Fishing in North Korea, A History and A Geography

Abstract

Having considered deeply the theoretical framing of vibrant or lively matters in the previous pages, chapter four focuses directly on a territory widely considered to have a material and political relationship which is the opposite of vibrant, North Korea. With the political theorisation surrounding the politics and ideology of Pyongyang outlined in the introduction in mind, the chapter explores the intersections between fish and fishing and the developmental agendas of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and now Kim Jong Un. Tracing the focus on fishing and fishing resource and the connections and enmeshing with the different periods of North Korean political and industrial development, the chapter explores this periodisation and impacts on the lively matters of North Korean fish and fishing. This history and geography reaches back to the pre-history of North Korea, examining the transformation of fishing and fishing infrastructures during the period of Korea’s opening up and the colonial period under Japanese occupation. Unlike Japanese fishing practices, traditional Korean fishing was focused on the shore and the near sea, Koreans did not historically venture out into the deep sea or the wider oceans. While Japanese colonialism developed Korean fishing practices in a more extensive and technological manner, North Korean fishing following the Liberation in 1945 was still technologically and infrastructurally challenged. This became worse following the Korean War of 1950–1953, and North Korea’s fishing practices and rights have since then been challenged by the post-War status quo of maritime demarcation, in particular the Northern Limit Line and more contemporary practices of sanctioning and restriction which are also produced by geo-politics. Pyongyang has therefore continually fought to extend its fishing reach, with seemingly little success, but fish and maritime resources have become much more important to North Korea following the crisis period of the early 1990s. Fish in recent North Korean history have become vital to the provision of food given the collapse in soil health and agricultural capacity and also once an important element of economic exchange given their non-sanctioned status until 2017. Following UNSC resolution 2371 in August of 2017 of course fish and maritime products have now been problematized as other North Korean matters and materials and this will also be considered by the chapter. In a later chapter a specific location and community of fish and fisherpeople will be encountered, but this chapter more generally explores the geographies of North Korean fishing, especially those geographies which have been constructed or co-produced by the efforts, or otherwise of the state.