Transport in North Korea

File:Road Map of Korea - DPLA - 1168318c0f7a055a942d6e31b43c9a0e.jpg

1990 map of roads, rails, ports and airports, prepared by the Ministry of Defense of South Korea

Transport in North Korea is constrained by economic problems and government restrictions. Public transport predominates, and most of it is electrified.

Restrictions on freedom of movementEdit

Travel to North Korea is tightly controlled. The standard route to and from North Korea is by plane or train via Beijing. Transport directly to and from South Korea was possible with Vip Family Zone Tour and travel within the cities on a limited scale from 2003 until 2008, when a road was opened (bus tours, no private cars). Freedom of movement in North Korea is also limited,<ref name=unhcr>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as citizens are not allowed to move around freely inside their own country.<ref>North Korea: Freedom of movement, opinion and expression - Information sheet Template:Webarchive, Amnesty International, PDF, published 2 August 2009, accessed 2011-04-08</ref> On October 14, 2018, North and South Korea agreed to restore inter-Korean rail and road transportation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 22, 2018, North and South Korea reopened a road on the Korean border which had been closed since 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=nov22>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On November 30, 2018, inter-Korean rail transportation resumed when a South Korean train crossed into North Korea for the first time since November 2008.<ref name=telegraphrail>Template:Cite news</ref> On December 8, 2018, a South Korean bus crossed into North Korea.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Update inline

RoadsEdit

Template:See also

File:NKroads.svg

Main roads of North Korea (as of 2009)

File:Motorway Map-KP.png

Map of motorways in North Korea (as of 2014)

File:Motorway future plan-KP.png

Future motorway plans (as of 2014)

File:Pyongyang Toyota Landcruiser.jpg

Right-hand drive (RHD) Toyota Land Cruiser in front of a Pyongyang hotel

Fuel constraints and the near absence of private automobiles have relegated road transportation to a secondary role.<ref name=Savada1994/> The road network was estimated to be around Template:Convert in 1999, up from between Template:Convert and Template:Convert in 1990, of which only Template:Convert, 7.5%, are paved.Template:Citation needed However, The World Factbook (published by the US Central Intelligence Agency) lists Template:Convert of roads with only Template:Convert paved as of 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are three major multilane highways in North Korea: the Pyongyang–Wonsan Tourist Motorway, a Template:Convert expressway connecting Pyongyang and Wonsan on the east coast, the Youth Hero Motorway, a Template:Convert expressway connecting Pyongyang and its port, Nampo, and the Pyongyang-Kaesong Motorway, a four-lane Template:Convert motorway linking Pyongyang and Kaesong. The overwhelming majority of the estimated 264,000 vehicles in use in 1990 were for the military. Rural bus service connects all villages, and all major cities have bus and tram services.<ref name=Savada1994/> Since 1945/1946, there is right-hand traffic on roads.Template:Citation needed In cities, driving speeds are set by which lane a driver is in.<ref name="Newfocus1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The speed limits are Template:Convert, Template:Convert, and Template:Convert for the first, second, and subsequent (if existing) lanes from the right, respectively. A white-on-blue sign informs about this.<ref name="Newfocus1"/> The leftmost lane, if it is number 3 from the right or higher and is not a turning lane, is often left vacant, even by tourist buses, while the second-from-right lane is generally used to overtake vehicles from lane one, such as public transport buses and trams.

Besides the blue in-city sign, all other occasions, such as motorways and roads outside cities, use the more widely known red-circle-with-number-inside sign to post speed limits. On motorways, the typical limit is Template:Convert and Template:Convert for lanes from the right, respectively, as posted on the Pyongyang-Kaesong highway, for example. The rightmost lane of a motorway is sometimes, as seen on the Pyongyang–Myohyang highway, limited to Template:Convert near on-ramp joining points.

Automobile transportation is further restricted by a series of regulations. According to North Korean exile Kim Ji-ho, unless a civilian driver receives a special permit, it is forbidden to drive alone (the driver must carry passengers).<ref name="Newfocus2"/> Other civilian permits are a military mobilization permit (to transport soldiers in times of war), a certificate of driver training (to be renewed every year), a fuel validity document (a certificate confirming that the fuel was purchased from an authorized source), and a mechanical certificate (to prove that the car is in working order).<ref name="Newfocus2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since about 2014, horizontally-mounted traffic lights and cameras have been installed in central Pyongyang and other cities. Outside Pyongyang, roundabouts are often used on busy junctions.<ref name=38north-20210226>Template:Cite news</ref>

As of 2017, electric bicycles are becoming popular in Pyongyang; about 5% of bicycles are electric. Both locally produced and Chinese electric bicycles were available.<ref name=38north-20170406>Template:Cite news</ref>

As of 2016 there is Template:Convert of road which is 25% of South Korea's road system in length.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

DPRK Highway.jpg

A highway outside of Pyongyang
Roadworks in North Korea.jpg

Roadwork construction in North Korea. The blue truck in the foreground is a Chinese-made Dongfeng.
Laika ac Pyongyang (7978789043).jpg

A road junction in Pyongyang
Pyongyang side street.JPG

A side road in Kaesong

Public transportEdit

Template:See also There is a mix of locally built and imported trolleybuses and trams in the major urban centres of North Korea. Earlier fleets were obtained from Europe and China.

For the list of trolleybus systems in North Korea, see this list.

Other forms of public transport include a commuters' narrow gauge railway from Hamhung to Hungnam which links to the 2.8 Vinylon Complex.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

North Korea also has regularly scheduled motorcoach service connecting major cities and nearby towns to one another, which can be identified by their destination signs. For example, Pyongyang-Sariwon, or Pyongyang-Wonsan. Some bus lines supplement the electric transportation in Pyongyang, as seen in a 1989 map<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> that was likely obtained during the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students.

