북한 대외 채무의 쟁점과 과제: 국제 규범과 해외 사례를 중심으로 (Issues and Tasks Regarding External Debt of the DPRK: Centering around International Rules and Cases Abroad)

북한의 대외 채무 문제는 북한의 대외관계 정상화 과정에서 한반도가 직면하게 될 주요한 경제·외교적 사안이다. 본 연구는 북한의 대외 채무 현황을 파악하고 국제 규범과 해외 사례를 종합적으로 분석하여 시나리오별 대외 채무 해소 과정과 이에 따른 정책 과제를 도출하였다. 해외 사례를 체제전환국, 국가통합, 채권국가로 유형화하여 살펴보고, 북한 채무의 쟁점과 해결 방안을 통일과 통합의 두 가지 관점에서 분석한 것이 본 연구의 차별점이다. 연구의 결과는 남북 관계와 북미 관계가 개선되는 상황에 대비하여 우리 정부가 대북 정책을 수립하는 데 주요한 기초자료를 제공할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (hereinafter DPRK) holds external debt against the rest of the world yet has not made its position clear on how to repay this after declaring moratorium in 1984. The magnitude of the debt subject for repayment is increasing annually as the interest for arrears has accumulated. The issues regarding approaches that the DPRK would take in regards to repayment of its debt were raised when Russia relieved it from its duties for repayment of external debt against the former Soviet Union in 2012. In light of the situation in 2018 and 2019, when rapprochement between the DPRK and the United States was burgeoning, once the former shows its willingness to open its economy and to enter the phase of reformation, it is reasonable to believe that the discussion on how to resolve the mounting external debt of DPRK would be expedited when US-DPRK relations enter this new phase. Against this background, the external debt of DPRK will likely be one of the primary diplomatic and economic matters facing the Republic of Korea in the longer perspective, albeit not an imminent issue to be taken care of. Therefore, this study examines the current state of external debt incurred by the DPRK and international norms on how to manage this, as well as cases abroad to identify the tasks at hand for the Republic of Korea's government to respond to various scenarios on changes in circumstances on the Korean Peninsula. (the rest omitted)