CRI

 [ABSTRACT]

This study examines the multi-layered regulatory framework governing water source protection areas, forests, and agricultural land in the Central Inland Linked Development Region of Korea, and explores legislative improvement measures based on the Special Act on the Support for Central Inland Linked Development Regions to remove regulations that hinder regional development. The Central Inland Region functions as a core ecological axis of the national territory and has long been subject to overlapping regulations under seven to eight different laws, including water source protection zones, the Baekdudaegan Protection Area, national parks, and agricultural promotion zones. These compounded restrictions have significantly constrained property rights and local economic activities. Despite advances in water quality management technologies and heightened environmental awareness among residents, uniform and prohibition-centered regulatory approaches dating back to the 1980s and 1990s remain in force. This study argues that the 

time has come to shift toward a performance-based regulatory paradigm, linking pollution load management with environmental outcomes and allowing environmentally sound land use under controlled conditions.

Within this context, the enactment of the Special Act on the Support for Central Inland Linked Development Regions represents a major policy shift. It repositions inland areas—previously constrained in the name of protecting water sources, forests, and ecological corridors—as key hubs for balanced national development. Notably, the Act is the firstregional special law to provide integrated compensation and support through comprehensive planning, fiscal mechanisms, and supra-regional governance in recognition of the public goods provided by these regions.

To enable the Act to function as an effective institutional anchor for resolving regulatory conflicts and promoting environmentally sustainable development, the study proposes several key legislative measures:

1. Special provisions for establishing an integrated management system for the Daecheong Lake watershed;

2. Allowing accommodation facilities within natural environment zones and village zones of national parks;

3. Designating smart agriculture innovation zones within agricultural promotion areas;

4. Permitting green remodeling of existing facilities in Daecheong Lake water quality conservation zones; and

5. Revising relevant regulations to allow the operation of zero-emission transportation within water source protection areas.

Finally, the study emphasizes the need to move beyond the conventional “development versus conservation” dichotomy and instead evaluate policies and legal frameworks based on whether the fundamental objectives of both conservation and production are being effectively achieved.