Korea Information

Web resources

North Korean Economy Watch - frequently updated news on a variety of topics related to North Korea

DailyNK - Seoul-based online news site from the Seoul based Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights

dprkstudies.org - a "weblog tht focuses chiefly on social, political, and security issues" by Richardson

Korean Central News Agency - The official news site of North Korea, in Korean, English, and Spanish (!)

CanKor - news updates and thinktank on North Korea based in Canada and headed by Erich Weingartner

Nautilus - Think tank focused on Asia, publishes a daily new summary called NAPSNET, the "Northeast Asia Peace and Security Network Daily Report."

US Korea Institute at SAIS.

www.38north.org - Coming April 2010


zKorean.com - $5 per month language site with dictionary, language practice, translation tools, etc

KPA Journal - military journal expected spring 2010. First issue here.

Nambukstory - (in Korean) reportedly famous blog by a North Korea defector. I can't read this but found an interesting translation of an entry at Ask a Korean regarding the two captured journalists.

 Naenara (내나라) - By the "Korea Computer Center in DPR Korea" including an online store of DRPK artifacts.

The Babelfish translator does a bad job with Korean but it is better than nothing.

An on-line Korean Bible.

An Introduction to Korean by J .David Eisenberg

Pyongyang-metro.com - trivial bus fascinating, all about the Pyongyang subway system from Simon Bone.

Major English-language Korean news sites include:

Some Korean-language Korean news sites not available in English include:

YUST (Yanbian University of Science and Technology)
PUST (Pyongyang University of Science and Technology)


Mailing lists

If you follow North Korea you will want to sign up for the Nautilus NAPSNET and the CanKor Report.

Google Earth

Google Earth is a downloadable Windows or Macintosh application that allows you to fly over any spot on earth and view satellite photos. All of North Korea is available in low resolution and selected areas including Pyongyang are available in high resolution. Download file below and open it in Google Earth to visit several important sites in North Korea:

dprk.kmz - my brief list of North Korea Sites

After I started my feeble list I found the following exhaustive list by NKEconWatch: North Korea Uncovered - the most authoritative list of North Korea sites

(If this link becomes broken, go to Google Earth, click on Community, and search for North Korea)

North Korea Books

I have read each of these books and recommend them to anyone interested in North Korea.

When my name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park.
Historical fiction describing life in Korea under Japanese occupation during World War II.

Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman by Soon Ok Lee.
Terrifying true story of life in a North Korean jail.

In North Korea: An American Travels Through an Imprisoned Nation by Nanchu, Xing Hange.
Chinese-American author toured North Korea and has fascinating accounts of life there.

Rouge Regime: Kim Jong Il and the Looming Threat of North Korea by Jasper Becker.
Well known author on China who has turned his attention to North Korea. Here is an excerpt: "When the North Korean crisis is defined as being just about proliferation or restoring the economy, Kim Jong Il has already won. The issue is no longer a moral one... it is reduced to a merely technical problem."

Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley K. Martin.
Long, scholarly work is a critical history of the two Kims.


Miscellaneous Facts


Juche 1 was 1912, the year Kim Il Sung was born. 2010 is Juche 99.