Journal of the Association of Korean Geographers ISSN:2287-4739(Print) 2733-8991(Online) 한국지리학회지

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of reintroducing the subject of economic geography in the next national curriculum by analyzing the appropriateness of the content elements of economic geography and geography teachers’ perceptions of the subject’s educational value and feasibility of implementation in schools. To this end, based on the economic geography subject in the seventh national curriculum and the geography elective subjects in the 2022 revised national curriculum, 62 content elements and 8 items assessing perceptions of the subject were developed, and an online survey was conducted with 118 geography teachers nationwide. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and paired-samples t-tests, while qualitative analysis was conducted on the open-ended responses. The results showed that the overall appropriateness of the economic geography content elements was rated highly, with a mean score of 4.19. Content elements addressing the relationship between contemporary economic activities and regional change, such as spatial inequality, glocal value chains, transnational corporations, energy transition, food security, and commodity chains, were rated highly. In contrast, classical location theories, traditional trade theories, and basic descriptions of the distribution and characteristics of resources received relatively low ratings. Teachers’ perceptions of the economic geography subject were generally positive, but the perceived likelihood of students choosing the subject was relatively low compared with its perceived educational necessity. These findings suggest that reintroducing economic geography requires content centered on changes in contemporary economic space and real-world issues, stronger links to career pathways, and clearer differentiation from existing geography subjects.