The first time I became aware of the importance of water management was one day when I was a child. I watched on tv the news that North Korea would build the Mt. Kumgang Dam in the North Han River, a river shared between the two Koreas, and threaten South Korea with water release from the dam. It happened in 1986. There was then a nationwide campaign to raise funds for building a dam in response to prevent potential water attack. I remember donating my pocket money as others did at that time. In addition, every summer, I often heard news of flood damage in the Imjin River Basin, a river basin shared between the two Koreas, and this damage has continued to occur until recently. I wondered why South Korea, with its adequate financial power and technical skill, would be concerned about the threat of a North Korean water attack and why South Korea could not prevent frequent flooding in the Imjin River Basin.

After becoming an adult, I became interested in the water sector because I was in charge of reviewing water resource-related policies, bills and budgets at the Environment and Labor Committee of the Korea National Assembly, and I also dealt with matters related to water resource facilities and national territory development policies at the Land and Maritime Team in the National Assembly Research Service.

Due to my career experience at the National Assembly, I was well aware that discussions on integrated water management had been under way in the National Assembly for decades and that numerous related bills had been submitted to the National Assembly. In the past, water management control was performed by separate authorities. Water quantity was managed by the department in charge of land development, and water quality was managed by the department in charge of the environment until the Water Management Framework Act was enacted in June 2018. This Act enabled the integration of water management in Korea.

Furthermore, when I enrolled in the ll.m. program under the sponsorship of the National Assembly, I took a water law class at the University of California, Davis, and I learned that California was in a similar situation to South Korea. California, which I considered a good place to live because of its natural environment, was also experiencing serious conditions due to the lack of water. As a result, a wide range of attempted water resource-related policies and laws were actively being carried out in California. Fortunately, I happened to discover that the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, has an outstanding position in the field of water law, so I decided to apply to the j.s.d program.

I visited North Korea as an officer of the Korea National Assembly with lawmakers in 2006 to inspect the facilities at the Gaesong Industrial Complex. This Complex is an hour’s drive from Seoul. Despite being so close, easily accessible, and composed of the same ethnic group, and despite a history of being one country with South Korea, it is heartbreaking to realize that South Koreans feel that North Korea is farther away than any other country. In addition, just as countries around the world struggle to communicate with North Korea, South Korea also has difficulty contacting and communicating with it.

The fact that floods have been repeated in the rivers shared by the two Koreas, and that subsequent property damage and human casualties have not been resolved, demonstrates the water conflict between the two Koreas. Both South and North Korea have yet to pay much attention to the shared rivers, the North Han River and the Imjin River, which are located at the center of the Korean peninsula. The world is tense from North Korea’s nuclear threat, and South Korea is not free from such a threat either. Many people know empirically that it is difficult to trust North Korea. However, sometimes the Engagement Policy (also known as Sunshine Policy or Appeasement Policy)¹ may be more efficient in resolving water disputes in the international watercourses. It may also allow North Korea to pay more attention to the cooperative management of the international watercourses to benefit both South and North Korea. We can learn a lesson from Aesop’s Fable, “The North Wind and the Sun.”²

After the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summits were held consecutively in 2018 and 2019, the atmosphere of detente continued on the Korean peninsula for more than two years. North Korea seemed to have a hope of improved relations between the two Koreas, and North Korea and the United States after the inter-Korean Summits and the US-North Korea Summits. Since then, nothing has materialized and the atmosphere has deteriorated further. North Korea seemed to think it had gained nothing despite the peace talks. It strongly expressed its disappointment that economic sanctions had not been lifted. It dismantled the office of inter-Korean dialogue as a gesture of protest, and declared South Korea an enemy on June 16, 2020. Since then, there has been little progress in inter-Korean relations. North Korea has yet to resume its nuclear tests, but it appears to be still considering it. Moreover, as the South Korean regime changes in May 2022, it is necessary to establish new inter-Korean relations.

North Korea seemed to expect South Korea to play a role in easing economic sanctions to overcome North Korea’s economic crisis caused by difficulties stemming from US and UN sanctions over its militarized nuclear program and covid-19. It is not easy to pursue inter-Korean cooperation at a time when inter-Korean relations are on the verge of deadlock. However, cooperation between the two Koreas should continue not only for the joint use of shared watercourses, but also for the settlement of peace on the Korean peninsula. Cooperation on the use of shared watercourses can serve as an opportunity to improve inter-Korean relations.

There may be different opinions in dealing with North Korean issues. However, this dissertation will focus only on how to facilitate North Korea’s cooperation in the use and management of international watercourses. Considering that I am working in the National Assembly, I would like to study how to approach the solutions to the shared water resource problems and what kinds of laws should be enacted or revised to resolve disputes over international watercourses. I believe that these proposals for efficient joint use of shared water resources will benefit not only the economic aspects of both South Korea and North Korea but also the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.