North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a
country in
East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the
Korean Peninsula and shares borders with
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Russia to the
north, at the
Yalu
The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...
(Amnok) and
Tumen rivers, and
South Korea to the
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
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
its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and
adjacent islands.
Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.
In 1910,
Korea was
annexed
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
by the
Empire of Japan. In 1945, after the
Japanese surrender at the
end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
* End of World War II in Europe
* End of World War II in Asia
World War II officially ended in Asia on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan on the . Before that, the United States dropped two atomic ...
, Korea was
divided into two zones along the
38th parallel, with the
north occupied by the Soviet Union and the
south occupied by the United States. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948, separate governments were formed: the socialist and
Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the capitalist,
Western-aligned Republic of Korea in the south. The
Korean War began in 1950, with an invasion by North Korea, and lasted until 1953. The
Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a
ceasefire and established a
demilitarized zone (DMZ), but no formal
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
has ever been signed.
Post-war North Korea benefited greatly from economic aid and expertise provided by other
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries, particularly the
Soviet Union and China. However, relations between North Korea and the Soviet Union soured after the ascension of
Nikita Khrushchev to the Soviet premiership in 1953, as Khrushchev denounced
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
while
Kim Il-sung, North Korea's first leader, upheld it. Kim briefly turned to China in the late 1950s before purging both pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese elements from the ruling
Workers' Party of Korea and promoting his personal philosophy of ''
Juche'' as the
state ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
. From the 1970s, South Korea's economy began to boom whilst North Korea entered a state of stagnation. Pyongyang's international isolation sharply accelerated from the 1980s onwards as the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
came to an end and China opened up to the West. The
fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 then brought about a full-scale collapse of the North Korean economy. From 1994 to 1998,
North Korea suffered a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 people, and the population continues to suffer from malnutrition.
According to Article 1 of the
state constitution, North Korea is an "independent
socialist state". It
holds elections, though they have been described by independent observers as
sham election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
s, as North Korea is a
totalitarian dictatorship, with a comprehensive
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
around the
Kim family The Kim family or Kim clan may refer to:
People
* The Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il Sung in 1948
* The Gimhae Kim clan associated with the Geumgwan Gaya
* The later rulers of Silla, who were mostly members of the ...
. The Workers' Party of Korea is the ruling party of North Korea and leads the
Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea, the
sole legal political movement in the country. According to Article 3 of the constitution, Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism is the official ideology of North Korea. The
means of production are owned by the state through
state-run enterprises and
collectivized farms. Most services—such as
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
,
education,
housing, and
food production—are subsidized or state-funded.
North Korea follows ''
Songun'', or "
military first" policy, for its
Korean People's Army. It
possesses nuclear weapons, and is the country with the
second highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 7.769 million
active,
reserve, and
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
personnel, or approximately of its population. Its active duty army of 1.28 million soldiers is the fourth-largest in the world, consisting of of its population. A 2014 inquiry by the
United Nations into abuses of
human rights in North Korea concluded that "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," with
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
and
Human Rights Watch holding similar views. The North Korean government denies these abuses. In addition to being a member of the United Nations since 1991, North Korea is also a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement,
G77, and the
ASEAN Regional Forum
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
.
Names
The name ''Korea'' is derived from the name ''Goryeo'' (also spelled ''Koryŏ''). The name ''Goryeo'' itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of
Goguryeo (Koguryŏ) which was one of the great powers in
East Asia during its time. The 10th-century kingdom of
Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo,
and thus inherited its name, which was pronounced by visiting Persian merchants as "Korea". The modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the
Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel.
After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea: ''Chosun'' or ''Joseon'' () in North Korea, and ''Hanguk'' () in South Korea. In 1948, North Korea adopted ''Democratic People's Republic of Korea'' (, ''Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk''; ) as its new legal name. In the wider world, because the government controls the northern part of the
Korean Peninsula, it is commonly called ''North Korea'' to distinguish it from South Korea, which is officially called the ''Republic of Korea'' in English. Both governments consider themselves to be the legitimate government of the whole of
Korea. For this reason, the people do not consider themselves as 'North Koreans' but as Koreans in the same divided country as their compatriots in the South, and foreign visitors are discouraged from using the former term.
History
Founding
After the
First Sino-Japanese War and the
Russo-Japanese War, Korea was
ruled by Japan from 1910 to 1945. Korean resistance groups known as
Dongnipgun
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...
(Liberation Army) operated along the Sino-Korean border, fighting guerrilla warfare against Japanese forces. Some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of
South East Asia. One of the guerrilla leaders was the communist
Kim Il-sung, who later became the first leader of North Korea.
After the
Japanese surrender at the
end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
* End of World War II in Europe
* End of World War II in Asia
World War II officially ended in Asia on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan on the . Before that, the United States dropped two atomic ...
in 1945,
the Korean Peninsula was divided into two zones along the
38th parallel, with the northern half of the peninsula
occupied by the Soviet Union and the southern half
by the United States. Negotiations on reunification failed. Soviet general
Terentii Shtykov recommended the establishment of the
Soviet Civil Authority
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in October 1945, and supported Kim Il-sung as chairman of the
Provisional People's Committee for North Korea, established in February 1946. In September 1946, South Korean citizens rose up against the Allied Military Government. In April 1948, an
uprising of the Jeju islanders was violently crushed. The South declared its statehood in May 1948 and two months later the ardent anti-communist
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960.
Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...
became its ruler. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in the North on 9 September 1948.
Shtykov
Terenty Fomich Shtykov (Russian: Терентий Фомич Штыков; – 25 October 1964) was a Soviet general who supervised the liberation of North Korea, as the ''de facto'' head of its 1945-1948 military occupation and the first ...
served as the first Soviet ambassador, while Kim Il-sung became premier.
Soviet forces withdrew from the North in 1948, and most American forces withdrew from the South in 1949. Ambassador Shtykov suspected Rhee was planning to invade the North and was sympathetic to Kim's goal of Korean unification under socialism. The two successfully lobbied
Joseph Stalin to support a quick war against the South, which culminated in the outbreak of the Korean War.
Korean War
The
military of North Korea invaded the
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
on 25 June 1950, and swiftly overran most of the country. The
United Nations Command (UNC) was subsequently established following the
UN Security Council's recognition of North Korean aggression against South Korea. The motion passed because the
Soviet Union, a close ally of North Korea and a member of the UN Security Council, was boycotting the UN over its recognition of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
rather than the
People's Republic of China. The UNC, led by the United States, intervened to defend the South, and rapidly advanced into North Korea. As they neared the border with China,
Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war again. Fighting ended on 27 July 1953, with
an armistice that approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea, but no peace treaty was signed. Approximately 3 million people died in the Korean War, with a higher proportional civilian death toll than
World War II or the
Vietnam War.
In both per capita and absolute terms, North Korea was the country most devastated by the war, which resulted in the death of an estimated 12–15% of the North Korean population ( 10 million), "a figure close to or surpassing the proportion of
Soviet citizens killed in World War II," according to
Charles K. Armstrong
Charles King Armstrong (born February 11, 1962) is an American historian of North Korea. From 2005 to 2020, he worked as the Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies at Columbia University, spending his last year on sabbatical after the univer ...
. As a result of the war, almost every substantial building in North Korea was destroyed. Some have referred to the conflict as a civil war, with other factors involved.
A heavily guarded
demilitarized zone (DMZ) still divides the peninsula, and an anti-communist and anti-North Korea sentiment remains in South Korea. Since the war, the United States has maintained a strong
military presence in the South which is depicted by the North Korean government as an imperialist occupation force. It claims that the Korean War was caused by the United States and South Korea.
Post-war developments
The post-war 1950s and 1960s saw an ideologicial shift in North Korea, as Kim Il-sung sought to consolidate his power. Kim Il-sung was highly critical of Soviet premier
Nikita Khrushchev and his
de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
policies, and echoed Chinese critiques of Khrushchev as "revisionist". During the 1956
August Faction Incident, Kim Il-sung successfully resisted efforts by the
Soviet Union and China to depose him in favor of
Soviet Koreans or the pro-Chinese
Yan'an faction.
[Chung, Chin O. ''Pyongyang Between Peking and Moscow: North Korea's Involvement in the Sino-Soviet Dispute, 1958–1975''. University of Alabama, 1978, p. 45.] Some scholars believe that the 1956 August incident was an example of North Korea demonstrating political independence.
However, most scholars consider the final withdrawal of Chinese troops from North Korea in October 1958 to be the latest date when North Korea became effectively independent. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, North Korea sought to distinguish itself internationally by becoming a leader of the
Non-Aligned Movement and promoting the ideology of ''
Juche''. In United States policymaking, North Korea was considered among the
Captive Nations. Despite its efforts to break out of the Soviet and Chinese spheres of influence, North Korea remained closely aligned with both countries throughout the Cold War.
Industry was the favored sector in North Korea. Industrial production returned to pre-war levels by 1957. In 1959, relations with Japan had improved somewhat, and North Korea began allowing the repatriation of Japanese citizens in the country. The same year, North Korea revalued the
North Korean won, which held greater value than its South Korean counterpart. Until the 1960s, economic growth was higher than in South Korea, and North Korean GDP per capita was equal to that of its southern neighbor as late as 1976. However, by the 1980s, the economy had begun to stagnate; it started its long decline in 1987 and almost completely collapsed after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991, when all Soviet aid was suddenly halted.
