This study was conducted to provide the preliminary data on preparation for policy decisions regarding the groundwater supply scheme for N. Korea vulnerable to drought. Agricultural activities oriented to upland field due to the mountainous terrain more than 79% as well as the diversity of rainfall distribution over the country make more vulnerable to structural problems in the drought in N. Korea. Therefore, in anticipation of the expansion of exchange policies in agricultural sector, the available amount of groundwater needed for sustainable water resources supply was estimated for each administrative district after analyzing alluvium and hydrogeology distribution in N. Korea. Overall, the available amount of groundwater was estimated to 22.3 billion m³ (0.18 million m³/km²). The available amount of groundwater per unit area in Ryanggangdo and Gaesungsi was appeared very high in each of 0.56 and 0.39 million m³/km², respectively, and it would be interpreted that two districts have relatively wide area of volcanic rocks and alluvium with highly permeable characteristics, respectively. Finally, to maximize the utilization of this study result, the available amount of groundwater distribution map was developed on the basis of the 1 × 1 km grid network over the entire N. Korea.

Keywords: N. Korea;Drought;Agriculture;The available amount of groundwater;Distribution map;