North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu (Amnok) and Tumen rivers, and South Korea to the south at the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The country's western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eastern border is defined by the Sea of Japan. North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula and adjacent islands. Pyongyang is the capital and largest city.
Telecommunications in North Korea refers to the communication services available in North Korea. North Korea has not fully adopted mainstream Internet technology due to its isolationist policies.
The Korean People's Army is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air Force, Strategic Force, and the Special Operation Force. It is commanded by the WPK Central Military Commission, which is chaired by the WPK general secretary, and the president of the State Affairs; both posts are currently headed by Kim Jong Un.
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.
Pyongyang is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about 109 km (68 mi) upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 population census, it has a population of 3,255,288. Pyongyang is a directly administered city with a status equal to that of the North Korean provinces.
Air Koryo is the state-owned flag carrier of North Korea, headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang. Based at Pyongyang International Airport, it operates international scheduled and charter services to destinations within Asia as well as flights on behalf of the Government of North Korea.
Sinŭiju, known before 1925 in English as Yeng Byen City, is a city in North Korea which faces Dandong, Liaoning, China, across the international border of the Yalu River. It is the capital of North P'yŏngan province. Part of the city is included in the Sinŭiju Special Administrative Region, which was established in 2002 to experiment with introducing a market economy. In recent years, the city, despite lagging behind the development in the capital Pyongyang, has seen a small construction boom and increasing tourism from China.
Chagang Province is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was formed in 1949, after being demarcated from North Pyongan. The provincial capital is Kanggye. Before 2019, Chagang was the only province of North Korea completely inaccessible to tourists, possibly due to weapons factories and nuclear weapon facilities located there. In 2019 the city of Manpo became accessible to tourists. In May 2018, the province became a "Special Songun Revolutionary Zone" in relations to concealing the nuclear weapon and weapon's factories within the province.
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5 minute (off-peak) | system_length = 22.5 km (14.0 mi) | track_gauge = 1,435 mmstandard gauge | operator = Pyongyang Metro Administration Bureau{{|ko|평양지하철도}} | ogauge = | minimum_radius_of_curvature = | el = | average_speed = | top_speed = 70 km/h (43 mph) | map = | marks = | began_operation = September 1973 | imagesize = 100px | locale = Pyongyang, North Korea | image2 = PYONGYANG METRO DPR KOREA OCT 2012 (8148604784).jpg | imagesize2 = 300px | caption2 = Type D | alt = A blue circle with red lettering inside it; underneath the circle is a red V | native_name = 평양 지하철도
P'yŏngyang Chihach'ŏlto | owner = | transit_type = Rapid transit | website = | lines = 2 | line_number = Chollima Line
Hyoksin Line | stations = 16 (Chollima Line : 8, Hyoksin Line : 8) | ridership = 400,000 (Weekdays)
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(July 2019) | annual_ridership = | chief_executive = | headquarters = Pyongyang Metro,
City Metro Unit,
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Democratic People's Republic of Korea | map_name = Route Map of Pyongyang Metro
Kim Il Sung University (Korean: 김일성종합대학) is a university in Taesong, Pyongyang, North Korea. Founded on 1 October 1946, it is the first institution of higher learning in North Korea since its foundation.
Rodong Sinmun is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on 1 November 1945, as Cheongro, serving as a communication channel for the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea. It was renamed in September 1946 to its current name upon the steady development of the Workers' Party of Korea. Quoted frequently by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and international media, it is regarded as a source of official North Korean viewpoints on many issues.
Education in North Korea is universal and state-funded schooling by the government. As of 2021, UNESCO Institute for Statistics does not report any data for North Korea's literacy rates. Some children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to university.
Hwang Jang-yop was a North Korean politician who served as the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly from 1972 to 1983 and was largely responsible for crafting Juche, the state ideology of North Korea. He defected to South Korea in 1997, the highest-ranking North Korean to have defected.
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.
The Korean People's Army Ground Force is the main branch of the Korean People's Army, responsible for land-based military operations.
Chung-guyok is one of the 19 guyok which constitute the city of Pyongyang, North Korea. The district is located in the center of the city, between the Pothonggang Canal and Taedong River, and is bordered to the north by Moranbong-guyok, to the northwest by Potonggang-guyok, and to the south by Pyongchon-guyok.
Rimyŏngsu Sports Club (Korean: 리명수체육단) is a North Korean professional football club based in Sariwŏn. Despite never winning the DPR Korea League, Rimyŏngsu supplied four players to the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship and five players to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, more than any other North Korean club. Like the Amrokkang Sports Club, Rimyŏngsu is affiliated with the Ministry of People's Security. It was named after General Ri Myŏng-su.
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.
The Day of the Sun is an annual public holiday in North Korea on 15 April, the birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, founder and Eternal President of North Korea. It is the most important national holiday in the country, and is considered to be the North Korean equivalent of Christmas. Kim's birthday, which had been an official holiday since 1968, was renamed Day of the Sun in 1997, three years after his death. The name takes its significance from his name: Il-sung.
