Disaster risk reduction: A sustainable path for inter-Korea cooperation
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s renewed call for inter-Korean cooperation on forestry at last year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) is just one of many attempts at establishing a joint disaster risk management scheme with North Korea. The Korean Peninsula is highly vulnerable to increasingly severe natural disasters brought about by rapid climate change, particularly typhoons that cause widespread floods and landslides.
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North Korea’s proven openness to international cooperation on prevention and mitigation of disasters is a promising sign that ought to be picked up and expanded upon. While developments are being made, the country significantly lacks experience, technology, and information, which are critical in accelerating disaster risk reduction and implementing the action plan. Therefore, going forward, the UNSDG committee should seek knowledge-based support to strengthen the capacities of disaster prevention and reduction in North Korea through international cooperation. South Korea is in a unique position to contribute to this.
As the two Koreas share a similar climate zone and geographic environment to a certain extent, they have many common challenges in climate adaptation. South Korea has accumulated plenty of experience and technology related to disaster prevention and risk reduction that may be of use for the North, such as databases for collecting climate-related data, monitoring systems using satellite imagery, and strategies for evaluation. It has also advanced practical technical skills in sustainable construction related to areas such as sea dikes and breakwaters. South Korea has furthermore conducted numerous research projects on forestry to calculate carbon reduction through tree management with a particular focus on indigenous Korean species. In addition to having practical experience of forestry work inside North Korea, every administration since former President Lee Myung-bak’s era has also had a task force dedicated to researching and promoting North Korean reforestation.
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