Some routes are still identifiable, such as the route 10, which now has a destination of Sadong-Daedongmun, and has its own stop on Okryu street. Some parts have changed much more drastically, like the southwest of Pyongyang, which has seen a lot of new construction. One thing that makes tracing the routes difficult is that all kinds of transportation vehicles in North Korea rarely show a route number, opting for a destination sign instead. Some buses may be used for non-regularly scheduled service, but are indistinguishable because all the buses are state owned and can be used for a variety of purposes.

DPRK trolley.jpg

Pyongyang tram in 2009
In front of Pyongyang Station DPRK.jpg

Trolleybus near Pyongyang Railway Station in 2007
Tram North Korea PY.jpg

Former Zurich type Be 4/4 tram on the Kumsusan Memorial Palace line
Pyongyang bus.jpg

A Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chongnyonjunwi
Proton Wira taxi in Pyongyang, North Korea.jpg

A Proton Wira yellow taxi in Pyongyang.

RailwaysEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also The Korean State Railway is the only rail operator in North Korea. It has a network of over Template:Convert of standard gauge and Template:Convert of narrow gauge (Template:Cvt) lines; as of 2007, over Template:Convert of the standard gauge (well over 80%), along with Template:Convert of the narrow gauge lines are electrified.<ref name="Hayato">Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), Template:ISBN</ref> The narrow gauge segment runs in the Haeju peninsula.<ref name="A Glimpse of North Korea's Railways">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Because of lack of maintenance on the rail infrastructure and vehicles, the travel time by rail is increasing. It has been reported that the Template:Convert trip from Pyongyang to Kaesong can take up to six hours.<ref>Paul French (2007). North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula – A Modern History. 2nd ed. New York: Zed Books, p. 18, Template:ISBN.</ref>

Water transportEdit

Template:Multiple image

Water transport on the major rivers and along the coasts plays a growing role in freight and passenger traffic. Except for the Yalu and Taedong rivers, most of the inland waterways, totaling Template:Convert, are navigable only by small boats. Coastal traffic is heaviest on the eastern seaboard, whose deeper waters can accommodate larger vessels. The major ports are Nampo on the west coast and Rajin, Chongjin, Wonsan, and Hamhung on the east coast. The country's harbor loading capacity in the 1990s was estimated at almost 35 million tons a year. There is a continuing investment in upgrading and expanding port facilities, developing transportation—particularly on the Taedong River—and increasing the share of international cargo by domestic vessels.<ref name=Savada1994/>

List of ports in North KoreaEdit

Merchant marineEdit

Template:See also In the early 1990s, North Korea possessed an oceangoing merchant fleet, largely domestically produced, of 68 ships (of at least 1,000 gross-registered tons), totalling 465,801 gross-registered tons (Template:DWT), which included 58 cargo ships and two tankers.<ref name=Savada1994/> As of 2008, this has increased to a total of 167 vessels consisting mainly of cargo and tanker ships.

Fleet by type	Number
Total	167
Bulk carrier	11
Cargo	121
Carrier	1
Chemical tanker	4
Container	3
Cargo liner	3
Petroleum tanker	19
Reefer ship	4
Roll on/Roll off	1

Ferry ServiceEdit

North Korea maintains the Man Gyong Bong 92, a ferry connecting Rajin and Vladivostok, Russia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Air transportEdit

North Korea's international air connections are limited in frequency and numbers.<ref name=Savada1994>Template:Country study Fourth ed. Washington: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Template:ISBN.</ref> As of 2011, scheduled flights operate only from Pyongyang's Pyongyang Sunan International Airport to Beijing, Shenyang, Macau and Vladivostok. Charters to other destinations operate as per demand. Prior to 1995, many routes to Eastern Europe were operated, including services to Sofia, Belgrade, Prague, and Budapest, among others.

Air Koryo is the country's national airline and operates all civil aircraft in the country; it has a fleet of 19 passenger and cargo aircraft, all of which are Soviet or more modern Russian types. Template:As of, Air China also operates flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.

Internal flights are available between Pyongyang, Hamhung, Haeju (HAE), Hungnam (HGM), Kaesong (KSN), Kanggye, Kilju, Najin (NJN), Nampo (NAM), Sinuiju (SII), Samjiyon, Wonsan (WON), Songjin (SON), and Chongjin (CHO).

As of 2013, the CIA estimates that North Korea has 82 usable airports, 39 of which have permanent-surface runways.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Airports – with paved runways	Number
Total	39
> Template:Convert	3
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	22
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	8
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	2
< Template:Convert	4

Airports – with unpaved runways	Number
Total	43
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	3
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	17
Template:Convert to Template:Convert	15
< Template:Convert	8

It was reported that North Korean air traffic controllers had been cut off from the international global satellite communications network in 2017 because North Korea had not made the required payments. Traffic controllers at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport had to use conventional telephone lines to inform their counterparts at Incheon International Airport that the flight containing North Korean delegates to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea had taken off.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Vehicle markingsEdit

File:Pyongyang city Tram.jpg

A trolleybus in Pyongyang with three distance stars, indicating it has gone over at least Template:Convert safely.

Road vehicles in North Korea bear distance stars. These are paint markings which display how far the particular vehicle has traveled without incident. Each star represents Template:Convert travelled without an accident.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The DPRK license plate background color denotes the vehicle type;

Blue - Government issued vehicle
Black - Military vehicle
Yellow - Private vehicle for permitted persons who have contributed greatly to DPRK
Green - Diplomatic
Red - Non-governmental Organizations (NGO)

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Template:Asia topic Template:Asia in topic Template:Economy of North Korea