An internal CIA study acknowledged various achievements of the North Korean government post-war: compassionate care for war orphans and children in general, a radical improvement in the status of women, free housing, free healthcare, and health statistics particularly in life expectancy and infant mortality that were comparable to even the most advanced nations up until the
North Korean famine. Life expectancy in the North was 72 before the famine which was only marginally lower than in the South.
The country once boasted a comparatively developed healthcare system; pre-famine North Korea had a network of nearly 45,000 family practitioners with some 800 hospitals and 1,000 clinics.
The relative peace between the North and South following the armistice was interrupted by border skirmishes, celebrity abductions, and assassination attempts. The North failed in several assassination attempts on South Korean leaders, such as
in 1968, 1974, and the
Rangoon bombing in 1983; tunnels were found under the DMZ and tensions flared over the
axe murder incident at
Panmunjom in 1976. For almost two decades after the war, the two states did not seek to negotiate with one another. In 1971, secret, high-level contacts began to be conducted culminating in the 1972
July 4th North–South Joint Statement
July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the fourth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., it being the mont ...
that established principles of working toward peaceful reunification. The talks ultimately failed because in 1973, South Korea declared its preference that the two Koreas should seek separate memberships in international organizations.
Post Cold War
In 1992, as Kim Il-sung's health began deteriorating,
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
slowly began taking over various state tasks. Kim Il-sung
died of a heart attack in 1994, with Kim Jong-il declaring a three-year period of national mourning before officially announcing his position as the new leader afterwards.
North Korea promised to halt its development of nuclear weapons under the
Agreed Framework
The Agreed Framework between the United States of America and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (북미제네바기본합의서) was signed on 21 October 1994, between North Korea (DPRK) and the United States. The objective of the agreeme ...
, negotiated with U.S. president
Bill Clinton and signed in 1994. Building on
Nordpolitik
Nordpolitik (German for "Northern Policy") was the signature foreign policy of South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. The policy guided South Korean efforts to reach out to the traditional allies of North Korea, with the goal of normalized relations w ...
, South Korea began to engage with the North as part of its
Sunshine Policy. Kim Jong-il instituted a policy called ''
Songun'', or "military first".
Flooding in the mid-1990s exacerbated the economic crisis, severely damaging crops and infrastructure and led to
widespread famine which the government proved incapable of curtailing, resulting in the deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 people. In 1996, the government accepted UN food aid.
21st century
The international environment changed once
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
became U.S. President in 2001. His administration rejected South Korea's Sunshine Policy and the Agreed Framework. Bush included North Korea in his
axis of evil in his
2002 State of the Union address
The 2002 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 29, 2002, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 107th United States Congress. ...
. The U.S. government accordingly treated North Korea as a
rogue state, while North Korea redoubled its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. On 9 October 2006, North Korea announced it had conducted
its first nuclear weapons test.
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Barack Obama adopted a policy of "strategic patience", resisting making deals with North Korea. Tensions with South Korea and the United States increased in 2010 with the
sinking of the South Korean warship ''Cheonan'' and North Korea's
shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
On 17 December 2011, Kim Jong-il
died from a heart attack. His youngest son
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
was announced as his successor.
In the face of international condemnation, North Korea continued to develop its nuclear arsenal, possibly including a
hydrogen bomb
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
and a missile capable of reaching the United States.
Throughout 2017, following
Donald Trump's ascension to the US presidency, tensions between the United States and North Korea increased, and there was heightened rhetoric between the two, with Trump threatening "fire and fury" if North Korea ever attacked U.S. territory amid North Korean threats to test missiles that would land near
Guam. The tensions substantially decreased in 2018, and a détente developed.
A
series of summits took place between Kim Jong-un of North Korea, President
Moon Jae-in of South Korea, and President Trump.
On 10 January 2021, Kim Jong-un was formally elected as the
General Secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
in
8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea
The 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea was held at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang from 5 to 12 January 2021. A total of 7,000 people participated in the congress including 5,000 delegates. The Party Congress took place in th ...
, a title previously held by Kim Jong-il. On 24 March 2022, North Korea conducted a successful ICBM test launch for the first time since the 2017 crisis. In September 2022, North Korea passed a law that declared itself a nuclear state.
Geography
North Korea occupies the northern portion of the
Korean Peninsula, lying between latitudes
37° and
43°N, and longitudes
124° and
131°E. It covers an area of .
To its west are the
Yellow Sea and
Korea Bay
The Korea Bay, sometimes the West Korea Bay (; ; or ), is a bight and the northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between the southeastern coastline of China's Liaoning province and the western coastline of North Korea's North Pyongan, South P ...
, and to its east lies Japan across the
Sea of Japan.
Early European visitors to Korea remarked that the country resembled "a sea in a heavy gale" because of the many successive
mountain ranges that crisscross the peninsula.
Some 80 percent of North Korea is composed of mountains and uplands, separated by deep and narrow valleys. All of the Korean Peninsula's mountains with elevations of or more are located in North Korea. The highest point in North Korea is
Paektu Mountain, a volcanic mountain with an elevation of above sea level.
Considered a sacred place by North Koreans, Mount Paektu holds significance in Korean culture and has been incorporated in the elaborate folklore and personality cult around the Kim family. For example, the song, "We Will Go To Mount Paektu" sings in praise of Kim Jong-un and describes a symbolic trek to the mountain. Other prominent ranges are the
Hamgyong Range in the extreme northeast and the
Rangrim Mountains, which are located in the north-central part of North Korea.
Mount Kumgang in the
Taebaek Range, which extends into South Korea, is famous for its scenic beauty.
The coastal plains are wide in the west and discontinuous in the east. A great majority of the population lives in the plains and lowlands. According to a
United Nations Environmental Programme report in 2003, forest covers over 70 percent of the country, mostly on steep slopes.
North Korea had a 2019
Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.02/10, ranking it 28th globally out of 172 countries.
The longest river is the
Amnok (Yalu) River which flows for . The country contains three terrestrial ecoregions:
Central Korean deciduous forests
The Central Korea deciduous forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion on the Korean Peninsula, covering portions of South Korea and North Korea.
Geography
The Central Korean deciduous forests occupy the central portion of the ...
,
Changbai Mountains mixed forests
The Changbai Mountains mixed forests ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0414) covers the Changbai Mountains and surrounding foothills in China and North Korea. The region features extensive and naturally preserved deciduous and conifer forests. The region ex ...
, and
Manchurian mixed forests.
Climate
North Korea experiences a combination of
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
and an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
,
but most of the country experiences a
humid continental climate within the
Köppen climate classification scheme. Winters bring clear weather interspersed with snow storms as a result of northern and northwestern winds that blow from
Siberia.
Summer tends to be by far the hottest, most humid, and rainiest time of year because of the southern and southeastern
monsoon winds that carry moist air from the
Pacific Ocean. Approximately 60 percent of all precipitation occurs from June to September.
Spring and autumn are transitional seasons between summer and winter. The daily average high and low temperatures for
Pyongyang are in January and in August.
Administrative divisions
Government and politics
North Korea functions as a highly centralized,
one-party totalitarian dictatorship. According to its
2019 constitution, it is a self-described revolutionary and
socialist state "guided in its building and activities only by great Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism".
In addition to the constitution, North Korea is governed by the
Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System (also known as the "Ten Principles of the One-Ideology System") which establishes standards for governance and a guide for the behaviors of North Koreans. The
Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), a
communist party led by a member of the
Kim family The Kim family or Kim clan may refer to:
People
* The Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il Sung in 1948
* The Gimhae Kim clan associated with the Geumgwan Gaya
* The later rulers of Silla, who were mostly members of the ...
,
has an estimated 6.5 million members and dominates every aspect of North Korean politics. It has two satellite organizations, the
Korean Social Democratic Party and the
Chondoist Chongu Party which participate in the WPK-led
Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea of which all political officers are required to be members.
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
of the
Kim family The Kim family or Kim clan may refer to:
People
* The Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il Sung in 1948
* The Gimhae Kim clan associated with the Geumgwan Gaya
* The later rulers of Silla, who were mostly members of the ...
is the current
Supreme Leader or ''Suryeong'' of North Korea.
He heads all major governing structures: he is
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea,
President of the State Affairs, Chairman of the
Central Military Commission of the WPK, and
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
His grandfather
Kim Il-sung, the founder and leader of North Korea until his death in 1994, is the country's "
eternal President
The Eternal leaders of North Korea, officially the Eternal leaders of ''Juche'' Korea, refers to the practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased leaders of North Korea. The official title was established by a line in the preamble to the ...
",
while his father
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
who succeeded Kim Il-sung as the leader was announced "Eternal General Secretary" and "Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission" after his death in 2011.
According to the
Constitution of North Korea, there are officially three main branches of government. The first of these is the
State Affairs Commission (SAC), which acts as "the supreme national guidance organ of state sovereignty". Its role is to deliberate and decide the work on defense building of the State, including major policies of the State, and to carry out the directions of the president of the commission, Kim Jong-Un.
Legislative power is held by the unicameral
Supreme People's Assembly
The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...
(SPA). Its 687 members are elected every five years by
universal suffrage, though the elections have been described by outside observers as
sham election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
s.
Supreme People's Assembly sessions are convened by the SPA Standing Committee, whose
Chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
(
Choe Ryong-hae
Choe Ryong-hae (born 15 January 1950) is a North Korean politician and military officer who currently serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice President of the State Affairs Commission, holding ...
since 2019) is the third-ranking official in North Korea.
