Easier signed than done: natural resource sharing in the shadow of conflict on the Korean peninsula

ABSTRACT

While North and South Korea are technically at war, they have attempted to share transboundary resources, including water and fisheries. However, their efforts have never translated into the implementation of cooperation on the ground. This study examines why they consent to cooperation on resource sharing yet fail to implement it. By tracing inter-Korean high-level talks and cooperation efforts from 2000 to 2019, we argue that implementing cooperation agreements has not been successful because of the (mis)alignment of incentives between the two Koreas. We highlight how broader interstate political relations can inhibit further implementing the cooperation in sharing natural resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Korean peninsula
• territory
• natural resources
• conflict
• cooperation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Jihyun Kim for her excellent research assistance. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions on the manuscript. Any findings, interpretations and conclusions presented in this article are entirely those of the authors.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 While some consider inland fisheries as a non-renewable resource, our case includes ocean fisheries which is a renewable resource with a reproduction capability.