Similarly, the DPRK has not acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. There is no specialized statutory procedure for identification or protection of stateless persons. Instead, nationality matters fall under the Nationality Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, first enacted on 9 October 1963 and subsequently amended most recently in 2017. That law defines DPRK citizenship principally by descent—extending to persons holding citizenship of undivided Korea at the law’s commencement and their descendants—and provides pathways to acquire, renounce or lose nationality. A prohibition on deprivation of nationality that renders an individual stateless is implicit in its terms, but there is no separate domestic mechanism to address residual cases of statelessness arising from gaps in documentation or parentage.

Forced displacement within DPRK territory stems largely from the impact of natural hazards—flooding, drought and landslides—and from centrally coordinated population relocations linked to economic planning objectives. There is no dedicated internal displacement law or codified protection framework; assistance and resettlement are managed under general disaster-risk and land-allocation legislation. 

Statelessness risks arise when individuals lack documentary proof of their entitlement under the nationality law or when children born abroad to DPRK citizens face procedural barriers to registration. The Nationality Law authorizes administrative issuance of nationality certificates, but practical obstacles in remote areas and the absence of a statelessness determination procedure may leave some without clear legal identity. No dedicated legal instrument or administrative guideline specifically addresses such cases.