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conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international
community. In December 2002, following revelations it was pursuing a
nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a
1994 agreement with the United States to freeze and ultimately
dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled
monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in
January 2003 declared its withdrawal from the international
Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had
completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract
weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent."
Since August 2003 North Korea has participated in six-party talks
with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to
resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs.
Geography Korea, North
Location:
Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the
Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
Geographic coordinates:
40 00 N, 127 00 E
Map references:
Asia
Area:
total: 120,540 sq km
water: 130 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Mississippi
Land boundaries:
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km
Coastline:
2,495 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the
exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign
vessels and aircraft without permission are banned
Climate:
temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer
Terrain:
mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys;
coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m
Natural resources:
coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper,
gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 20.76%
permanent crops: 2.49%
other: 76.75% (2001)
Irrigated land:
14,600 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional
typhoons during the early fall
Environment - current issues:
water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne
disease; deforestation; soil erosion
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