47 Fun Facts About North Korea

What do the initials DPRK stand for?

DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the state proclaimed in Pyongyang on 9 September 1948; inside the country the name is usually shortened to 'the Republic'.

Which two rivers form North Korea's northern border with China and Russia?

The Yalu (Amnok) and the Tumen form the border with China, and the Tumen's last 17 km form the short border with Russia; the Yalu, about 790 km long, is Korea's longest river.

What is the highest point in North Korea?

Paektu Mountain, a volcano on the Chinese border, rises 2,744 metres; no peak in South Korea reaches 2,000 metres, so every Korean summit above that height is in the North.

Roughly what proportion of North Korea's land is mountains and uplands?

About 80 percent of North Korea is mountains and uplands, which is why early European visitors said the country looked like 'a sea in a heavy gale'.

On which river does Pyongyang stand?

Pyongyang stands on the Taedong River, about 109 km upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea; the city had 3.26 million people at the 2008 census.

Along which line of latitude was Korea divided into Soviet and American occupation zones in 1945?

The 38th parallel split Korea into a Soviet zone in the north and an American zone in the south in August 1945; the DPRK was proclaimed on 9 September 1948 with Kim Il Sung as premier.

On what date did North Korea invade the South, starting the Korean War?

North Korea invaded the South on 25 June 1950; the UN Security Council could authorise a response only because the Soviet Union was boycotting it over China's seat.

How did the Korean War end on 27 July 1953?

About 3 million people died, and an estimated 12-15% of North Korea's population was killed, with almost every substantial building destroyed.

Which Soviet leader's de-Stalinisation policies did Kim Il Sung denounce as 'revisionist'?

Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation after 1956 was branded 'revisionist' by Kim Il Sung, who that year purged the pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese factions in the August Faction Incident.

What is the name of Kim Il Sung's philosophy of self-reliance that became North Korea's state ideology?

It was first sold as a 'creative application' of Marxism-Leninism but had replaced it entirely by the 1970s; the 170-metre Juche Tower in Pyongyang celebrates it.

What was the 'military first' policy introduced by Kim Jong Il called?

Songun, 'military first', was Kim Jong Il's policy of putting the Korean People's Army ahead of every other state priority; it was written into the constitution in 2009.

How long a national mourning period did Kim Jong Il declare after his father's death in 1994?

Kim Jong Il declared three years of mourning after Kim Il Sung died in July 1994, only taking the title of General Secretary in October 1997; the floods and famine of the mid-1990s fell in between.

What name did North Korea give to the famine of the mid-1990s?

North Korea called the famine the 'Arduous March', borrowing the name of Kim Il Sung's 1938–39 guerrilla retreat in Manchuria; the state accepted UN food aid in 1996.

In which year did North Korea announce it had conducted its first nuclear weapons test?

North Korea announced its first nuclear test on 9 October 2006, after abandoning the 1994 Agreed Framework; tensions rose again in 2010 with the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan.

On what date did Kim Jong Il die, leading to Kim Jong Un's succession?

Kim Jong Il died on 17 December 2011, reportedly of a heart attack aboard his train; his youngest son Kim Jong Un succeeded him and held summits with the US and South Korea in 2018.

What did Kim Jong Un announce on 30 December 2023?

At a party plenum ending 30 December 2023, Kim Jong Un declared that unification with South Korea was no longer possible and called the South a hostile state; in January 2024 Pyongyang demolished its Arch of Reunification.

Which organisation is the sole ruling political force in North Korea?

The Workers' Party of Korea, formed in 1949 by merging the northern and southern workers' parties, has ruled since the state's founding; its newspaper is Rodong Sinmun.

What is the name of North Korea's highest state organ, its nominal legislature?

The Supreme People's Assembly, a 687-seat unicameral body, is the nominal legislature; its Standing Committee exercises most of its powers between sessions and alone may interpret the constitution.

Kim Il Sung's birthday, 15 April, is a public holiday known as what?

15 April is the Day of the Sun, so named in 1997 for Kim Il Sung; Kim Jong Il's birthday, 16 February, is the Day of the Shining Star.

What is Songbun?

Songbun is a hereditary class system based on assessed loyalty; Kim Il Sung said in 1958 that the loyal 'core class' was 25% of the population, the 'wavering class' 55% and the 'hostile class' 20%.

In which year was the payment of taxes officially abolished in North Korea?

Taxes were formally abolished on 1 April 1974, a date North Korea marks as Tax Abolition Day; housing and food are heavily subsidised, though informal jangmadang markets have supplied much of daily life since the 1990s famine.

What is North Korea's currency?

The North Korean won, divided into 100 chon, is the currency; a November 2009 revaluation that knocked two zeros off banknotes and restricted markets and foreign currency triggered inflation and rare protests.

As of 2023, roughly what share of North Korea's imports came from China?

About 97% of North Korea's imports in 2023 came from China, which has been its dominant trading partner since Soviet aid ended in the early 1990s.

What is the name of North Korea's walled-garden national intranet?

Kwangmyong, run by the Korea Computer Center, is the national intranet carrying state media, message boards and e-mail; access to the real internet is limited to a small elite.

North Korea became the tenth spacefaring nation with which December 2012 launch?

Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2, lofted by an Unha-3 rocket on 12 December 2012, reached orbit after four failed attempts, though the satellite was believed to be tumbling; North Korea had joined the Outer Space Treaty in 2009.