Deputies formally elect the Chairman, the vice-chairmen and members of the Presidium and take part in the constitutionally appointed activities of the legislature: pass laws, establish domestic and foreign policies, appoint members of the cabinet, review and approve the state economic plan, among others. The SPA itself cannot initiate any legislation independently of party or state organs. It is unknown whether it has ever criticized or amended bills placed before it, and the elections are based around a single list of WPK-approved candidates who stand without opposition.
Executive power is vested in the
Cabinet of North Korea
The Cabinet of North Korea (''Naegak'') is, according to the Constitution of North Korea, the administrative and executive body and a general state-management organ in the Government of North Korea. The Cabinet's principal newspaper is ''Minju C ...
, which has been headed by
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Kim Tok-hun
Kim Tok-hun (, born 1961) is a North Korean politician serving as the Premier of North Korea since August 2020. He is also a full member on the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea and served as the chief of the parliamenta ...
since 14 August 2020, who's officially the second-ranking official after Kim Jong-un.
The Premier represents the government and functions independently. His authority extends over two vice-premiers, 30
ministers
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
, two cabinet commission chairmen, the cabinet chief secretary, the president of the
Central Bank, the director of the
Central Bureau of Statistics and the president of the
Academy of Sciences. A 31st ministry, the
Ministry of People's Armed Forces, is under the jurisdiction of the State Affairs Commission.
North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire
Korean Peninsula and adjacent islands. Despite its official title as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", some observers have described North Korea's political system as an
absolute monarchy or a "hereditary dictatorship". It has also been described as a
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
dictatorship.
Political ideology
Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism is the official ideology of North Korea and the WPK, and is the cornerstone of party works and government operations.
''
Juche'', part of the larger Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism along with ''
Songun'' under Kim Jong-un, is viewed by the official North Korean line as an embodiment of Kim Il-sung's wisdom, an expression of his leadership, and an idea which provides "a complete answer to any question that arises in the struggle for national liberation". ''Juche'' was pronounced in December 1955 in a speech called ''
'' in order to emphasize a Korea-centered revolution. Its core tenets are
economic self-sufficiency
Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...
, military self-reliance and an independent foreign policy. The roots of ''Juche'' were made up of a complex mixture of factors, including the cult of personality centered on Kim Il-sung, the conflict with pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese dissenters, and Korea's centuries-long struggle for independence. ''Juche'' was introduced into
the constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
in 1972.
''Juche'' was initially promoted as a "creative application" of
Marxism–Leninism, but in the mid-1970s, it was described by state propaganda as "the only scientific thought... and most effective revolutionary theoretical structure that leads to the future of communist society". ''Juche'' eventually replaced Marxism–Leninism entirely by the 1980s, and in 1992 references to the latter were omitted from the constitution. The 2009 constitution dropped references to communism and elevated the ''Songun'' military first policy while explicitly confirming the position of Kim Jong-il. However, the constitution retains references to socialism. The WPK reasserted its commitment to communism in 2021.
''Juche''s concepts of self-reliance have evolved with time and circumstances, but still provide the groundwork for the spartan austerity, sacrifice, and discipline demanded by the party. Scholar
Brian Reynolds Myers
Brian Reynolds Myers (born 1963), usually cited as B. R. Myers, is an American professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, best known for his writings on North Korean propaganda. He is a contributing editor ...
views North Korea's actual ideology as a
Korean ethnic nationalism
Korean ethnic nationalism, or Korean racial nationalism, is a racial, chauvinist and ethnosupremacist political ideology and a form of ethnic and racial identity that is widely prevalent by the Korean people in Korea, particularly in South Ko ...
similar to
statism in Shōwa Japan
was a political syncretism of extreme political ideologies in Japan, developed over a period of time from the Meiji Restoration. It is sometimes also referred to as , Shōwa nationalism or Japanese fascism.
This movement dominated Japanese p ...
and European
fascism.
Kim family
Since the founding of the nation, North Korea's
supreme leadership has stayed within the Kim family, which in North Korea is referred to as the ''
Mount Paektu Bloodline''. It is a three-generation lineage descending from the country's first
leader,
Kim Il-sung. Kim Il-sung developed North Korea around the ''Juche ideology'', and stayed in power until his death. Kim developed a cult of personality closely tied to the state philosophy of Juche, which was later passed on to his successors: his son
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
in 1994 and grandson
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
in 2011. In 2013, Clause 2 of Article 10 of the newly edited ''Ten Fundamental Principles of the Workers' Party of Korea'' stated that the party and revolution must be carried "eternally" by the "Mount Paektu Bloodline".
According to ''New Focus International'', the cult of personality, particularly surrounding Kim Il-sung, has been crucial for legitimizing the family's hereditary succession. The control the North Korean government exercises over many aspects of the nation's culture is used to perpetuate the
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
surrounding Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-il. While visiting North Korea in 1979, journalist Bradley Martin wrote that nearly all music, art, and sculpture that he observed glorified "Great Leader" Kim Il-sung, whose personality cult was then being extended to his son, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il.
Claims that the family has been deified are contested by North Korea researcher
B. R. Myers
Brian Reynolds Myers (born 1963), usually cited as B. R. Myers, is an American professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, best known for his writings on North Korean propaganda. He is a contributing editor f ...
: "Divine powers have never been attributed to either of the two Kims. In fact, the propaganda apparatus in Pyongyang has generally been careful ''not'' to make claims that run directly counter to citizens' experience or common sense." He further explains that the state propaganda painted Kim Jong-il as someone whose expertise lay in military matters and that the famine of the 1990s was partially caused by natural disasters out of Kim Jong-il's control.
The song "
No Motherland Without You", sung by the North Korean army choir, was created especially for Kim Jong-il and is one of the most popular tunes in the country. Kim Il-sung is still officially revered as the nation's "
Eternal President
The Eternal leaders of North Korea, officially the Eternal leaders of ''Juche'' Korea, refers to the practice of granting posthumous titles to deceased leaders of North Korea. The official title was established by a line in the preamble to the ...
". Several landmarks in North Korea are
named for Kim Il-sung, including
Kim Il-sung University,
Kim Il-sung Stadium, and
Kim Il-sung Square. Defectors have been quoted as saying that North Korean schools deify both father and son. Kim Il-sung rejected the notion that he had created a cult around himself, and accused those who suggested this of "
factionalism". Following the death of Kim Il-sung, North Koreans were prostrating and weeping to a bronze statue of him in an organized event; similar scenes were broadcast by state television following the death of Kim Jong-il.
Critics maintain that Kim Jong-il's personality cult was inherited from his father. Kim Jong-il was often the center of attention throughout ordinary life. His birthday is one of the most important
public holidays in the country. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country. Kim Jong-il's personality cult, although significant, was not as extensive as his father's. One point of view is that Kim Jong-il's cult of personality was solely out of respect for Kim Il-sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage,
while North Korean government sources consider it genuine hero worship.
Foreign relations
As a result of its isolation, North Korea is sometimes known as the "
hermit kingdom", a term that originally referred to the isolationism in the latter part of the
Joseon Dynasty.
Initially, North Korea had diplomatic ties only with other communist countries, and even today, most of the foreign embassies accredited to North Korea are located in
Beijing rather than in
Pyongyang. In the 1960s and 1970s, it pursued an independent foreign policy, established relations with many developing countries, and joined the
Non-Aligned Movement. In the late 1980s and the 1990s its foreign policy was thrown into turmoil with the collapse of the
Soviet Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. Suffering an economic crisis, it closed a number of its embassies. At the same time, North Korea sought to build relations with developed free market countries.
North Korea joined the
United Nations in 1991 together with South Korea. North Korea is also a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement,
G77 and the
ASEAN Regional Forum
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military ...
. , North Korea had diplomatic relations with 166 countries and embassies in 47 countries.
North Korea does not have diplomatic relations with
Argentina,
Botswana,
Estonia,
France,
Iraq,
Israel,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Taiwan, and the
United States.
As of September 2017, France and Estonia are the last two European countries that do not have an official relationship with North Korea. In July 2022, Ukraine severed its diplomatic relations with North Korea following North Korea’s recognition of
Luhansk People’s Republic and
Donetsk People’s Republic
The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a disputed en ...
.
North Korea enjoys a
close relationship with China which is often called North Korea's closest ally. Relations were strained beginning in 2006 because of China's concerns about North Korea's nuclear program. Relations improved after
Xi Jinping,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and
Chinese President visited North Korea in April 2019. North Korea continues to have strong ties with several Southeast Asian countries such as
Vietnam,
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Cambodia, and
Indonesia.
Relations
Relation or relations may refer to:
General uses
*International relations, the study of interconnection of politics, economics, and law on a global level
*Interpersonal relationship, association or acquaintance between two or more people
*Public ...
with
Malaysia were strained in 2017 by the
assassination of Kim Jong-nam
On 13 February 2017, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il and half-brother of Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-nam, was attacked with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. He had been exiled from North Korea in 2003 and had been ...
.
North Korea was previously designated a
state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. because of its alleged involvement in the
1983 Rangoon bombing and the
1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner. On 11 October 2008, the United States removed North Korea from its list of states that sponsor terrorism after Pyongyang agreed to cooperate on issues related to its nuclear program. North Korea was re-designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. under the
Trump administration on 20 November 2017.
The kidnapping of at least 13 Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and the 1980s has had a detrimental effect on North Korea's relationship with Japan.
US President
Donald Trump met with Kim in Singapore on 12 June 2018. An agreement was signed between the two countries endorsing the 2017
Panmunjom Declaration signed by North and South Korea, pledging to work towards denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
They met in Hanoi from 27 to 28 February 2019, but failed to achieve an agreement. On 30 June 2019, Trump met with Kim along with
Moon Jae-in at the Korean DMZ.
