Photo: Minku Kang | Unsplash
While relations between South and North Korea have been effectively nonexistent for 18 months, forestry offers a chance for cooperation, researchers say. Retiring South Korean President Moon Jae-has offered aid and knowledge on how to regenerate North Korea's badly denuded forests, and a World Forestry Congress meeting in Seoul in May offers a potential chance for talks. North Korea seems to have recognized the scale of the deforestation problem. In 2012, cultivating crops on hillsides steeper than 15 degrees was banned to halt erosion and landslides, and in 2015, Kim called on senior party officials and the army to "make green forests on the mountains of our country and make the entire mountain a golden treasure." Sensing an opportunity, Moon has offered considerable assistance, providing fertilizers, pesticides, equipment, and tree nurseries, and is ready to provide seeds as soon as deliveries can be arranged.
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