North Korean Law Database

The laws in this database were included in an app called “조선민주주의인민공화국 버저,” which was installed in a North Korean smartphone that was sold in 2024. A number of those laws and updates have never been published outside of North Korea.

For other laws, we recommend readers consult the excellent bi-annual compendium of North Korean laws published by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, “北韓法令集“. Updated laws are also available in the Unification Legislation Database, 통일법제데이터베이스, maintained by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Government Legislation and English translations are posted on the Law and North Korea site of Australian barrister Daye Gang.

Caveats:

It was not possible to directly export the text of the laws electronically from the phone, so screenshots were taken and ran through a character recognition system to get it back into a form that can be published. The resulting text has not been checked for accuracy, and it is possible the character recognition system might have “corrected” some North Korean spellings to South Korean spellings as part of its error correction. If you have questions about a particular article or phrase used and would like to see the original, please contact us.

Each law is accompanied by a machine translation into English, produced by the May 2025 version of Microsoft Copilot. The English version is provided for the convenience of readers, and no guarantee is made for its precision.

Updates:

July 17, 2025: Added Electricity Law 전력법, State Budget Review Law 국가예산수입법, Socialist Property Management Law 사회주의재산관리법, Price Law 가격법, Grain Administration Law 량정법, Agricultural Law 농업법, Facility Management Law 설비관리법 and Farm Law 농장법. (Translations provided by July 2025 version of Microsoft Copilot)