Inter-Korean relations
The
Korean Demilitarized Zone with South Korea remains the most heavily fortified border in the world.
Inter-Korean relations are at the core of North Korean diplomacy and have seen numerous shifts in the last few decades. North Korea's policy is to seek reunification without what it sees as outside interference, through a federal structure retaining each side's leadership and systems. In 1972, the two Koreas agreed in principle to achieve reunification through peaceful means and without foreign interference. On 10 October 1980, then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung proposed a federation between North and South Korea named the
Democratic Federal Republic of Korea in which the respective political systems would initially remain. However, relations remained cool well until the early 1990s, with a brief period in the early 1980s when North Korea offered to provide flood relief to its southern neighbor. Although the offer was initially welcomed, talks over how to deliver the relief goods broke down and none of the promised aid ever crossed the border.
The two countries also organized a reunion of 92 separated families.
The
Sunshine Policy instituted by South Korean president
Kim Dae-jung in 1998 was a watershed in inter-Korean relations. It encouraged other countries to engage with the North, which allowed Pyongyang to normalize relations with a number of European Union states and contributed to the establishment of joint North-South economic projects. The culmination of the Sunshine Policy was the
2000 Inter-Korean summit
2000 inter-Korean summit was a meeting between South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-il, which took place in Pyongyang from June 13 to June 15, 2000. It was the first inter-Korea ...
, when Kim Dae-jung visited Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang. Both North and South Korea signed the
June 15th North–South Joint Declaration, in which both sides promised to seek peaceful reunification.
On 4 October 2007, South Korean president
Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il signed an eight-point peace agreement.
However, relations worsened when South Korean president
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak (; ; ; born 19 December 1941) is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the 10th president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and the ma ...
adopted a more hard-line approach and suspended aid deliveries pending the de-nuclearization of the North. In 2009, North Korea responded by ending all of its previous agreements with the South. It deployed additional ballistic missiles and placed its military on full combat alert after South Korea, Japan and the United States threatened to intercept a
Unha-2 space launch vehicle. The next few years witnessed a string of hostilities, including the alleged North Korean involvement in the
sinking of South Korean warship ''Cheonan'',
mutual ending of diplomatic ties, a North Korean artillery
attack on Yeonpyeong Island, and growing international concern over North Korea's nuclear program.
In May 2017,
Moon Jae-in was elected President of South Korea with a promise to return to the Sunshine Policy. In February 2018, a détente developed at the Winter Olympics held in South Korea.
In April, South Korean President
Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un met at the DMZ, and, in the
Panmunjom Declaration, pledged to work for peace and nuclear disarmament.
In September, at a joint news conference in Pyongyang, Moon and Kim agreed upon turning the
Korean Peninsula into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats".
Law enforcement and internal security
North Korea has a
civil law system based on the
Prussian model and influenced by Japanese traditions and communist legal theory.
Judiciary procedures are handled by the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
(the highest
court of appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
), provincial or special city-level courts, people's courts, and special courts. People's courts are at the lowest level of the system and operate in cities, counties and urban districts, while different kinds of special courts handle cases related to military, railroad, or maritime matters.
Judges are theoretically elected by their respective local people's assemblies, but in practice they are appointed by the Workers' Party of Korea. The
penal code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...
is based on the principle of ''
nullum crimen sine lege
''Nulla poena sine lege'' (Latin for "no penalty without law", Anglicized pronunciation: ) is a legal principle which states that one cannot be punished for doing something that is not prohibited by law. This principle is accepted and codified in ...
'' (no crime without a law), but remains a tool for political control despite several amendments reducing ideological influence. Courts carry out legal procedures related to not only criminal and civil matters, but also political cases as well. Political prisoners are sent to
labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
s, while criminal offenders are incarcerated in a separate system.
The
Ministry of Social Security (MSS) maintains most law enforcement activities. It is one of the most powerful state institutions in North Korea and oversees the national police force, investigates criminal cases and manages non-political correctional facilities. It handles other aspects of domestic security like civil registration, traffic control, fire departments and railroad security. The
State Security Department
The Ministry of State Security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 국가보위성) is the secret police agency of North Korea. It is an autonomous agency of the North Korean government repo ...
was separated from the MPS in 1973 to conduct domestic and foreign intelligence, counterintelligence and manage the political prison system. Political camps can be short-term reeducation zones or "
kwalliso
North Korea's political penal labor colonies, transliterated ''kwalliso'' or ''kwan-ri-so'', constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what David Hawk translated as "short-term detention/for ...
" (total control zones) for lifetime detention.
Camp 15 in Yodok and
Camp 18 in Bukchang have been described in detailed testimonies.
The security apparatus is extensive, exerting strict control over residence, travel, employment, clothing, food and family life. Security forces employ
mass surveillance
Mass surveillance is the intricate surveillance of an entire or a substantial fraction of a population in order to monitor that group of citizens. The surveillance is often carried out by local and federal governments or governmental organizati ...
. It is believed they tightly monitor cellular and digital communications.
Human rights
North Korea is widely described as having the worst
human rights record in the world.
A 2014 UN inquiry into
human rights in North Korea concluded that, "The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world", with
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
and
Human Rights Watch holding similar views.
North Koreans have been referred to as "some of the world's most brutalized people" by
Human Rights Watch, because of the severe restrictions placed on their
political and
economic freedoms.
The North Korean population is strictly managed by the state and all aspects of daily life are subordinated to party and state planning. Employment is managed by the party on the basis of political reliability, and travel is tightly controlled by the Ministry of People's Security. North Koreans do not have a choice in the jobs they work and are not free to change jobs at will.
[
There are severe restrictions on the freedom of association, expression and movement; arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment result in death and execution.] Citizens in North Korea are denied freedom of movement
Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights' ...
including the right to leave the country at will and its government denies access to international human rights observers.
The State Security Department
The Ministry of State Security of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 국가보위성) is the secret police agency of North Korea. It is an autonomous agency of the North Korean government repo ...
extrajudicially apprehends and imprisons those accused of political crimes without due process. People perceived as hostile to the government, such as Christians or critics of the leadership, are deported to labor camps without trial, often with their whole family and mostly without any chance of being released. Forced labor is part of an established system of political repression.[
Based on satellite images and defector testimonies, an estimated 200,000 prisoners are held in six large political prison camps,] where they are forced to work in conditions approaching slavery. Supporters of the government who deviate from the government line are subject to reeducation in sections of labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
s set aside for that purpose. Those who are deemed politically rehabilitated may reassume responsible government positions on their release.
North Korean defectors
Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...
have provided detailed testimonies on the existence of the total control zones where abuses such as torture, starvation, rape, murder, medical experimentation, forced labor, and forced abortions have been reported. On the basis of these abuses, as well as persecution on political, religious, racial, and gender grounds, forcible transfer of populations, enforced disappearance of persons, and forced starvation, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry
A United Nations fact-finding mission, also called a United Nations commission of inquiry, is a United Nations mission carried out with the intention to discover facts. They are often sent to troubled areas. Fact-finding missions have been sent b ...
has accused North Korea of crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
. The (ICNK) estimates that over 10,000 people die in North Korean prison camps every year.
With 1,100,000 people in modern slavery (via forced labor), North Korea is ranked highest in the world in terms of the percentage of population in modern slavery, with 10.4 percent enslaved according to the Walk Free Foundation
Minderoo Foundation's Walk Free initiative is an independent, privately funded international human rights organisation based in Perth, Western Australia. Walk Free works towards ending modern slavery in all its forms by taking a multifaceted and g ...
's 2018 Global Slavery Index. North Korea is the only country in the world that has not explicitly criminalized any form of modern slavery. A United Nations report listed slavery among the crimes against humanity occurring in North Korea.
Based on interviews with defectors, North Korean women are routinely subjected to sexual violence, unwanted sexual contact, and rape. Men in positions of power, including police, high-ranking officials, market supervisors, and guards can abuse women at will and are not prosecuted for it. It happens so often that it is accepted as a routine part of life. Women assume they can not do anything about it. The only ones with protection are those whose husbands or fathers are themselves in positions of power.
The North Korean government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking
Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
and is not making significant efforts to do so. The most common form of trafficking involves North Korean women and girls forced into marriage or prostitution in China.
The North Korean government rejects the human rights abuse claims, calling them "a smear campaign" and a "human rights racket" aimed at government change.[KCNA Assails Role Played by Japan for UN Passage of "Human Rights" Resolution against DPRK](_blank)
, ''KCNA'', 22 December 2005.
, ''KCNA'', 8 November 2005. In a 2014 report to the UN, North Korea dismissed accusations of atrocities as "wild rumors". The official state media, KCNA, responded with an article that included homophobic insults against the author of the human rights report, Michael Kirby, calling him "a disgusting old lecher with a 40-odd-year-long career of homosexuality ... This practice can never be found in the DPRK boasting of the sound mentality and good morals ... In fact, it is ridiculous for such gay to sponsor dealing with others' human rights issue." The government, however, admitted some human rights issues related to living conditions and stated that it is working to improve them.
Military
The North Korean armed forces, or the Korean People's Army (KPA), is estimated to comprise 1,280,000 active and 6,300,000 reserve and paramilitary troops, making it one of the largest military institutions in the world. With an active duty army consisting of of its population, the KPA is the fourth largest active military force in the world behind China, India and the United States. About 20 percent of men aged 17–54 serve in the regular armed forces, and approximately one in every 25 citizens is an enlisted soldier.
