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 tests of nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community.

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

slightly smaller than Mississippi

temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer

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

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

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

22,665,345 (July 2010 est.)

14.82 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

10.52 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

-0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.94 children born/woman (2010 est.)

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

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

Communist state one-man dictatorship

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)

adopted 1948; revised several times most recently in 2009

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

17 years of age; universal

unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

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

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)

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

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 stands for purity, strength, and dignity; the blue bands signify sovereignty, peace, and friendship; the red star represents socialism

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. 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, but in March 2009 rejected additional US aid shipments. The economy probably grew in 2009 as a result of favorable climate conditions and energy assistance from other countries. 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. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations.

$40 billion (2009 est.)

$40 billion (2008 est.)

$40 billion (2007 est.)

Korea does not publish any reliable National Income Accounts data; the data shown here is 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 2009 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.

$27.8 billion (2009 est.)

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

20.9 billion kWh (2007 est.)

17.49 billion kWh (2007 est.)

92.99 bbl/day (2009 est.)

16,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

13,890 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

$2.062 billion (2008)

$1.684 billion (2007)

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

China 42%, South Korea 38%, India 5% (2008)

$3.574 billion (2008)

$3.055 billion (2007)

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

China 57%, South Korea 25%, Russia 3%, Singapore 3% (2008)

$12.5 billion (2001 est.)

North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar (market rate) - 3,630 (December 2008)

North Korean won (KPW) per US dollar (official rate) - 140 (2007), 141 (2006), 170 (December 2004)

no independent media; radios and televisions are pre-tuned to government stations; 4 government-owned television 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)

2,250 km; (most navigable only by small craft) (2008)

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

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

17 years of age (2004)

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