The Environment in the Box of Cold-War Developmentalism: North Korea’s 1970s Discourse on Pollution (konghae)

Abstract

This paper examines the unfolding of North Korean discourse on “konghae (pollution)” in the context of the Cold War and developmentalism during the 1970s. Scrutinizing how the North Korean regime justified its own environmental management approach by critiquing the handling of the konghae issue in capitalist states, this study elucidates the impact of North Korea’s Cold War framing on the intertwined dynamics of development and the environment. In particular, the import of Japanese polluting industries into South Korea triggered the introduction of the term konghae into the North Korean vernacular and the subsequent proliferation of related discourse, which may have also been influenced by the growing global consciousness of environmental matters and the corresponding dialogue on potential solutions.While Cold War framing impeded North Korean acknowledgment of its own developing pollution problem, discourse on pollution expanded as it became harder to ignore the growing phenomenon of pollution within the country and awareness of pollution became more common. This led to efforts in the 1980s and 1990s to respond to environmental concerns in North Korea, such as the enactment of the Environmental Protection Law in 1986 and the incorporation of environmental rights into the Constitution in 1992. This paper highlights the significance of the 1970s as a pivotal pre-transition phase during which North Korea’s environmental discourse evolved from a confined focus on konghae to a broader, more comprehensive conception of the environment. Despite this progression, the developmentalist idea that technological advancement can resolve environmental challenges persists in the DPRK.