The KPA is divided into five branches: Ground Force
''Ground Force'' was a British garden makeover television series originally broadcast by the BBC between 1997 and 2005. The series was originally hosted by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Walsh.
Production
The series was created b ...
, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Force, and Rocket Force. Command of the KPA lies in both the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the independent State Affairs Commission, which controls the Ministry of People's Armed Forces.
Of all the KPA's branches, the Ground Force is the largest, comprising approximately one million personnel divided into 80 infantry divisions, 30 artillery brigades
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
, 25 special warfare brigades, 20 mechanized brigades, 10 tank brigades and seven tank regiments. It is equipped with 3,700 tanks, 2,100 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicle
An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct-fire support. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forc ...
s, 17,900 artillery pieces, 11,000 anti-aircraft guns and some 10,000 MANPADS
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...
and anti-tank guided missiles. The Air Force is estimated to possess around 1,600 aircraft (with between 545 – 810 serving combat roles), while the Navy operates approximately 800 vessels, including the largest submarine fleet in the world. The KPA's Special Operation Force is also the world's largest special forces unit.
North Korea is a nuclear-armed state, though the nature and strength of its arsenal is uncertain. In January 2018, estimates of North Korea's nuclear arsenal ranged between 15 and 60 bombs, probably including hydrogen bombs
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
. Delivery capabilities are provided by the Rocket Force, which has some 1,000 ballistic missiles with a range of up to .
According to a 2004 South Korean assessment, North Korea also possesses a stockpile of chemical weapons estimated to amount to between 2,500–5,000 tons, including nerve, blister, blood, and vomiting agents, as well as the ability to cultivate and produce biological weapons including anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
, smallpox, and cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
. As a result of its nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has been sanctioned under United Nations Security Council resolutions 1695
It was also a particularly cold and wet year. Contemporary records claim that wine froze in the glasses in the Palace of Versailles.
Events
January–March
* January 7 (December 28, 1694 O.S.) – The United Kingdom's last joint monarch ...
of July 2006, 1718
Events
January – March
* January 7 – In India, Sufi rebel leader Shah Inayat Shaheed from Sindh who had led attacks against the Mughal Empire, is beheaded days after being tricked into meeting with the Mughals to discus ...
of October 2006, 1874
Events
January–March
* January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx.
* January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time.
* January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...
of June 2009, 2087
In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...
of January 2013, and 2397 in December 2017.
The sale of weapons to North Korea by other states is prohibited by UN sanctions, and the KPA's conventional capabilities are limited by a number of factors including obsolete equipment, insufficient fuel supplies and a shortage of digital command and control assets. To compensate for these deficiencies, the KPA has deployed a wide range of asymmetric warfare technologies including anti-personnel blinding lasers, GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
jammers, midget submarines and human torpedo
Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use.
...
es, stealth
Stealth may refer to:
Military
*Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles
**Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology
**Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology
** Stea ...
paint, and cyberwarfare
Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...
units. In 2015, North Korea was reported to employ 6,000 sophisticated computer security personnel in a cyberwarfare unit operating out of China. KPA units were blamed for the 2014 Sony Pictures hack
On November 24, 2014, a hacker group identifying itself as "Guardians of Peace" leaked a release of confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). The data included personal information about Sony Pictures employees ...
and have allegedly attempted to jam South Korean military satellite
A military satellite is an artificial satellite used for a military purpose. The most common missions are intelligence gathering, navigation and military communications.
The first military satellites were photographic reconnaissance missions. So ...
s.
Much of the equipment in use by the KPA is engineered and manufactured by the domestic defense industry. Weapons are manufactured in roughly 1,800 underground defense industry plants scattered throughout the country, most of them located in Chagang Province
Chagang Province (Chagangdo; ) is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was ...
. The defense industry is capable of producing a full range of individual and crew-operated weapons, artillery, armored vehicles, tanks, missiles, helicopters, submarines, landing and infiltration craft and Yak-18 trainers, and may even have limited jet aircraft manufacturing capacity. According to North Korean state media, military expenditure amounted to 15.8 percent of the state budget in 2010. The U.S. State Department has estimated that North Korea's military spending averaged 23% of its GDP from 2004 to 2014, the highest level in the world. North Korea successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile on 19 October 2021.
Society
Demographics
With the exception of a small Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
community and a few ethnic Japanese, North Korea's people are ethnically homogeneous. Demographic experts in the 20th century estimated that the population would grow to 25.5 million by 2000 and 28 million by 2010, but this increase never occurred due to the North Korean famine. It began in 1995, lasted for three years and resulted in the deaths of between 240,000 and 420,000 North Koreans.
International donors led by the United States initiated shipments of food through the World Food Program in 1997 to combat the famine. Despite a drastic reduction of aid under the George W. Bush administration, the situation gradually improved: the number of malnourished children declined from 60% in 1998 to 37% in 2006 and 28% in 2013. Domestic food production almost recovered to the recommended annual level of 5.37 million tons of cereal equivalent in 2013, but the World Food Program reported a continuing lack of dietary diversity and access to fats and proteins. By the mid-2010s national levels of severe wasting, an indication of famine-like conditions, were lower than in other low-income countries and about on par with developing nations in the Pacific and East Asia. Children’s health and nutrition is significantly better on a number of indicators than in many other Asian countries.
The famine had a significant impact on the population growth rate, which declined to 0.9% annually in 2002. It was 0.5% in 2014. Late marriages after military service, limited housing space and long hours of work or political studies further exhaust the population and reduce growth. The national birth rate is 14.5 births per year per 1,000 population. Two-thirds of households consist of extended families mostly living in two-room units. Marriage is virtually universal and divorce is extremely rare.
Health
North Korea has a life expectancy of 72.3 years in 2019, according to HDR 2020. While North Korea is classified as a low-income country, the structure of North Korea's causes of death (2013) is unlike that of other low-income countries. Instead, it is closer to worldwide averages, with non-communicable diseases—such as cardiovascular disease and cancers—accounting for 84 percent of the total deaths in 2016.
According to the World Bank report of 2016 (based on WHO's estimate), only 9.5% of the total deaths recorded in North Korea are attributed to communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions, a figure which is slightly lower than that of South Korea (10.1%) and one fifth of other low-income countries (50.1%) but higher than that of high income countries (6.7%). Only one out of ten leading causes of overall deaths in North Korea is attributed to communicable diseases (lower respiratory infection
Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a term often used as a synonym for pneumonia but can also be applied to other types of infection including lung abscess and acute bronchitis. Symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, fever, cough ...
), a disease which is reported to have declined by six percent since 2007.
In 2013, cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...
as a single disease group was reported as the largest cause of death in North Korea. The three major causes of death in North Korea are stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
, COPD and Ischaemic heart disease. Non-communicable diseases risk factors in North Korea include high rates of urbanization, an aging society, and high rates of smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...
and alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
consumption amongst men.
Maternal mortality is lower than other low-income countries, but significantly higher than South Korea and other high income countries, at 89 per 100,000 live births. In 2008 child mortality was estimated to be 45 per 1,000, which is much better than other economically comparable countries. Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
for example had a child mortality rate of 120 per 1,000, despite the fact that Chad was most likely wealthier than North Korea at the time.
Healthcare Access and Quality Index, as calculated by IHME
Ihme (in its upper course: Wennigser Mühlbach) is a river of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Leine.
The Ihme is long. Its source is in the village , a district of Wennigsen. After about , the Ihme reaches the city of Hanov ...
, was reported to stand at 62.3, much lower than that of South Korea.
According to a 2003 report by the United States Department of State, almost 100% of the population has access to water and sanitation. 80% of the population had access to improved sanitation facilities in 2015.
North Korea has the highest number of doctors per capita amongst low-income countries, with 3.7 physicians per 1,000 people, a figure which is also significantly higher than that of South Korea, according to WHO's data.
Conflicting reports between Amnesty and WHO have emerged where the Amnesty report claimed that North Korea had an inadequate health care system. On the contrary, the Director of the World Health Organization claimed that North Korea's healthcare system was considered the envy of the developing world and had "no lack of doctors and nurses".
A free universal insurance system is in place. Quality of medical care varies significantly by region and is often low, with severe shortages of equipment, drugs and anesthetics. According to WHO, expenditure on health per capita is one of the lowest in the world. Preventive medicine is emphasized through physical exercise and sports, nationwide monthly checkups and routine spraying of public places against disease. Every individual has a lifetime health card which contains a full medical record.
Education
The 2008 census listed the entire population as literate. An 11-year free, compulsory cycle of primary and secondary education is provided in more than 27,000 nursery schools, 14,000 kindergartens, 4,800 four-year primary and 4,700 six-year secondary schools. 77% of males and 79% of females aged 30–34 have finished secondary school. An additional 300 universities and colleges offer higher education.
Most graduates from the compulsory program do not attend university but begin their obligatory military service or proceed to work in farms or factories instead. The main deficiencies of higher education are the heavy presence of ideological subjects, which comprise 50% of courses in social studies and 20% in sciences, and the imbalances in curriculum. The study of natural sciences is greatly emphasized while social sciences are neglected. Heuristics is actively applied to develop the independence and creativity of students throughout the system. The study of Russian and English was made compulsory in upper middle schools in 1978.
