Correlation Between Seafood Production and Supply in North Korea: Focusing on Food Security.

Chae, S.L., 2023. Correlation between seafood production and supply in North Korea: Focusing on food security. In: Lee, J.L.; Lee, H.; Min, B.I.; Chang, J.-I.; Cho, G.T.; Yoon, J.-S., and Lee, J. (eds.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Coastal and Marine Management. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 116, pp. 413-417. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. This study aims to examine the correlation between North Korea's seafood production and supply by era (by leaders). During the Kim Il-sung era, North Korea's seafood production amount and supply amount to residents were the largest. However, when the country experienced the Arduous March (nationwide famine) at the end of the 1990s, fishery activities were not properly conducted because of oil shortage. Thus, the production of fishery products decreased significantly, resulting in a decrease in the number of fishery products supplied to residents. Another reason for the decrease in the supply of fishery products to the residents during the Kim Jong-Il era is that the authorities started exporting aquatic products to earn foreign currency. Thus, since the Kim Jong-Il era, during which the government's aquatic product export policy was created, a proportional relationship between aquatic product production and food security for residents has not been established. During the Kim Jong-un era, production of fishery products recovered as much as before the Arduous March, but the supply of fishery products to residents is much lower than before the Arduous March. This is because the policy to nurture fishery products in the Kim Jong-un era focused primarily on export than on ensuring consistently adequate food supply for residents. This study has academic significance as it identifies the correlation between seafood production and supply in North Korea for the first time based on limited data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]