North Korea
North Korea, officially the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is an
East Asian
state occupying the northern half of the
Korean Peninsula. Its official government is a
Communist-led
single-party state under the
Juche system, although in practice it functions as a
totalitarian dictatorship under current leader
Kim Jong-Il. North Korea is often referred to as a
isolationist, and
authoritarian country that uses central planning to implement its economic and social policies. Its ideological stands on issues such as the mass line, the role of intellectuals, and the source of revolutionary fervor mark North Korea's government as unique and different than
Stalinist Russia or Maoist
China.
Its northern border is predominantly shared with the
People's Republic of China.
Russia shares an 18.3
kilometre (11.4
mi) border along the
Tumen River in the far northeast corner of the country. To the south, it is bordered by
South Korea, with which it formed a single territorial unit known as
Korea until 1945.
North Koreans call their country
Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk (
조선민주주의인민"국, lit. "
Joseon Democratic People's Republic") or, more commonly,
Pukchosŏn (북조선, "North Chosŏn").
Chosŏn is a reference to
Gojoseon.
In the aftermath of the
Japanese occupation of Korea which ended with
World War II in 1945, Korea was left occupied by the
Soviet Union north of the 38th Parallel and by the
United States south of the
38th parallel. The Korean people were not consulted by either power prior to this division. While virtually all Koreans welcomed liberation from Japanese imperial rule, they objected to the reimpostion of foreign rule over the peninsula. The Soviets and Americans were unable to agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea. This led in 1948 to the establishment of separate governments in the north and south, each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
Growing tensions between the governments in the north and south and border skirmishes eventually led to a civil war called the
Korean War, when on
June 25,
1950 the North Korean
Korean People's Army attacked across the 38th Parallel in a move to reunify the peninsula under their political system. The war continued until
July 27,
1953, when the
United Nations Command, Korean People's Army, and the
Chinese People's Volunteers signed the Korean War Armistice Agreement. The
DMZ has separated North and South Koreas since.
North Korea was led by
Kim Il Sung from 1948 until his death on
July 8,
1994, having delegated most domestic matters to his son
Kim Jong-il toward the end of his life. Three years after his father's death, on
October 8,
1997, Kim Jong-il was named
General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party.[
1][
2] In 1998, the legislature reconfirmed him as
Chairman of the National Defence Commission and declared that position as the "highest office of state."[
3] International relations generally improved, and there was a historic North-South summit between the two Koreas in June 2000. However, tensions with the
United States have increased recently as North Korea resumed the development of a
nuclear weapons program, fired
Taepodong-1 missiles in 1998 over Japan, and, on
July 5,
2006, test launched 6 missiles into the
Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), including a long-range
Taepodong-2 missile. Despite international protests, on July 6 they launched a 7th missile of either short or mid range. The UN called an emergency meeting to consider what response will be called for.
During the 1960s and 1970s the country's economy grew at a significant rate and until 1975 was considered to be stronger than that in the south. However, with
Kim Jong-il's rule in the mid-to-late 1990s, the country's economy declined significantly, and food shortages developed in many areas. According to aid groups, millions of people in rural areas starved to death due to
famine, exacerbated by a collapse in the food distribution system [
4]. Large numbers of North Koreans illegally entered the People's Republic of China in search of food.
Hwang Jang-yop, International Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party, defected to South Korea in 1997.
See also: History of Korea, Division of KoreaNorth Korea is one of the world's few
communist states. The government is dominated by the
Korean Workers' Party (KWP), to which 80 percent of government officials belong. The official ideology of the KWP is known as
Juche (self-reliance), a political philosophy first developed by Kim Il-Sung and then expanded upon by his son, the current leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-il. The KWP replaced mentions of
Marxism-Leninism in the North Korean constitution with Juche in 1977.
Communists outside North Korea typically, although by no means universally, deny that the KWP is a communist organisation (any more) or that North Korea is socialist. Minor
political parties exist, but they are subordinated to the KWP and do not oppose its rule. The exact power structure of the country is debated by outside observers.
The Premier is the nominal head of government, but effective power lies with
Kim Jong-il, head of the KWP and the military. Kim holds several official titles, the most important being
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the National Defense Commission, and Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army. Within the country he is commonly known by the title of "Dear Leader", part of his
personality cult. Similarly, his late father
Kim Il-sung held the title of "Great Leader."
