A strategic approach to policy tasks for the development of Korea’s island areas

This study discussed the creation of a strategic approach to the policy tasks associated with the development of Korean island areas based on DEMATEL. To this end, after having derived the problematic elements hindering the development of Korean island areas, an attempt was made to structuralize residents’ perceptions via the implementation of a DEMATEL survey with the leaders of island areas. The problematic elements hindering the development of Korean island areas were identified as serious aging society, shortage of resident welfare facilities, fragmented industrial structure, limited labor forces, decreasing income sources, underdeveloped public transportation to the mainland, underdeveloped public transportation within islands, shortage of educational services, low sense of solidarity in villages, shortage of accommodation and leisure facilities, poor residential environments, and the serious debts accumulated by fishing households. The residents of island areas perceived underdeveloped public transportation to the mainland as the most fundamental and central element hindering the development of island areas. Impacting the regional economy and overall resident welfare, these problematic elements can be regarded as exhibiting the structural characteristics of underdeveloped areas. As such, the prerequisite for endogenous development of island areas is the improvement of the underdeveloped nature of accessibility to the mainland.