Language
North Korea shares the Korean language with South Korea, although some dialectal differences exist within both Koreas. North Koreans refer to their Pyongyang dialect as '' munhwaŏ'' ("cultured language") as opposed to the dialects of South Korea, especially the Seoul dialect or ''p'yojun'ŏ'' ("standard language"), which are viewed as decadent because of its use of loanwords from Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
and European languages (particularly English). Words of Chinese, Manchu or Western origin have been eliminated from ''munhwa'' along with the usage of Chinese hancha
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, whi ...
characters. Written language uses only the Chosŏn'gŭl
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's Revised Romanization of Korean, standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system f ...
(Hangul) phonetic alphabet, developed under Sejong the Great
Sejong of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...
(1418–1450).
Religion
Officially, North Korea is an atheist state. Although its constitution guarantees freedom of religion in Article 68, the principle is limited by the requirement that religion may not be used as a pretext to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order. Despite this constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and the right to religious ceremonies, according to Human Rights Watch, religious practice is restricted. Although proselytizing is prohibited due to concerns about foreign influence, the number of Christian churchgoers nonetheless more than doubled between the 1980s and the early 2000s due to the recruitment of Christians who previously worshipped privately or in small house churches. The Open Doors mission, a Protestant group based in the United States and founded during the Cold War era, claims the most severe persecution of Christians in the world occurs in North Korea.
There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. According to Religious Intelligence in 2007, 64% of the population are irreligious
Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...
, 16% practice Korean shamanism
Korean shamanism or Mu-ism is a religion from Korea. In the Korean language, alternative terms for the tradition are ''musok'' () and ''mugyo'' (무교, 巫敎). Scholars of religion have classified it as a folk religion. There is no central auth ...
, 14% practice Chondoism
Cheondoism (spelled Chondoism in North Korean sources; ) is a 20th-century Korean pantheistic religion, based on the 19th-century Donghak religious movement founded by Choe Je-u, Ch'oe Che-u and codified under Son Byong-hi, Son Pyŏng-Hi. Cheon ...
, 4% are Buddhist, and 2% are Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. Amnesty International has expressed concerns about religious persecution in North Korea. Pro-North groups such as the Paektu Solidarity Alliance
Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest mo ...
deny these claims, saying that multiple religious facilities exist across the nation. Some religious places of worship are located in foreign embassies in the capital city of Pyongyang. Five Christian churches built with state funds stand in Pyongyang: three Protestant, one Roman Catholic, and one Russian orthodox. Critics claim these are showcases for foreigners.
Buddhism and Confucianism still influence spirituality. Chondoism ("Heavenly Way") is an indigenous syncretic belief combining elements of Korean shamanism, Buddhism, Taoism and Catholicism that is officially represented by the WPK-controlled Chondoist Chongu Party. Chondoism is recognized and favored by the government, being seen as an indigenous form of "revolutionary religion".
Formal ranking of citizens' loyalty
According to North Korean documents and refugee testimonies, all North Koreans are sorted into groups according to their Songbun, an ascribed status system based on a citizen's assessed loyalty to the government. Based on their own behavior and the political, social, and economic background of their family for three generations as well as behavior by relatives within that range, Songbun is allegedly used to determine whether an individual is trusted with responsibility, given opportunities, or even receives adequate food.
Songbun allegedly affects access to educational and employment opportunities and particularly whether a person is eligible to join North Korea's ruling party.[ There are 3 main classifications and about 50 sub-classifications. According to Kim Il-sung, speaking in 1958, the loyal "core class" constituted 25% of the North Korean population, the "wavering class" 55%, and the "hostile class" 20%.][ The highest status is accorded to individuals descended from those who participated with Kim Il-sung in the resistance against Japanese occupation before and during World War II and to those who were factory workers, laborers, or peasants in 1950.]
While some analysts believe private commerce recently changed the Songbun system to some extent, most North Korean refugees say it remains a commanding presence in everyday life.[ The North Korean government claims all citizens are equal and denies any discrimination on the basis of family background.
]
Economy
North Korea has maintained one of the most closed and centralized economies in the world since the 1940s. For several decades, it followed the Soviet pattern of five-year plans with the ultimate goal of achieving self-sufficiency. Extensive Soviet and Chinese support allowed North Korea to rapidly recover from the Korean War and register very high growth rates. Systematic inefficiency began to arise around 1960, when the economy shifted from the extensive to the intensive development stage. The shortage of skilled labor, energy, arable land and transportation significantly impeded long-term growth and resulted in consistent failure to meet planning objectives. The major slowdown of the economy contrasted with South Korea, which surpassed the North in terms of absolute GDP and per capita income by the 1980s. North Korea declared the last seven-year plan unsuccessful in December 1993 and thereafter stopped announcing plans.
The loss of Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
trading partners and a series of natural disasters throughout the 1990s caused severe hardships, including widespread famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
. By 2000, the situation improved owing to a massive international food assistance effort, but the economy continues to suffer from food shortages, dilapidated infrastructure and a critically low energy supply. In an attempt to recover from the collapse, the government began structural reforms in 1998 that formally legalized private ownership
Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Legal personality, legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and Personal property, personal property, which is owned by a s ...
of assets and decentralized control over production. A second round of reforms in 2002 led to an expansion of market activities, partial monetization, flexible prices and salaries, and the introduction of incentives and accountability techniques. Despite these changes, North Korea remains a command economy where the state owns almost all means of production and development priorities are defined by the government.
North Korea has the structural profile of a relatively industrialized country where nearly half of the Gross Domestic Product is generated by industry and human development is at medium levels. Purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currency, currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of ...
(PPP) GDP is estimated at $40 billion, with a very low per capita value of $1,800. In 2012, Gross national income per capita was $1,523, compared to $28,430 in South Korea. The North Korean won is the national currency, issued by the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
The Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is North Korea's central bank. Established on December 6, 1947, it issues the North Korean wŏn. The Bank is subordinated to the Cabinet of North Korea. Since 2021, the president of ...
. The economy has been developing dramatically in recent years despite sanctions. According to the Sejong Institute
Sejong Institute (Korean: 세종연구소, Hanja: 世宗硏究所) is a non-profit, independent organization for public interest and a leading think tank in South Korea, dedicated to developing strategies and policies in areas of foreign and s ...
these changes have been "astonishing".
The economy is heavily nationalized. Food and housing are extensively subsidized by the state; education and healthcare are free; and the payment of taxes was officially abolished in 1974. A variety of goods are available in department stores and supermarkets in Pyongyang, though most of the population relies on small-scale ''jangmadang
Jangmadang (), , are North Korean local markets, farmers' markets, black markets and bazaars. Since the North Korean famine in the 1990s, they have formed a large informal economy, and the government has become more lenient towards them. Howeve ...
'' markets. In 2009, the government attempted to stem the expanding free market by banning jangmadang and the use of foreign currency, heavily devaluing the won and restricting the convertibility of savings in the old currency, but the resulting inflation spike and rare public protests caused a reversal of these policies. Private trade is dominated by women because most men are required to be present at their workplace, even though many state-owned enterprises are non-operational.
Industry and services employ 65% of North Korea's 12.6 million labor force. Major industries include machine building, military equipment, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing and tourism. Iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
and coal production are among the few sectors where North Korea performs significantly better than its southern neighbor—it produces about 10 times more of each resource. Using ex-Romanian drilling rigs, several oil exploration companies have confirmed significant oil reserves in the North Korean shelf of the Sea of Japan, and in areas south of Pyongyang. The agricultural sector was shattered by the natural disasters of the 1990s. Its 3,500 cooperatives and state farms were moderately successful until the mid-1990s but now experience chronic fertilizer and equipment shortages. Rice, corn, soybeans and potatoes
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...
are some of the primary crops. A significant contribution to the food supply comes from commercial fishing and aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
. Smaller specialized farms, managed by the state, also produce high-value crops, including ginseng, honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
, matsutake
, ''Tricholoma matsutake'', is a species of choice edible mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in East Asia, Europe, and North America. It is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinct spicy-aromatic odor.
Etymology
The common name and specifi ...
and herbs for traditional Korean and Chinese medicine. Tourism has been a growing sector for the past decade. North Korea has been aiming to increase the number of foreign visitors through projects like the Masikryong Ski Resort.
Foreign trade surpassed pre-crisis levels in 2005 and continues to expand. North Korea has a number of special economic zones (SEZs) and Special Administrative Regions where foreign companies can operate with tax and tariff incentives while North Korean establishments gain access to improved technology. Initially four such zones existed, but they yielded little overall success. The SEZ system was overhauled in 2013 when 14 new zones were opened and the Rason Special Economic Zone was reformed as a joint Chinese-North Korean project. The Kaesong Industrial Region is a special economic zone where more than 100 South Korean companies employ some 52,000 North Korean workers. , China is the biggest trading partner of North Korea outside inter-Korean trade, accounting for more than 84% of the total external trade ($5.3 billion) followed by India at 3.3% share ($205 million). In 2014, Russia wrote off 90% of North Korea's debt and the two countries agreed to conduct all transactions in rubles. Overall, external trade in 2013 reached a total of $7.3 billion (the highest amount since 1990), while inter-Korean trade dropped to an eight-year low of $1.1 billion.
Infrastructure and transport
North Korea's energy infrastructure is obsolete and in disrepair. Power shortages are chronic and would not be alleviated even by electricity imports because the poorly maintained grid causes significant losses during transmission. Coal accounts for 70% of primary energy production, followed by hydroelectric power with 17%. The government under Kim Jong-un has increased emphasis on renewable energy projects like wind farms, solar parks, solar heating and biomass
Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
. A set of legal regulations adopted in 2014 stressed the development of geothermal, wind and solar energy along with recycling and environmental conservation. North Korea's long-term objective is to curb fossil fuel usage and reach an output of 5 million kilowatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s from renewable sources by 2044, up from its current total of 430,000 kilowatts from all sources. Wind power is projected to satisfy 15% of the country's total energy demand under this strategy.