The
1998 constitution states that the late
Kim Il-sung is "Eternal President of the Republic," and the post of president was abolished after his death. The constitution gives many of the functions normally accorded to a
head of state to the
Supreme People's Assembly Presidium, whose president "represents the State" and receives credentials from foreign ambassadors. The government of the republic is led by the Prime Minister and, in theory, a super
cabinet called the Central People's Committee (CPC), the government's top policymaking body. The CPC is headed by the President, who also nominates the other committee members. The
CPC makes policy decisions and supervises the Cabinet, or State Administration Council (SAC).
SAC is headed by a Premier and is the dominant administrative and
executive agency.
The
parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly (
Choego Inmin Hoeui), is officially the highest organ of state power. Its 687 members are elected every five years by popular vote. The People's Assembly usually holds only two annual meetings, each lasting a few days; it typically ratifies decisions made by the ruling KWP (see
rubber stamp). A standing committee elected by the Assembly performs
legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session.
See also: Foreign relations of North Korea, Military of North Korea, North Korea and weapons of mass destructionMilitary
According to Western estimates, North Korea has the fifth-largest
military in the world, with the largest percentage of citizens enlisted (49.03 active troops per thousand citizens). The North has an estimated 1.08 million armed personnel, compared to about 686,000
South Korean troops (and 3.5 million paramilitary forces) plus 29,000 US troops in South Korea. Military spending is estimated at 20%-25% of
GNP, which would mean that North Korea spends the largest proportion of its GNP on its military in the world. The North has perhaps the world's second-largest special operations force (55,000), designed for insertion behind enemy lines in wartime. While the North has a relatively impressive fleet of
submarines, its surface fleet has a very limited capability. Its air force has twice the number of aircraft as the South, but except for a few advanced fighters (about 20 MiG-29s), the North's air force is obsolete.
Foreign Relations
The foreign relations of North Korea are often regarded as relatively tense and unpredictable. Since the end of the
Korean War in 1953, the North Korean government has been at odds with the
United States,
Japan and to a lesser degree
South Korea, which it is still technically at war with. Since
2000 its relations with the US seriously deteriorated, and was called a part of the "
axis of evil" and an "
outpost of tyranny" by US President
George W. Bush. North Korea does not have diplomatic relations with the US at present.
North Korea has maintained close relations with the
People's Republic of China and
Russia, but the
fall of communism in
eastern Europe in 1989 and the disintegration of the
Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in a significant drop in communist aid to North Korea. North Korea's foreign relations with China has deteriorated since its
missile tests in
July,
2006.
Although still technically at war, both North and South Korea proclaim that they are seeking eventual
reunification as a goal. 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. Both North and South Korea signed the
June 15th North-South Joint Declaration in which both sides made promises to seek out a peaceful reunification. [
5]
North Korea has sold
weapons to
Iran and
Pakistan.
Venezuela, under
Hugo Chávez, has strengthened its ties with North Korea. [
6].
North Korea is a member of several multilateral organizations. It became a member of the
United Nations in September 1991. North Korea also belongs to the
Food and Agriculture Organization; the
International Civil Aviation Organization; the
International Postal Union; the
UN Conference on Trade and Development; the
ITU; the
UN Development Programme; the
UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the
World Health Organization; the
World Intellectual Property Organization; the
World Meteorological Organization; the
International Maritime Organization; the
International Committee of the Red Cross; and the
Nonaligned Movement.
The
Korean Central News Agency regularly reports when Kim Jong-il receives gifts from a foreign leader or organization.[
7] During a 2000 visit to Pyongyang, US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright gave Kim a
basketball signed by
Michael Jordan.
