‘측량하는 시선’과 욕망의 지리 — 1970년대 제주도 ‘남국 풍치’ 담론과 경관 정치 = Surveying Gaze and the Geography of Desires: 1970s Jeju Island’s ‘Nankoku Aesthetics’ Discourse and Landscape Politics

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The recent incident surrounding the removal and replanting of palm trees in Tap-dong, Jeju City, serves as a reminder that landscapes symbolizing “Jejuness” are socially and politically constructed. This incident raises a fundamental question concerning the (re)construction of Jeju’s landscape and identity, “Development for whom?” This article examines the process through which the exotic landscape known as the “Nankoku Aesthetics” (namguk pungchi, literally “tropical scenery”) came to be articulated as a marker of “Jejuness” between 1970 and 1973. The development of Jeju Island as an international tourist destination in the 1970s was closely intertwined with the reorganization of the Cold War order and shifting relations between Korea and Japan. Korea strategically promoted tourism as a means of foreign currency acquisition, while Japan sought to reassert post-imperial influence under the guise of “economic cooperation” after shedding its “imperial hangover.” Cooperation between the Korean and Japanese governments extended into the private sector. Korean Air Lines (KAL), privatized in 1969, and Japan Airlines (JAL), which secured operating rights on Jeju routes, shared an interest in pioneering new tourism markets. To elucidate the mechanism through which these intersecting ambitions materially reconstituted Jeju’s space and landscape, this study employs the concept of the “surveying gaze.” Here, surveying refers to the process of reconfiguring space while masking relations of power as objective and technical assessment. Through bilateral Korea-Japan surveys, Jeju was defined as a space lacking an “exotic mood” and local elites subsequently disseminated discourses that justified the introduction of “Nankoku Aesthetics” as a remedy for this perceived deficiency. Palm trees planted in rows along the core areas of Jeju City and at major gateways in the early 1970s expanded from roadside tree initiatives into large-scale landscaping projects, ultimately making tropical imagery an island-wide spectacle.