North Korean Postal Service

The North Korean Postal Service (Korean: 조선의 체신체계)^[1] or Korean Post (Korean: 조선 우편)^[1] is operated by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Communication Maintenance Bureau, which oversees postal communications, telegrams, telephone services, TV broadcasts, newspapers and other related matters.^[2]

As with much of North Korea, internal information regarding the Postal Service is difficult to come by and what is learned usually comes from stories of North Korean defectors, the limited number of international business activities and a handful of North Korean research institutes.^[3]

Prior to the famine in the 1990s, the telegram service usually took less than a week and the government provided bicycles to the offices to ensure delivery. However, during the famine (also called the "Arduous March"), postal delivery became more and more sporadic due to food, electricity and fuel shortages. In some cases it took over a month for a letter to be sent from the north of the country to Pyongyang, which is only a few hundred kilometres away^[4] and, at times, it is rumoured that postal train employees would burn the letters in order to keep warm.^[5]

In 1992, all higher-level officials were fired, with the minister and vice-minister and their families being arrested and sent to prison camps for embezzlement, and wasting funds buying worn out fibre optic-producing equipment from the UK.^[2]

Since 1993, there has been a fibre optic telephone service available in places, which residents call the "light telephone". This has reduced the reliance of citizens on telegrams and letters.^[2]

On May 24, 2003, in order to "putting the nation's post and telecommunications on a modern it basis", Huichon University of Technology in Jagang Province was reorganized into Huichon University of Post and Telecommunications, using modern post and telecommunications and broadcasting equipment, including computers and satellite TV link-up equipment, in education.^[6]

On October 2, 2003, Meeting of Officials in Field of Post and Telecommunications and Exhibition of Achievements in Post and Telecommunications were held.^[7][8] Kim Jong Il sent vehicles to different post offices and communication factories and enterprises across the country, and a ceremony of conveying the vehicles was held at the People's Palace of Culture.^[9]

On April 19, 2016, Naenara reported that the Soho branch of the post office in Mundok County, South Phyongan Province, has established a post and telecommunications service system powered by wind turbines and solar panels.^[10]

On May 5, 2020, Voice of Korea reported that Officials of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications are benefiting from the photovoltaic power system in Pyongyang, and the Jungsan County Post Office in South Phyongan Province has established the photovoltaic power system and completed the electric power generation system by methane, providing sufficient electricity needed for its operation.^[11]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, KCNA reported that the Pyongyang Post Office and the Central Post Office "intensify the disinfection work to rapidly control the spread of the malignant epidemic" on December 25, 2020 and May 22, 2022, respectively.^[12][13]

Each province has a branch of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and each "Ri" (village) has a postal service office to deliver letters, packages and telegrams.^[2] Agents of the North Korean Ministry of State Security are stationed at the Ministry's office to inspect mail and monitor residents.^[2] Despite having a postal system and other state-run communications organizations, word of mouth remains the most common way information is spread throughout the country.^[14]

The delivery time of mail in North Korea has always been a mystery, but some information can still be gleaned from the available public information. On November 24, 2025, the Chinese Embassy in DPRK announced that it had received a registered letter from a Chinese citizen testing the operation of the China-DPRK's border surface postal route.^[15] According to the logistics tracking information extracted from the attached image, the letter left China from Dandong on November 9th and handed over to the carrier for Sinuiju, North Korea.^{[note 1]} Meanwhile, the postal service of North Korea did not return any logistics tracking information for its transportation within DPRK.^[16]

International postal service is available to all countries of the Bloc and to some countries of the Free World.^[17] However, its international postal services were gradually severely restricted under subsequent sanctions imposed by the United Nations and other countries. In the United States, any mail is regulated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and limits mail to first-class letters/postcards and matter for the blind. All merchandise, currency, precious metals, jewellery, chemical/biological/radioactive materials and others are prohibited.^[18]

North Korea only has one registered international mail processing center (IMPC) at UPU, which is "Pyongyang International Post Service Center",^[19] with the assigned IMPC code "KPFNJA".^[1]

