Challenges of Improving the Volcano Legislation in North Korea

Unlike other weather phenomena, volcanic eruption is difficult to cope with due to difficulty in predicting in advance with modern science, and the scale and intensity of human and property damage caused by eruptions are wide and large. The Korean Peninsula, where the two Koreas are located, has not experienced the disaster of volcanic eruption until recently and has not been particularly vigilant, but the recent discovery of the possibility of volcanic eruption on Mount Baekdu has renewed concerns about a new type of disaster. In North Korea, Baekdu Mountain is regarded as the starting point of the regime and a key area that has the right to maintain the regime by the 'Baekdu Blood', so volcanic eruption and damage caused by it can undermine the legitimacy of maintaining the regime, which is a matter of national concern. North Korea is taking various measures to cope with the disaster caused by the eruption of Mt. Baekdu, and it can be said that it is the introduction of the Volcanic Sector Act that has concreteness. This precedes that of South Korea, and the eruption of Mt. Baekdu can be evaluated as a declarative measure for disaster management at the government level. South Korea is also in a position to keep an eye on the volcanic situation of Mount Baekdu, as it will be directly damaged by eruptions due to the short distance from Mount Baekdu, and if North Korea's disturbance and mass defection occur due to a volcanic disaster, it could act as a factor in changing the situation in Northeast Asia. Therefore, this study aims to present a plan to improve the response system for each disaster stage by deriving content limitations from the perspective of volcanic disaster management by reviewing the volcanic sector law in North Korea. This is because it is possible to prepare the possibility of institutional improvement in South Korea and win-win cooperation between the two Koreas in response to the volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu and the volcanic eruption of Mt. Baekdu.