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38north.org
''38 North'' is a website devoted to analysis about North Korea. Its name refers to the 38th parallel north which passes through the Korean peninsula and from 1945 until the start of the Korean War in 1950 divided the peninsula into North and South Korea. Formerly a program of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, it is now housed at the Stimson Center and is directed by Senior Fellow Jenny Town. Notable contributors include nuclear scientist Sigfried Hecker, former Associated Press Pyongyang Bureau Chief Jean H. Lee, cybersecurity expert James Andrew Lewis, and North Korea Tech founder Martyn Williams. Satellite imagery analysis ''38 North'' is an authoritative source of policy and technical analysis regarding North Korea's internal and external affairs. It aims to facilitate an informed public policy debate about peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and provide policymakers, practitioners and other ...
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Economy Of North Korea
The economy of North Korea is a Central planning, centrally planned economy, following ''Juche'', where the role of market allocation schemes is limited, although increased to an extent. , North Korea continues its basic adherence to a centralized planned economy. With a total gross domestic product of $28.500 billion as of 2016, there has been some North Korean economic reform, economic liberalization, particularly after Kim Jong Un assumed the leadership in 2012, but reports conflict over particular legislation and enactment. Since the 1990s, informal market activity has increased, which the government has tolerated. These markets are referred to as 'Jangmadang', and were formed as a result of the economic collapse during the 1990s, which made the regime unable to distribute food to its people. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea, COVID-19 pandemic, the government tightened border control and began major crackdowns on private economic activities with a shif ...
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North Korea And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
North Korea has a nuclear weapons program, and, as of 2024, is estimated to have an arsenal of approximately 50 nuclear weapons and sufficient production of fissile material for six to seven nuclear weapons per year.Nuclear Weapons: Who Has What at a Glance
(updated August 2020)
North Korea has also stockpiled a significant quantity of and

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Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center (녕변원자력연구소) is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produced the fissile material for North Korea's six nuclear weapon tests from 2006 to 2017, and since 2009 is developing indigenous light water reactor nuclear power station technology. Facilities The major installations include all aspects of a Magnox nuclear reactor fuel cycle, based on the use of natural uranium fuel: * a fuel fabrication plant, * a 5 MWe experimental reactor producing power and district heating, * a short-term spent fuel storage facility, * a fuel reprocessing facility that recovers uranium and plutonium from spent fuel using the PUREX process. Magnox spent fuel is not designed for long-term storage as both the casing and uranium metal core react with water; it is designed to be reproces ...
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Pyongyang
Pyongyang () is the Capital city, 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 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 Special cities of North Korea, directly administered city () with a status equal to that of the Provinces of North Korea, North Korean provinces. Pyongyang is one of the oldest cities in Korea. It was the capital of two ancient Korean kingdoms, Gojoseon and Goguryeo, and served as the secondary capital of Goryeo. Following the establishment of North Korea in 1948, Pyongyang became its ''de facto'' capital. The city was again devastated during the Korean War, but was quickly rebuilt after the war with Soviet Union, Soviet assistance. Pyongyang is the political, industrial and transport center of North Korea. It is estimated that 99% of those living in Pyongy ...
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Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site
Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site () was the only known nuclear test site of North Korea. Nuclear tests were conducted at the site in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017. Geography The site was established in the early 2000s and has three visible tunnel entrances. It is in mountainous terrain in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, about south of Mantapsan, west of Hwasong concentration camp and northwest of the Punggye-ri village. The most proximate settlement to the possible nuclear underground test site is Chik-tong, a small populated place located at . Sungjibaegam is a settlement located from the tremor of the 2013 test. Punggye-ri railway station is located at . History In January 2013, Google Maps was updated to include various locations in North Korea. On 8 April 2013, it was reported that South Korea had observed activity at Punggye-ri, suggesting that a fourth nuclear test was being prepared, but the ...
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Media Coverage Of North Korea
Media coverage of North Korea (officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of 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. Access to North Korea by foreign news media is severely restricted by the North Korean government. There are very few full-time correspondents in the country. In the absence of on-the-spot reportage, a key source of information about North Korea is the testimony of defectors, but the defectors are not necessarily reliable for several reasons. Overall, much information about North Korea is filtered through South Korea, and the longstanding conflict between the two states distorts the information that is received. Despite North Korea being a "black box" to outsiders, strong interest in the Kim family, as well as misunderstandings of Korean culture, have also led to inaccurate reporting. In th ...