Missiles, Nuclear Weapons Program and the Six-party Talks
North Korea has stated that it has produced
nuclear weapons and according to many
intelligence and
military officials it has produced, or has the capability to produce, up to six or seven such devices. It also has certain quantity of
Nodong 1 and 2,
SCUD, and the long-range
Taepodong 1 and 2 missiles. It has test-fired each of these missiles more than once, despite the
Six-party talks, initiated in
2003. The Six-party talks have been the diplomatic route used to resolve the concern brought about by North Korea's nuclear weapons program. These talks are a series of meetings with six participating states - the People's Republic of China, South Korea, North Korea, the United States of America, the Russian Federation and Japan and were a result of North Korea withdrawing from the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. The aim of these talks is to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns raised by the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
According to Richard Saccone, an expert on Korea, in April 2006 : "After decades of hostile exchanges and months of stalled negotiations about its nuclear weapons, North Korea quietly put forward a positive signal that it is prepared to talk." [
8]
North Korea is not a signatory of the
Missle Technology Control Regime and states that it has the
sovereign right to test its missiles and pursue its weapons program. The DPRK's stance on the
2002 Pyongyang Declaration with Japan is that the agreement is now void due to Japan's failure to normalize relations with the regime. US sanctions following the six-party talks are also cited as a reason to continue missile tests and other aspects of its weapons program. [
9]
North Korea is on the northern portion of the
Korean Peninsula that extends 1,100 kilometres (685
mi) from the
Asian mainland. North Korea borders
South Korea,
China, and
Russia. To the west it borders the
Yellow Sea and the
Korea Bay and to the east it borders the
Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). Japan lies east of the peninsula across the Sea of Japan.
The highest point in Korea is the
Paektu-san at 2,744 metres (9,003
ft), and major rivers include the
Tumen and the
Yalu.
The local
climate is relatively
temperate, with
precipitation heavier in summer during a short rainy season called
jangma, and winters that can be bitterly cold on occasion. The DPRK's capital and largest city is
P'yŏngyang; other major cities include
Kaesŏng in the south,
Sinŭiju in the northwest,
Wŏnsan and
Hamhŭng in the east and
Ch'ŏngjin in the northeast.
See also: Korean Peninsula |
Kwangbok Street in Pyongyang. |
North Korea's
economy has been relatively stagnant since the 1970s. Publicly owned industry produces nearly all manufactured goods. The government focuses on heavy military industry, with an estimated 25% of the nation's
GDP being spent on the military as of
2005. [
10] By comparison, neighboring South Korea spent 2.5% on its military. The government does not release economic data.
In the 1990s North Korea faced significant economic disruptions, including a series of natural disasters, political mismanagement, serious
fertilizer shortages, and the collapse of the Soviet bloc. These resulted in a shortfall of staple
grain output of more than 1 million tons from what the country needs to meet internationally-accepted minimum requirements. The
resulting famine killed between 600,000 and 3.5 million people in the DPRK during the 1990s. [
11] By 1999,
foreign aid reduced the number famine deaths, but
North Korea's continuing nuclear program led to a decline in international food and development aid. In the spring of 2005, the World Food Program reported that famine conditions were in imminent danger of returning to North Korea, and the government was reported to have mobilized millions of city-dwellers to help rice farmers. [
12] [
13] Recent evidence suggests serious food shortages continue. [
14]
North Korea has previously received international food and fuel aid from China, South Korea, and the United States in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. In June 2005, the U.S. announced that it would give 50,000 metric tons of food aid to North Korea.[
15] The United States gave North Korea 50,000 tons in 2004 and 100,000 tons in 2003. [
16] On
19 September 2005, North Korea was promised food and fuel aid (among other things) from South Korea, the U.S.A., Japan, Russia, and the PRC in exchange for abandoning its nuclear weapons program and rejoining the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China is currently the world's third largest food donor, with most of it's donations destined for North Korea. Approximately 92% of 577,000 tonnes of food aid donated by China in
2005 was to North Korea, making up 49% of the food aid North Korea receives. South Korea was the second biggest donor in 2005, contributing 36% on top of China's 49%.
In July 2002, North Korea started experimenting with capitalism in the
Kaesŏng Industrial Region. A small number of other areas have been designated as
Special Administrative Regions, including
Sinŭiju along the China-North Korea border.
Mainland China and
South Korea are the biggest trade partners of North Korea, with trade with China increasing 38% to $1.02 billion in 2003, and trade with South Korea increasing 12% to $724 million in 2003. It is reported that the number of mobile phones in
P'yŏngyang rose from only 3,000 in 2002 to approximately 20,000 during 2004. As of June 2004, however, mobile phones became forbidden again. A small amount of capitalistic elements are gradually spreading from the trial area, including a number of advertising billboards along certain highways. Recent visitors have reported that the number of open-air farmers' markets has increased in
Kaesong,
P'yŏngyang, as well as along the China-North Korea border, bypassing the food rationing system.
According to the
Ministry of Unification of South Korea, the GDP grew by 6.2% in 1999, but only 1.3% in 2000, 3.2 % in 2001, 1.2% in 2002 and 1.8 % in 2003.
