북극해에 대한 국제법적 규율 ‒ 유엔해양법협약 제234조를 중심으로 ‒

With Arctic Sea ice melting at a faster rate than ever before, global climate change is opening up the Arctic region to increased navigation, exploration, and exploitation. Such changed situation in the Arctic requires a legal regime to effectively deal with 'opportunity' and 'challenge' in terms of effective governance for the Arctic. Opportunity means an utilization of the melting Arctic for the purpose of navigation, exploration and exploitation of natural resources, while 'challenge' means potential degradation of Arctic environment caused by 'opportunity', more specifically by human activities. With this in mind, this thesis explores the framework for a legal regime in the Arctic under international law by identifying and assessing the already existing international agreements that govern the Arctic space and human activities in the Arctic. This thesis finds that the UNCLOS, relevant international treaties and soft laws have been mutually reinforcing each other to function as a legal regime for effective Arctic governance. Consequently, this thesis comes to a conclusion that the Arctic governance can be better realized under the current legal regime represented by the UNCLOS along with other relevant international treaties and soft laws. In this respect, this thesis will especially focus on the article 234 of the UNCLOS, which is the only article that is related to the Arctic.