Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (North Korea)

The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (Korean: 체신성; MR: Ch'esinsŏng) is a government ministry in North Korea which is responsible for the North Korean postal service, telephone system, and media such as television and print press. Additionally, the ministry is responsible for mint stamps. In 2010, the ministry participated in a cyber-attack on South Korea using an IP address leased from China.^[2] The ministry is a member of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity.^[3]

Ministry of Post and Telecommunications

Agency overview
Formed	April 8
Jurisdiction	North Korea
Headquarters	Central District, Pyongyang[1]
Agency executive	Ju Yong Il, Minister
Parent agency	Cabinet of North Korea
Child agency	North Korean postal service

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
Chosŏn'gŭl	체신성
Hancha	遞信省
Revised Romanization	Chesinseong
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'esinsŏng

The current minister is Ju Yong Il. Before that was Kim Kwang-chol, ^[4] who was preceded by Sim Chol-ho, and Sim was appointed to the post in February 2012.^[5] Sim was reported executed in a February 2016 article.^[6]

Former ministers

• Kim Jong-ju: September 2, 1948 ~   ?
• Pak Il-u: March 1953 - November 28, 1955
• Chang-Hum Kim: November 29, 1955 ~ September 19, 1957
• Jun jun Ko September 20, 1957 ~ April 24, 1958 Choi Hyun April 24, 1958 ~ October 22, 1962
• Park Young-soon October 23, 1962 ~ December 16, 1967 Park Young-soon December 16, 1967 ~ December 27, 1967
• Kim Young-chae December 15, 1977 – 1980 Kim Young-chae 1980 ~ April 4, 1982, April 5, 1982 ~ December 28, 1986, December 29, 1986 ~
• Changho Kim May 24, 1990 ~
• Blind hag Lee Geum-bum September 5, 2000 ~ 2002
• Lee Geum-beom 2002 ~ September 2, 2003, September 3, 2003 ~ July 2005
• Ryu Yong-sop (2005 英 燮): July 2005 ~ January 2009
• Sim Chol-ho: February 2012 ~ 2015
• Kim Kwang-chol: 2015 ~ 2021
• Ju Yong Il: January 17, 2021 ~ Present^[7]

International

North Korea & China

• On December 18, 1947, the Post and Telecommunications Bureau of the People's Committee of North Korea and the General Administration of Posts and Telecommunications of the Northeast Administrative Committee of the Republic of China [zh] signed the Interim Agreement on Postal and Telecommunications between the Northeast Liberated Area of the Republic of China and North Korea and its Implementation Rules, which shall become invalid on the date when the following "Postal Agreement" comes into effect.^[8]

• Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China signed the "Postal Agreement" in Beijing on December 25, 1949, opening up the exchange of ordinary (Chinese: 普通) and special (Chinese: 特种) mail, which was scheduled to take effect on February 1, 1950, and shall become invalid on the date when the new "Postal Agreement" on 1957 comes into effect. The treaty consists of 20 articles, stipulating that:

The two countries' mail exchanges are designated to be exchanged by the post offices of Tumen and Namyang, Ji'an and Manpo, plus Andong and Sinuiju, with each party sending staff to the other post office every other day. The time for exchanging mail is set from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. every day. ^[8]

• Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China signed the "Agreement for the exchange of Postal Packages" on March 30, 1954, opening up the exchange of ordinary postal packages, which was scheduled to take effect on May 1, 1954, and shall become invalid on the date when the new "Postal Agreement" on 1957 comes into effect. ^[9]
• Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of China signed a new "Postal Agreement" in Pyongyang on June 7, 1957, indicates various rates on postal exchange than the older version, which was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 1957. ^[10]

• Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and State Post Bureau of the People’s Republic of China signed the "Agreement on Strengthening Cooperation in the Postal Field" in Beijing on May 26, 2000, which came into effect on the same day. The two sides agreed to:

Handle the mail exchange business between the two countries in accordance with the Beijing Universal Postal Convention of 1999 and its letter and parcel regulations; to set up additional exchange offices in Hunchun and 元正 (DPRK side, English name unknown); to open postal remittance business; to use special drawing rights for settlement; and to study the feasibility of launching international express mail service (EMS). ^[11]

See also

• Cabinet of North Korea
• North Korean postal service
• Telecommunications in North Korea