Korea, North

Airports

total: 55 usable: 55 (est.) with permanent-surface runways: about 30 with runways over 3,659 m: fewer than 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 30

Highways

total: 30,000 km paved: 1,440 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, earth 28,560 km (1991)

Inland waterways

2,253 km; mostly navigable by small craft only

Merchant marine

83 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 706,497 GRT/1,114,827 DWT, bulk 9, cargo 67, combination bulk 1, oil tanker 2, passenger 1, passenger-cargo 2, short-sea passenger 1

Pipelines

crude oil 37 km

Ports

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

Railroads

4,915 km total; 4,250 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 665 km 0.762-meter narrow gauge; 159 km double track; 3,084 km electrified; government owned (1989)

Telecommunications

broadcast stations - 18 AM, no FM, 11 TV; 300,000 TV sets (1989); 3,500,000 radio receivers; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Korean People's Army (including the Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - about $5 billion, 20%-25% of GNP (1991 est.); note - the officially announced but suspect figure is $2.2 billion (1994), about 12% of total spending

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 6,658,529; fit for military service 4,044,355; reach military age (18) annually 196,763 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for about 25% of GNP and 36% of work force; principal crops - rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; livestock and livestock products - cattle, hogs, pork, eggs; not self-sufficient in grain

Budget

revenues: $19.3 billion expenditures: $19.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Currency

1 North Korean won (Wn) = 100 chon

Economic aid

recipient: Communist countries, $1.4 billion a year in the 1980s, but very little now

Electricity

capacity: 7,300,000 kW production: 26 billion kWh consumption per capita: 1,160 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

North Korean won (Wn) per US$1 - 2.15 (May 1994), 2.13 (May 1992), 2.14 (September 1991), 2.1 (January 1990), 2.3 (December 1989)

Exports

$1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: minerals, metallurgical products, agricultural and fishery products, manufactures (including armaments) partners: China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico

External debt

$8 billion (1992 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: petroleum, grain, coking coal, machinery and equipment, consumer goods partners: China, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore

Industrial production

growth rate -7% to -9% (1992 est.)

Industries

machine building, military products, electric power, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $22 billion (1992 est.)

National product per capita

$1,000 (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate

-7 to -9% (1992 est.)

Overview

More than 90% of this command economy is socialized; agricultural land is collectivized; and state-owned industry produces 95% of manufactured goods. State control of economic affairs is unusually tight even for a Communist country because of the small size and homogeneity of the society and the strict rule of KIM Il-song and his son, KIM Chong-il. Economic growth during the period 1984-88 averaged 2%-3%, but output declined by 3%-5% annually during 1989-92 because of systemic problems and disruptions in socialist-style economic relations with the former USSR and China. In 1992, output dropped sharply, by perhaps 7%-9%, as the economy felt the cumulative effect of the reduction in outside support. The leadership insisted on maintaining its high level of military outlays from a shrinking economic pie. Moreover, a serious drawdown in inventories and critical shortages in the energy sector have led to increasing interruptions in industrial production. Abundant mineral resources and hydropower have formed the basis of industrial development since WWII. Output of the extractive industries includes coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals. Manufacturing is centered on heavy industry, including military industry, with light industry lagging far behind. Despite the use of improved seed varieties, expansion of irrigation, and the heavy use of fertilizers, North Korea has not yet become self-sufficient in food production. Six consecutive years of poor harvests, coupled with distribution problems, have led to chronic food shortages. North Korea remains far behind South Korea in economic development and living standards.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 120,540 sq km land area: 120,410 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than Mississippi

Climate

temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer

Coastline

2,495 km

Environment

current issues: localized air pollution attributable to inadequate industrial controls natural hazards: late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; subject to occasional typhoons which occur during the early fall international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Environmental Modification, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

International disputes

short section of boundary with China is indefinite; Demarcation Line with South Korea

Irrigated land

14,000 sq km (1989)

Land boundaries

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

Land use

arable land: 18% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 74% other: 7%

Location

Eastern Asia, between China and South Korea

Map references

Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm 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

Natural resources

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

Note

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

Terrain

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

Abbreviation

DPRK

Administrative divisions

9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 3 special cities* (jikhalsi, singular and plural); Chagang-do (Chagang Province), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong Province), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong Province), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae Province), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae Province), Kaesong-si* (Kaesong City), Kangwon-do (Kangwon Province), Namp'o-si* (Namp'o City), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan Province), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan Province), P'yongyang-si* (P'yongyang City), Yanggang-do (Yanggang Province)

Capital

P'yongyang

Constitution

adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992

Digraph

KN

Diplomatic representation in US

none

Executive branch

chief of state: President KIM Il-song (national leader since 1948, president since 28 December 1972); designated successor KIM Chong-il (son of president, born 16 February 1942); election last held 24 May 1990 (next to be held by NA 1995); results - President KIM Il-song was reelected without opposition head of government: Premier KANG Song-san (since December 1992) cabinet: State Administration Council; appointed by the Supreme People's Assembly

Flag

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

Independence

9 September 1948 note: 15 August 1945, date of independence from the Japanese and celebrated in North Korea as National Liberation Day

Judicial branch

Central Court

Legal system

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

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ESCAP, FAO, G-77, ICAO, IFAD, IMF (observer), IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: none

National holiday

DPRK Foundation Day, 9 September (1948)

Political parties and leaders

major party - Korean Workers' Party (KWP), KIM Il-song, general secretary, and his son, KIM Chong-il, secretary, Central Committee; Korean Social Democratic Party, KIM Pyong-sik, chairman; Chondoist Chongu Party, YU Mi-yong, chairwoman

Suffrage

17 years of age; universal

Supreme People's Assembly (Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui)

elections last held on 7-9 April 1993 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (687 total) the KWP approves a single list of candidates who are elected without opposition; minor parties hold a few seats

Type

Communist state; Stalinist dictatorship

US diplomatic representation

none

Birth rate

23.75 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

5.5 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

racially homogeneous

Infant mortality rate

27.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

9.615 million by occupation: agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% note: shortage of skilled and unskilled labor (mid-1987 est.)

Languages

Korean

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 69.78 years male: 66.69 years female: 73.02 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99%

Nationality

noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

23,066,573 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.83% (1994 est.)

Religions

Buddhism and Confucianism, some Christianity and syncretic Chondogyo note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom

Total fertility rate

2.37 children born/woman (1994 est.)