Korea, North

.kp

3 (2009) country comparison to the world: 227

AM 17 (including 11 stations of Korean Central Broadcasting Station; North Korea has a "national intercom" cable radio station wired throughout the country that is a significant source of information for the average North Korean citizen; it is wired into most residences and workplaces and carries news and commentary), FM 14, shortwave 14 (2006)

general assessment: inadequate system; currently mobile cellular telephone services are available in Pyongyang only domestic: fiber-optic links installed between cities; telephone directories unavailable; mobile cellular service, initiated in 2002, suspended in 2004; Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian company, launched mobile service on December 15, 2008 for the Pyongyang area only international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Russian - Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing (2008)

1.18 million (2008) country comparison to the world: 71

4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003)

rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs

revenues: $2.88 billion expenditures: $2.98 billion (2005)

$12.5 billion (2001 est.) country comparison to the world: 80

North Korea, one of the world's most centrally directed and least open economies, faces chronic economic problems. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and shortages of spare parts. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel from pre-1990 levels. Severe flooding in the summer of 2007 aggravated chronic food shortages caused by on-going systemic problems including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, and persistent shortages of tractors and fuel. Large-scale international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape widespread starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Since 2002, the government has allowed private "farmers' markets" to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted some private farming - on an experimental basis - in an effort to boost agricultural output. In October 2005, the government tried to reverse some of these policies by forbidding private sales of grains and reinstituting a centralized food rationing system. By December 2005, the government terminated most international humanitarian assistance operations in North Korea (calling instead for developmental assistance only) and restricted the activities of remaining international and non-governmental aid organizations such as the World Food Program. External food aid now comes primarily from China and South Korea in the form of grants and long-term concessional loans. In May 2008, the US agreed to give 500,000 metric tons of food to North Korea via the World Food Program and US nongovernmental organizations; Pyongyang began receiving these shipments in mid-2008. During the October 2007 summit, South Korea also agreed to develop some of North Korea's infrastructure, natural resources, and light industry, but inter-Korean economic cooperation slowed in 2008 as Pyongyang restricted tourism and manufacturing joint ventures in the North, and food aid from South Korea was suspended. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations.

17.49 billion kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 70

0 kWh (2008 est.)

0 kWh (2008 est.)

20.9 billion kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 71

North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar - 140 (2007), 141 (2006), 170 (December 2004), market rate: North Korean won per US dollar - 3,400 (October 2008)

$1.684 billion (2007) country comparison to the world: 136

minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, agricultural and fishery products

South Korea 45%, China 35%, India 5% (2007)

$26.2 billion (2008 est.)

$40 billion (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 96 note: data are in 2008 US dollars

agriculture: 23.3% industry: 43.1% services: 33.6% (2002 est.)

$1,800 (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 189 note: data are in 2008 US dollars

3.7% (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 107

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

$3.055 billion (2007) country comparison to the world: 140 $2.879 billion (2006)

petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain

China 46%, South Korea 34%, Thailand 6%, Russia 4% (2007)

NA%

military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, limestone, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism

NA%

20 million country comparison to the world: 31 note: estimates vary widely (2004 est.)

agriculture: 37% industry and services: 63% (2004 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 169

0 cu m (2008) country comparison to the world: 82

0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 157

0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 173

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 163

16,000 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 130

0 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 175

13,890 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 130

120.7 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 110

0 bbl country comparison to the world: 192

NA%

NA%

total: 120,538 sq km country comparison to the world: 98 land: 120,408 sq km water: 130 sq km

slightly smaller than Mississippi

temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer

2,495 km

lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m

water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

total: 9.02 cu km/yr (20%/25%/55%) per capita: 401 cu m/yr (2000)

40 00 N, 127 00 E

strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated

14,600 sq km (2003)

total: 1,673 km border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km

arable land: 22.4% permanent crops: 1.66% other: 75.94% (2005)

Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea

Asia

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign vessels and aircraft without permission are banned

late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall

coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower

mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east

77.1 cu km (1999)

