This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

South Korea's total coastline has grown by 307.6 kilometers over the past 12 years, but the character of those shores has shifted markedly — natural coastline has shrunk while artificial coastline has expanded, driven by port development, coastal improvement works and erosion, a government investigation has found.

Results of South Korea's coastline survey. [Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries]
Results of South Korea's coastline survey. [Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries]

The country's total coastline now measures 15,270.4 kilometers, up from 14,962.8 kilometers recorded in 2014, according to the Second Coastline Change Survey (2021–2025) released Sunday by the National Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Natural coastline, however, contracted by 311.9 km — from 9,877.1 km to 9,565.2 km — over the same period. Its share of the total fell from 66.0 percent to 62.6 percent.

Artificial coastline expanded by 619.5 km, rising from 5,085.7 km to 5,705.2 km. Its share of the total grew from 34.0 percent to 37.4 percent.

The institute attributed the changes to a combination of human and natural factors, including port and fishing-harbor development, breakwater construction, coastal improvement projects, erosion and sediment accumulation.

The survey results serve as foundational data for a range of administrative, legal and policy purposes, including calculating national land area, allocating fishing rights among local governments and determining local tax allocations.

Cha Seong-sin, acting director of the National Institute of Oceanography, said the coastline survey data are "important national statistics used across a wide range of administrative and policy fields," adding that the institute would "provide accurate coastline information through regular, scientific surveys."


adastra@heraldcorp.com