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38north.org
''38 North'' is a website devoted to analysis about North Korea. Its name refers to the 38th parallel north which passes through the Korean peninsula and from 1945 until the start of the Korean War in 1950 divided the peninsula into North and South Korea. Formerly a program of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, it is now housed at the Stimson Center and is managed by former U.S. Department of State official Joel S. Wit and Managing Editor Jenny Town. Notable contributors include nuclear scientist Sigfried Hecker, former Associated Press Pyongyang Bureau Chief Jean H. Lee, cybersecurity expert James Andrew Lewis, and North Korea Tech founder Martyn Williams. Satellite imagery analysis ''38 North'' uses commercial satellite imagery of key areas of interest in North Korea, providing its analysts with the opportunity to uncover insight into developments within the country. In November 2013, ''38 North'' publi ...
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Economy Of North Korea
The economy of North Korea is a centrally planned economy, following ''Juche'', where the role of market allocation schemes is limited, although increasing. , North Korea continues its basic adherence to a centralized command economy. With a total gross domestic product of $28.500 billion as of 2016, there has been some economic liberalization, particularly after Kim Jong-un assumed the leadership in 2012, but reports conflict over particular legislation and enactment. Since the 1990s, informal market activity has increased, which the authoritarian regime has tolerated. These markets are referred to as 'Jangmadang' and were formed as a result of the economic collapse during the 1990s, which made the regime unable to distribute food to its people. The collapse of the Eastern Bloc from 1989 to 1992, particularly North Korea's principal source of support, the Soviet Union, forced the North Korean economy to realign its foreign economic relations, including increased economic excha ...
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North Korea And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
North Korea has a Korean People's Army, military nuclear weapon program, nuclear weapons program and, as of early 2020, is estimated to have an nuclear arsenal, arsenal of approximately 30 to 40 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year.Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance
Arms Control Association (updated August 2020)
North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of chemical weapon, chemical and biological weapons. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since 2006, the country has been conducting a List of nuclear weapons tests of North Korea, series of six nuclear tests at increasing levels of expertise, prompting the imposition of Sanctions against N ...
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Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produced the fissile material for North Korea's six nuclear weapon tests from 2006 to 2017, and since 2009 is developing indigenous light water reactor nuclear power station technology. Facilities The major installations include all aspects of a Magnox nuclear reactor fuel cycle, based on the use of natural uranium fuel: * a fuel fabrication plant, * a 5 MWe experimental reactor producing power and district heating, * a short-term spent fuel storage facility, * a fuel reprocessing facility that recovers uranium and plutonium from spent fuel using the PUREX process. Magnox spent fuel is not designed for long-term storage as both the casing and uranium metal core react with water; it is designed to be reprocessed within a few years of rem ...
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Media Coverage Of North Korea
Media coverage of North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is hampered by an extreme lack of reliable information. There are a number of reasons for this lack of information. Access to North Korea by foreign news media is severely restricted by the North Korean government. There are very few full-time correspondents in the country. In the absence of on-the-spot reportage, a key source of information about North Korea is the testimony of defectors, but the defectors are not necessarily reliable for several reasons. Overall, much information about North Korea is filtered through South Korea, and the longstanding conflict between the two states distorts the information that is received. Misunderstandings of Korean culture can also lead to inaccurate reporting. In the absence of solid evidence, some media outlets turn to sensationalism, basing stories on rumors. Stereotypes, exaggerations, or caricaturing distort some media coverage of North Korea. ...
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North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen River, Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korea's border with South Korea is a disputed border as both countries claim the entirety of the Korean Peninsula. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like South Korea, its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and List of islands of North Korea, adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city. In 1910, Korean Empire, Korea was Korea under Japanese rule, annexed by the Empire of Japan. In 1945, after the Surrender of Japan, Japanese surrender at the End of World War II in Asia, end ...
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Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly administered city () with equal status to North Korean provinces. Pyongyang is one of the oldest cities in Korea. It was the capital of two ancient Korean kingdoms, Gojoseon and Goguryeo, and served as the secondary capital of Goryeo. Much of the city was destroyed during the First Sino-Japanese War, but it was revived Korea under Japanese rule, under Japanese rule and became an industrial center. Following the establishment of North Korea in 1948, Pyongyang became its ''de facto'' capital. The city was again devastated during the Korean War, but was quickly rebuilt after the war with Soviet Union, Soviet assistance. Pyongyang is the political, industrial and transport ...
