A Study on the Income Inequality among the Fishing Communities in Korea

어촌계의 소득 격차와 변화에 관한 연구

The Fishing Communities (so-called Uchongae) in Korea was legally established in 1962. It has been gradually expanded by quantity, and we have total 1,969 communities in 2006. The major establishment purpose of Uchongae was put 2 functions. The first function is to make up the double industry structure in coastal region, and second function is to make economical condition for Uchongae. Nevertheless the Fishing Communities System in Korea was not successfully developed after first beginning. The Income gap have become heavily between fishing area and non - fishing area, including agricultural area. The income gap has been due to rapid industrialization and urbanization in Korea. And the income gap even have become heavily among Uchongaes. In this paper, It have been researched the degree of Income inequality among Uchongaes in Korea during 1986-2006. The income inequality degree was analyzed by Gini coefficient and Mean Log Deviation (MLD) using Lorenz Curve. According to analysis result, the Gini coefficient of Uchongaes in Korea has been about 2-times high from 0.0847 to 0.1770 during 20 years. And the MLD has been 5.4 times from 0.0125 to 0.0679 during same periods. This means to more wide the general Income Inequality among the Uchongaes in Korea. Especially, It means to more wide the gap of high ranking Uchongaes and low ranking Uchongaes that MLD index multiplier has been more high.