14. Does North Korea suppress religion?The DPRK is a multi-confessional society with sizable Christian and Buddhist populations, for example. While most North Koreans are non-religious or atheist, all citizens of the DPRK enjoy full religious freedom under the Socialist Constitution.
15. Can North Koreans travel abroad?In spite of accusations to the contrary, North Koreans enjoy the full freedom of travel. Many DPRK citizens travel abroad for scientific research, education, language training, religious conferences and trade fairs, for example. There are also thousands of DPRK citizens living abroad, in China and Japan, for example.
16. Has North Korea’s economy really collapsed?On the contrary, the DPRK enjoys a highly diverse and productive economy with a wide array of thriving manufacturing industries that produce automobiles, computer hardware and software, electronics, textiles and processed foods, just to name a few. While the DPRK economy has historically been geared towards heavy industry, the country’s light industrial sector is quickly taking off. Korea’s specialized and educated workforce provides an ideal environment for joint-venture projects and investment.
17. I hear that North Koreans are very poor. Is this true?By international standards, DPRK citizens enjoy a very high standard of living. In Socialist Korea, the state guarantees all citizens the right to quality healthcare, education, stipends for the disabled, retirement pensions and access to recreational facilities, as well as a wide array of other state-supported services. Indeed, DPRK citizens are guaranteed many provisions that are uncommon in many developed capitalist societies, which are home to real poverty. Unlike in many countries of the capitalist world, the DPRK is a state free of homelessness, unemployment, prostitution and starvation.
18. Is North Korea a ‘Stalinist’ state?The term ‘Stalinism’ is highly loaded and is most frequently employed not as a descriptive term but as an insult. The DPRK political system is based on the Juche Idea, an original theory developed by the late President Kim Il Sung stressing national self-reliance and development according to the unique characteristics of individual nations. ‘Stalinism,’ on the other hand, was articulated as a universalistic political ideology. The DPRK is indeed a socialist state, meaning that all the means of production are socially owned. However, the central implication of the ‘Stalinist’ accusation–simply that the DPRK is a dictatorship–is inaccurate. Korea is a socialist democracy guaranteeing its citizens the full range of individual liberties and rights provided by many liberal regimes, and more.
19. Is North Korea ‘reforming’ its economy and moving towards capitalism?While the comparison between the DPRK and ‘China in the 1980s’ is frequently evoked by many so-called ‘experts’ these days, it is completely incorrect and misleading. The DPRK remains a planned socialist economy and has no intention of embracing the capitalist developmental model.
20. What is North Korea’s stance on homosexuality?Due to tradition in Korean culture, it is not customary for individuals of any sexual orientation to engage in public displays of affection. As a country that has embraced science and rationalism, the DPRK recognizes that many individuals are born with homosexuality as a genetic trait and treats them with due respect.
Homosexuals in the DPRK have never been subject to repression, as in many capitalist regimes around the world. However, North Koreans also place a lot of emphasis on social harmony and morals. Therefore, the DPRK rejects many characteristics of the popular gay culture in the West, which many perceive to embrace consumerism, classism and promiscuity.
21.What does your flag symbolize?The North Korean National flag represents the history, economic and political situation of Korea. The red colour represents the blood shed by the anti-Japanese fighters and revolutionaries in the struggle against the Japanese (of whom the Korean peninsula was a colony for 45 years) and fight for national freedom. The white represents the long history and culture of the Korean people depicting that Korea is one homogeneous nation. The red star represents a prosperous future for the Korean people and their impeccable integrity while the blue means that Korea is a sovereign nation.
22.What is the symbolism of your emblem? In particular I want to understand what the red star means. In other communist/socialist countries the starts were yellow and not red.The red star represents a prosperous future for the Korean people and their impeccable integrity.
23. What activites does the average person do in a week for fun?Hiking, Bowling, Reading, listen to music etc – it differs from person to person.
24. Is it true that all citizens of the DPRK work for the government?Government and people are one. There is no distinction of them.
25. What is the favorite sport in the DPRK?That must be football, based on popularity, but traditionally native is Tae Kwon Do, but since so many sports are popular in the DPRK, it’s difficult to name just one.
26. The DPRK is being attacked with a flood of negative press and media. How does the DPRK respond to the so-called documentaries of the current despair in your nation?We have an article that will shed some light on this: The DPRK and Western media fairy tales.