page_title: Transport in North Korea
section_title: Roads
hierarchical_section_title: Transport in North Korea / Roads
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: نقشه آزادراه های در دست بهره برداری کره شمالی
context_page_description: Transport in North Korea is constrained by economic problems and government restrictions. Public transport predominates, and most of it is electrified.
context_section_description: Fuel constraints and the near absence of private automobiles have relegated road transportation to a secondary role. The road network was estimated to be around 31,200 kilometres (19,400 mi) in 1999, up from between 23,000 kilometres (14,000 mi) and 30,000 kilometres (19,000 mi) in 1990, of which only 1,717 kilometres (1,067 mi), 7.5%, are paved. However, The World Factbook (published by the US Central Intelligence Agency) lists 25,554 kilometres (15,879 mi) of roads with only 724 kilometres (450 mi) paved as of 2006. As for the road quality, drivers will often swerve and change lanes to evade potholes, and this includes going into opposite-direction lanes at times. Likewise, sections under repair may not be properly signalled, so oncoming traffic should always be expected even on a divided motorway.
  There are three major multilane highways: a 200-kilometre (120 mi) expressway connecting Pyongyang and Wonsan on the east coast, a 43-kilometre (27 mi) expressway connecting Pyongyang and its port, Nampo, and a four-lane 100-kilometre (62 mi) motorway linking Pyongyang and Kaesong. The overwhelming majority of the estimated 264,000 vehicles in use in 1990 were for the military. Rural bus service connects all villages, and cities have bus and tram services. Since 1945/1946, there is right-hand traffic on roads. In cities, driving speeds are set by which lane a driver is in. The speed limits are 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph), 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph), and 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) for the first, second, and subsequent (if existing) lanes from the right, respectively. A white-on-blue sign informs about this.  The leftmost lane, if it is number 3 from the right or higher and is not a turning lane, is often left vacant, even by tourist buses, while the second-from-right lane is generally used to overtake vehicles from lane one, such as public transport buses and trams.
  Besides the blue in-city sign, all other occasions, such as motorways and roads outside cities, use the more widely known red-circle-with-number-inside sign to post speed limits. On motorways, the typical limit is 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph) and 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) for lanes from the right, respectively, as posted on the Pyongyang-Kaesong highway, for example. The rightmost lane of a motorway is sometimes, as seen on the Pyongyang–Myohyang highway, limited to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) near on-ramp joining points.
  Automobile transportation is further restricted by a series of regulations. According to North Korean exile Kim Ji-ho, unless a driver receives a special permit it is forbidden to drive alone (the driver must carry passengers). Other permits are a military mobilization permit (to transport soldiers in times of war), a certificate of driver training (to be renewed every year), a fuel validity document (a certificate confirming that the fuel was purchased from an authorized source), and a mechanical certificate (to prove that the car is in working order).
  Although it drives on the right, North Korea has imported various used right-hand drive RHD vehicles from Japan (through Russia), from tourist buses to Toyota Land Cruisers and HiAces.
  As of 2017, electric bicycles are becoming popular in Pyongyang; about 5% of bicycles are electric. Both locally produced and Chinese electric bicycles were available.
  As of 2016 there is 26,176 kilometres (16,265 mi) of road which is 25% of South Korea's road system in length.
caption: Map of motorways in North Korea (as of 2014)
exif: {}