- Wenxi Zhu & Jinxia Zhao
- Posted on
- Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, Republic of Korea
On 22 August 2024, the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific launched a field study on marine spatial planning (MSP) practices in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, Republic of Korea.
The study was conducted by the Sub-Commission’s Group of MSP Experts including Zhiwei Zhang and Moon-Suk Lee, as part of efforts to advance the implementation of the UN Ocean Decade Action 21: Accelerate marine spatial planning in the Western Pacific. The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) has been providing technical support for MSP efforts in Sinan County.


MSP demonstration sites are intended as centers for knowledge exchange, expertise sharing, networking, and capacity building, aiming at accelerating marine spatial planning processes in the Western Pacific countries. Sinan Country in South Korea, along with Chonburi in Thailand, Qinzhou in China and Indonesia, was identified as one of the initial MSP demonstration sites by the Sub-Commission during the 1st WESTPAC Expert Workshop on Marine Spatial Planning, held on 14-15 November 2023, in Qingdao, China.
South Korea enacted the Act on Marine Spatial Planning and Management in 2018 and adopted its first Master Plan on Marine Spatial Management in 2019. Located off the southwest coast of South Korea facing the Yellow Sea, Sinan Country consists of 111 inhabited islands and 719 uninhabited islands. Its vast coastal wetlands provide vital habitats for diverse marine organisms and migratory birds, offering significant ecological functions and conservation value. While local communities primarily depend on fisheries, aquaculture, and agriculture, emerging industries, such as tourism and renewable energy, have been rapidly developing in recent years. Consequently, conflicts of sea area use are increasing across various sectors.
To address these challenges, the MSP initiative in this demonstration site will feature data fusion and scenario simulation techniques based on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Twins technology.