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Sohae Satellite Launching Station
Sohae Satellite Launching Station (, also known as Tongch'ang-dong Space Launch Center and Pongdong-ri) is a rocket launching site in Tongch'ang-ri, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The base is located among hills close to the northern border with China. The spaceport was built on the site of the village Pongdong-ri which was displaced during construction. It was the site for the 13 April 2012 launch of the North Korean satellite Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, which was launched to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. The rocket launch failed, but on 12 December of the same year Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 was successfully launched and brought into Earth orbit. The launches were controversial as they were dismissed by the US as tests of ballistic missile technology and hence of breach of an agreement made between North Korea and the US in February 2012. During the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, Kim Jong Un promised that North Korea w ...
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Agriculture In North Korea
Farming in North Korea is concentrated in the flatlands of the four west coast provinces, where a longer growing season, level land, adequate rainfall, and good irrigated soil permit the most intensive cultivation of crops. A narrow strip of similarly fertile land runs through the eastern seaboard Hamgyŏng provinces and Kangwŏn Province. The interior provinces of Chagang and Ryanggang are too mountainous, cold, and dry to allow much farming. The mountains contain the bulk of North Korea's forest reserves while the foothills within and between the major agricultural regions provide lands for livestock grazing and fruit tree cultivation. Major crops including rice fields and non-paddy fields by Kim Il-sung since 1947 as part of an agrarian socialist and classless society. 23.4% of North Korea's forced labor camps and revolutionary total control zones worked in agriculture in 2012. Farming conditions North Korea's sparse agricultural resources restrict agricultural p ...
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North Korea–United States Relations
Relations between North Korea and the United States have been historically hostile. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations. Instead, they have adopted an indirect diplomatic arrangement using neutral intermediaries. The Embassy of Sweden, Pyongyang, Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang is the U.S. protecting power and provides limited consular services to U.S. citizens. North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), does not have an embassy in Washington, D.C., but is represented in the United States through its Permanent Mission of North Korea to the United Nations, mission to the United Nations in New York City which serves as North Korea's de facto embassy, ''de facto'' embassy. The source of the hostilities dates back to the Korean War in which both countries fought on opposite sides. Since the Korean Armistice Agreement, armistice was signed, areas of contention have since revolved around North Korea's North Korea and weapons of mass destructi ...
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China–North Korea Relations
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 have been somewhat strained in recent years because of North Korea and weapons of mass destruction, North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close Special relationship (international relations), special relationship. China and North Korea have a Mutual Aid and Cooperation Friendship Treaty between The People's Republic of China and The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, mutual aid and co-operation treaty, signed in 1961, which is currently the only defense treaty China has with any nation. China's relationship with North Korea is its only formal alliance. China maintains an Embassy of China, Pyongyang, embassy in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang and a Consulate-General of China, Chongjin, consulate general in Chongjin. The Embassy of North Korea, Beijing, embassy of North Korea in China is located in B ...
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North Korea Tech
North Korea Tech is a US-based blog authored by British journalist Martyn Williams which covers consumer electronics and technology developments in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was established in 2010. North Korea Tech is based in Washington DC. The site is affiliated with ''38 North''. Background According to Williams, he was inspired to start the blog after a 15-year stint as a Tokyo-based correspondent for IDG News Service during which he observed the growing "wealth, knowledge and prosperity gap between North and South Korea." About his interest in the country, he said "North Korea appears today an even more difficult country to understand than the USSR ever was, thus my interest as a journalist." As of 2016, the website received about 20,000 visits a month. The site has covered North Korean cell phones, satellites, internet domains, operating systems, missile technology, and online TV services. North Korea Tech has often been cited by international media, ...
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The Stimson Center
The Stimson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that analyzes issues related to global peace. It is named after the American lawyer and politician Henry L. Stimson. Stimson analyzes issues such as nuclear proliferation, arms trafficking, water management, wildlife poaching, and responses to humanitarian crises. It also provides consulting for US and international institutions and publishes articles for the general public. In 2013, Stimson received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Stimson was ranked 10th best US think tank in the University of Pennsylvania's ''2020 Global Go To Think Tanks Report''. History The Stimson Center was founded in 1989 by Barry Blechman and Michael Krepon. It is currently led by Chairman of the Board Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle and President and CEO Brian Finlay. The center is funded by research contracts, grants from foundations and other donations. It publicly discloses funding sources on an annual basis. Programs ...
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