North Korea Weather and Climate
According to COUNTRYAAH, North Korea is a State of East Asia (122,762 km²). Capital: Pyongyang. Administrative division: provinces (9), city (3), special district (1). Population: 25 490 965 residents (2017 estimate). Language: Korean. Religion: non-religious / atheists 68.3%, animists / traditional beliefs 15.6%, syncretic religions 13.9%, others 2.2%. Currency unit: North Korean won (100 chŏn). Borders: People’s Republic of China and Russia (N), Sea of Japan (E), South Korea (S), Yellow Sea (W). Member of: UN.
Obtained independence from Japan (1945), from 1948, after the division that led to the creation of two autonomous states, the northern part took on the name Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Under the 1972 constitution, amended several times, the highest organ of the state is the Supreme People’s Assembly, whose 687 members, chosen from the single list of the Korean Workers’ Party, remain in office for 5 years; in addition to exercising legislative power, the Assembly appoints and dismisses the government, which has executive power, and elects the Central People’s Committee from among its members. In 1998, with an amendment to the Constitution, the office of President of the Republic was abolished. The full powers, concentrated in the hands of the late president’s son (proclaimed after the death of the “eternal president”), they have effectively made the country a dynastic communist regime. The legal system does not provide for distinctions between administrative, criminal and civil levels; the administration of justice provides for recourse to a single body, the Supreme Court, elected by the People’s Assembly and by the independent and impartial courts of the city, county and province. The figure of the attorney general, responsible to the Assembly, is entrusted with the task of checking the exact application of the laws and protecting the legality of public and private life. The country’s armed forces are tripartite (army, navy and air force); to these are added the coast guard and a paramilitary formation called the Red Guard. The military service is mandatory from the age of 16 and its duration varies according to the body in which it is carried out: 5-8 years (army), 5-10 years (navy), 3-4 years (aviation). The country is a holder of atomic weapons and, since 2003, has exited the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The educational system, organized according to the Japanese model during the period of the Japanese occupation, has historically always enjoyed particular importance and is still widely developed (the illiteracy rate, in 2003, was 7%). Organized on a democratic basis since 1954, education is free for all levels. The compulsory schooling was extended in 1975 to 11 years: the system currently provides for one year of pre-schooling, a primary school divided into two cycles of 4 and 6 years and the study of English from the age of 14. Higher education, free of charge, is given at the University of Kim-Il-Sung (Pyongyang, 1946) and in the higher institutes of mining science, medicine, mechanics, fine arts etc.
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Optimal travel time for the regions
In the following overview you can see the best travel time depending on the region (North Korea).
| Place | Best travel time |
| Pyongyang | May, June and September |
| Wonsan | May, June and October |
Temperatures, precipitation, sunshine in Pyongyang (North Korea)
| Jan | Feb | March | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Daytime temperature | -2 ° C | 1 ° C | 8 ° C | 16 ° C | 23 ° C | 27 ° C | 29 ° C | 29 ° C | 25 ° C | 19 ° C | 9 ° C | 1 ° C |
| Night temperature | -13 ° C | -10 ° C | -3 ° C | 4 ° C | 10 ° C | 16 ° C | 20 ° C | 21 ° C | 14 ° C | 6 ° C | -1 ° C | -9 ° C |
| Precipitation in mm | 13 | 13 | 28 | 59 | 56 | 105 | 308 | 262 | 111 | 44 | 38 | 17 |
| Hours of sunshine | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Sunrise | 7:25 | 7:00 | 6:20 | 5:30 | 4:55 | 4:40 | 4:50 | 5:20 | 5:50 | 6:15 | 6:50 | 7:20 |
| Sunset | 17:10 | 17:45 | 18:10 | 18:45 | 19:10 | 19:35 | 19:35 | 19:05 | 18:15 | 17:30 | 16:55 | 16:45 |
Temperatures
The annual average temperature in Pjöngjang is 9.5 ° C. For comparison: Munich reaches an average of 8.6 ° C, in Berlin it is 9.6 ° C. The warmest month is August (24.4 ° C), coldest month of January with mean values of -7.8 ° C.
Precipitation
The annual precipitation is 1054 mm. For comparison: In Munich, 967 mm, in Berlin 570 mm, precipitation is measured annually. The months of July and August are considered the rainy season, as more than 175 mm of precipitation can be expected per month. Overall, around 570 mm of precipitation can be expected in the rainy season. In the months of January, February, March, April, November and December snowfall is possible.
Sunshine
As our climate table shows, May is the sunniest month with an average of 8.4 hours of sunshine per day. In the annual mean, the sun shines an average of 6.7 hours per day. For comparison: In Munich and Berlin, the sun shines an average of 4.7 hours per day throughout the year.
Cities nearby
The following larger towns are nearby and have a similar climate: Sunch’ŏn, Namp’o, P’yŏngsŏng and Songnim.
