ABSTRACT
Like the country it covers and the government to which it reports, the statistical service of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) remains, from the standpoint of outside observers, largely enveloped in mystery. In the era of the information revolution, the DPRK’s release of official statistics is entirely episodic and absolutely minimal, and has been so for over four decades. In an age of globalization, North Korean statistical authorities stand in virtually complete isolation from all international counterparts.
