North Korea

INFRASTRUCTURE

Figure 7. Primary Railroads, Ports, and Airports, 1990

Source: Based on information from Korea (L nderkarte.), Gotha, Germany, 1990.

Figure 8. Primary Roads, 1992

Source: Based on information from Atlas of North Korea, Seoul, 1992; and Korea, Seoul, 1992; and Korea (L nderkarte.), Gotha, Germany, 1990.

An inadequate and outmoded infrastructure, particularly the transportation network, has severely impeded industrial growth, especially since the end of the disappointing Six-Year Plan. The magnitude of the problem was such that in 1977 Kim Il Sung identified the "transportation front" as the sector requiring the greatest effort that year. During the Second Seven-Year Plan, priority was assigned to modernizing and expanding the freightcarrying capacity in rail, road, and marine transport, as well as to centralizing and containerizing transport. The expansion and renovation of port facilities also received much investment in order to alleviate congestion and delay in the handling of cargo at ports. The same theme was basically repeated in the Third Seven-Year Plan.

Data as of June 1993