[On the Scene] What Does “Development” Mean for an Island? / Paik Young-Gyung, Ju Hyun Woo
The Quarterly Changbi 213, Fall 2026
60th Anniversary Year-long Project: Dispatches from the Field #2 Sinan Islands
In the “Dispatches from the Field” series, anthropologists Paik Young-Gyung and Ju Hyun Woo visit Bigeum Island in Sinan to examine the island’s present conditions and the differing perspectives surrounding development. Sinan has drawn national attention for “Sunshine Pension,” its welfare program that shares profits generated from solar power production. Bigeum Island, home to numerous salt fields, including “Gurim Salt Field No. 1,” regarded as the birthplace of Korea’s solar evaporated salt project, has recently seen a rapid influx of solar power installations.
Layered onto Bigeum Island’s landscape is the reality of islands that have long remained small, isolated spaces and have eventually been forced into empty lands on the verge of disappearance. The authors investigate how development, often presented as an alternative to regional extinction, in fact disrupts local livelihoods and the environment, and they explore the burdens such changes place on residents. Their piece calls for a social response capable of safeguarding the lives and futures of island communities.