Energy, Security and Environment
in Northeast Asia Network
#98-02 -- February 1998
The ESENAPolicy Forum Online is intended to provide expert analysis of contemporary
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DPRK Energy Sector:
Current Status and Scenarios for 2000 and 2005
By Dr. David F. Von Hippel Research Associate and Dr. Peter Hayes Co-Executive Director
Prepared for the Conference: "Economic Integration of the Korean Peninsula" Washington, DC, September 5 and 6, 1997
Conference Organizers: The Institute for International Economics
This paper has been published in "Economic Integration of the Korean Peninsula," Special Report 10 of the Institute for International Economics (IIE), January 1998, pp. 77-111.
The Role of KEDO and Nuclear Power In the DPRK Energy Sector:
Current Status and Scenarios for 2000 and 2005
Introduction and Background
The actions, postures, and circumstances of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (the DPRK or North Korea) have been the focus
of significant world attention over the past four years. The much-publicized
problems regarding North Korea include concerns about nuclear
proliferation, economic decline, ever-present security issues,
energy shortages, floods, and most recently, food shortages. All
of these problems have their roots in both recent and more distant
Korean and world history -- roots that are both deep and tangled.
Various bilateral and multilateral approaches have been fashioned
or proposed over the last few years to attempt to address the
problems of the DPRK. The Korean Peninsula Development Organization
(KEDO), for example, was created to address the politically linked
problems of nuclear proliferation, electricity-sector development,
and more broadly, engagement of the DPRK in cooperative projects
of concern to the nations of Northeast Asia.
The goal of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the recent
and current status of the DPRK energy sector, as well as some
of the factors that will influence the development (or continued
decline) of the sector over the next eight years and beyond. The
energy sector in the DPRK has been a particular focus of the authors'
research and analytical work over the past several years.
Produced by The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development
Energy, Security and Environment in Northeast Asia Project (esena@nautilus.org)
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