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 Il Sung's son, 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. KIM Jong Un was publicly unveiled as his father's successor in 2010. Following KIM Jong Il's death in 2011, KIM Jong Un quickly assumed power and has now taken on most of his father's former titles and duties. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population. The DPRK began to ease restrictions to allow semi-private markets, starting in 2002, but then sought to roll back the scale of economic reforms in 2005 and 2009. North Korea's history of regional military provocations; proliferation of military-related items; long-range missile development; WMD programs including tests of nuclear devices in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2016; and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community. The regime in 2013 announced a new policy calling for the simultaneous development of its nuclear weapons program and its economy.

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

40 00 N, 127 00 E

Asia

slightly larger than Virginia; slightly smaller than Mississippi

2,495 km

temperate, with rainfall concentrated in summer; long, bitter winters

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

highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m

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

arable land 19.5%; permanent crops 1.9%; permanent pasture 0.4%

14,600 sq km (2012)

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

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

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

25,115,311 (July 2016 est.)

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

Korean

traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)

0.53% (2016 est.)

14.6 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)

9.3 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)

PYONGYANG (capital) 2.863 million (2015)

82 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

1.96 children born/woman (2016 est.)

70.6%

13.2 beds/1,000 population (2012)

urban: 99.9% of population

rural: 99.4% of population

total: 99.7% of population

urban: 0.1% of population

rural: 0.6% of population

total: 0.3% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 87.9% of population

rural: 72.5% of population

total: 81.9% of population

urban: 12.1% of population

rural: 27.5% of population

total: 18.1% of population (2015 est.)

NA

NA

2.5% (2014)

15.2% (2012)

NA

communist state

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 2 municipalities (si, singular and plural)

15 August 1945 (from Japan)

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

previous 1948, 1972; latest adopted 1998 (during KIM Jong Il era); revised 2009, 2012, 2013 (2016)

civil law system based on the Prussian model; system influenced by Japanese traditions and Communist legal theory

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

17 years of age; universal

Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae] (under KWP control)

none

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

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

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

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; the broad red band symbolizes revolutionary traditions; the narrow white bands stand for purity, strength, and dignity; the blue bands signify sovereignty, peace, and friendship; the red star represents socialism

red star, chollima (winged horse); national colors: red, white, blue

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, shortages of spare parts, and poor maintenance. Large-scale military spending draws off resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. Industrial and power outputs have stagnated for years at a fraction of pre-1990 levels. Frequent weather-related crop failures aggravated chronic food shortages caused by on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, poor soil quality, insufficient fertilization, and persistent shortages of tractors and fuel.

The mid 1990s were marked by severe famine and widespread starvation. Significant food aid was provided by the international community through 2009. Since that time, food assistance has declined significantly. In the last few years, domestic corn and rice production has been somewhat better, although domestic production does not fully satisfy demand. A large portion of the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Since 2002, the government has allowed informal markets to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also implemented changes in the management process of communal farms in an effort to boost agricultural output.

In December 2009, North Korea carried out a redenomination of its currency, capping the amount of North Korean won that could be exchanged for the new notes, and limiting the exchange to a one-week window. A concurrent crackdown on markets and foreign currency use yielded severe shortages and inflation, forcing Pyongyang to ease the restrictions by February 2010. In response to the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, South Korea’s government cut off most aid, trade, and bilateral cooperation activities, with the exception of operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex. North Korea continued efforts to develop special economic zones and expressed willingness to permit construction of a trilateral gas pipeline that would carry Russian natural gas to South Korea. North Korea is also working with Russia to refurbish North Korea’s dilapidated rail network and jointly rebuilt a link between a North Korean port in the Rason Special Economic Zone and the Russian rail network.

The North Korean government continues to stress its goal of improving the overall standard of living, but has taken few steps to make that goal a reality for its populace. In 2013-14, the regime rolled out 20 new economic development zones - now totaling 25 - set up for foreign investors, although the initiative remains in its infancy. Firm political control remains the government’s overriding concern, which likely will inhibit changes to North Korea’s current economic system.

$40 billion (2014 est.)

$40 billion (2013 est.)

$40 billion (2012 est.)

North Korea does not publish reliable National Income Accounts data; the data shown are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP estimates for North Korea that were made by Angus MADDISON in a study conducted for the OECD; his figure for 1999 was extrapolated to 2011 using estimated real growth rates for North Korea's GDP and an inflation factor based on the US GDP deflator; the results were rounded to the nearest $10 billion.

$28 billion (2013 est.)

1% (2014 est.)

1.1% (2013 est.)

1.3% (2012 est.)

$1,800 (2014 est.)

$1,800 (2013 est.)

$1,800 (2012 est.)

NA%

rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses, beef, pork, eggs

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

-3.6% (2015 est.)

14 million

25.6% (2013 est.)

25.5% (2012 est.)

NA%

11.4% of GDP

-0.4% of GDP (2007 est.)

calendar year

NA%

$4.152 billion (2015 est.)

$4.366 billion (2014 est.)

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

China 75.8% (2015)

$4.819 billion (2015 est.)

$5.586 billion (2014 est.)

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

China 76.4%, Republic of the Congo 5.5% (2015)

$5 billion (2013 est.)

North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar (average market rate)

129.9 (2015 est.)

98.74 (2014 est.)

98.5 (2013 est.)

155.5 (2012 est.)

140 (2011 est.)

17 billion kWh (2014 est.)

15 billion kWh (2014 est.)

0 kWh (2013 est.)

0 kWh (2013 est.)

10 million kW (2014 est.)

47.4% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

52.6% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2015 est.)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

70,000 bbl/day (2013 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2016 es)

11,310 bbl/day (2013 est.)

17,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)

0 bbl/day (2013 est.)

5,678 bbl/day (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (2013 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2014 es)

44 million Mt (2013 est.)

no independent media; radios and TVs are pre-tuned to government stations; 4 government-owned TV stations; the Korean Workers' Party owns and operates the Korean Central Broadcasting Station, and the state-run Voice of Korea operates an external broadcast service; the government prohibits listening to and jams foreign broadcasts (2008)

.kp

P (2016)

82 (2013)

23 (2013)

oil 6 km (2013)

2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2011)

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

18 is presumed to be the legal minimum age for compulsory military service; 16-17 is the presumed legal minimum age for voluntary service (2012)

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