북한의 SDGs 달성을 위한 입법과 정책의 변화

Abstract

North Korea is actively utilizing the SDGs as a means to emphasize the unfairness and contradictions of the U.S. and other U.N. sanctions, saying that they are hindering peace-making and global partnerships, including the promotion of the SDGs and development cooperation, and to inform the international community that they are threatening North Korea's survival in non-political areas such as energy, food, water and sanitation, and the climate crisis. Furthermore, by actively embracing the UN SDGs, the DPRK is emphasizing its image as a ‘normal country’ and a ‘moderate country’ by accepting universal norms and values of the international community, including the United Nations, and cooperating with the international community, and recognizing the SDGs as a key means to attract development cooperation from the international community. In other words, the DPRK is establishing an implementation system by linking the UN SDGs to the Kim Jong-un regime's mid- and long-term national development plans, including the National Development Strategy and National Plan. Analyzing the specifics of the linkages and understanding the implications of the North Korean regime's policies can have important implications for advancing inter-Korean relations in the future. North Korea's legislative and policy responses to the implementation of the SDGs, particularly in the area of climate and environment, have so far fallen far short of the 30-year target. Nevertheless, North Korea's diplomatic diversification strategy to actively deal with the prolonged sanctions and diplomatic isolation is centered on the United Nations. North Korea's internal development strategy is also seeking a new direction, and the five-year plan for national economic development established at the 8th Party Congress in January 2021 and the new third UNSF (2022-2026) are also clarifying its intention to implement the SDGs with the international community. Among them, the renewable energy and circular economy sectors are being promoted by North Korea with a very active and urgent will to fulfill the SDGs, which is seen as a way to overcome the internal and external economic difficulties faced by North Korea. In addition, the disaster response field due to the climate crisis is being promoted by the North Korean regime with all its might. Given the need for the United Nations to include integrated SDGs on the Korean Peninsula in the new third UNSF (2022-2026), it is time for North and South Korea to work together with the United Nations to implement the SDGs, and we believe that cooperative projects in the field of climate and environment will be a key driver.