38 North (www.38north.org) is a program of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, which provides information and analysis about North Korea and North Korean affairs. The website was founded in 2010 with the mission of elevating the quality of information and analysis about North Korea available to both the policy world and the general public.

38 North was started by Joel S. Wit and Jenny Town and is a program of the US-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (USKI). Mr. Wit is a former State Department official and current USKI Visiting Scholar and Ms. Town is a USKI Research Associate. For more information on 38 North or to provide feedback on the DPRK Digital Atlas project, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

The DPRK Digital Atlas is a resource developed by 38 North (www.38north.org), working with Curtis Melvin (North Korean Economy Watch) and a talented team of programmers. It is part of 38 North’s on-going effort to provide various information and analysis resources to help policymakers, researchers, and the general public better understand the DPRK. The data for this project has been culled and vetted through a number of sources to provide users with the most accurate geographic information available at this time.

The atlas was created in Google Earth and then converted to a browser-based application to allow users to search the map either by name (English and Korean), coordinates, or simply by browsing through the drop down menus. Because it is built on the Google Earth platform, users can see the latest publicly available satellite imagery of any specific point or area as they are searching.

In this first iteration of the atlas, users can browse through the provinces, cities, counties, districts, towns and villages throughout the DPRK. Although it is the most comprehensive satellite mapping project of the DPRK, this remains an on-going GIS project, and future iterations will provide even greater detail and a wider variety of localities and features.

We are in debt to the following people and organizations for their contribution of key resources for the completion of this project: Jonathan Ung, Tam Nguyen, “Hank,” Stephen Mercado, Michael Rank, PSCORE, and the George Washington University Gelman Library’s Asia Reading Room.

For more information about 38 North, visit www.38north.org or email thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.

Sources:
1. 조선지도첩: 교육도서관 1997 (Published in Pyongyang).
2. 조선지도첩: 학우서1978 (Published in Pyongyang).
3. 조선향토대백과, Peace Research Institute, South Korea (평화문제연구소), April 17, 2005.
4. 삼천리 (Samchonri). Atlas software published by the Pyongyang Informatics Centre.
5. 조선지도: 학우서. Published by the Chosen-soren (Chonryun) in Japan.
6. Korean Central Television and Korean Central News Agency (numerous dates).
7. Interviews with visitors to the DPRK.

38North DPRK Digital Atlas is a work in progress, and we appreciate your feedback. Please fill in the form below to share your thoughts or ask for information. Thank you!