Calculating virtual water for international water transactions : Korea focused international trade analysis

Sungje Park; Minhyeon Lee; Kyeyoung Park; Jihye Shin

doi:10.3741/JKWRA.2020.53.9.691

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2020 Vol.53, Issue 9 Preview Page Next Page

Research Article

Calculating virtual water for international water transactions : Korea focused international trade analysis 국제 물거래 대비 가상수 거래량 산정 : 한국 중심 국제교역량 분석

30 September 2020. pp. 691-699

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Abstract

South Korea’s available water resources per capita is very small compared to global average as there is a high population on small land. Thus, it is imperative to secure water resources for the safe livelihood of the citizens. As an advanced, industrialized country, South Korean economic dependence on agricultural has greatly lowered. Unless South Korea utilizes foreign water resources, it is impossible to provide agricultural and livestock products the same as current levels. However, virtual water-related research in South Korea is still inadequate. When establishing the water resources plan, it does not consider the international trade of virtual water. This research aims to solve this issue by analyzing the international virtual water trends focusing on South Korea. Consequently, the export and import of virtual water trade was identified according to country and item for 248 countries and South Korea. According to the results, South Korea’s agricultural and livestock virtual water has much higher imports than exports, which outputs with agricultural by-products being the main import . In 2018, South Korea imported 72.2 billion m³, which is 29 times the exported amount of 2.5 billion m³. The research results can be used as baseline data for establishing the national water resources plan in the future.

Keywords

Water footprint

Virtual water

Export/import

Water balance analysis

Virtual water trade

한국은 좁은 국토에 많은 인구가 거주하여 1인당 가용 수자원량이 세계 평균에 비하여 매우 적다. 이에 따라 국민 개개인이 안정적인 생활을 영위하는데 필요한 수자원의 확보가 절실하다. 더구나 한국은 이미 선진화된 공업국가로서 농업에 대한 국가경제의 의존도가 크게 낮아졌다. 따라서 한국은 외국의 수자원을 활용하지 않으면 국민 개개인에게 현재와 같은 식생활 수준에 맞는 농축산물의 제공이 불가능하다. 그럼에도 불구하고 한국은 아직 가상수에 대한 연구가 미흡하여 수자원계획 수립에서 가상수의 국제교역을 고려하지 못하고 있다. 본 연구는 이러한 상황을 타개하기 위하여 한국을 중심으로 교류하는 가상수의 국제적인 흐름을 분석하였다. 이를 위하여 한국과 세계 248개국과의 국가별, 품목별 가상수 수출입 거래량을 파악하였다. 본 연구의 결과에 따르면, 우리나라의 농축산물 가상수의 국제교역은 수입량이 수출량보다 월등히 많고, 수입 가상수는 농산물 부산물을 수입하면서 발생하는 양이 월등히 많았다. 2018년 한국이 전 세계에서 수입한 가상수량은 722억 m³으로 수출한 가상수량 25억 m³에 비해 무려 29배나 많다. 본 연구의 결과는 향후 국내에서 수립되는 국가 수자원계획의 수립에 필요한 기초자료를 제공하게 될 것이다.

키워드

물발자국

가상수

수출입

물수지분석

가상수 거래

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Information

Publisher :KOREA WATER RESOURECES ASSOCIATION
Publisher(Ko) :한국수자원학회
Journal Title :Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
Journal Title(Ko) :한국수자원학회 논문집
Volume : 53
No :9
Pages :691-699
Received Date : 2020-06-02
Revised Date : 2020-08-19
Accepted Date : 2020-08-19
DOI :https://doi.org/10.3741/JKWRA.2020.53.9.691

Journal of Korea Water Resources Association ISSN:2799-8746(Print) 2799-8754(Online) 한국수자원학회 논문집

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