TitleContentLink
Accident Prevention Law 사고방지법 (English)Adopted December 14, 2023
Accident Prevention Law 사고방지법 (Korean)Adopted December 14, 2023
Agricultural Law 농업법 (English)Revised and supplemented on July 29, 2023
Agricultural Law 농업법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented on July 29, 2023
Anti Corruption Law 부정부패법 (English)Amended July 7, 2020
Anti Corruption Law 부정부패법 (Korean)Amended July 7, 2020
Commodity Circulation Law 상품류통법 (English)Adopted August 30, 2023
Commodity Circulation Law 상품류통법 (Korean)Adopted August 30, 2023
Criminal Procedure Law 형사소송법 (English)Amended May 30, 2023
Criminal Procedure Law 형사소송법 (Korean)Amended May 30, 2023
Crisis Response Law 위기대응법 (English)Adopted October 6, 2022
Crisis Response Law 위기대응법 (Korean)Adopted October 6, 2022
Education Support Law 교육후원법 (English)Adopted December 21, 2023
Education Support Law 교육후원법 (Korean)Adopted December 21, 2023
Electricity Law 전력법 (English)Amended and supplemented December 14, 2023
Electricity Law 전력법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented December 14, 2023
Electronic Authentication Law 전자인증법 (English)Revised and supplemented December 5, 2023
Electronic Authentication Law 전자인증법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented December 5, 2023
Emergency Quarantine Law 비상방역법 (English)Amended May 16, 2023
Emergency Quarantine Law 비상방역법 (Korean)Amended May 16, 2023
Facility Management Law 설비관리법 (English)Revised and supplemented on May 16, 2023
Facility Management Law 설비관리법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented on May 16, 2023
Farm Law 농장법 (English)Amended and supplemented on September 12, 2023
Farm Law 농장법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented on September 12, 2023
Foreign Payment Law 대외결제법 (English)Amended and supplemented March 14, 2023
Foreign Payment Law 대외결제법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented March 14, 2023
Fuel Law 연유법 (English)Amended and supplemented January 17, 2024
Fuel Law 연유법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented January 17, 2024
Grain Administration Law 량정법 (English)Revised and supplemented on December 6, 2022
Grain Administration Law 량정법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented on December 6, 2022
Household Management Law 살림집관리법 (English)Adopted October 19, 2023
Household Management Law 살림집관리법 (Korean)Adopted October 19, 2023
Hwanggumpyeong and Wihwado Economic Zone Law 황금평, 위화도경제지대법 (English)Amended and supplemented March 14, 2023
Hwanggumpyeong and Wihwado Economic Zone Law 황금평, 위화도경제지대법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented March 14, 2023
Immigration Law 출입국법 (English)Amended June 21, 2017
Immigration Law 출입국법 (Korean)Amended June 21, 2017
Information Law 정보화법 (English)Revised and supplemented December 6, 2022
Information Law 정보화법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented December 6, 2022
Loan Law 대부법 (English)Adopted February 2, 2023
Loan Law 대부법 (Korean)Adopted February 2, 2023
Mental Health Protection Law 정신건강보호법 (English)Adopted July 4, 2020
Mental Health Protection Law 정신건강보호법 (Korean)Adopted July 4, 2020
Nanotech Law 나노기술법 (English)Adopted July 12, 2018
Nanotech Law 나노기술법 (Korean)Adopted July 12, 2018
Peoples Assembly Deputies Law 각급 인민회의 대의원법 (English)Adopted June 13, 2024
Peoples Assembly Deputies Law 각급 인민회의 대의원법 (Korean)Adopted June 13, 2024
Plastic Surgery Law 성형외과치료법 (English)Revised and supplemented February 6, 2024
Plastic Surgery Law 성형외과치료법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented February 6, 2024
Prevention of Violation of Procedures Law 수속질서위반행위방지법 (English)Amended and supplemented September 12, 2023
Prevention of Violation of Procedures Law 수속질서위반행위방지법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented September 12, 2023
Price Law 가격법 (English)Revised and supplemented on August 29, 2023
Price Law 가격법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented on August 29, 2023
Radio Wave Control Law 전파관리법 (English)Amended and supplemented October 31, 2023
Radio Wave Control Law 전파관리법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented October 31, 2023
Radioactive Pollution Law 방사성오염방지법 (English)Amended July 7, 2020
Radioactive Pollution Law 방사성오염방지법 (Korean)Amended July 7, 2020
Railway Management Law 철길관리법 (English)Revised and supplemented January 17, 2024
Railway Management Law 철길관리법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented January 17, 2024
Resident Administration Law 주민행정법 (English)Amended July 7, 2020
Resident Administration Law 주민행정법 (Korean)Amended July 7, 2020
Resident Fuel Law 주민연료법 (English)Amended and supplemented June 11, 2024
Resident Fuel Law 주민연료법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented June 11, 2024
Residents’ Registration Law 공민등록법 (English)Amended June 11, 2024
Residents’ Registration Law 공민등록법 (Korean)Amended June 11, 2024
Science and Technology Dissemination Law 과학기술보급법 (English)Adopted October 12, 2017
Science and Technology Dissemination Law 과학기술보급법 (Korean)Adopted October 12, 2017
Small and Medium Power Plants Law 중소형발전소법 (English)Amended October 25, 2022
Small and Medium Power Plants Law 중소형발전소법 (Korean)Amended October 25, 2022
Socialist Property Management Law 사회주의재산관리법 (English)Revised and supplemented on June 19, 2020
Socialist Property Management Law 사회주의재산관리법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented on June 19, 2020
Space Development Law 우주개발법 (English)Revised and supplemented August 7, 2022
Space Development Law 우주개발법 (Korean)Revised and supplemented August 7, 2022
State Budget Review Law 국가예산수입법 (English)Amended and supplemented December 5, 2023
State Budget Review Law 국가예산수입법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented, December 5, 2023
State Secrets Protection Law 국가비밀보호법 (English)Amended June 11, 2024
State Secrets Protection Law 국가비밀보호법 (Korean)Amended June 11, 2024
Technology Import and Export Law 기술수출입법 (English)Amended and supplemented January 19, 2023
Technology Import and Export Law 기술수출입법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented January 19, 2023
Telecom Law 전기통신법 (English)Amended and supplemented August 23, 2022
Telecom Law 전기통신법 (Korean)Amended and supplemented August 23, 2022
Tourism Law 관광법 (English)Adopted August 30, 2023
Tourism Law 관광법 (Korean)Adopted August 30, 2023