Economic Sanctions during Humanitarian Emergencies: The Case of North Korea

Noland, Marcus and Haggard, Stephan (2023): Economic Sanctions during Humanitarian Emergencies: The Case of North Korea. Published in: Asia Pacific Issues No. 157 (6 January 2023)

Abstract

North Korea is experiencing yet another cycle of humanitarian distress. While sanctions are not the primary cause, they are a contributing factor. This essay examines the channels through which sanctions affect the North Korean economy and reaches four conclusions: First, sanctions have contributed to a deterioration of economic performance. Second, the UNSC’s 1718 Sanctions Committee should consider a thorough review to identify goods that would warrant blanket humanitarian exemptions or removal from the sanctions lists altogether. Third, financial sanctions have raised the risk premium on all financial transactions with North Korea; the sanctioning authorities need to do a better job of clarifying transactions permissible under humanitarian exemptions. Finally, while the global community should reassess its policies, the government of North Korea bears responsibility as well. The benefits of sanctions relief will be diminished if North Korea refuses to engage constructively with the international community on a broader range of issues running from basic humanitarian relief to economic reform.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: North Korea; sanctions; food insecurity; complex humanitarian emergency
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F35 - Foreign Aid; F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy > F51 - International Conflicts ; Negotiations ; Sanctions; H - Public Economics > H8 - Miscellaneous Issues > H84 - Disaster Aid; P - Economic Systems > P3 - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions > P33 - International Trade, Finance, Investment, Relations, and Aid; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q1 - Agriculture > Q18 - Agricultural Policy ; Food Policy

References

William Brown. 2020. “South Korea’s Central Bank Report Exaggerates North Korea’s Economic Growth,” 38North August 6, https://www.38north.org/2020/08/wbrown080620/.

Cho, Taehyoung, Min Jung Kim, and Sang Hyup Lee. 2022. “Macroeconomic Features over the Last Five Years and Prospects,” presentation at the 8th Meeting of the Dialogue on the DPRK Economy, Washington, United States Treasury, 6-7 September.

Haggard, Stephan and Marcus Noland, 2011. Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea. Washington DC: Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Kim, Byung-yeon. 2022. “Marketization during the Kim Jong Un Era,” presentation at the 8th Meeting of the Dialogue on the DPRK Economy, Washington, United States Treasury, 6-7 September.

Lee, Suk. 2021. “North Korea’s Economic Crisis, How Far Will it Go?” in Suk Lee, ed. 2020/2021 The DPRK Economic Outlook. Seoul: Korea Development Institute.

Noland, Marcus. 2014. “BOK’s Estimates of North Korean National Income,” Witness to Transformation, July 2, https://www.piie.com/blogs/north-korea-witness-transformation/boks-estimate-north-korean-national-income

Noland, Marcus. 2019. “North Korea: Sanctions, Engagement and Strategic Reorientation,” Asian Economic Policy Review 14:2 189-209.

Noland, Marcus. 2022. “North Korea as a complex humanitarian emergency: Assessing food insecurity,” Asia and the Global Economy, 2:3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aglobe.2022.100049

Smith, Hazel. 2020. “The ethics of United Nations sanctions on North Korea: effectiveness, necessity and proportionality,” Critical Asian Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2020.1757479.