Strategies for the Industrial Development of North Korea: A Geographical Approach

Seoul National University Unification Studies Research Series – 2

Authors: Park Sam-Ock, Heo Woo-Gung, Park Ki-ho, and Park Soo-jin

Book Introduction

Seoul National University has recently launched a new initiative to conduct research on unification studies. As a part of this initiative, the researchers involved in the creation of this book conducted a study which they called “Strategies for the Industrial Development of North Korea: A Geographical Approach”. The researchers tried to develop industrial development and inter-Korean cooperation plans in North Korea by setting four major themes and goals:

First – Establish a spatial information system that collects and systematically classifies geographical and spatial information of North Korea.

Second – Assess the potential of industrial development in each region of North Korea. Then, classify each region.

Third – Prepare measures to expand transportation and communication networks necessary for industrial development.

Fourth – Develop special economic zones and industrial complexes and inter-Korean cooperation measures.

The book outlines the results research on North Korea’s industrial development and inter-Korean cooperation over the past three years. The four topics mentioned above were covered for the entire North Korean region in the first and second studies. In the third study, five regions were selected based on the results of the first and second studies to address possible industrial development and inter-Korean cooperation.

Publication Date: December 03, 2007