Transport in North Korea

300px|thumb|right|1990 map of roads, rails, ports and airports, prepared by the [[Ministry of National Defense (South Korea)|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 movement

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, as citizens are not allowed to move around freely inside their own country. On October 14, 2018, North and South Korea agreed to restore inter-Korean rail and road transportation. On November 22, 2018, North and South Korea reopened a road on the Korean border which had been closed since 2004. 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. On December 8, 2018, a South Korean bus crossed into North Korea.

Roads

thumb|Main roads of North Korea (as of 2009)

thumb|right|Map of [[motorways in North Korea (as of 2014)]]

thumb|right|Future motorway plans (as of 2014)

thumb|[[Left- and right-hand traffic|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.

There are three major multilane highways in North Korea: the Pyongyang–Wonsan Tourist Motorway, a expressway connecting Pyongyang and Wonsan on the east coast, the Youth Hero Motorway, a expressway connecting Pyongyang and its port, Nampo, and the Pyongyang-Kaesong Motorway, a four-lane 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. The speed limits are , , and for the first, second, and subsequent (if existing) lanes from the right, respectively. A white-on-blue sign informs about this. As of 2016 there is of road which is 25% of South Korea's road system in length.

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.

File:DPRK Highway.jpg|A highway outside of Pyongyang

File:Roadworks in North Korea.jpg|Roadwork construction in North Korea. The blue truck in the foreground is a Chinese-made Dongfeng EQ140.

File:Laika ac Pyongyang (7978789043).jpg|A road junction in Pyongyang

File:Pyongyang side street.JPG|A side road in Kaesong

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Public transport

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.

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 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.

File:DPRK trolley.jpg|Pyongyang tram in 2009

Image:In front of Pyongyang Station DPRK.jpg|Trolleybus near Pyongyang Railway Station in 2007

File:Tram North Korea PY.jpg|Former Zurich type Be 4/4 tram on the Kumsusan Memorial Palace line

File:Pyongyang bus.jpg|A Pyongyang Trolleybus Works Chongnyonjunwi

File:Proton Wira taxi in Pyongyang, North Korea.jpg|A Proton Wira yellow taxi in Pyongyang.

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Railways

The Korean State Railway is the only rail operator in North Korea. It has a network of over of standard gauge and of narrow gauge () lines; as of 2007, over of the standard gauge (well over 80%), along with of the narrow gauge lines are electrified. The narrow gauge segment runs in the Haeju peninsula.

Because of lack of maintenance on the rail infrastructure and vehicles, the travel time by rail is increasing. It has been reported that the trip from Pyongyang to Kaesong can take up to six hours.

thumb|Red Flag 1 class locomotive

thumb|Red Flag 2 Class locomotive in Pyongyang

thumb|TGM3 train on the Hambuk Line, Hauling cargo

thumb|Chŏngiha class locomotive. These locomotives remained operational from 1956 to ~2011

thumb|Chŏngidu class locomotive. They were operational since 1956

thumb|Kanghaenggun Class Locomotive

thumb|Ch'ŏngnyŏnjŏl Kinyŏm-class locomotive near Wonsan

Water transport

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 , 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.

Air transport

North Korea's international air connections are limited in frequency and numbers. As of 2011, scheduled flights operate only from Pyongyang's Pyongyang Sunan International Airport to Beijing, Shenyang, 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. Since July 2025, Nordwind Airlines connects Pyongyang to Moscow-Sheremetyevo.

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. , 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.

{| class="wikitable"

! Airports – with paved runways

! Number

| Total || 39

| > || 3

| to || 22

| to || 8

| to || 2

| < || 4

{| class="wikitable"

! Airports – with unpaved runways

! Number

| Total || 43

| to || 3

| to || 17

| to || 15

| < || 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.

Automotives

thumb|A trolleybus in [[Pyongyang with three distance stars, indicating it has gone over at least 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 travelled without an accident.

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)

Automobile transportation has historically been restricted by a series of regulations. According to North Korean exile Kim Ji-ho, unless a civilian driver receives a special permit, it was forbidden to drive alone (the driver must carry passengers). 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). The revised laws led to a boom in the yellow category private car ownership, which was previously permitted persons who have contributed greatly to North Korea. Sales of cars has increased in North Korea, especially in the capital Pyongyang, driven by imports of Chinese automotives rebadged with North Korean manufacturer labels.

References

External links

Air Koryo official website
Pyongyang metro unofficial website