It's illegal for North Koreans to leave their country without the government's permission. North Koreans who do attempt to leave the country illegally and are caught can face severe consequences including torture, forced labor, and life-imprisonment in a political prison camp.
North Koreans need an exit stamp to leave, as well as needed a rerentrance interview when they get back to the DPRK. The socialist reason for this is that the country have invested in educating the citizen, sow when North Koreans travel abroad the country needs to be sure they will not defect.
Foreigners living in Pyongyang are usually able to travel freely within the city, but permission is often required for travel outside Pyongyang. You can't enter or leave North Korea through the border with South Korea without special permission.
North Korea - Level 4: Do Not Travel
Do not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of U.S. nationals. Exercise increased caution to North Korea due to the critical threat of wrongful detention.
229 people defected from North Korea to South Korea in 2020, but less than 100 defected from North Korea in 2021 and 2022, according to South Korea's Ministry of Unification. Provisionally, 34 people have defected in 2023, according to the Unification Ministry.
The Chinese government arrests North Korean refugees and sends them back to the regime. If caught trying to escape or arrested in China and sent back, refugees can face extremely harsh punishments, including brutal beatings, forced labor, forced abortions, torture, and even internment in a political prison camp.
North Korea has strict laws about what you can bring into the country. It's illegal to bring in religious, pornographic or political items. Declare all published material and electronic devices when you arrive. It's also illegal to knowingly or unknowingly possess items that breach North Korean law.
Nightlife in North Korea
The same is true throughout the rest of the country – it is only in the hotels that tourists are able to unwind with a beer or glass of wine. Nevertheless, there is some limited after-dark entertainment offered to tourists by the state.
There is also a risk of mistaken identity in or near the ZKKP/Pyongyang FIR boundary, as North Korea are threatening to actively shoot down reconnaissance aircraft in their airspace. The US prohibits flights across all North Korean airspace, including the oceanic part of the ZKKP/Pyongyang FIR over the Sea of Japan.
Internet access is available in North Korea, but is only permitted with special authorization. It is primarily used for government purposes, and also by foreigners. The country has some broadband infrastructure, including fiber optic links between major institutions.
Such marriages are becoming increasingly common in South Korea. More than 70% of the 33,000 North Koreans who have fled to South Korea are women. There are no official numbers on how many North Koreans have married South Korean men.
Marriage in North Korea
Marriage is allowed at age 18 (for boys) and 17 (for girls). Unlike in South Korea, there are no legal provisions regulating or banning marriage between persons in cases of consanguinity or other types of familial relations. Divorce is allowed, subject to administrative approval.
According to multiple resolutions which have been passed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the North Korean government considers religious activities political crimes, because they could challenge the personality cult of Kim Il Sung and his family.
For Koreans who want to leave North Korea, the easiest and safest route out of the North is through China, though this route can only be considered “easy” and “safe” relative to other more dangerous and risky escape options.
If you reside in a country with diplomatic relations with the DPRK, ask the DPRK embassy in that country for visa advice. If you try to enter North Korea without required travel documents: you may be denied entry, fined, detained, arrested, or imprisoned.
In November 2002, mobile phones were introduced to North Korea and by November 2003, 20,000 North Koreans had bought mobile phones.
As previously mentioned, yellow plates mean privately owned, and while they are in the minority, North Koreans with money, which may come from work, or from relatives from abroad, can buy, own, and even sell their own cars.
Prominent supposedly executed criminals include officials convicted of drug trafficking and embezzlement. Common criminals convicted of crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, drug dealing, smuggling, piracy, vandalism, etc. have also been reported to be executed, mostly by firing squad.
Alcohol faces no restrictions in the DPRK. There is no legal drinking age- although in general it's frowned upon for students to drink (this includes university students). Top producers like Taedonggang Beer are granted special designation by the state that ensures they receive priority over other factories.
Visa. In principle, any person is allowed to travel to North Korea; only South Koreans and journalists are routinely denied, although there have been some exceptions for journalists.
Numerous testimonies of North Korean defectors confirm the practice of kin punishment (연좌제, yeonjwaje literally "association system") in North Korea, under which three generations of a political offender's family can be summarily imprisoned or executed.
More women leave the North because they are more likely to suffer financial hardships. This is due to the prevalence of women in service sector jobs whereas men are employed in the military. According to South Korean government data, 45% of defectors cited economic reasons for defecting.
Since 2006, the number of immigrants from North Korea to the United States has been less than 220, accounting for only 0.008352 percent of the Korean American population. Therefore, in reality, immigrants from South Korea (Republic of Korea) make up more than 99 percent of the Korean American population.