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Going West? Spatial polarization of the North Korean port system

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  • Ducruet, César
  • Roussin, Stanislas
  • Jo, Jin-Cheol

Abstract

This paper analyzes North Korean ports in light of existing models of port system evolution. It reviews the economic and political factors shaping port concentration in developed, developing, and socialist countries. A database on vessel movements allows for the analysis of individual North Korean port traffic by total capacity circulated, cargo type, fleet nationality, immediate origin and destination, and berthing time. While ideological factors and military control hamper port modernization and trade openness, traffic concentration at the Pyongyang–Nampo gateway highlights the spatial polarization in the capital region at the expense of Eastern ports for which inland transport limitations and industrial decline have become major issues. The North Korean case only partly fits general models because traffic concentration occurs due to geopolitical isolation and internal limitations rather than economic and trade growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Ducruet, César & Roussin, Stanislas & Jo, Jin-Cheol, 2009. "Going West? Spatial polarization of the North Korean port system," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 357-368.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:17:y:2009:i:5:p:357-368
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2008.10.011
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    Cited by:

    1. Koi Yu Adolf Ng & César Ducruet, 2014. "The changing tides of port geography (1950–2012)," Post-Print halshs-01359160, HAL.
    2. Bahana Wiradanti & Stephen Pettit & Andrew Potter & Wessam Abouarghoub, 2020. "Willingness to invest in peripheral ports: perceptions of Indonesian port and maritime industry stakeholders," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 22(4), pages 699-714, December.
    3. Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Monios, Jason, 2016. "Institutional structure and agency in the governance of spatial diversification of port system evolution in Latin America," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 294-307.
    4. Monios, Jason & Wilmsmeier, Gordon, 2013. "The role of intermodal transport in port regionalisation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 161-172.
    5. César Ducruet & Theo E. Notteboom, 2012. "The worldwide maritime network of container shipping: Spatial structure and regional dynamics," Post-Print halshs-00538051, HAL.
    6. Liehui Wang & Theo Notteboom & Yui-yip Lau & Adolf K. Y. Ng, 2017. "Functional Differentiation and Sustainability: A New Stage of Development in the Chinese Container Port System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Chengjin Wang & César Ducruet, 2012. "New port development and global city making: Emergence of the Shanghai-Yangshan multilayered gateway hub," Post-Print halshs-00717879, HAL.
    8. Chengjin Wang & César Ducruet, 2013. "Regional Resilience and Spatial Cycles: Long-Term Evolution of the Chinese Port System (221bc–2010ad)," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(5), pages 521-538, December.
    9. Dadashpoor, Hashem & Arasteh, Mojtaba, 2020. "Core-port connectivity: Towards shaping a national hinterland in a West Asia country," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 57-68.
    10. Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Monios, Jason & Pérez-Salas, Gabriel, 2014. "Port system evolution – the case of Latin America and the Caribbean," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 208-221.
    11. Chengjin Wang & César Ducruet, 2013. "Regional resilience and spatial cycles: Long-term evolution of the Chinese port system (221BC-2010AD)," Post-Print halshs-00831906, HAL.
    12. Wei Wang & Chengjin Wang & Fengjun Jin, 2017. "The Functional Structure Convergence of China’s Coastal Ports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Wang, Chengjin & Ducruet, César, 2012. "New port development and global city making: emergence of the Shanghai–Yangshan multilayered gateway hub," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 58-69.
    14. Jiaoe Wang & Yang Cheng & Huihui Mo, 2014. "The Spatio-Temporal Distribution and Development Modes of Border Ports in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-18, October.
    15. Oliveira, Gabriel Figueiredo de & Schaffar, Alexandra & Cariou, Pierre & Monios, Jason, 2021. "Convergence and growth traps in container ports," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 170-180.
    16. Monios, Jason, 2017. "Cascading feeder vessels and the rationalisation of small container ports," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 88-99.
    17. Wilmsmeier, Gordon & Monios, Jason, 2015. "The production of capitalist “smooth” space in global port operations," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 59-69.
    18. César Ducruet & In Joo Yoon, 2022. "Maritime trade and economic development in North Korea," EconomiX Working Papers 2022-12, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.

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