The North Korean government has an avowed commitment to achieving economic and social development sustainable. However, it has serious issues with common pool resource (CPR) management. Its forests have been severely denuded by over-exploitation and by makeshift mountain farms. Its fishery has been so seriously depleted that its fishermen often risk their lives in boats ill-equipped for deep sea fishing, resulting in increasing numbers of boats and fishermen being marooned on the Japanese coast. These are not just problems for North Korean farmers and fishermen, they are also problems for the cities and towns affected by landslides, floods, and a lack of fishery resources. The North Korean state has thus far refused to build the kinds of institutions at scale that might help to mitigate these problems, and the major resources come down to concerns about maintaining control over North Korean society. There appears to be a fundamental tension between political power and sustainable resource governance that appears currently intractable, though some attempts to small-scale trials aimed at fixing forestry governance may help to alleviate some issues (even if they create other issues).

Author: Peter Ward

14 Pages​