General concept of protected area turns to be problematic when it is applied to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). A high mobility of marine species makes it difficult to designate an effective MPA with only partial protection. From a conservation perspective, a marine ecosystem can denote a wider ecological network including remote terrestrial space. An island ecosystem often stands as an independent ecosystem in terms of its particularity. In addition, the physical boundaries between marine and terrestrial space are never clear-cut but ambiguous and dynamic, which adds further challenges in delimitating an area that exactly falls into the MPA category.As a result, a rigorous conceptualization of MPA is still debatable and countries tend to apply their own arbitrary rules in defining and managing MPAs. This project attempts to conduct an integrated spatial analysis of Korean MPAs. Using the ArcGIS software, diverse types of MPAs are collected and analyzed in a comprehensive manner. The results present the current status and the spatial expansion patterns of MPAs and the effectiveness of MPA policies since mid-1990s. It also demonstrates that the visual, spatial analysis can be effective in identifying the strength/weakness/opportunities of MPA policies.rvation perspective, a marine ecosystem can denote a wider ecological network including remote terrestrial space. An island ecosystem often stands as an independent ecosystem in terms of its particularity. In addition, the physical boundaries between marine and terrestrial space are never clear-cut but ambiguous and dynamic, which adds further challenges in delimitating an area that exactly falls into the MPA category.As a result, a rigorous conceptualization of MPA is still debatable and countries tend to apply their own arbitrary rules in defining and managing MPAs. This project attempts to conduct an integrated spatial analysis of Korean MPAs. Using the ArcGIS software, diverse