Flag of North Korea

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a hereditary dictatorship under severe sanctions restrictions.

Entities

Our standard dataset contains 4,329 entities connected with North Korea. This may include sanctioned entities, politically-exposed persons (PEPs), and their close associates, or entities involved in criminal activity.

Data sources

We are not yet including any data published by authorities or organizations based in North Korea. See our global list of data sources and our criteria for selecting datasets.

Sanctions programs/policies targeting North Korea

We include 5 programs targeting entities located in North Korea.

IDTitleIssuerTarget countries
[AU-DPRK]Democratic People's Republic Of Korea (North Korea) Sanctions RegimeDFAT AustraliaNorth Korea  
[SECO-NORTHKOREA]Measures Against North KoreaSECO SwitzerlandNorth Korea  
[UN-SC1718]North Korea SanctionsUNSC North Korea  
[US-NK]North Korea SanctionsOFAC United StatesNorth Korea  
[UK-DPRK]UK sanctions relating to the Democratic People’s Republic of KoreaOFSI United KingdomNorth Korea  

Politically-exposed persons (PEPs)

Our database contains 917 entities identified as PEPs connected with North Korea.

National government positions

Number of known occupants
Head of state or governmentCurrentEndedStatus unclear
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea--1
President, State Affairs Commission (SAC)1--
Supreme Leader of North Korea--1
Supreme People's Assembly President1--
Vice Premier, Cabinet7--
National executive branchesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Chairman, Agricultural Commission1--
Chairman, Education Commission1--
Chairman, State Price Commission1--
Chairman, State Science & Technology Commission1--
Chairperson of the National Censorship Committee--1
Chairperson of the State Price Commission--1
Director of the Central Bureau of Statistics of North Korea--1
Director of the National Aerospace Development Administration--1
member of State Affairs Commission--9
Minister of Agriculture--1
Minister of Atomic Energy Industry1--
Minister of Chemical Industry1--
Minister of Chemical Industry of North Korea--1
Minister of Coal Industry1--
Minister of Commerce1--
Minister of Commerce-11
Minister of Construction & Building-Materials Industry1--
Minister of Construction and Building-Materials Industry--1
Minister of Consumer Goods Industry--1
Minister of Crude Oil of North Korea--1
Minister of Culture--1
Minister of Culture1--
Minister of Electric Power Industry1--
Minister of External Economic Relations1--
Minister of Finance1--
Minister of Finance--1
Minister of Fisheries1--
Minister of Fisheries of North Korea--1
Minister of Food Industry1--
Minister of Food Procurement and Administration-2-
Minister of Foreign Affairs1--
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea-41
Minister of Foreign Trade of North Korea-11
Minister of Forestry1--
Minister of Higher Education1--
Minister of Higher Education of North Korea-11
Minister of Information Industry1--
Minister of Labor1--
Minister of Land & Environmental Protection11-
Minister of Land and Maritime Transport1--
Minister of Light Industry1--
Minister of Light Industry--1
Minister of Local Industry--1
Minister of Machine-Building Industry1--
Minister of Metallurgical Industry1--
Minister of Mining Industry1--
Minister of National Defence-1-
Minister of National Defense (subordinate to the SAC)1--
Minister of National Natural Resources Development1--
Minister of Physical Culture & Sports1--
Minister of Public Health1--
Minister of Public Health of North Korea--1
Minister of Public Security (subordinate to the SAC)1--
Minister of Railways--1
Minister of Railways1--
Minister of Shipbuilding1--
Minister of Social Security-11
Minister of State Construction Control-1-
Minister of State Construction Control1--
Minister of State Natural Resources Development--1
Minister of State Security-11
Minister of State Security (subordinate to the SAC)1--
Minister of the Coal Industry of North Korea--1
Minister of the Electric Power Industry of North Korea--1
Minister of the Electronics Industry of North Korea--1
Minister of the Extraction Industry of North Korea--1
Minister of Urban Management1--
Minister of Urban Management of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--1
Premier of North Korea-41
Secretary General of the Cabinet--1
Secretary General, Cabinet Secretariat1--
Secretary General, SPA Standing Committee1--
Vice Premier of North Korea-157
National legislative branchCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Member of the Supreme People’s Assembly-2654
President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly-11
Vice President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly-21
Central banking and financial integrityCurrentEndedStatus unclear
President of the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea-1-
President, Central Bank1--
Diplomatic rolesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
ambassadeur des Philippines en Corée du Nord--1
ambassador of Indonesia to North Korea--1
ambassador of Palestine to North Korea--2
ambassador of Sweden to North Korea-4-
ambassador of Syria to North Korea--1
ambassador of the United Kingdom to North Korea-6-
apostolic administrator of the Territorial Abbey of Tokwon--1
Permanent Representative to the UN, New York1--
Russian ambassador to North Korea-21

Subnational government positions

Number of known occupants
Subnational executive branchesCurrentEndedStatus unclear
Chairman, Capital City Construction Commission1--

Other positions

Number of known occupants
PositionCurrentEndedStatus unclear
member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea--12
Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea--12
Member, SAC10--
Member, SPA Standing Committee6--
member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea--5
member of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly--5
Chief of General Staff of the Korean People's Army-4-
Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly-2-
Chairperson of the State Science and Technology Commission-11
Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea-11
Minister of Machine-Building Industry of North Korea-2-
Vice Chairman, SPA2--
Chairman, SPA1--
Chairman, State Commission of Quality Management1--
Chairman, State Inspection Commission1--
Chairman, State Planning Commission1--
Chairman, Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) Standing Committee1--
Chairperson of the Capital Construction Commission--1
Chairperson of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland--1
Chairperson of the National Quality Management Commission--1
Chairperson of the State Planning Commission of North Korea--1
Chief, Korean People's Army General Staff Department1--
Director, Central Statistics Bureau1--
Director, National Aerospace Development Administration1--
First Lady of North Korea--1
First President, SAC1--
First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission--1
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the DPRK1--
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea1--
Minister of Metal Industry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--1
Minister of Sports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--1
Premier of the Cabinet of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea1--
President of the Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--1
President of the Board of Education--1
President, State Academy of Sciences1--
Spouse of the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea--1
Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army--1
Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission--1
Vice Chairman, SPA Standing Committee1--
Vice President, SAC1--

What do these numbers mean?

We keep track both if political positions and the individuals who occupy those positions over time. Of course, a person can hold a position for multiple terms, and multiple people can occupy the same position at the same time (e.g. members of parliament).

If a person previously held a position, and currently holds the same position, they are only counted once and recorded under Current. If it is unclear from the source whether they have left the position, they will be counted under Unclear.

How can status be unclear?

Some of the data sources we rely on indicate both past and present holders of political offices. In those cases, a lack of a precise end date for a person's occupancy of a position can mean that we don't know whether they currently hold the position or not. Read more...