두만강 유역의 국제하천협력: 광역두만강개발계획(GTI)을 중심으로

Abstract

This study evaluates the development of regional cooperation for socio-economic development in the Tumen River Basin focusing on interactions between the riparian (North Korea, China and Russia) and neighboring countries (South Korea, Mongol and Japan) since 1991. Particular attention is given to the Greater Tumen Initiative in order to analyze the possibility of shared benefits in the river basin and pull out policy implications. The Benefit Sharing approach is deployed to argue that shared benefits through cooperation can be larger than benefits through unilateral development. Regional development efforts were first made by UNDP in 1991 in the form of the Tumen Regional Development Program (TRADP), and the initiative was transformed into GTI in 2005. Since then, the path of the GTI has been bumpy due to the withdrawal of North Korea in 2009, a lack of leadership, and little investment and funding. Nevertheless, this program has served as a useful platform in which the countries in the region have shared their common interests. The program has helped the establishment of peace and stability in East Asia, and a series of transport, trade and investment, energy, tourism and environment projects have played a pivotal role in laying the ground for joint development in the region. The GTI can be a good candidate for regional cooperation platform that will ease down the tensions triggered by missile tests and nuclear weapon development of North Korea and function as a foundation to boost up regional cooperation for socio-economic development.