Traffic in North Korea

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The traffic in North Korea is largely due to public transport is limited. Private individual traffic only exists to a minor extent. Western visitors can only enter Beijing by train or with the state airline Air Koryo .

The freedom of movement is restricted in North Korea. Passes are required for nationwide mobility. Checks are carried out in front of cities and at intersections.

Road traffic

Highways in North Korea
The main roads in North Korea

The road network was estimated to be around 31,200 kilometers in 1999, including asphalt kilometers in 1997. Motorways lead from Pyongyang south to Kaesŏng , north to Huich'ŏn , east to Wonsan and southwest to Namp'o . Western visitors report on the use of trucks that have been converted to wood gas drive due to a lack of oil .

Rail transport

North Korean Railways main line network
Planned Trans-Korean rail connections

Due to the low distribution of passenger cars , the railroad is the most important means of transport in North Korea. The total length of the network in 2009 was 5242 kilometers, of which around 3500 kilometers are electrified . With one exception, the track width of 1435 millimeters is used. This exception is the North Korean / Russian joint venture of the Chassan – Rajin railway line , which also has a track in Russian broad gauge over 54 km . Because of the mountainous topography of North Korea, the main railway lines run along the coasts. Essentially, these are the routes from Kaesŏng via Pyongyang to Sinŭiju , from Wŏnsan via Hamhŭng and Kimch'aek to Najin , as well as from Pyongyang to Wŏnsan and from Pyongyang via Kanggye to Manpo . The Korean State Railways operates the railroad.

There are only international passenger train connections to Russia and China . There is a sleeping car train from Pyongyang via Shenyang to Beijing and Moscow as well as a through car connection via Ussuriysk and the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow. There is a transition to China between Sinŭiju and Dandong , to Russia between Najin and Chassan . Two rail connections to South Korea have been restored in recent years and inaugurated in May 2007, but were not used afterwards because North Korea refused regular train connections with the south.

Since December 11, 2007, there has been a weekday freight train connection between Munsan in the south and Pongdong in the north. The connection serves to supply the Kaesŏng industrial area , which is operated jointly by North and South Korea. Another planned joint project between the two Korean states is the renewal of the railway line between Kaesŏng and the Chinese border.

Especially on the part of the Russian Railways there are efforts to put a Trans-Korean railway line into operation. These are to be used to transport goods from the industrialized nations of South Korea and Japan through North Korea and on to Europe via the Trans-Siberian Railway . South Korea is also interested in this project, as it would connect it to the rail network of the Asian continent , from which it was previously cut off by North Korea.

In April 2004 there was a serious train accident in Ryongchŏn , in which at least 161 people were killed and a large part of the city near the Chinese border was destroyed.

With the tram Pyongyang and the tram Chongjin there are two tram networks.

The Paektusan funicular is located on Mount Paektusan .

Bicycle traffic

Bicycle traffic in Pyongyang

The bike is in North Korea is the most important means of transport for private, as private cars hardly exist and reigns in the country, a lack of fuel. However, cycling was banned several times. Initially, until the mid-1990s, it was not allowed to ride a bike in Pyongyang, as this would disrupt the flowing traffic. Another ban was issued in spring 2005 as an alleged reaction to an individual traffic accident. Critics suspect, however, the interest in controlling the population behind the ban. The ban was lifted a few months later, presumably because public transport was insufficiently geared to the increasing number of users. Women have been banned from cycling since 1996 with a fine of 1,000 to 5,000 North Korean won (up to around 30 euros), which the state television station justified in 1999 by stating that they violated “morality and decency”. However, the driving ban for women was lifted in 2012.

The types of bicycles used in the socialist country are usually limited to the Songchong-gang models and the slightly more expensive Seagull brand from North Korean production and a Chinese model called the Flying Dove , which usually have a front-mounted bicycle basket and a Are marked.

Air traffic

In 2007 North Korea had 77 airports and 23 helicopter landing pads . 36 of the airports had asphalt runways, including two airports with a runway length of more than 3,047 meters. The most important airport is Sunan Airport , which is served by the state airline Air Koryo . The Chongjin Airport will be expanded in the near future for the second international airport.

Water transport and merchant marine

The length of the navigable waterways was around 2,250 kilometers in 2007, but the majority of them can only be navigated by smaller ships . In the same year, North Korea's merchant navy comprised 171 ships with over 1,000 gross tons.

Web links

Commons : Traffic in North Korea  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

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  1. ^ Rüdiger Frank : North Korea. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Munich 2014, page 77, ISBN 978-3-421-04641-3
  2. ↑ a b c d CIA World Factbook : Korea, North (English)
  3. ↑ "North Korea does not belong to the Third, but to the Second World"
  4. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7137739.stm
  5. ↑ End of the standstill: Trains are supposed to roll over the Korean border again. In: Spiegel Online . November 16, 2007, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ North Korea: Women can ride a bike again , ShortNews from August 20, 2012
  7. ↑ The fear of the "Dear Leader" from the bike , Spiegel-Online from June 3, 2005