The DPRK Energy Sector: Current Status and Future Engagement Options

This report discusses the history, current status, and potential future of the DPRK energy sector. The authors, drawing on the Nautilus Institute's decades of work on North Korea, describes the history of the DPRK energy sector, in particular changes in the sector since 1990. The study then looks at the current status and supply and demand balance of North Korea's energy sector noting the vulnerabilities and critical needs of that sector. The report also explores options for the rehabilitation of the DPRK energy sector that could be used in negotiations with North Korea as part of a "roadmap" to denuclearization and legitimate energy needs if negotiations are not successful and the DPRK either collapses (due to an internal coup, succession crisis, or war) or continues to stagnate. The report concludes by identifying the robust strategies that are important in both engagement and non-engagement (collapse or stagnation) scenarios.