Which Guinness-recognised Pyongyang event, the world's biggest choreographic show, involves some 100,000 performers?

The Arirang Mass Games, staged in Pyongyang's Rungrado 1st of May Stadium from 2002, earned a Guinness record for the largest gymnastic display, with around 100,000 performers.

Which team did North Korea famously beat 1-0 at the 1966 World Cup?

Pak Doo-ik's goal beat Italy 1-0 at Middlesbrough in 1966, sending North Korea into a quarter-final they lost 5-3 to Portugal after leading 3-0.

What is the nickname of North Korea's national football team?

Chollima is a mythical winged horse; the DPR Korea League's games are often televised inside the country.

Which former NBA star visited North Korea in 2013 to help train its basketball team after befriending Kim Jong Un?

Dennis Rodman first visited Pyongyang in February 2013 with the Harlem Globetrotters for a Vice documentary, struck up a friendship with Kim Jong Un and returned later that year to coach North Korean players.

Which North Korean studio built Senegal's 49-metre African Renaissance Monument, unveiled in 2010?

Mansudae Art Studio, founded in 1959 and employing some 4,000 people, built the 49-metre bronze African Renaissance Monument in Dakar through its Mansudae Overseas Projects arm; it was unveiled in April 2010.

Which of North Korea's 'Five Great Revolutionary Operas' is the most performed, staged 1,500+ times?

Sea of Blood, premiered in 1971 from a play attributed to Kim Il Sung, has been staged more than 1,500 times; revolutionary operas add Korean instruments to the orchestra and drop recitative.

Which Western news agency opened the first full-time, all-format Western bureau in Pyongyang in 2012?

The Associated Press opened its Pyongyang bureau in January 2012, the first full-time, all-format Western news bureau in the country; Agence France-Presse followed with its own bureau in 2016.

Which unfinished Pyongyang skyscraper is the tallest unoccupied building in the world?

The Ryugyong Hotel, a 330-metre, 105-storey pyramid begun in 1987, has never opened; its bare concrete shell stood for years before glass cladding was added in 2011.

Pyongyang's 60-metre triumphal arch, built in 1982, is a larger copy of which monument?

Pyongyang's arch, built in 1982 for Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday, is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris but stands 60 metres tall, about 10 metres higher than the Paris original.

What nickname did missionaries give Pyongyang in the early 20th century for its strong Protestant community?

Missionaries called Pyongyang the 'Jerusalem of the East' because by the early 1900s it held Korea's largest Protestant community; the Pyongyang Revival of 1907 was the high point.

According to legend, in which year BC was Pyongyang founded on the site of Tan'gun's capital?

Legend dates Pyongyang's founding to 1122 BC, when the sage Gija is said to have settled on the site of Tan'gun's capital; Goguryeo later moved its court there in 427 AD.

Which Dutch East India Company sailor's travel writings hold the first modern spelling of 'Korea'?

Hendrick Hamel, shipwrecked on Jeju in 1653 and held in Korea for 13 years, wrote the journal in which the modern spelling 'Korea' first appeared in the late 17th century.

What is the average daily high temperature in Pyongyang in January?

Pyongyang's January highs average about -3 C (27 F), with clear skies broken by snowstorms on Siberian winds; August highs average 29 C.

In which year was Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang founded?

Kim Il Sung University opened in Pyongyang on 1 October 1946, the first university in North Korea; Kim Jong Il graduated from it in 1964.

When did North Korea join the United Nations?

North Korea joined the United Nations on 17 September 1991, the same day as South Korea and in the year the Soviet Union dissolved and cut off its aid.

What is North Korea's total area?

North Korea covers about 120,540 square kilometres, roughly a fifth larger than South Korea, lying between latitudes 37 and 43 north with the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan to the east.

Roughly what proportion of North Korea's road network is paved?

Under 3 percent of North Korea's roughly 25,000 km of roads are paved; rail carries about 80% of passenger traffic and 86% of freight, though power shortages hobble the trains.

What name does North Korea use for Korea, as opposed to the South's 'Hanguk'?

North Korea calls the country Chosŏn, after the Joseon dynasty and the ancient kingdom of Gojoseon, while the South uses Hanguk; the full name is Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk.

In which city did the North carry out a 1983 bombing aimed at South Korea's leadership?

The Rangoon bombing of 9 October 1983 killed 21 people at Burma's Martyrs' Mausoleum but missed President Chun Doo-hwan, who arrived late; earlier attempts on the South's leaders came in 1968 and 1974.

What does the regime call the Kim family's ruling lineage?

The regime calls the Kim lineage the Mount Paektu Bloodline, tying it to the sacred mountain where Kim Jong Il was officially said to have been born; it runs from Kim Il Sung to his son (1994) and grandson (2011).

Which South Korean president launched the Sunshine Policy toward the North in 1998?

Kim Dae-jung launched the Sunshine Policy on taking office in 1998; it culminated in the June 2000 Pyongyang summit with Kim Jong Il and won him that year's Nobel Peace Prize.

What do North Koreans call their Pyongan dialect, regarding Seoul speech as decadent?

Munhwaŏ, 'cultured language', is the Pyongyang-based standard set out by Kim Il Sung in 1966; Chinese characters and many Chinese and Western loanwords were purged from it, while the South's standard is P'yojun'ŏ.