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Sohae Satellite Launching Station
Sohae Satellite Launching Station (, also known as Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center and Pongdong-ri) is a rocket launching site in Tongch'ang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The base is located among hills close to the northern border with China. The spaceport was built on the site of the village Pongdong-ri which was displaced during construction. It was the site for the 13 April 2012 launch of the North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. The rocket launch failed, but on 12 December of the same year Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 was successfully launched and brought into Earth orbit. The launches were controversial as they were dismissed by the US as tests of ballistic missile technology and hence of breach of an agreement made between North Korea and the US in February 2012. During the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, Kim Jong-un promised that North Korea would d ...
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Agriculture In North Korea
Farming in North Korea is concentrated in the flatlands of the four west coast provinces, where a longer growing season, level land, adequate rainfall, and good irrigated soil permit the most intensive cultivation of crops. A narrow strip of similarly fertile land runs through the eastern seaboard Hamgyŏng provinces and Kangwŏn Province. The interior provinces of Chagang and Ryanggang are too mountainous, cold, and dry to allow much farming. The mountains contain the bulk of North Korea's forest reserves while the foothills within and between the major agricultural regions provide lands for livestock grazing and fruit tree cultivation. Major crops include rice and potatoes. 23.4% of North Korea's labor force worked in agriculture in 2012. Farming conditions North Korea's sparse agricultural resources restrict agricultural production. Climate, terrain, and soil conditions are not particularly favorable for farming, with a relatively short cropping season. Only about 17 ...
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North Korea Tech
North Korea Tech is a US-based blog authored by British journalist Martyn Williams which covers consumer electronics and technology developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was established in 2010. North Korea Tech is based in Washington DC. The site is affiliated with ''38 North''. According to Williams, he was inspired to start the blog after a 15-year stint as a Tokyo-based correspondent for IDG News Service during which he observed the growing "wealth, knowledge and prosperity gap between North and South Korea." About his interest in the country, he said "North Korea appears today an even more difficult country to understand than the USSR ever was, thus my interest as a journalist." As of 2016, the website received about 20,000 visits a month. The site has covered North Korean cell phones, satellites, internet domains, operating systems, missile technology, and online TV services. North Korea Tech has often been cited by international media, government rep ...
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North Korea–United States Relations
Relations between North Korea and the United States have been historically tense and hostile, as both countries have no diplomatic relations. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is the U.S. protecting power and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens. The DPRK has no embassy in Washington, DC, but is represented in the United States through its mission to the United Nations in New York. The source of contention dates back to the Korean War in which both countries fought on opposite sides. Since the armistice was signed, areas of contention have since revolved around North Korea's nuclear weapons program and missile tests, North Korea's human rights record, U.S. sanctions against North Korea, and military exercises held by the U.S. and South Korea. Despite no formal diplomatic relations, both sides have maintained contact to deescalate tensions. Defining issues of contention In recent years relations have been largely defined by heavy U.S. military presence in South ...
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China–North Korea Relations
The bilateral relations between People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) (, ko, 조중 관계, translit=Chojung Kwangye) have been generally friendly, although they were sometimes strained in recent years because of North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close special relationship and China is often considered to be North Korea's closest ally. China and North Korea have a mutual aid and co-operation treaty, which is currently the only defense treaty either country has with any nation. China maintains an embassy in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and a consulate general in Chongjin. The embassy of North Korea in China is located in Beijing's Chaoyang District, while a consulate general is in Shenyang. North Korea has adhered to the One China principle, where it recognizes the PRC as the only representative of "China", and neither recognizes the legitimacy of the Republic of China (ROC) nor the so-called "Taiwan independe ...
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North Korea–South Korea Relations
Formerly a single nation that was annexed by Japan in 1910, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into North Korea and South Korea since the end of World War II on 2 September 1945. The two governments were founded in the two regions in 1948, leading to the consolidation of division. The two countries became opposite and engaged in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 which ended in an armistice agreement but without a peace treaty. North Korea is a one-party totalitarian state run by the Kim dynasty. South Korea was formerly governed by a succession of military dictatorships, save for a brief one-year democratic period from 1960 to 1961, until thorough democratization in 1987, after which direct elections were held. Both nations claim the entire Korean peninsula and outlying islands. Both nations joined the United Nations in 1991 and are recognized by most member states. Since the 1970s, both nations have held informal diplomatic dialogues in order to ease military tensions. In ...
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