Direction of Agriculutral Cooperation between South and North Korea to Solve the Food Problems in the United Korea

통일한국의 식량문제 해결을 위한 남북협력방안

Assuming the united Korea, total population is estimated to be 70 million and grain demand for the people is estimated to reach 30 million metric tons. Cultivated land in North Korea is about the same as South Korea i.e. 2 million hectares. However grain production in North Korea is about one half of South Korea's, 6 million metric tons in the South and 3 million metric tons in the North a year. This implies that the United Korea need to import more than 20 million metric tons of grain a year and it will trigger many economic and social problems for the United Korea. In order to meet deficient grain supply, the United Korea can choose three possible policy options; importation of grains or increased investment in foreign agricultural development or increase in domestic supply Among the possible policy options, increase in domestic supply is desirable and can be achieved by developing North Korea's grain supply potential. North Korean agricultural development can also be achieved most effectively through cooperation between the South and North. An effective policy option for agricultural cooperation between the South and North is supply of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides and exchanges of agricultural technology. Cooperation between the South and North in the agricultural sector should be achieved and developed further to solve the potential food problem before unification.