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Does North Korea have its own TLD? Long answer short, yes .KP is the TLD for the DPRK, but as with everything North Korean, there’s a story to things….

We have written a lot about the internet in North Korea and even the top North Korean websites, but there has been very little about the TLD (top-level domain) of North Korea, by us, or anyone else.

Let us rectify that!

What is the TLD of North Korea?

North Korea uses .KP as its national top-level domain, similar to .UK in the UK (duh), or .KR in the Republic of Korea (South Korea).

When was .KP assigned to North Korea?

ICANN assigned the ccTLD (country code top-level domain) to North Korea in 2007, exceptionally late compared to other countries due to some requirements of ICANN not being met.

One of the first websites to adopt the domain was KCNA, the Korean Central Newsagency.

How many websites are there using .kp?

How many websites that use the .KP ccTLD, or indeed how many websites are there hosted in North Korea is something that changes quite a lot but is generally quite small when compared to many other countries.

Current estimates are there are around 30 plus domains, or subdomains using the .kp moniker.

Who manages websites in North Korea?

Originally it was done through the Korean Computer Centre in Germany but has since transferred to Star Joint-Venture (A joint venture between China and the DPRK) based in Pyongyang?

Can I get a .KP website?

Can you get a North Korean website? Long answer short is no, no, you cannot. It would be pretty cool if you could though eh! And if this situation does ever change, YPT will be at the front of the line YPT.KP maybe? We do already own YPT.SU (the Soviet Union is the only “former country” to keep its ccTLD).

Is there a handy list of North Korean websites?

Wikipedia is always a good place to start, but there is also www.DPRK.website, which lists not just .KP sites, but other ones related to North Korea (like us).