[KS] Pre-Korean War Population of North and South Korea

[Frank Joseph Shulman]

Dear Roland Wilson,

Of possible interest and relevance -- just in case you have not yet seen it -- may be the following book:

Demography of Korea: Population Change and Its Components, 1925-66, by Tai Hwan Kwon. Seoul: Seoul National University Press, 1977. xxiv, 415p. ("A Publication of the Population and Development Studies Center").

It is a revision of Kwon's 423 page, 1972 Ph.D. dissertation in Demography at the Australian National University entitled "Population Change and Its Components in Korea, 1925-1966".

A brief description of this dissertation, and hence of his book, is as follows:

Kwon's primary objective was "to assemble a composite picture of population movements and demographic changes in the southern half of Korea during the 1925-1966 period in general and during the post-World War II era in particular through detailed analyses of the patterns and trends in mortality, fertility and migration which directly affected the growth and changes in the population".  Using available census data, he "constructed life tables for every five year period", "observed the marital patterns of Korean women and its changes", "estimated various birth and fertility rates", studied the movement of population between 1940 and 1949 and the redistribution of population during and immediately after the Korean War (1950-1953), and examined internal migration through 1965.  A graduate of both Seoul National University and the Australian National University, Kwon subsequently published many monographic studies in Korean demography and sociology.

Table of Contents: Introduction.  1. Basic Data Availability and Their Quality.  Part One: Mortality.  2. Construction of Life Tables and Estimation of Age-Specific Mortality, 1925-65.  3. General Trends in Mortality.  4. Age-Sex Patterns of Mortality.  Part Two: Fertility.  5. Marriage and Fertility Control.  6. Estimation of Various Fertility and Birth Rates.  7. Patterns and Trends in Fertility.  Part Three: Movement and Redistribution of Population 1940-66.  8. World War II and Population Movement.  9. The Korean War and the Redistribution of Population.  10. Internal Migration during 1955-65.  11. Growth and Age-Sex Distribution of Population and Factors Affecting Them: Conclusions.  25 figures.  2 maps.  107 tables.  Appendices [1-5]: pp.375-417.  Bibliography: pp.418-23.

[Extracted from "A Century of Doctoral Dissertations on Korea, 1903-2004: An Annotated Bibliography of Studies in Western Languages", compiled, annotated and edited by Frank Joseph Shulman (forthcoming)]

Please note in particular the inclusion of 107 statistical tables in the dissertation.  Most, if not all, of them presumably appear in Kwon's book as well.

Best wishes,

Frank Joseph Shulman

October 26, 2010

Frank Joseph Shulman
Bibliographer, Editor and Consultant for Reference Publications in Asian Studies
9225 Limestone Place
College Park, Maryland 20740-3943 (U.S.A.)
E-mail: fshulman at umd.edu
________________________________________
From: koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws [koreanstudies-bounces at koreaweb.ws] On Behalf Of Roland Wilson [roland_wilson at hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 9:17 PM
To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws; Korean Studies Group
Subject: [KS] Pre-Korean War Population of North and South Korea

Dear Members,

I was wondering if anyone would have information on or know where I could find information on the populations of North and South Korea prior to the Korean War?  If this was broken down by province, it would even be better, but I realize that I may be asking for too much.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Roland Wilson

roland_wilson at hotmail.com<mailto:roland_wilson at hotmail.com>