Inter-Korean Forest Cooperation 1998-2012: A Policy Arrangement Approach

Despite political obstacles, South and North Korea have a history of conducting cooperative forest activities. Since 1999, the two Koreas have taken part in implementing cooperative forest projects, including reforestation, construction of tree nurseries, and control of insect pests, to achieve sustainability of the forests on the Korean Peninsula. This paper analyzes South Korean policies for inter-Korean forest cooperation, using a policy arrangement approach (PAA) with four dimensions: discourse, actors, rules of the game, and power. Policy changes by three South Korean administrations are analyzed: that of Kim Dae Jung (1998-2002), Roh Moo Hyun (2003-2007) and Lee Myoung Bak (2008-2012). The analysis focuses on an examination of the interactions among the four dimensions of policy arrangement and the policies of the administrations. This research indicates that change of the South Korean policy discourse to North Korea by the various administrations has fundamentally influenced actors and their resources, as well as the rules, in the field of inter-Korean forest cooperation. Insights from this analysis can contribute to the design of bilateral forest cooperation policies on the Korean Peninsula.