N. Korea loses 210,000 hectares of forest area over decade: report

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has lost around 210,000 hectares of forest area over the past decade, a U.N. agency's report showed Wednesday, pointing to the worsening deforestation problem in the communist state.

According to the report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), North Korea's forest area stood at 6.03 million hectares this year, down from 6.24 million hectares in 2010.

The decline is in line with a steady shrinkage in forest area in North Korea over the past three decades.

Forest area in the North was estimated at 6.91 million hectares in 1990 when the report was first compiled. The size fell to 6.46 million hectares in 2000.

North Korea is known for severe deforestation, which accelerated in the 1990s when a severe famine battered the impoverished nation and forced people to cut down trees for fuel and farmland.

South and North Korea agreed on forestry cooperation in 2018, including joint efforts to combat deforestation, but little progress has been made as inter-Korean relations stalled amid a stalemate in denuclearization talks.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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