hankyoreh

the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War in Paju

In what kind of living environment does the average North Korean reside? Until now, we’ve only been able to guess roughly; there was no way to know concretely. The result of North Korea’s 2008 population census, carried out with assistance from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), however, gives a concrete picture.

A brief answer says that the average North Korean lives in a row house or detached house slightly over 20 pyeong in area with two rooms and a bathroom and uses coal or wood for fuel.

According to the 2008 census, there are 5,887,471 households in North Korea. By housing type, 2,534,435 households (43 percent) live in row houses, while 1,988,415 (34 percent) live in detached houses and 1,264,435 (21 percent) live in apartments. As for housing size, 4,325,378 households (73 percent) live in homes 50 to 75 square meters in area. Around 999,387 households (17 percent) live in homes under 50 square meters, while just 112,781 (2 percent) live in homes over 100 square meters. Around 3,808,956 households (65 percent) live in homes with two rooms. Some 1,013,664 (17 percent) live in one-room homes. Just 61,823 households (1 percent) live in homes with four rooms or more. This means that the majority of North Koreans live in homes smaller than South Korean public housing.

Some 5,003,904 households (85 percent) access drinking water via running water. Around 3,434,306 households have independent bathrooms with toilets connected to a plumbing system, 2,045,134 homes (35 percent) have outhouses and 342,452 (6 percent) have shared outhouses, while 65,579 (1 percent) have shared toilets connected to plumbing.

According to the report, an overwhelming majority of North Korean homes use coal or wood for heating or cooking. According to the report, 2,773,238 households (47 percent), use coal for heating, while 2,656,866 use wood, a close second. Around 263,809 homes (5 percent) use central or regional heating. Just 3 percent use electricity as a heating fuel. For cooking fuel, 2,758,400 use wood and 2,714,511 use coal, also in the 46 to 47 percent range respectively, followed by gas (3 percent), oil (2 percent) and electricity (1 percent).

The reliance of 92 to 93 percent of North Koreans on wood and coal for heating and cooking fuel is presumed to be an effect of the energy shortages since the mid 1990s, although the lack of similar census data makes a precise comparison difficult.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]