In a 2003 event dubbed the "
Pong Su incident", a North Korean cargo ship attempting to smuggle heroin into Australia was seized by Australian officials, strengthening Australian and United States suspicions that Pyongyang engages in international drug smuggling. The North Korean government denied any involvement. [
17]
See also: List of North Korean companies, Communications in North Korea, Transportation in North KoreaNorth Korea's estimated population of 23,000,000 is one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogenous in the world, with small numbers of
Chinese,
Japanese,
Vietnamese and
Eastern European minorities.
Religion
Religious activities are heavily suppressed by the officially
atheist state, especially
Protestantism, which is seen as closely connected to the U.S.A.
North Korea shares with South Korea a
Buddhist and
Confucianist heritage and recent history of
Christian and
Chondogyo ("Heavenly Way") movements. Pyongyang was the centre of Christian activity in Korea before the Korean War. Today two state-sanctioned churches exist, which
religious freedom advocates alleged are mere show-cases for foreigners. [
18] [
19]. There are an estimated 4,000
Catholics and about 9,000
Protestants in North Korea.
According to a ranking published by the organization
Open Doors, North Korea is currently the country with the most severe persecution of Christians worldwide [
20].
Language
North Korea shares the
Korean language with South Korea. There are dialect differences within both parts of Korea, but the border between North and South does not represent a major linguistic boundary. Adoption of modern terms from foreign languages have been limited in North Korea, while prevalent in the South. Other small differences have arisen, primarily in the words used for recent innovations.
Hanja (Chinese characters) are no longer used in North Korea, although still used in South Korea in some contexts. Both Koreas share the
hangul writing system.
The official
romanisation differs in the two countries, with North Korea using the
McCune-Reischauer romanisation of Korean, and the South using the
revised romanisation.
There is a vast
personality cult around Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and much of North Korea's literature, popular, music, theatre, and film glorify the two men.
In July 2004, the
Complex of Koguryo Tombs was the first site in North Korea to be included into the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites.
A popular event in North Korea is the
Mass Games. The most recent and largest Mass Games was called "
Arirang". It was performed six nights a week for two months, and involved over 100,000 performers. The Mass Games involve performances of
dance,
gymnastic, and choreographic routines which celebrate the history of North Korea and the Workers' Party Revolution. The Mass Games are held in Pyongyang at various venues (varying according to the scale of the Games in a particular year) including the May Day Grand Theatre.
Restaurants run by the North Korean government have opened in China (see [
21]).
See also: Culture of Korea, Korean cuisine, Music of Korea, Public holidays in North Korea, Education in North KoreaTourism
In principle, any person is allowed to travel to North Korea, and among those who actually go through the complex application process, almost no one is refused entry. Visitors are not, however, allowed to travel outside designated tour areas without their Korean guides.
Tourists holding passports from the
United States are typically not granted visas, although exceptions have been made in 1995, 2002, and 2005. North Korea has informed tour operators that they will also grant visas to United States passport holders for 2006. Citizens of
South Korea require special government permission from both governments to enter North Korea. In 2002, the area around
Mount Kŭmgang, a scenic mountain close to the South Korea border, has been designated as a special tourist destination (
Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region, commonly known as "the Diamond Mountains" in English), where South Korean citizens do not need special permissions. Tours run by private companies bring thousands of South Koreans to Mount Kŭmgang every year.
In July 2005 the South Korean company
Hyundai Group came to an agreement with the North Korean government to open up more areas to tourism, including
Mount Paektu and
Kaesong.
 |
Map of North Korea |
North Korea is divided into 9
provinces, 3 special
regions, and 2 directly-governed cities (
Chikhalsi; 직할시; 直轄市).
For historical information, see
provinces of Korea and
special cities of Korea.
