Citizenship in North Korea

Citizenship in North Korea is a status given to individuals recognized as North Korean by the government of the country. It is a source of shared national identity, but can also be one of contention or conflict.

North Korea adopted a nationality law in 1963, 15 years after being founded on 9 September 1948.^[1] It has since been revised in 1995 and 1999. The nationality law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) governs who is a citizen of the DPRK, and how one may gain or lose such citizenship. It prescribes citizenship qualifications, citizen rights, and citizen protections. While containing just 16 articles, it covers most of the basic features which can be found across modern citizenship legislation in other nations.^[2]

• Democratic People's Republic of Korea passport
• Korean reunification
• Nationality Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
• South Korean defectors

• Ginsburgs, George (1983), The citizenship law of the USSR, Law in Eastern Europe #25, Brill, ISBN 978-90-247-2863-3
• Kim, Chin (1972), "North Korea Nationality Law", International Law, 6 (34)
• Sin, Steve (2009), "North Korean Constitution – April 2009", Blogspot

• Unofficial English and Japanese translations of the Nationality Law of 1963