ISTANBUL

North Korea’s decade-long reforestation campaign added 1.2 million hectares of forest, The Daily NK reported Thursday, citing NASA satellite data.

The effort, launched by Kim Jong Un to "greenify" the nation, aimed to restore 1.68 million hectares but achieved 72.7% of that target, according to the report.

A comprehensive analysis using NASA’s Earthdata Search web application revealed that North Korea planted 1,222,768 hectares of trees in the past 10 years, including small saplings on hillsides and grasslands.

Despite the effort, the total fell 459,232 hectares short of the government’s initial target of 1,682,000 hectares, amounting to 72.7% of the intended goal.

The analysis also showed North Korea’s woodland area grew from 5.52 million hectares in 2015 to 6.1 million in 2024, still 58,000 hectares below 2001 levels.

Between 2001 and 2015, North Korea lost 0.8% of its forested land each year. But the trend shifted in 2015, and forest coverage has since increased annually by 1.1%.

The reversal aligns with the start of North Korea’s 10-year reforestation initiative, which aimed to transform the mountains into “mountains of gold and treasure.”

Forests expanded mainly in the southwest, including Pyongyang and the Hwanghae and Pyongan provinces. But deforestation continues in northern mountainous areas like Jagang and Ryanggang, where logging and farming persist despite strict forestry laws.​​​​​​​