Provinces
*
Chagang Province (
Chagang-do; 자강도; 慈江")
*
North Hamgyŏng Province (
Hamgyŏng-pukto; 함경 북도; '鏡北")
*
South Hamgyŏng Province (
Hamgyŏng-namdo; 함경 남도; '鏡南")
*
North Hwanghae Province (
Hwanghae-pukto; 황해 북도; 黃海北")
*
South Hwanghae Province (
Hwanghae-namdo; 황해 남도; 黃海南")
*
Kangwŏn Province (
Kangwŏndo; 강원도; 江原")
*
North P'yŏngan Province (
P'yŏngan-pukto; 평안 북도; 平安北")
*
South P'yŏngan Province (
P'yŏngan-namdo; 평안 남도; 平安南")
*
Ryanggang Province (
Ryanggang-do; 량강도; 兩江"--sometimes also spelled as 'Yanggang' in English)
|
Administrative map of North Korea |
Special regions
*
Kaesŏng Industrial Region (
Kaesŏng Kong-ŏp Chigu; 개성 공업 지구; 開城工業地區)
*
Kŭmgangsan Tourist Region (
Kŭmgangsan Kwangwang Chigu; 금강산 관광 지구; 金剛山觀光地區)
*
Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region (
Sinŭiju T'ŭkpyŏl Haengjŏnggu; 신의주 특별 행정구; 新義州特別行"區)
Directly-governed cities
*
P'yŏngyang Directly-governed City (
P'yŏngyang Chikhalsi; 평양 직할시; 平壤直轄市)
*
Rasŏn (Rajin-Sŏnbong) Chikhalsi (라선 (라진-선봉) 직할시; 羅先 (羅津-先') 直轄市)
Major cities
*
Sinuiju*
Kaesong*
Nampho*
Chongjin*
Wonsan*
Hamhung - Hamnam*
Haeju*
Kanggye*
HyesanHuman rights
Amnesty International and other human rights organizations accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation, severely restricting most freedoms, including
freedom of speech and
freedom of movement, both inside the country and abroad.
Refugees have testified to the existence of
detention camps with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates, and have reported
torture, starvation, rape, murder and
forced labour [
22]. Japanese television aired what it said was footage of a prison camp [
23]. In some of the camps, former inmates say the annual mortality rate approaches 25% [
24]. A former prison guard and army intelligence officer said that in one camp, chemical weapons were tested on prisoners in a gas chamber [
25]. According to a former prisoner, pregnant women inside the camps are often forced to have abortions or the newborn child is killed [
26]. None of these claims can be verified, as North Korea denies the existence of the camps and refuses entry to independent human rights observers. However, a recent
TIME magazine article documents a young woman's forced abortion in a prison camp and subsequent escape from North Korea.
*
North Korean Missile Test (2006)*
List of Korea-related topics*
North Korea Times*
List of Koreans*
Korean reunification*
Korean nationalism*
Chongryon*
Korean friendship association*
Kimjongilia (national flower)
*
South Korea*
Korean War#
Kang Chol-Hwan,
The Aquariums of Pyongyang (New York: Basic Books, 2001) 146.
*Gordon Cucullu,
Separated At Birth: How North Korea Became The Evil Twin, Globe Pequot Press (2004), hardcover, 307 pages, ISBN 1592285910
*Bruce Cumings,
Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History,
W.W. Norton & Company, 1998, paperback, 527 pages, ISBN 0393316815
*Bruce Cumings,
Origins of the Korean War (Vol. 1): Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes 1945-1947,
Princeton University Press, 1981, paperback, ISBN 0691101132
*Bruce Cumings,
Origins of the Korean War (Vol. 2): The Roaring of the Cataract 1947-1950,
Cornell University Press, 2004, hardcover, ISBN 8976966139
*Bruce Cumings,
North Korea: Another Country,
New Press, 2004, paperback, ISBN 156584940X
*Bruce Cumings,
Living Through The Forgotten War: Portrait Of Korea,
Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, 2004, paperback, ISBN 0972970401
*Bruce Cumings,
Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria,
New Press, 2006, paperback, ISBN 1595580387
*Nick Eberstadt, aka Nicholas Eberstadt,
The End of North Korea, American Enterprise Institute Press (1999), hardcover, 191 pages, ISBN 084474087X
*John Feffer,
North Korea South Korea: U.S. Policy at a Time of Crisis,
Seven Stories Press, 2003, paperback, 197 pages, ISBN 1583226036
*Mitchell B. Lerner,
The Pueblo Incident: A Spy Ship and the Failure of American Foreign Policy, University Press of Kansas, 2002, hardcover, 408 pages, ISBN 0700611711
*Bradley Martin,
Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader: North Korea And The Kim Dynasty, St. Martins (October, 2004), hardcover, 868 pages, ISBN 0312322216
*Oberdorfer, Don.