North Korea also strives to develop its own civilian nuclear program. These efforts are under much international dispute due to their military applications and concerns about safety.
Transport infrastructure includes railways, highways, water and air routes, but rail transport is by far the most widespread. North Korea has some of railways mostly in standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
which carry 80% of annual passenger traffic and 86% of freight, but electricity shortages undermine their efficiency. Construction of a high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
way connecting Kaesong, Pyongyang and Sinuiju with speeds exceeding was approved in 2013. North Korea connects with the Trans-Siberian Railway through Rajin.
Road transport is very limited—only of the road network are paved, and maintenance on most roads is poor. Only 2% of the freight capacity is supported by river and sea transport, and air traffic is negligible. All port facilities are ice-free and host a merchant fleet of 158 vessels. Eighty-two airports and 23 helipads are operational and the largest serve the state-run airline, Air Koryo. Cars are relatively rare, but bicycles are common. There is only one international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
— Pyongyang International Airport—serviced by Russia and China (see List of public airports in North Korea)
Science and technology
R&D efforts are concentrated at the State Academy of Sciences, which runs 40 research institutes, 200 smaller research centers, a scientific equipment factory and six publishing houses. The government considers science and technology to be directly linked to economic development. A five-year scientific plan emphasizing IT, biotechnology, nanotechnology, marine technology, and laser and plasma research was carried out in the early 2000s. A 2010 report by the South Korean Science and Technology Policy Institute identified polymer chemistry, single carbon materials, nanoscience, mathematics, software, nuclear technology and rocketry as potential areas of inter-Korean scientific cooperation. North Korean institutes are strong in these fields of research, although their engineers require additional training, and laboratories need equipment upgrades.
Under its "constructing a powerful knowledge economy
The knowledge economy (or the knowledge-based economy) is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to advancement in technical and scientific inno ...
" slogan, the state has launched a project to concentrate education, scientific research and production into a number of "high-tech development zones". International sanctions remain a significant obstacle to their development. The ''Miraewon'' network of electronic libraries was established in 2014 under similar slogans.
Significant resources have been allocated to the national space program, which is managed by the National Aerospace Development Administration (formerly managed by the Korean Committee of Space Technology until April 2013) Domestically produced launch vehicles and the Kwangmyŏngsŏng satellite class are launched from two spaceports, the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground
The Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground, also known as Musudan-ri (), is a rocket launching site in North Korea.
Location
It lies in southern Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province, near Musu Dan, the cape marking the northern end of the East K ...
and the Sohae Satellite Launching Station. After four failed attempts, North Korea became the tenth spacefaring nation with the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 in December 2012, which successfully reached orbit but was believed to be crippled and non-operational. It joined the Outer Space Treaty in 2009 and has stated its intentions to undertake crewed and Moon missions. The government insisted the space program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries maintained that it serves to advance North Korea's ballistic missile program. On 7 February 2016, a statement broadcast on Korean Central Television said that a new Earth observation satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, had successfully been put into orbit.
Usage of communication technology is controlled by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. An adequate nationwide fiber-optic telephone system
A telephone network is a telecommunications network that connects telephones, which allows telephone calls between two or more parties, as well as newer features such as fax and internet. The idea was revolutionized in the 1920s, as more and more ...
with 1.18 million fixed lines and expanding mobile coverage is in place. Most phones are installed for senior government officials and installation requires written explanation why the user needs a telephone and how it will be paid for. Cellular coverage is available with a 3G network operated by Koryolink
Koryolink ( ko, 고려링크, styled as koryolink) is a North Korean wireless telecommunications provider. The company is a cellular operator held by Cheo Technology, a joint venture between Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding (OTMT) whi ...
, a joint venture with Orascom Telecom Holding
Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (GTH; formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) is a holding company based in Amsterdam, and a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications services company VEON. GTH previously owned mobile network operators in multipl ...
. The number of subscribers has increased from 3,000 in 2002 to almost two million in 2013.[ International calls through either fixed or cellular service are restricted, and mobile Internet is not available.][
Internet access itself is limited to a handful of elite users and scientists. Instead, North Korea has a walled garden ]intranet
An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in c ...
system called Kwangmyong, which is maintained and monitored by the Korea Computer Center. Its content is limited to state media, chat services, message boards, an e-mail service and an estimated 1,000–5,500 websites. Computers employ the Red Star OS, an operating system derived from Linux, with a user shell visually similar to that of OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
. On 19 September 2016, a TLDR project noticed the North Korean Internet DNS data and top-level domain was left open which allowed global DNS zone transfers. A dump of the data discovered was shared on GitHub.
Culture
Despite a historically strong Chinese influence, Korean culture has shaped its own unique identity. It came under attack during the Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, when Japan enforced a cultural assimilation policy. Koreans were forced to learn and speak Japanese, adopt the Japanese family name system and Shinto religion, and were forbidden to write or speak the Korean language in schools, businesses, or public places.
After the peninsula was divided in 1945, two distinct cultures formed out of the common Korean heritage. North Koreans have little exposure to foreign influence. The revolutionary struggle and the brilliance of the leadership are some of the main themes in art. "Reactionary" elements from traditional culture have been discarded and cultural forms with a "folk" spirit have been reintroduced.
Korean heritage is protected and maintained by the state. Over 190 historical sites and objects of national significance are cataloged as National Treasures of North Korea
A National Treasure (국보; 國寶 : ) is a tangible artifact, site, or building deemed by the Government of North Korea to have significant historical or artistic value to the country.
History
The first list of Korean cultural treasures was des ...
, while some 1,800 less valuable artifacts are included in a list of Cultural Assets. The Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong
Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kaesong, North Korea. The site consists of 12 separate components, which together testify to the history and culture of the Koryo Dynasty from the 10th to 14th centuries. ...
and the Complex of Koguryo Tombs
Goguryeo tombs, officially designated as the Complex of Koguryo Tombs, are tombs in North Korea. In July 2004, they became the first UNESCO World Heritage site in the country. The site consists of 30 individual tombs from the later Goguryeo kingd ...
are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Art
Visual arts are generally produced in the esthetic of Socialist realism. North Korean painting combines the influence of Soviet and Japanese visual expression to instill a sentimental loyalty to the system. All artists in North Korea are required to join the Artists' Union, and the best among them can receive an official license to portray the leaders. Portraits and sculptures depicting Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un are classed as "Number One works".
Most aspects of art have been dominated by Mansudae Art Studio
The Mansudae Art Studio is an art studio in Pyeongcheon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It was founded in 1959, and it is one of the largest centers of art production in the world, at an area of over 120,000 square meters. The studio employs ar ...
since its establishment in 1959. It employs around 1,000 artists in what is likely the biggest art factory in the world where paintings, murals, poster
A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...
s and monuments are designed and produced. The studio has commercialized its activity and sells its works to collectors in a variety of countries including China, where it is in high demand. Mansudae Overseas Projects
Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio. As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated US ...
is a subdivision of Mansudae Art Studio that carries out construction of large-scale monuments for international customers. Some of the projects include the African Renaissance Monument
The African Renaissance Monument is a tall bronze statue located on top of one of the twin hills known as Collines des Mamelles, outside Dakar, Senegal. Built overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the Ouakam suburb, the statue was designed by the Se ...
in Senegal, and the Heroes' Acre in Namibia.
World Heritage
In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Goguryeo tumulus is registered on the World Heritage list of UNESCO. These remains were registered as the first World Heritage property of North Korea in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) in July 2004. There are 63 burial mounds in the tomb group, with clear murals preserved. The burial customs of the Goguryeo culture have influenced Asian civilizations beyond Korea, including Japan.
Music
The government emphasized optimistic folk-based tunes and revolutionary music throughout most of the 20th century. Ideological messages are conveyed through massive orchestral pieces like the " Five Great Revolutionary Operas" based on traditional Korean '' ch'angguk''. Revolutionary operas differ from their Western counterparts by adding traditional instruments to the orchestra and avoiding recitative segments. '' Sea of Blood'' is the most widely performed of the Five Great Operas: since its premiere in 1971, it has been played over 1,500 times, and its 2010 tour in China was a major success. Western classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
and other composers is performed both by the State Symphony Orchestra and student orchestras.
Pop music appeared in the 1980s with the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble
The Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble is an orchestra from North Korea. It is famous for its performances of revolutionary and folk songs. They have been reported to be one of the country's most popular groups. and Wangjaesan Light Music Band. Improved relations with South Korea following the 2000 inter-Korean summit
2000 inter-Korean summit was a meeting between South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-il, which took place in Pyongyang from June 13 to June 15, 2000. It was the first inter-Korea ...
caused a decline in direct ideological messages in pop songs, but themes like comradeship, nostalgia and the construction of a powerful country remained. In 2014, the all-girl Moranbong Band was described as the most popular group in the country. North Koreans also listen to K-pop
K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
which spreads through illegal markets.
