North Korea – Causes of Statelessness

1. Lack of legal safeguards against childhood statelessness

North Korea provides access to citizenship for foundling children and children born to stateless parents, as long as both parents reside in the country. 

2. Administrative barriers

According to Article 7 of the Citizen Registration Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, documents confirming citizenship of North Korea are the birth certificate, citizen cards, and Pyongyang city resident certificates. A birth certificate is administered upon birth registration. For North Korean women living outside the territory, administrative barriers make it extremely difficult to register the birth of their children. When a North Korean woman has a child in China with a Chinese citizen, often the child’s birth registration is refused until the mother is deported back to North Korea. There are no birth registration rates available for the country.