Long-term land development and utilization for economic growth caused changes in vegetation, soil, geology, groundwater in near-surface environment or “Critical Zone(CZ)”. The critical zone is the “heterogeneous, near surface environment where complex processes involving rock, soil, water, air, and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine the availability of life-sustaining resources” (National Research Council, 2001). Along with climate changes and human activities, it accelerates changes in crop production, green house gas emission, water quality, biodiversity, and so on. For recent years, critical zones studies have rapidly been proceeding in the US, European countires, China, Australia, and some other countries, but they are seldom found in Korea. This is a preliminary study of ‘Critical Zones’, a recently emerging multidisciplinary research area, which deals with surface and near-surface environment which sustains human and nearly all life. This study reviews recent critical zone studies and identifies emerging issues relevant to critical zones in environmental management as follows. First issue is to improve environmental policy of soil, groundwater, groundwater dependent ecosystems(GDEs), biodiversity, and so on in consideration of critical zone processes. For example, integrative management policy for soil-groundwater, groundwater-vegetation, and soil-biodiversity. Second one is a policy development to activate critical zone research for resolving complex environment problems. Third issue is to establish national initiative for critical zone obser