Literature
All publishing houses are owned by the government or the WPK because they are considered an important tool for agitprop. The Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House
The Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House (WPKPH, ) is the principal publishing house of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and one of the two main publishers in the country. It publishes magazines and books on politics, such as the works of ...
is the most authoritative among them and publishes all works of Kim Il-sung, ideological education materials and party policy documents. The availability of foreign literature is limited, examples being North Korean editions of Indian, German, Chinese and Russian fairy tales, ''Tales from Shakespeare
''Tales from Shakespeare'' is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons" while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible. Mary Lamb was responsible for r ...
'', some works of Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
and Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...
, and the ''Harry Potter'' series.
Kim Il-sung's personal works are considered "classical masterpieces" while the ones created under his instruction are labeled "models of ''Juche'' literature". These include ''The Fate of a Self-Defense Corps Man'', ''The Song of Korea'' and ''Immortal History'', a series of historical novels depicting the suffering of Koreans under Japanese occupation. More than four million literary works were published between the 1980s and the early 2000s, but almost all of them belong to a narrow variety of political genres like "army-first revolutionary literature".
Science fiction is considered a secondary genre because it somewhat departs from the traditional standards of detailed descriptions and metaphors of the leader. The exotic settings of the stories give authors more freedom to depict cyberwarfare
Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...
, violence, sexual abuse, and crime, which are absent in other genres. Sci-fi works glorify technology and promote the ''Juche'' concept of anthropocentric existence through depictions of robotics, space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...
, and immortality.
Media
Government policies towards film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
are no different from those applied to other arts—motion pictures serve to fulfill the targets of "social education". Some of the most influential films are based on historic events (''An Jung-geun shoots Itō Hirobumi'') or folk tales ('' Hong Gildong''). Most movies have predictable propaganda story lines which make cinema an unpopular entertainment; viewers only see films that feature their favorite actors. Western productions are only available at private showings to high-ranking Party members, although the 1997 film '' Titanic'' is frequently shown to university students as an example of Western culture. Access to foreign media products is available through smuggled DVDs and television or radio broadcasts in border areas. Western films like ''The Interview
''The Interview'' is a 2014 satirical alternate history action-comedy film co-produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following ''This Is the End'' (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Sterl ...
'', '' Titanic'', and ''Charlie's Angels
''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...
'' are just a few films that have been smuggled across the borders of North Korea, allowing for access to the North Korean citizens.
North Korean media are under some of the strictest government control in the world. The censorship in North Korea encompasses all the information produced by the media. Monitored heavily by government officials, the media is strictly used to reinforce ideals approved by the government.[Journalists, C. T. (25 April 2017). "North Korean censorship".] There is no freedom of press in North Korea as all the media is controlled and filtered through governmental censors. Freedom of the press in 2017 was 180th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
' annual Press Freedom Index. According to Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
, all media outlets serve as government mouthpieces, all journalists are party members and listening to foreign broadcasts carries the threat of the death penalty. The main news provider is the Korean Central News Agency. All 12 major newspapers and 20 periodicals, including ''Rodong Sinmun
''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...
'', are published in the capital.
There are three state-owned TV stations. Two of them broadcast only on weekends and the Korean Central Television is on air every day in the evenings. Uriminzokkiri and its associated YouTube and Twitter accounts distribute imagery, news and video issued by government media. The Associated Press opened the first Western all-format, full-time bureau in Pyongyang in 2012.
Media coverage of North Korea has often been inadequate as a result of the country's isolation. Stories like Kim Jong-un executing his ex-girlfriend or feeding his uncle to a pack of hungry dogs have been circulated by foreign media as truth despite the lack of a credible source. Many of the claims originate from the South Korean right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
newspaper '' The Chosun Ilbo''. Max Fisher of '' The Washington Post'' has written that "almost any story n North Korea
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
is treated as broadly credible, no matter how outlandish or thinly sourced". Occasional deliberate disinformation on the part of North Korean establishments further complicates the issue.
Cuisine
Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, it has gone through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends. Rice dishes and kimchi are staple Korean food. In a traditional meal, they accompany both side dishes ('' panch'an'') and main courses like ''juk
Juk may refer to:
* JuK, software
* Juk (food), Korean rice porridge
* Juk language, a Mon–Khmer language spoken in Laos
* Ukkusissat Heliport, in Greenland
* Wapan language
Wapan (Jukun Wapan) or Kororofa, also known as Wukari after the lo ...
'', '' pulgogi'' or noodles. '' Soju'' liquor is the best-known traditional Korean spirit.
North Korea's most famous restaurant, Okryu-gwan
Okryu-gwan or Okryu Restaurant is a restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, founded in 1960. South Korea analyst Andrei Lankov describes it as one of two restaurants, the other being Ch'ongryugwan, which have "defined the culinary life of Pyongy ...
, located in Pyongyang, is known for its '' raengmyeon'' cold noodles. Other dishes served there include gray mullet Grey mullet can mean any of several fish in the family '' Mugilidae'' (the mullets) and having a greyish hue:
* Flathead grey mullet, ''Mugil cephalus''
* Thicklip grey mullet, '' Chelon labrosus''
* Boxlip grey mullet, ''Oedalechilus labeo''
* Lea ...
soup with boiled rice, beef rib soup, green bean pancake, '' sinsollo'' and dishes made from terrapin. Okryu-gwan sends research teams into the countryside to collect data on Korean cuisine
Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...
and introduce new recipes. Some Asian cities host branches of the Pyongyang restaurant chain where waitresses perform music and dance.
Sports
Most schools have daily practice in association football, basketball, table tennis, gymnastics, boxing and others. The DPR Korea League is popular inside the country and its games are often televised. The national football team, '' Chollima'', competed in the FIFA World Cup in 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, when it lost all three matches against Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
. Its 1966 appearance was much more successful, seeing a surprise 1–0 victory over Italy and a quarter final loss to Portugal by 3–5. A national team represents the nation in international basketball competitions as well. In December 2013, former American basketball professional Dennis Rodman visited North Korea to help train the national team after he developed a friendship with Kim Jong-un.
North Korea's first appearance in the Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
came in 1964. The 1972 Olympics 1972 Olympics refers to both:
*1972 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sapporo, Japan
*1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 19 ...
saw its summer games debut and five medals, including one gold. With the exception of the boycotted Los Angeles and Seoul Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
, North Korean athletes have won medals in all summer games since then. Weightlifter Kim Un-guk
Kim Un-guk (; ; born 28 October 1988) is a North Korean weightlifter, Olympic Champion, and two time World Champion.
He is also a Labor Hero and People's Athlete.
Career
At the Olympic Games 2012 he competed in the Men's 62-kg division, in t ...
broke the world record of the Men's 62 kg category at the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in London. Successful Olympians receive luxury apartments from the state in recognition for their achievements.
The Arirang Festival has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the biggest choreographic event in the world. Some 100,000 athletes perform rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
and dances while another 40,000 participants create a vast animated screen in the background. The event is an artistic representation of the country's history and pays homage to Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
. Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, the largest stadium in the world with its capacity of 150,000, hosts the Festival. The Pyongyang Marathon
Pyongyang Marathon, also known as Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, is an annual marathon race contested each April in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is categorised as an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.
The marathon was held for t ...
is another notable sports event. It is an IAAF Bronze Label Race where amateur runners from around the world can participate.
Between 2010 and 2019, North Korea has imported 138 purebred horses from Russia at cost of over $584,000.
See also
*Outline of North Korea
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to North Korea:
North Korea is a sovereign country located on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. To the south, separated by the Korean Demilitarized Z ...
*Bibliography of North Korea This is a list of works important to the study of North Korea. General reference
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Notes
References
Citations
General and cited sources
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* Armstrong, Charles K. "North Korea in 2016." ''Asian Survey'' 57.1 (2017): 119–27
abstract
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* Hayes, Peter, and Roger Cavazos. "North Korea in 2015." ''Asian Survey'' 56.1 (2016): 68–77
abstract
* Hayes, Peter, and Roger Cavazos. "North Korea in 2014." ''Asian Survey'' 55.1 (2015): 119–31
abstract
als
full text online
* , covers 1960s to 2010.
* Jackson, Van. "Deterring a Nuclear-Armed Adversary in a Contested Regional Order: The 'Trilemma' of US–North Korea Relations." ''Asia Policy'' 23.1 (2017): 97–103
online
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* Lee, Hong Yung. "North Korea in 2013: Economy, Executions, and Nuclear Brinksmanship." ''Asian Survey'' 54.1 (2014): 89–100
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External links
Government websites
KCNA
– website of the Korean Central News Agency
Naenara
– the official North Korean governmental portal Naenara
DPRK Foreign Ministry
– official North Korean foreign ministry website
The Pyongyang Times
– official foreign language newspaper of the DPRK
General websites
*
Official website of the DPR of Korea
– Administered by the Korean Friendship Association
38North
North Korea profile
at BBC News
North Korea
– link collection ( University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries GovPubs)
NKnews
– a news agency covering North Korean topics.
Friend.com.kp
– website of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries
The Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (CCRFC) is a North Korean organization tasked with organizing cultural exchange with other countries.
The committee was founded when the North Korean state was declared. It was modeled ...
Korea Education Fund
''Rodong Sinmun''
– the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea ''Rodong Sinmun
''Rodong Sinmun'' (; ) is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on November 1, 1945, as ''Chŏngro'' (), serving as a communication channel ...
''
Uriminzokkiri
DPRK Portal
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
–
{{Authority control
1948 establishments in North Korea
Anti-Western sentiment
Atheist states
Communist states
East Asian countries
Former Japanese colonies
North Korea
Korean-speaking countries and territories
Member states of the United Nations
Northeast Asian countries
One-party states
Republics
States and territories established in 1948
States with limited recognition
Totalitarian states