북한 ｢우주개발법｣에 나타난 민수-군사 이중구조의 법적 제도화: 2013년 법과 2022년 개정의 비교법적 분석

This article aims to examine the legal institutionalization of the civil–military dual-use structure embodied in North Korea’s Space Development Law, through a comparative legal analysis of the law adopted in 2013 and its subsequent revision and supplementation in 2022. Space technologies constitute a paradigmatic category of dual-use technologies that may be employed for both civilian and military purposes, and the manner in which such technologies are legally regulated serves as a critical indicator for assessing the relationship between domestic space law and international space law. North Korea enacted its Space Development Law in 2013, thereby establishing, for the first time, a comprehensive domestic legal framework governing space activities. While the law outwardly emphasized the peaceful use of outer space and international cooperation, it simultaneously embedded latent military potential through a centralized and integrated governance structure centered on the National Aerospace Development Administration(NADA), as well as broadly framed regulatory provisions. In this respect, the 2013 law may be characterized as adopting a civilian-oriented legal appearance while normatively reserving the possibility of military utilization of space technologies. This legal structure underwent a qualitative transformation with the 2022 revision. The amended law explicitly incorporated the legitimacy of North Korea’s space development and the strengthening of self-defensive national defense capabilities into its legislative purposes, while substantially reinforcing approval, registration, management, and state responsibility regimes for space objects. In this regard, the 2022 amendment allows for an analytical reassessment of the DPRK’s space development model as reflecting a distinct form of state-led spin-off logic—where military-origin technologies and strategic objectives are legally reframed and justified under the guise of civilian space development—rather than a conventional spin-on model centered on civilian technological transfer to the military sector. Furthermore, this article analyzes the extent to which such legal developments align with, or diverge from, international space law—particularly the principle of the peaceful use of outer space as emphasized by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). It argues that North Korea’s Space Development Law, while formally affirming the principle of peaceful use, strategically exploits the normative ambiguity of international space law and the inherent dual-use nature of space technologies. By approaching North Korea’s space development not merely as a military or policy issue but as a matter of legal norms and institutional design, this study seeks to contribute to the broader discourse on North Korean law and to the legal governance of space security under contemporary international law.