Forum
Inter-Korean Cooperation in Maritime and Fisheries Sector (SDG14)

The Korea Global Forum for Peace 2021 session on inter-Korean cooperation in the maritime and fisheries sector for implementing SDG14 was divided into three presentations given by experts in the field of maritime systems. First, Dr Liu Ning (NOWPAP Programme Officer) gave a brief introduction to the Northwest Pacific Action Plan. NOWPAP is one of 18 Regional Seas Programmes that provide inter-governmental frameworks to address the degradation of the oceans and seas at a regional level through regular meetings of governing bodies, senior officials as well as technical bodies. The plan was set up in 1994 and member states are South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.

Second, Mr. Weimon Miao from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN talked about the need of aquaculture development in North Korea and the prospect of cooperation between FAO and ROK in supporting aquaculture development in North Korea. He sees major constraints and challenges in developing aquaculture in North Korea, for example, a severe lack of coordinated effort, investment, equipment, infrastructure and sectoral data collection as well as a disconnection between research facilities and production units. As prospect for a collaboration between ROK and FAO in supporting aquaculture development in North Korea he highlighted, that an improved nutrition and livelihood in North Korea will contribute to stability and peace in the Peninsular and region.

Third and last presenter was Mr. Park Jaeyoon, Senior Data Scientist at Global Fishing Watch who introduced data-driven monitoring for sustainable fisheries and inter-Korean fisheries cooperation. The release of his 2020 published paper on “Illuminating dark fishing fleets in North Korea” helped to reinforce the collaboration between South Korea and China in tackling illegal fishing done by North Korean vessels. The session was closed by a discussion round, where Jun JeCheon (National Institute of Fisheries Science) and Lee Jung-Sam (Korea Maritime Institute, Director of Fisheries Resources Research Department) participated.

Dr. Bernhard Seliger, representative of HSF Korea, also gave a statement regarding the presentations based on his experiences. He made clear, that the supporting of aquaculture in North Korea is still poor and that especially since the UN sanctions little progress could be made. Dr. Seliger also talked about the worrying handling of garbage in North Korea which can be more and more found at Korean beaches. Collaboration in this field would also be important regarding sea pollution.