Securing Biological Diversity: Korea's Agricultural and Forestry Genetic Resources under the Nagoya Protocol

• Pages: 75-98
• Date: 01 January 2025
• Published date: 01 January 2025
• Author: Doosu Kim,Tae Jung Park
• Subject Matter: International law

e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law

ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X

http://www.ijil.org

© 2018 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press

Funding. is work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea

and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022S1A5B5A16052838).

sECuring BiologiCal sovErEignty

Korea’s agriCultural and Forestry genetiC

resourCes under the nagoya ProtoCol

Doosu Kim

Department of Law at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

Tae Jung Park

Graduate school of Future Strategy, KAIST

tjpark@kaist.ac.kr

As biodiversity diplomacy intensies globally, the Nagoya Protocol’s Access and

Benet-Sharing (ABS) framework has transformed from an environmental trea-

ty into a strategic arena where sovereign rights over genetic resources intersect

with trade, innovation, and food security. South Korea occupies a structurally

unique position in this landscape: simultaneously a major user of foreign genetic

resources—particularly in its pharmaceutical and agri-food industries—and an

increasingly active provider asserting sovereignty over its own biological heri-

tage. is dual identity creates both vulnerabilities and strategic opportunities

that have been insuciently examined in existing scholarship. is paper argues

that South Korea’s domestic implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, anchored

in the 2017 Genetic Resources Act, reects a cautious but evolving approach to

biological sovereignty—one that prioritizes procedural compliance over proac-

tive resource stewardship, identifying three critical gaps: the underutilization of

indigenous species as ABS assets, the absence of a coherent framework for Tra-

ditional Knowledge (TK) protection, and inadequate pre-emptive monitoring

against bio-piracy. Ultimately, we contend that closing these gaps is not merely

a matter of legal compliance but is essential for Korea to leverage its biological

resources in service of long-term biodiversity conservation and sustainable de-

velopment.

Keywords: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Nagoya Protocol, Conserva-

tion of Biodiversity, Agricultural and Forestry Genetic Resources, Access and Bene-

t-Sharing (ABS).

XII Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 75-98 (January 2025)

76

Kim & Park

INTRODUCTION

As a result of the Nagoya Protocol,1 which entered into force on Octo-

ber 12, 2014, the international legal framework governing Access and

Benet-Sharing (ABS) for genetic resources has become increasingly

important in global environmental governance.2 Under this frame-

work, when commercial benets arise from the utilization of genetic

resources, the sovereign rights of provider countries over those re-

sources are recognized,3 and users are required to share benets arising

from such utilization.4 e ABS mechanism therefore functions not

merely as a contractual arrangement between providers and users of

genetic resources, but also as an economic and legal instrument intend-

ed to incentivize biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of

biological resources.5

At the same time, the signicance of ABS has expanded far

beyond traditional environmental law. Genetic resources are now

closely connected to strategic industries such as biotechnology,

pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, food security, and climate

adaptation. As countries strengthen domestic ABS legislation aer the

entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol, disputes concerning access to

biological resources, traditional knowledge, disclosure obligations, and

bio-piracy have become increasingly important issues in international

1. Article 1 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Article 1 of the Nagoya

Protocol have the same objective, which is to conserve biodiversity, ensure the

sustainable use of its components, and ensure the fair and equitable sharing of

benets arising from the utilization of genetic resources. e ocial name of

the Nagoya Protocol is the “Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources

and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benets Arising from eir Utilization

to the Convention on Biological Diversity.” It was adopted on Oct. 29, 2010,

and internationally came into eect on Oct. 12, 2014.

2. Further discussion on access and benet sharing, see P S  ,

P  I E L 396 (4th ed., 2018).

3. Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic

Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benets Arising from eir

Utilization art. 6, Oct. 29, 2010, 3008 U.N.T.S. 3.

4. Id. Art. 5

5. D K, I   N P: E

 T 228 (Parkyoungsa, 2018).