On March 7, 1946, on the eve of the first meeting of United States-Soviet Joint Commission, Lieutenant General Chistyakov, Commander of the Soviet Army in northern Korea, and Lieutenant General Hodge, Commander of the U.S. Army in southern Korea, jointly signed an agreement announcing that "starting from March 15, mailbags will be exchanged through Kaesong Station, and the circulation of first-class mail (sealed letters and postcards) between the north and south of the 38th parallel will be restored. Both sides will respect each other's stamps and mail markings, and at the request of the authorities stationed in both places, the mail exchange will continue."^[20] On March 15, the first exchange of mail between the northern and the southern along the 38th parallel was held at Kaesong Station, witnessed by liaison officers from the US and Soviet militaries. The exchange included first-class and second-class mail.^{[note 2]} Representatives from both sides also signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of mail.^{[note 3][21]} After that, the two sides exchanged mail irregularly.

On May 5, 1946, the Soviet official Chistyakov accepted the American proposal to change the north-south mail exchange to once a week.^[22] According to a news report on December 19, the two sides exchange mail at Kaesong Station every two weeks.^[23]

In late July 1946, the Soviet garrison command notified the United States that mail exchange was temporarily suspended due to the highly contagious nature of cholera; the US garrison command would be notified separately when conditions permitted to resume.^[22] About 3 months later, the exchange of mail between the two sides resumed, but was shortened to once a week on Thursdays at Ryohyon station, still witnessed by liaison officers from the US and Soviet militaries.^[23][24]

Starting April 15, 1948, the mail exchange was changed from once a month to once a week on Thursdays;^[25] on December 25 (or 26^[26]), after exchanging mail more than eighty times, the US and Soviet liaison officers were both recalled. At the same time, the US military commander in South Korea notified the South Korean Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications that “from now on, the mail exchange will be under the jurisdiction of the South Korean government, and the US military will not need to participate in related matters or interfere as before.” The situation of the North-South postal route along the 38th parallel attracted much attention. On the 30th, the day the mail was originally scheduled to be exchanged, three North Korean military and political representatives and three South Korean representatives, led by Postmaster General Choi Jae-ho, reached an agreement at Ryohyon to confirm that the mail exchange every Thursday would continue as usual. However, due to Choi Jae-ho’s proposal, the exchange of printed matter between the two sides was forced to stop.^[27] As of December 16, 1948, 2 years and 9 months after the two sides began exchanging mail, a total of 314,523 pieces of mail had traveled north and 1,091,678 pieces of mail had traveled south.^[23]

On April 27, 1950, at an Interdepartmental Meeting on the Far East held by the United States, it was mentioned that "at the present time the only public intercourse between North and South Korea is the delivery of mail every two weeks",^[28] which is also the latest verifiable record date for the exchange of mails between North and South Korea.

On June 25, 1950, the exchange of mail between North and South Korea was interrupted due to the outbreak of the Korean War. A total of 165 exchanges had taken place before the interruption.^[29] After the war, South Korea has spurned suggestions to establish postal relations with the North, fearing that such exchanges would lead only to an influx of subversive materials. Nevertheless, in 1960 more than 80,000 pieces of mail from North Korea reached South Korea via third countries.^[17]

Although an official postal route briefly existed between North and South Korea between 1946 and 1950, it eventually ceased to exist as North Korea–South Korea relations deteriorated sharply and even escalated into war.^[17]

As early as August 16, 1946, North Korea signed the Provisional Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and North Korea on Postal and Telegraphic Communication with USSR.

In 2020, postal and communication services between North Korea and Russia were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2025, Russian Post announced that it had resumed accepting parcels destined for North Korea, with a weight limit of 20 kg and a delivery time of approximately 15 days. Parcels are first airlifted from Moscow to Vladivostok, and then transported from there to Pyongyang by North Korean airlines.^[30]

As announced by China's State Post Bureau and the Chinese Embassy in DPRK, on September 25, 2025, "following coordination between the governments of the two countries, China-DPRK's border surface postal route (Dandong-Sinuiju) has been officially resumed."^{[note 4][41][42]} Although the postal route between the two countries had been intermittently opened and closed since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted it, this was the first time the Chinese government had explicitly announced the official resumption of the postal route.^[43]

• The forgotten postal link between North and South Korea, a broadcast by NK News on 16 Oct, 2025
• Sanctions Against North Korea at Global Policy Forum