South Korean Cultural Ecology - 1905 to 1990
Part 3: The Plight of the Farmers - Page 17

B. Rural Farmland

Because most of the rural population engages in agriculture, it is concentrated in the lowlands of the west and south coast along the major river valleys. Agglomerated villages are common in the rural areas with a few exceptions in the mountainous areas and in the areas of reclaimed land on the west coast. The clustered villages may have been developed as a means of protection and to accommodate large extended families. Villages where most of the residents share the same family name are not uncommon and the names of many villages indicate a certain clan, for example, Kimgach'on (Kim's Village) and Yigach'on (Yi's Village). In the clustered villages, the villagers often do farming activities, such as transplanting rice from seedbeds, and harvesting and threshing rice through cooperative efforts. Some farm mechanization has resulted in changes in many agricultural activities, and recent farm labor shortages have been met partly by agricultural machines.

Rural villages are normally located in the foothills and face southward to provide protection from the severe cold winter monsoons, and preserve the lowlands for cultivation. The location of the settlements and houses has also been influenced deeply by geomancy, according to which the ideal site for a house or village has a hill behind it and faces a stream. Most of the major rivers flow into the Yellow Sea and the South Sea after draining the western and southern slopes of the peninsula. Korea has an amazing number of streams considering its size. No mountains are high enough for glaciers or ice caps. The river flow discharges are related to the summer monsoons that fluctuate from season to season. The rivers flood the valley plains once or twice a year. In the other seasons, which are relatively dry, the water level gets very low and much of the riverbeds are exposed. Presently 71% of rice fields depend on rivers for irrigation. Many large-scale multi-purpose dams for flood control, hydroelectric generations have been or are being built at various sites on all rivers in South Korea.