Related Research Articles
Telecommunications in North Korea refers to the communication services available in North Korea. North Korea has not fully adopted mainstream Internet technology due to some restrictions on foreign interventions.
"State Sponsors of Terrorism" is a designation applied to countries that are alleged to have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism" per the United States Department of State. Inclusion on the list enables the United States government to impose four main types of unilateral sanctions: a restriction of foreign aid, a ban on weapons sales, heightened control over the export of dual-use equipment, and other miscellaneous economic sanctions. The State Department is required to maintain the list under section 1754(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, and section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act.
Islam is the majority religion in Azerbaijan, but the country is considered to be the most secular in the Muslim world. Various reports have estimated 97.3% or 99.2% of the population identifying as Muslim; with the majority being adherents of the Shia branch (55-65%), while a significant minority (35-45%) are Sunnis. Traditionally, the differences between these two branches of Islam have not been sharply defined in Azerbaijan.
Islam entered Iran with the Muslim conquest (637–651) and led to the end of the Sasanian Empire and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Iran (Persia). Since its establishment after the 7th-century conquest, Islam has remained the state religion of Iran except for during a short period after the Mongol invasions and subsequent establishment of the Ilkhanate in the 13th century. Following the Muslim conquest, there was a slow but steady movement of the population toward Islam, despite notable resistance, with nobility and city-dwellers being the first to convert, and the peasantry and the dehqans, or land-owning magnates slower to do so. By the 10th century, the majority of Persians had become Muslims.
Islam (Korean: 이슬람교) is a minor religion in South Korea and North Korea. The Muslim community is centered in Seoul and Busan and there are a few mosques around the country. According to the Korea Muslim Federation, there are about 200,000 Muslims living in South Korea, and about 70 to 80 percent are foreigners. Seoul alone has 40% of South Korea's total Muslim population. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hosted an Iftar dinner during the month of Ramadan every year since 2004. Among Koreans, Muslims consist of only 0.4% of the total population. However, the increasing immigration of Muslims to Korea is allowing the Muslim communities in Korea to continue to grow.
Alejandro Cao de Benós de Les y Pérez is a Spanish-born North Korean political activist. He is a Special Representative of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea. He is, according to himself, also the Special Delegate of North Korea's Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. He is wanted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. Officially, North Korea is an atheist state, although its constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, provided that religious practice does not introduce foreign forces, harm the state, or harm the existing social order. Based on estimates from the late 1990s and the 2000s, North Korea is mostly irreligious, with the main religions being Shamanism and Chondoism. There are small communities of Buddhists and Christians. Chondoism is represented in politics by the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way, and is regarded by the government as Korea's "national religion" because of its identity as a minjung (popular) and "revolutionary anti-imperialist" movement.
After the death of Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad's successor as caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should have been Ali ibn Abi Talib. This dispute spread across various parts of the Muslim world, which eventually led to the Battle of Jamal and Battle of Siffin. Sectarianism based on this historic dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Husayn ibn Ali and some of his close partisans, including members and children of Muhammad's household, were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community, albeit disproportionately, into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. This is known today as the Islamic schism.
Iran–North Korea relations are described as being positive by official news agencies of the two countries. Diplomatic relations improved following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Iran and North Korea pledge cooperation in educational, scientific, and cultural spheres. Some media reports claim this cooperation extends to nuclear cooperation, though official U.S. government publications and academic studies have disputed this. The United States has been greatly concerned by North Korea's arms deals with Iran, which started during the 1980s with North Korea acting as a third party in arms deals between the Communist bloc and Iran, as well as selling domestically produced weapons to Iran, and North Korea continues selling missiles to Iran. North Korea and Iran are the remaining two members of George W. Bush's "Axis of evil", which has led to many of the concerns regarding Iran–North Korea relations.
Religion in Iran has been shaped by multiple religions and sects over the course of the country's history. Zoroastrianism was the main followed religion during the Achaemenid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sasanian Empire. Another Iranian religion known as Manichaeanism was present in Iran during this period. Jewish and Christian communities thrived, especially in the territories of northwestern, western, and southern Iran—mainly Caucasian Albania, Asoristan, Persian Armenia, and Caucasian Iberia. A significant number of Iranian peoples also adhered to Buddhism in what was then eastern Iran, such as the regions of Bactria and Sogdia.
Pyongyang (Korean: 평양관) is a restaurant chain named after the capital of North Korea, with around 130 locations worldwide. The restaurants are owned and operated by the Haedanghwa Group, an organization of the government of North Korea.
NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C., and London. Reporting is based on information collected from in-country sources, recently returned western visitors to North Korea, stories filed by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), interviews with defectors, and reports published by NGOs and western governments. The site's founder and Managing Director is Chad O'Carroll, a former employee of the German Marshall Fund, who has written on North Korea and North Korea issues for The Daily Telegraph.
Media coverage of North Korea is hampered by an extreme lack of reliable information, coupled with an abundant number of sensationalist falsehoods. There are a number of reasons for this lack of information and incorrect stories.
Anti-Sunnism is hatred of, prejudice against, discrimination against, persecution of, and violence against Sunni Muslims.
The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China in DPR Korea. The embassy is located in Kinmaul-dong, the Moranbong District of Pyongyang. The embassy currently provides a number of consular services, namely passport and visa related.
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the diplomatic mission of Iran to North Korea. It is located in Munhungdong, Monsu Street, Taedongkang District, Pyongyang. The current ambassador is Seyed Mohsen Emadi.
The COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea was part of an global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). North Korea confirmed its first case on 8 May 2022.
The Pyongyang General Hospital is a hospital under construction in Pyongyang, North Korea. The hospital is located in front of Monument to Party Founding. Its groundbreaking took place on 19 March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its construction proceeded on the basis of a "speed campaign" with an expected completion date of October 2020, before the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Mirae is a North Korean WiFi service that enables mobile devices to access a state-sanctioned intranet network via a separate SIM card named Mirae and an app. Only websites approved by the North Korean authorities can be accessed.
References
- ↑ "Iran Build's Pyongyang's First Mosque | NK News". NK News . January 22, 2013.
- ↑ "The first and the only mosque in North they say its for the staff but there are some rumors that some people goKorea". Muslimpress. Archived from the original on 2020-04-30. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- ↑ "Google Earth and the DPRK: Pyongyang Mosque, Kobangsan, and new hospital". North Korean Economy Watch.
 | This article about a mosque or other Islamic place of worship in Asia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a North Korean building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |