Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (North Korea)

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (Korean: 체신성), or Ministry of Communications as called by CIA in the 1950s,^[3] is a government ministry in North Korea which is responsible for the North Korean postal service, telephone system, and media such as television and print press. Additionally, the ministry is responsible for mint stamps. The ministry is a member of the International Telecommunication Union^[1] and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity.^[4]

The predecessor of the Ministry was the Posts and Telecommunications Bureau of the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea and the Posts and Telecommunications Bureau of the People's Committee of North Korea.

Postal and telecommunications sector is showing a mixed development pattern, with light investment but heavy cooperation. In 1945, a report by the Joint Army-Navy Intelligence on transportation and telecommunications in the Korean Peninsula indicated that most telegraph offices in Korea were located within post offices, with only 175 dedicated solely to telegraphs and telephones. In cities and towns with telegraph facilities, telegrams are delivered by messengers. Elsewhere they are delivered by mail.^[5] In mid-September 1955, according to an engineer of the RFT-Fernmeldeanlage bau (Telecommunications Engineering Plant) in East Berlin, the telecommunications engineering plant in Arnstadt had received an order to furnish a telephone exchange with 300 connection units for North Korea. The exchange was to be delivered by October 1955.^[6] In November 1962, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, after analyzing data from 1957 and 1958, stated that only 8% of North Korea's total investment in the transportation sector was allocated to the postal and telecommunications sector.^[7]

• Telecommunication services largely stem from the remains of Japanese colonial rule and aid from the socialist bloc. The telecommunications net in North Korea was developed to serve the Japanese economy rather than as a part of a self-sustaining Korean economy. By 1954, communications were generally passed over wire lines, with radio in an augmenting role. Pyongyang is the communications focal point, with other economic centers serving as areal communications centers. Telecommunications are government-owned, and public use of the facilities is extremely limited: North Korea is dependent for almost all technical supervision and for equipment and parts upon the USSR and the European Satellites. Since the truce, wire rehabilitation on main lines has been pushed, using Soviet Bloc aid.^[8]
• Newspaper business was basically monopolized by the Ministry in the early years. On January 16, 1950, Minju Chosun reported that effective from January 1950, Inmin, the official monthly publication of the DPRK, will be distributed only to prepaid subscribers. The subscribers must pay in advance the fee of 40 won per issue. Due to limited issuance, the subscribers are asked to apply for subscriptions immediately at the following addresses:
  • In P'yongyang: Distribution Department, Central Newspaper Dispatch, Bureau of Publication Control, Ministry of Communications, c/o P'yongyang Central Post Office.
  • Outside P'yongyang: The newspaper distribution center in each province; or the newspaper section in city and county post offices.^[9]

Besides, in 2010, the ministry participated in a cyber-attack on South Korea using an IP address leased from China.^[10]

• Kim Jong-ju: September 2, 1948 ~   ?
• Pak Il-u: March 1953 - November 28, 1955
• Chang-Hum Kim: November 29, 1955 ~ September 19, 1957
• Jun jun Ko September 20, 1957 ~ April 24, 1958 Choi Hyun April 24, 1958 ~ October 22, 1962
• Park Young-soon October 23, 1962 ~ December 16, 1967 Park Young-soon December 16, 1967 ~ December 27, 1967
• Kim Young-chae December 15, 1977 – 1980 Kim Young-chae 1980 ~ April 4, 1982, April 5, 1982 ~ December 28, 1986,^[3] December 29, 1986 ~
• Changho Kim May 24, 1990 ~
• Ri Kum Bom: September 5, 1998^[11] ~ 2003^[12]
• Lee Geum-bum: September 5, 2000 ~ 2002
• Lee Geum-beom: 2002 ~ September 2, 2003, September 3, 2003 ~ July 2005
• Ryu Yong-sop (2005 英 燮): July 2005 ~ January 2009
• Sim Chol-ho: February 2012 ~ 2015
• Kim Kwang-chol: 2015 ~ 2021^[13]
• Ju Yong Il: January 17, 2021 ~ Present^[14]

The current minister is Ju Yong Il. Before that was Kim Kwang-chol,^[15] who was preceded by Sim Chol-ho, and Sim was appointed to the post in February 2012.^[16] Sim was reported executed in a February 2016 article.^[17]

During the Cold War, international postal service was available to all countries of the Communist bloc and to some non-Communist countries as well (but not South Korea).^[18] 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.^[19]

North Korea only has one registered international mail processing center (IMPC) at UPU, which is "Pyongyang International Post Service Center",^[20] with the assigned IMPC code "KPFNJA".^[21]

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."^[22] 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 1]} Representatives from both sides also signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the exchange of mail.^{[note 2][23]} 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.^[24] According to a news report on December 19, the two sides exchange mail at Kaesong Station every two weeks.^[25]

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.^[24] 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.^[25][26]

Starting April 15, 1948, the mail exchange was changed from once a month to once a week on Thursdays;^[27] on December 25 (or 26^[28]), 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.^[29] 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.^[25]

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",^[30] 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.^[31] 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.^[18]

As indicated above, 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.^[18]

During the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, members of the 20th National Assembly of South Korea proposed 12 amendments to the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act. The amendments stipulated that "South Korean residents can report any contact they have with North Korean residents via telephone, letter, telegram, fax, or email to the Minister of Unification afterward, rather than reporting it in advance." However, due to the upcoming local elections, fierce confrontations between the conservative opposition and the ruling party, and the downplaying of the summit's outcome, the bill failed to pass.^[32]

On July 30, 2025, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young approved the abolition of the Guidelines for Handling Reports of Contact Between Civilians and North Korean Residents. These guidelines stipulated the standards by which the Ministry of Unification would refuse to accept reports of contact with North Korea submitted by civilians under the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act. Their abolition provides a legal basis for South Korea to resume private exchanges with North Korea, including mail exchanges.^[33]

As early as August 16, 1946, Posts and Telecommunications Bureau of the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea signed the Provisional Agreement between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and North Korea on Postal and Telegraphic Communication with USSR in Pyongyang.^[34]

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.^[35]

As approved by China Post Group Corporation and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of DPRK, the Hunchun Postal Bureau and the Rason Postal Operation Bureau signed a border mail exchange agreement. Both sides agreed to open the Hunchun (China) ~ Rason (DPRK) postal route on March 3, 2014, ending the previous history where mails had to be transshipped via Beijing, China and Pyongyang, DPRK.^[49] Initially, it was planned to operate two fixed exchanges per week, and later the frequency and number of exchanges would be gradually increased according to the business volume. The main types of mail are letters and parcels, covering daily necessities and all kinds of commodities permitted by the state to be exported by mail.^[50] The rate is 10 CNY per letter and 2.5 CNY per kilogram for parcels.^[51] However, all mail exchanges were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 3][52][53]} 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.^[54]

• Cabinet of North Korea
• North Korean postal service
• Telecommunications in North Korea