Roads in North Korea

[2] The low financial resources and the mountainous terrain have placed severe constraints on the development of the road system.

[1] Roads are generally underdeveloped, due to restrictions on travel,[3] fuel problems and the near-absence of private cars.

[2] In the 1970s many expressways were built, followed by the 1980s when a network for Tourist Transport emerged, the 1990s continued this policy and added roads for the country's Special Economic Zones.

[2] The leader Kim Il-sung announced that: "The purpose of the roads was to solve the problem of traffic in remote mountain areas and to enable agricultural equipment to reach cultivated land.

[6] Kim Il-sung took part in the widening of a road between the centre of Pyongyang and a district to the north-east of the capital, a distance of around 16 kilometres.

[6] This experience was then presented by Kim Il-sung as a model for student participation in construction projects.

[6] For the construction of the Pyongyang–Nampo Motorway, North Korea mobilised the population on a massive scale, calling on students, office workers and labourers to take part.

[2] On 10 February 1964, the 4-level system was reformed into 6 levels, to improve the organisation of road management and maintenance.

[5][2][7] North Korea's road network has been shaped by the strong geographical constraints and topographical features of its territory.

[5] There is a lack of accurate and reliable data on the extent and surfacing of roads in North Korea.

[6] Roads AH1, AH6 and AH32 pass through North Korea,[1][11] this network covers 1,320 km of the country.

[5] Cooperation between North and South Korea in the field of road infrastructure is regularly discussed.

[1] At the June 2000 Inter-Korean Summit, the renovation of roads was mentioned as a subject for improving North-South relations.