ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the challenges brought by the rapidly changing Northeast Asian economies, and port systems and the efficiency of the original policy established by the Korean government. It investigates port specialization trends through a shift-share analysis and a concentration analysis among the ports in the region since 1986 based on container cargo volume statistics. The chapter presents the historical background of two-hub port strategy in Korea. It demonstrates the environmental change of Korean ports based on international specialization, the growth of the Chinese economy, and the concentration of Korea's metropolitan area. The chapter analyzes the changes of container cargo throughput in Northeast Asia by the concentration index. It provides new alternatives to Korea's two-hub port strategy, based on the trends in global logistics markets. According to the classification by Brohman, Korea belongs to export-oriented economies in terms of trade liberalization, direct foreign investment, and the export of goods for the world market.