The two Koreas : a contemporary history. Addison-Wesley, 1997, 472 pages, ISBN 0201409275
*Kong Dan Oh, and Ralph C. Hassig,
North Korea Through the Looking Glass, The Brookings Institution, 2000, paperback, 216 pages, ISBN 0815764359
*Quinones, Dr. C. Kenneth, and Joseph Tragert,
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding North Korea, Alpha Books, 2004, paperback, 448 pages, ISBN 1592571697
*Sigal, Leon V.,
Disarming Strangers: Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea,
Princeton University Press, 199, 336 pages, ISBN 0691057974
*Vladimir,
Cyber North Korea, Byakuya Shobo, 2003, paperback, 223 pages, ISBN 4893678817
*Norbert Vollertsen,
Inside North Korea: Diary of a Mad Place, Encounter Books, 2003, hardcover, 280 pages, ISBN 1893554872
*Michael Harrold,
Comrades and Strangers: Behind the Closed Doors of North Korea, Wiley Publishing, 2004, paperback, 432 pages, ISBN 0470869763
*
"Korea is one" : Belgian-Korean friendship association*
The North Korean Human Rights Act: Documents and Background Materials*
North Korea - photos from TripAdvisor.ru
*
"Think Again: The Korea Crisis" from Foreign Policy Magazine
*
A gulag with nukes: inside North Korea by Jasper Becker
*
Bizarre Trip of a Lifetime from the
Los Angeles Times, about a group of American "extreme travelers" who visited North Korea in the fall of 2005
*
Pyongyang Watch, an archive of Aidan Foster-Carter's coverage of North Korea for the Asia Times.
*
Peter Hayes, David von Hippel, Jungmin Kang, Tatsujiro Suzuki, Richard Tanter, and Scott Bruce, "Grid-locked," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January/February 2006. On North Korea's energy crisis.
*
"A Year in Pyongyang", by Andrew Holloway, 1988.
Links associated with North Korean government
*
Kim Il Sung: 10 Point programme for reunification of the country
*
korea-dpr.com - Website officially associated with North Korea. (Maintained from a
European server by the
Korean Friendship Association.)
*
Naenara ("My country," in Korean) DPRK's Official Web Portal run by Korea Computer Company
*
The Korean Central News Agency, The DPRK's news service. - Hosted on a Japanese webserver.
*
www.uriminzokkiri.comWeb sites about North Korea
*
DPRK Database: All about North Korea*
Ministry of unification (South Korea)*
Encyclopaedia Britannica, North Korea - Country Page*
BBC News - Country Profile: North Korea*[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/kn.html CIA World Factbook -
North Korea]
*
BBC News - In pictures: Unseen North Korea*
Guardian Unlimited - Special Report: North and South Korea*
Happy Birthday, North Korea - detailed account of travel to 3 sanctioned areas
*
Korean Tourist Map*
NKzone blog about North Korea news
*
North Korea Resources - background news and analysis of North Korea
*
Open Directory Project - North Korea directory category
*
Pyongyang Metro System Unofficial Web Site - 1*
Tours / Tourism page of North Korea, with links to other North Korea related sites*
Trading Ideals for Sustenance Second part of Los Angeles Times expose on changing North Korean life (July 4, 2005)
*
US Library of Congress - Country Studies: North Korea - data as of June 1993
*
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding North Korea*
Children of a Secret State: Human rights of children in North Korea (
Discovery Channel)
*
North Korea: A Reporter's Notebook " Luis Ramirez (
Voice of America)
*
Seoul Train PBS documentary on North Korean refugees, filmed in 2003 (
Incite Productions)
*
Pyongyang Square*
Diplomacy Monitor - North Korea Nuclear Issue*
Artemii Lebedev's photographs of North Korea with commentary in Russian (
American version with English translation)
Web sites criticizing North Korea
*
The Korea Liberator - Blog focusing on human rights conditions in North Korea
*
Another Korea - Background stories on North Korea
*
Soon Ok Lee project - website calling for
Christian solidarity with Korean refugees.
*
Daily NK - North Korea focused daily online newspaper
*
ChosunJournal - website focused on DPRK human rights
*
Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights - Witness accounts of refugees
*
North Korea e-lobby*
Military PhotosDocumentaries on North Korea
*
Kim's Nuclear Gamble - PBS
Frontline Documentary (Video & Transcript)
*
Seoul Train Documentary on North Koreans Trying to escape via China 2004
*
The Hermit Kingdom Dan Rather 60 Minutes 02/06
*
"a state of mind" A documentary by the BBC following two young North Korean gymnasts training for the
mass games.
*
Children of the Secret State Discovery Channel documentary about the children of North Korea.
