North Korea

American  

[nawrth kuh-ree-uh, kaw-, koh-] / ˈnɔrθ kəˈri ə, kɔ-, koʊ- /

noun

1. Official Name Democratic People's Republic of Korea.  a country in East Asia: formed 1948 after the division of the former country of Korea at the 38th parallel. 50,000 sq. mi. (129,500 sq. km). Pyongyang.

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North Korea British  

noun

1. Official name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea.  Korean name: Chosŏn.  a republic in NE Asia, on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and the Yellow Sea: established in 1948 as a people's republic; mostly rugged and mountainous, with fertile lowlands in the west Language: Korean. Currency: won. Capital: Pyongyang. Pop: 24 720 407 (2013 est). Area: 122 313 sq km (47 225 sq miles)

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North Korea Cultural  

1. Republic on northern Korean Peninsula on east coast of Asia, bounded on the north by China, on the northeast by Russian Siberia, on the east by the Sea of Japan, on the south by South Korea, and on the west by the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang.

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Discover More

The Korean War began in 1950, when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Supplied by the Soviets, and eventually joined by the Chinese, North Korea fought forces of South Korea and the United Nations.

It was established in 1948 after two occupation zones were set up in northern and southern Korea during World War II.

Run by one most closed and repressive regimes on Earth, North Korea has suffered from food shortages and a deteriorating economy.

A communist country that used to have close ties with the Soviet Union, North Korea, continues to maintain a close relationship with China.

Other Word Forms

• North Korean adjective

Example Sentences

North Korea quadrupled its plutonium stockpile and in 2006 conducted its first nuclear test.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

In 1984 the CIA warned that North Korea could pursue weapons-grade plutonium.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Khan visited Pyongyang to help with uranium enrichment, an alternative path to a bomb that North Korea pursued covertly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

By comparison, around 5,000 Western tourists visited North Korea each year from 2009, with US citizens accounting for 20 percent of those, according to the 38 North programme at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

He had accepted an offer from Liberty in North Korea, the nonprofit that sponsored his first American trip.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden