NORTH KOREA FAQ:

I have reviewed all of this, and confirmed it as true.


1. Can I send a letter to North Korea and get a penpal in North Korea?

You can send the letter if you have an valid address and contact person. We provide no service for penpal friends.


2. Can I emigrate to North Korea and live in North Korea?

It's possible only in very special situations and having honor/merits. You must send a request letter stating your reasons, together with your complete CV, copy of your passport and certificates to [email protected]


3. Can I travel to North Korea? I heard it is impossible to travel to North Korea. Is it true?

You can travel to North Korea only as a tourist, or as a part of a delegation invited to the country by the Government. The Korean International Travel Company (Ryogaengsa) can give more information about tourist trips.


4. I am a US citizen / I am a South Korean citizen, can I visit North Korea?

Special protocols are in effect regarding US and South Korean nationals. Contact your local embassy for more information. The Korean Friendship Association (KFA) organize trips and will allow visas for some US citizens that contributed for the peace and friendship between USA and the DPRK.


5. Can I travel to North Korea as a backpacker?


No. You must travel as a group only, even if you are the only participant you must be with Korean guides at all times.


6. I've heard that everbody starves in North Korea. How is the food situation?

It is no secret that there was a crisis during the mid 1990's in the DPRK. Because of the collapse of the Socialist market, and due to the isolation caused by US embargo and sanctions, the country suffered a difficult period. A natural disaster caused floodings, and combined with the other factors, it created a period which we now call the "Arduous March" where the DPRK had to recover from this situation, and the collapse of the Soviet union while still unduring hostilities by the US who continually to this day try to stifle and isolate the DPRK. Since the end of the 1990's and around year 2000, the country has completely recovered from the "Arduous March" and has survived as a country which has now become even stronger and more independant than before.

7. I want to know why North Korea has nuclear weapons.

After the US failed to fulfill the terms in the Agreed Framework by supplying two light-water reactors to the DPRK as compensation for the discontinuing of Korean nuclear power, the DPRK withdrew in October 2002 from the NPT and thus restarted its own energy-producing program, and then started to recycle spent fuel-rods.
The DPRK has a nuclear deterrence as a life-insurance to protect the motherland. The US, who put the country inside the "Axis of Evil", and is threatening with a nuclear holocaust pre-emptive strike has created this situation and made this neccessary. The situation is no less serious because the US side has nuclear weapons and other missiles stationed in South Korea.


8. Is North Korea a dictatorship?

No, the DPRK is a single-united-party constitutional democracy guaranteeing freedom of speech and assembly to all citizens. DPRK citizens play an active role in their nation's political life at the local, regional and national levels, through their trade unions or as members of one of the nation's three political parties, which include the Workers' Party of Korea, the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Korean Social Democratic Party.

9. Does North Korea suppress religion?

The DPRK is a multi-confessional society with sizable Christian and Buddhist populations, for example. While most North Koreans are non-religious or atheist, all citizens of the DPRK enjoy full religious freedom under the Socialist Constitution.

10. Can North Koreans travel abroad?

In spite of accusations to the contrary, North Koreans enjoy the full freedom of travel. Many DPRK citizens travel abroad for scientific research, education, language training, religious conferences and trade fairs, for example. There are also thousands of DPRK citizens living abroad, in China and Japan, for example.

11. Has North Korea's economy really collapsed?

On the contrary, the DPRK enjoys a highly diverse and productive economy with a wide array of thriving manufacturing industries that produce automobiles, computer hardware and software, electronics, textiles and processed foods, just to name a few. While the DPRK economy has historically been geared towards heavy industry, the country's light industrial sector is quickly taking off. Korea's specialized and educated workforce provides an ideal environment for joint-venture projects and investment.

12. I hear that North Koreans are very poor. Is this true?

By international standards, DPRK citizens enjoy a very high standard of living. In Socialist Korea, the state guarantees all citizens the right to quality healthcare, education, stipends for the disabled, retirement pensions and access to recreational facilities, as well as a wide array of other state-supported services. Indeed, DPRK citizens are guaranteed many provisions that are uncommon in many developed capitalist societies, which are home to real poverty. Unlike in many countries of the capitalist world, the DPRK is a state free of homelessness, unemployment, prostitution and starvation.


13. What is North Korea's stance on homosexuality?

Due to tradition in Korean culture, it is not customary for individuals of any sexual orientation to engage in public displays of affection. As a country that has embraced science and rationalism, the DPRK recognizes that many individuals are born with homosexuality as a genetic trait and treats them with due respect.

Homosexuals in the DPRK have never been subject to repression, as in many capitalist regimes around the world. However, North Koreans also place a lot of emphasis on social harmony and morals. Therefore, the DPRK rejects many characteristics of the popular gay culture in the West, which many perceive to embrace consumerism, classism and promiscuity.


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:D Hai. Wow. I liked this. The last one is true, however I do find that people express their love in public, perhaps that is a newer custom!