whom he himself had sentenced to death some 20 years earlier. Chun was a graduate of the eleventh class of the Korean Military Academy in 1955. As head of the Army Security Command, he was in charge of the investigation into the assassination of President Park Chung-hee. On 12 December 1979, in what became known as the Coup d'état of December Twelfth, Chun ordered the arrest of Army Chief of Staff General Chung Sung Hwa without authorization from then-President Choi Kyu-ha, alleging involvement in the assassination. This led to a bloody shoot-out at the Army Headquarters and the Ministry of Defense. By the next morning, Chun and his fellow eleventh class military academy graduates Roh Tae-woo and Jeong Ho-yong were in charge of the Korean military.
     On 17 May 1980, Chun expanded martial law to the entire country and dissolved the National Assembly. Many politicians were arrested, including opposition politician Kim Dae-jung, who was later sentenced to death despite protests from the U.S. Later, Chun commuted Kim's sentence in return for U.S. support. Protests across the nation were ruthlessly suppressed, most brutally in Gwangju, where hundreds -- by some accounts thousands -- of demonstrators were killed in the Gwangju Massacre. Choi resigned in August, and Chun was elected his successor by the National Conference for Unification, the South Korean electoral college, in September. In February 1981, Chun was elected president under a revised constitution as the candidate of the Democratic Justice Party (the renamed Democratic Republican Party), having resigned from the army after promoting himself to four-star general.

In progress (1986~present). Although South Korea finished to construct huge dam enough to endure imaginable water attack from North Korea in 2005, we can say that conflict still lasts between two Korean dams at DMZ (demilitarized zone) area due to possibility of water scarce at South Korean side. 

Korea lies adjacent to China and Japan. The northern border of Korea is formed by the Amnokgang (Yalu) and Dumangang (Tumen) rivers, which separate it from Manchuria. A 16-kilometer segment of the Dumangang to the east also serves as a natural border with Russia. The west coast of the Korean Peninsula is bounded by the Korean Bay to the north and the West Sea to the south; the east coast faces the East Sea.

Two hundred kilometers separate the peninsula from eastern China. The shortest distance between Korean and Chinese coasts is 200 kilometers and from the southeastern tip of the peninsula, the nearest point on the Japanese coast is also about 200 kilometers away.

Because of its unique geographical location, Chinese culture filtered into Japan through Korea; a common cultural sphere of Buddhism and Confucianism was thus established between the three countries.

The Korean Peninsula extends about 1,000 kilometers southward from the northeast Asian continental landmass. Roughly 300 kilometers in width, climate variations are more pronounced along the south-north axis. Differences in plant vegetation can be seen between the colder north and the warmer south.

The peninsula and all of its associated islands lie between 33 06'40"N and 43 00'39"N parallels and 124 11'00"E and 131 52'08"E meridians. The latitudinal location of Korea is similar to that of the Iberian Peninsula and Greece. The entire peninsula corresponds approximately to the north-south span of the state of California. [5]

Bilateral between South and North Korea. Ordinarily, all kind of matters with regard to security issues on the Korean Peninsula can not be isolated  with surrounding powers' national interests and used to call their intervention toward peninsula, but this case has been exceptional and dealt with bilaterally between two Koreas.

South Korea (conventional long form: Republic of Korea) [7]

Population: 48,422,644 (July 2005 est.) Population Growth Rate: 0.38% (2005 est.) Government Type: republic GDP (purchasing power parity): $983.3 billion (2005 est.) GDP - Real Growth Rate: 3.7% (2005 est.) Manpower Available for Military Service: males age 20-49: 12,458,257 (2005 est.) Manpower Reaching Military Service Age Annually: males 344,723 (2005 est.) Military Expenditures - dollar figure: $20 billion FY05 (2005)

 

North Korea (conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea)

Population: 22,912,177 (July 2005 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 0.9% (2005 est.)

Government Type: Communist state one-man dictatorship

GDP (purchasing power parity): $40 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - Real Growth Rate: 1% (2005 est.)

Manpower Available for Military Service: males age 17-49: 5,851,801 (2005 est.)

Manpower Reaching Military Service Age Annually: males 194,605 (2005 est.)

Military Expenditures - dollar figure: $5,217.4 million (FY02)

By construction of a huge dam by North Korea, South Korean government worried about 2 cases. First, the construction of this huge dam for several years would obstruct the source of water for the Han River which flows through various cities and major agricultural fields in South Korea, and as a consequence, destroy the South Korean ecosystem. Second, and more significantly, the destruction of the Geumgang Mountain Dam (intentionally or not) would cause serious damage to South Korea and potentially flood Seoul, its capital city.

       From above two cases, either flood or water loss, we can define this type of environmental problem as HABITAT.