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 2 municipalities (si, singular and plural) provinces: Chagang-do (Chagang), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae), Kangwon-do (Kangwon), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan), Yanggang-do (Yanggang) municipalities: Nason-si, P'yongyang-si

name: Pyongyang geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

adopted 1948; revised several times

conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: Choson abbreviation: DPRK

none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power

none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York

chief of state: KIM Jong Il (since July 1994); note - on 9 April 2009, rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reelected KIM Jong Il chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded nation's "highest administrative authority"; SPA reelected KIM Yong Nam in 2003 president of its Presidium also with responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials head of government: Premier KIM Yong Il (since 11 April 2007); Vice Premier KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), Vice Premier O Su Yong (since 13 April 2009), Vice Premier PAK Su Gil (since 18 September 2009), Vice Premier PAK Myong Su (since 4 September 2009), Vice Premier RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003) cabinet: Naegak (cabinet) members, except for Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by SPA elections: last held in September 2003; date of next election NA election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees for positions and ran unopposed

three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star

Communist state one-man dictatorship

15 August 1945 (from Japan)

ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly)

based on Prussian civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 8 March 2009 (next due to be held in March 2014) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; ruling party approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; a token number of seats are reserved for minor parties

Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948)

major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong] (under KWP control), Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae] (under KWP control)

none

17 years of age; universal

An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan beginning in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist control. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il Sung, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against outside influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population. North Korea's history of regional military provocations, proliferation of military-related items, long-range missile development, WMD programs including nuclear weapons test in 2006 and 2009, and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community.

males age 16-49: 6,225,747 females age 16-49: 6,188,270 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49: 4,104,964 females age 16-49: 4,492,374 (2009 est.)

male: 191,759 female: 184,641 (2009 est.)

North Korean People's Army: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005)

NA

17 years of age (2004)

0-14 years: 21.3% (male 2,440,439/female 2,376,557) 15-64 years: 69.4% (male 7,776,889/female 7,945,399) 65 years and over: 9.4% (male 820,504/female 1,305,557) (2009 est.)

14.82 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 141

10.52 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 56

NA

racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese

NA

NA

NA

total: 51.34 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 49 male: 58.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 43.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Korean

total population: 63.81 years country comparison to the world: 170 male: 61.23 years female: 66.53 years (2009 est.)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99%

total: 33.5 years male: 32.1 years female: 34.9 years (2009 est.)

noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

-0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 91

22,665,345 (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 50

0.42% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 160

traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way) note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

1.96 children born/woman (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 136

urban population: 63% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.9% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

risking arrest, imprisonment, and deportation, tens of thousands of North Koreans cross into China to escape famine, economic privation, and political oppression; North Korea and China dispute the sovereignty of certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic incidents in the Yellow Sea with South Korea which claims the Northern Limiting Line as a maritime boundary; North Korea supports South Korea in rejecting Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima)

for years, from the 1970s into the 2000s, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December 2004; police investigations in Taiwan and Japan in recent years have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003

IDPs: undetermined (flooding in mid-2007 and famine during mid-1990s) (2007)

current situation: North Korea is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the most common form of trafficking involves North Korean women and girls who cross the border into China voluntarily; additionally, North Korean women and girls are lured out of North Korea to escape poor social and economic conditions by the promise of food, jobs, and freedom, only to be forced into prostitution, marriage, or exploitative labor arrangements once in China tier rating: Tier 3 - North Korea does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government does not acknowledge the existence of human rights abuses in the country or recognize trafficking, either within the country or transnationally; North Korea has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

79 (2009) country comparison to the world: 70

total: 37 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 22 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 4 (2009)

total: 42 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 8 (2009)

22 (2009)

total: 167 country comparison to the world: 39 by type: bulk carrier 11, cargo 121, carrier 1, chemical tanker 4, container 3, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 19, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 19 (Egypt 1, Greece 1, Lebanon 1, Lithuania 1, Romania 4, Syria 1, UAE 8, Yemen 2) registered in other countries: 2 (Mongolia 1, Panama 1) (2008)

oil 154 km (2008)

Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan

total: 5,235 km country comparison to the world: 34 standard gauge: 5,235 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2006)

total: 25,554 km country comparison to the world: 104 paved: 724 km unpaved: 24,830 km (2006)

2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2008) country comparison to the world: 39