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North Korea Environmental Protection
Lack of information makes it difficult to assess the extent
to which industrialization and urbanization have damaged North
Korea's natural environment. Using generally obsolete technology
transferred from the former Soviet Union and China, the country
embarked on a program of ambitious industrialization after the
Korean War. Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania, which had
similar industrial policies, had some of the world's worst air,
water, and soil pollution in the early 1990s.
The April 1986 passage of an environmental protection law by
the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's national
legislature, suggested that North Korea might also have serious
pollution problems. Speaking about the bill, Vice President Yi
Chong-ok claimed that "big successes" had been accomplished in
this field in the past, and that "visitors to the DPRK can easily
confirm that pollution has not reached there the levels
experienced in other countries." Although Yi described the law as
a preventive rather than a curative measure, a German publication
noted that the attendance of representatives from the cities of
Namp'o, Hamhng, and Ch'ngjin at preliminary discussions of the
bill suggested that these localities might have more serious
pollution problems than other North Korean cities.
Air pollution is moderated by the extensive reliance on
electricity rather than on fossil fuels, both for industry and
the heating of urban residences. Air pollution is further limited
by the absence of private automobiles and restrictions on using
gasoline-powered vehicles because of the critical shortage of
oil. The extent of water pollution is unknown, but it did not
seem to be a serious problem in the P'yongyang area as of early
1993.
Data as of June 1993
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