Water Flow on the Han River from North to South  [6]

The climate of Korea is characterized by four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The contrast between winter and summer is striking. Winter is bitterly cold and is influenced primarily by cold Siberian fronts. Summer is hot and humid due to the maritime pacific high. The transitional seasons, spring and autumn are sunny and generally dry. Temperatures in all seasons are somewhat lower than those at the corresponding latitudes in other continents, such as North America or Western Europe. The temperatures in Seoul, which is in the latitude of Richmond, Va., are closer to those in New York which is located 500 kilometers (300 miles) farther north from the latitude of Seoul. The variation of annual mean temperature ranges from 10^oC to 16^oC except for the mountainous areas. August is the hottest month with the mean temperature ranging from 19^oC to 27^oC. January is the coldest month with the mean temperature ranging from -8^oC to 7^oC. Annual precipitation is about 1,300mm in the central region. More than a half of the total rainfall is concentrated in summer, while precipitation in winter is less than 10 percent of the annual total.      The prevailing winds are southeasterly to southwesterly in summer, and northwesterly in winter. The winds are stronger in winter, from December to February, than those in other seasons. The land-sea breeze becomes dominant with weakened monsoon winds in the transitional months, September and October.

     The relative humidity is the highest in July with 80 percent to 90 percent nationwide, and is the lowest in January and April with 30 percent to 50 percent. It has a moderate value of about 70 percent in September and October. The monsoon front approaches the Korean Peninsula from the south in late June, moving gradually to the north. Significant rainfall occurs when a stationary front spreads over the peninsula.[5]

     The rainy season over Korea, the so- called jangma, continues for a month from late June to late July. A short period of rainfall comes in early September when the monsoon front retreats back to the north. This rain occurs over a period of 30-40 days in June through July at all points of South Korea, and accounts for more than 50 percent of annual precipitation in most regions.[5]

     Annually, about 28 typhoons occur in the western Pacific, and only two or three among them approach the Korean Peninsula between July and October.

     Precipitation distribution on the Korean Peninsula is mainly affected by orography. The southern coastal and its adjacent mountain regions have the largest amount of annual precipitation which is over 1,500mm (60 inches). The sheltered upper Amnokgang (Yalu) river basin in the north, on the other hand, experiences less than 600mm (24 inches). Since the precipitation is larger in the crop growing areas in the south, water needs for agriculture are normally well met. Even though the annual mean precipitation is more than 1,200mm (48 inches), Korea often experiences drought due to the large fluctuation and variation of rainfall, making the management of water resources difficult. Therefore, climate in the summer as well as geography are very important factor to understand environment and conflict between South and North Korea at this case study.

Basically, this kind of threat as well as conflict between two Koreas is direct one because this conflict consists of bilateral act and reaction. By times goes on from 1986 to present, bigger dam which is the Peace Dam South Korea constructs, lesser strategic utility North Korea has. To sum up, total level of threat has been diminished as South Korean Peace Dam became larger and bigger. Based on the above graph which predicted total water shortage in Seoul area by South Korean Government, we can measure that total threat level by North Korean dam has been diminished gradually.

    
     When South Korean Government became aware of North Korea's dam construction on the upper side of the Han River which is one of the biggest river as well as a major source of water supply for people living in Seoul, North Korea had about 2.6 billion's invisible strategic method of attack, artificial flood, but it had been diminished up to half because South Korean Peace Dam reached to 0.6 billion volume of water kept in store. After South Korea finished constructing the Peace Dam for the second step, the total pondage which South Korean Peace Dam had surplussed one of North Korean's Geungangsan Dam finally.

     But the level of threat is not zero as ever because lower side of the Han River, Seoul area, has been more less water resources about 1.7 billion ton per year due to construction of the Geumgangsan Dam by North Korea, so that possibilities of conflict between two Koreas is still in exist.

     There are two solutions about this as S. Korea; First, South Korea decided to reserve 0.1 billion water resource in the Peace Dam all the time in case of severe drought. Second, South Korean Government persuades North Korea to discharge water resource from the Geumgangsan Dam periodically.

After complete construction of the Peace Dam in 2005, the outcome of dispute remains as stalemate, because the war is not over yet although the strategic usefulness which North Korea has been set off very much.

1. Korea Broadcasting Corporation, 2006. "Millionth Visitor to Mt. Geumgang" KBS Global News. 08 March. Internet. Available from http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/zoom/1354003_11781.html; accessed 08 March 2006.

2. East West Service. 2005. "S. Korea completes 'Peace Dam' to block flood attack from North". World Tribune. 27 October. Internet.
Available from http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2005/ea_skorea_10_27.html ; accessed 08 March 2006.

3. Wikipedia. 2006. Chun Doo-hwan. Wikipedia 'The Free Encyclopedia'. 06 March. Internet. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chun_Doo-hwan ; accessed 08 March 2006.

4. Hoh Kui-seek. 2005. Dedication of Peace Dam comes after 19-year hiatus. The JoongAng Daily. 27 October. Internet. Available from http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200510/18/200510182140303239900090409041.html ; accessed 08 March 2006.

5. Korea.Net. 2006. General Information on Korea. The Korean Overseas Information Service (KOIS). Internet. Available from http://www.korea.net/korea/kor_loca.asp?code=A0101 ; accessed 08 March 2006.

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7. Central Intelligence Agency. 2005. The World Fact Book. CIA. Internet. Available from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ ; accessed 08 March 2006.