North Korea has diplomatic relations with 160 states. The country's foreign relations have been dominated by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties to the Soviet Union. Both the government of North Korea and the government of South Korea claim to be the sole legitimate government of the whole of Korea. The de facto end of the Korean War left North Korea in a military confrontation with South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Rason is a North Korean special city and ice-free port in the Sea of Japan in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location of the Rason Special Economic Zone.
The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However,the government routinely disregards these rights,and seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the death of Kim Jong Il,news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. Kim Jong Un,who replaced his father as the leader,has largely followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather,Kim Il Sung,and his father. However,new technologies are being made more freely available in the country. State-run media outlets are setting up websites,while mobile phone ownership in the country has escalated rapidly. "There is no country which monopolizes and controls successfully the internet and information as North Korea does," said Kang Shin-sam,an expert on North Korean technology and co-head of the International Solidarity for Freedom of Information in North Korea,a nonprofit based in South Korea. North Korea has about four million mobile-phone subscribers circa 2022—roughly one-sixth of the population and four times the number in 2012,according to an estimate by Kim Yon-ho,a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.
Tourism in North Korea is tightly controlled by the North Korean government. All tourism is organized by one of several state-owned tourism bureaus,including Korea International Travel Company (KITC),Korean International Sports Travel Company (KISTC),Korean International Taekwondo Tourism Company (KITTC) and Korean International Youth Travel Company (KIYTC). The majority of tourists are Chinese nationals:one 2019 estimate indicated that up to 120,000 Chinese tourists had visited North Korea in the previous year,compared to fewer than 5,000 from Western countries.
Kim Jong Un is a North Korean politician who has been supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il,who was North Korea's second supreme leader from 1994 until his death in 2011,and Ko Yong Hui. He is a grandson of Kim Il Sung,who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
The Rason Special Economic Zone,earlier called the Rajin-Sonbong Economic Special Zone,was established in the early 1990s by the North Korean government near Rason to promote economic growth through foreign investment. It is similar to the Special Economic Zones set up by the People's Republic of China and elsewhere to pilot market economics in a designated controlled area. It is near the border with China and Russia and is a warm-water port for both countries.
North Korea–Russia relations are the bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea. The Soviet Union was the first to recognize North Korea on October 12,1948,shortly after the proclamation,as the sole legitimate authority in all of Korea. The Soviet Union supported North Korea during the Korean War. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc,and received major Soviet military and political support. The comprehensive personality cult around North Korea's ruling family was heavily influenced by Stalinism. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s,as North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.
Mongolia–North Korea relations are the historic and current bilateral relations between Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been generally friendly,although they were sometimes strained in recent years because of North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close special relationship and China is often considered to be North Korea's closest ally. China and North Korea have a mutual aid and co-operation treaty,signed in 1961,which is currently the only defense treaty either country has with any nation.
Minju Choson is a state-run North Korean government newspaper. It is published in Pyongyang. It was started in 1945. It is the principal newspaper of the Cabinet of North Korea and the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly.
Malaysia–North Korea relations were once strong but deteriorated following the 2017 assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Kuala Lumpur.
North Korea–Singapore relations are bilateral relations between North Korea and Singapore.
Geoffrey See is an entrepreneur,founder and Chairman of non-profit group Choson Exchange,which supports change in North Korea through exposure to knowledge and information in business,entrepreneurship and law. The organization has trained more than 2000 North Koreans.
Ri Su-yong,also known as Ri Chol (이철),is a North Korean diplomat and politician,serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea from April 2014 until May 2016.
The Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or State Academy of Sciences,formerly the National Academy of Sciences,is the national academy of sciences of North Korea. It was founded in 1952,and until 1981 was responsible for all research conducted in the country before various organizational reforms and splittings of academies were conducted.
Kim Jong-suk is a North Korean government official. She is the chairwoman of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries. In 2017,she was appointed to the Diplomatic Commission of the Supreme People's Assembly. She is a former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Minju Choson.
The 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit,commonly known as the Singapore Summit,was a summit meeting between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump,held at the Capella Hotel,Sentosa,Singapore,on June 12,2018. It was the first-ever meeting between leaders of North Korea and the United States. They signed a joint statement,agreeing to security guarantees for North Korea,new peaceful relations,the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,recovery of soldiers' remains,and follow-up negotiations between high-level officials. Both leaders also met separately with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Kim Jong Un has been the supreme leader of North Korea since the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011.
The leaders of some countries or their representatives or spokespersons released public statements about the 2018 North Korea–United States summit. The summit received a mixed international reaction,with many countries expressing praise or hope for achieving a peace deal from the summit.
The 2019 North Korea–Russia summit was a summit meeting between North Korea and Russia where North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 25 April 2019.
