The inter-Korean economic cooperation has been much progressed in quantity since the 6.15 declaration. So far, Inter-Korean economic cooperation has been focused on aids rather than trade. It is natural when we consider economic situation in North Korea. There remain many issues to be resolved in order to further revitalize the inter-Korean economic cooperation, expecially, commercial trade. Improvement of the system is required for the sustainable development of inter-Korean economic cooperation although increased commercial trade between two Koreas are important.
Regarding revitalization of inter-Korean trade, a possible solution is to increase trade volume of agricultural and forest products in a short term. However, some people do not agree on it. Especially, farm producers worry about the impact on domestic markets when imports of North Korean products are increased. The settlement of related policies and improvement of the existing system are essential to revitalize inter-Korean trade.
This study aims to figure out the status and problems of imports, marketing, and consumption of North Korean agricultural and forest products in South Korea. The contents of the report are as follows. The first chapter describes the position and importance of agricultural and forest trade in inter-Korean agricultural and forest cooperation. The second chapter investigates the trend of imports on agricultural and forest products produced in North Korea. The third chapter shows the current marketing conditions and consumption of the imported products in the domestic markets. Finally, policy issues and suggestions to solve the current problems are raised.
Major issues of policy suggestions are problems to solve together the South and the North, improvement of importing system and management on North Korean agricultural and forest products, and marketing and consumption in domestic markets.
Researchers: Kim, Young-Hoon, Tae-Jin Kwon, and Min-Ji Nam
E-mail address: kyhoon@krei.re.kr