Analysis of Food and nutritional status of North and South Korea and an estimation of the food demand and potential production capacity after unification

Unification of the Korean peninsula has long been the Korean people’s desired goal. Recently, several signs of hope have spurred predictions within South Korea as well as globally regarding an impending unification. To date, there have been debates over estimates of the cost of a unification or post-unification administrative organization, but specific research is lacking regarding food supply or food security plans, which are fundamental to national management.

In May 2011 the Korea Food Security Research Foundation conducted a year-long study with a research team formed by six experts, “Food Security and Food Industry Development Strategy after Unification of the Korean Peninsula.” Assuming the year of unification as 2015, their research forecast the prospects of food production and food supply and demand on the Korean peninsula immediately after unification and 10 years after unification by analyzing the current food and nutrition statuses in the North and South. Unlike previous studies, which were limited to agriculture, this research estimated the food demand and potential production capacity after unification by including food industries with agriculture and fisheries.

It is clear that food-related issues will be one of the top priorities in a post-unification government. It is necessary to establish concrete policies for food security after unification in order to help reduce the dependency on food imports in South Korea and to reverse the food shortage in North Korea. It is also necessary to propose a direction for long-term food policies in order to manage the changes in food trends and ultimately secure food sovereignty on the Korean peninsula in a post-unification era. This book was written with the aim of providing useful data that will contribute to such policymaking. It compiles the research reports of the Korea Food Security Research Foundation and includes reports of the discussion panels from the “Seminar on Food Security and Food Industry Development Strategy after Unification of the Korean Peninsula” held on July 3, 2012.