Suggested citations
AGLC4 | 도로법 2015 [Road Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2015)] [tr Daye Gang].
Bluebook | Dolobeob 2015 [Road Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2015)] translated in Law and North Korea by Daye Gang, https://www.lawandnorthkorea.com/.
Adopted on September 17, Juche 86 (1997), as Decision No. 96 of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended on January 14, Juche 88 (1999), as Directive No. 350 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on March 1, Juche 90 (2001), as Directive No. 2124 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on December 14, Juche 93 (2004), as Directive No. 825 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on September 19, Juche 95 (2006), as Directive No. 1968 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on March 27, Juche 96 (2007), as Directive No. 2195 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on September 16, Juche 97 (2008), as Directive No. 2887 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on April 19, Juche 100 (2011), as Directive No. 1579 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on July 24, Juche 102 (2013), as Directive No. 3292 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on October 23, Juche 102 (2013), as Directive No. 3402 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
Amended and supplemented on January 7, Juche 104 (2015), as Directive No. 314 of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly
CHAPTER I. BASICS OF ROAD LAW
Article 1 (Objectives of Road Law)
The Road Law of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shall strictly adopt discipline and order in the construction, management, and use of roads and serve to develop road transportation.
Article 2 (Principles of road construction)
Roads are an important component part of national economic arteries. The State shall systematically increase investment in road construction and do road construction in a planned way to rationally form the road network.
Article 3 (Principles of road management)
Doing road management well is a compulsory requirement to raise the rate of usage of roads and assuring their cultural character. The State shall correctly adopt a road management system to normalize road management.
Article 4 (Principles of road use)
Roads are the face of the country and are an important yardstick to show its economic development levels and degree of civilisation. The State shall use roads effectively to foster socialist economic construction and assure the comfortable traffic of people.
Article 5 (Principle of road preservation and education by all the people)
The State shall strengthen socialist patriotic education within the people so that they value and love roads, and shall ensure that they participate in road management as if they are the owners.
Article 6 (Principle of scientific research, technical experts, training of experts, introducing scientific techniques)
The State shall manage scientific research institutions and education institutions in the road sector, shall strengthen the scientific research work and the work of training technical experts and experts for the modernization of roads, and shall actively accept advanced science, technology, and methods of construction in road construction and management.
Article 7 (Exchange and cooperation in the roads field)
The State shall develop exchange and cooperation with other countries and international organizations in the roads field.
CHAPTER II. ROAD CONSTRUCTION
Article 8 (Basic requirements of road construction)
Doing road construction well is a foundational way to rationally complete the universal road network of the country and realize the modernization, increase in weight load, and increase in speed of roads. Given institutions, enterprises and organizations shall qualitatively construct roads in a planned way based on the overarching land construction plan.
Article 9 (Roads construction plan)
The road construction plan shall be adopted by state planning institutions. State planning institutions shall correctly determine the order of roads to be constructed and must adopt a road construction plan so that roads with great national economic significance are intensively constructed first, and that road construction is prioritised before subject construction.
Article 10 (Road design)
Road designs shall be drafted by the road design institution or enterprise. Road design institutions and enterprises shall correctly calculate the scale and subject of construction and must design roads in conformity with global and modern trends in road technology. In these cases, highways and key roads shall circumvent province (or municipality directly under central authority), city (or district), and county locations and residential zones, and must ensure not to intrude into agricultural land.
Article 11 (Entity in charge of road construction)
Road construction shall be done by the road construction institutions and enterprises and given institutions, enterprises and organizations. The construction of highways and key roads shall be done by the road construction institutions and enterprises, and other road construction shall be done by the given institutions, enterprises and organizations.
Article 12 (Road construction founded in designs)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations constructing roads must do road construction according to the designs. Designs that have not received approval may not be used for road construction.
Article 13 (Adherence to technical regulations and standard methods of construction)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations constructing roads shall give precedence to
bridge, tunnels을 including road structures construction, including bridges and tunnels, and underground structures construction, and must abide by the requirements of technical regulations and standard methods of construction in laying roadbed, fortifying roadbed, and road paving.
Article 14 (Paving of roads)
Key roads and roads where many cars travel shall be paved. Road paving may be done using things such as cement or asphalt.
Article 15 (Mechanization of road construction work)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations constructing roads shall have modern machine equipment and must mechanize road construction work. Given institutions and enterprises must produce and guarantee the machine equipment required for road construction in time.
Article 16 (Quality inspection of road construction)
The State construction supervision institution and authorities concerned must strictly do process inspection, interim inspection, and pre-delivery inspection for road construction to assure quality at the highest standards. In cases where the construction has not passed a process inspection or interim inspection, the next stage of construction may not be done, and roads that have not passed the pre-delivery inspection may not be handed over to the road management institution.
CHAPTER III. ROAD MANAGEMENT
Article 17 (Basic requirements of road management)
Road management is important work to maintain and service roads to improve their technical state. Given institutions, enterprises and organizations must normally and cleanly manage roads.
Article 18 (Grades of roads)
Roads shall be divided into highways or Grade 1 to Grade 6 roads according to their scale and objectives. Road grades shall be determined by the land environmental protection institution.
Article 19 (Entities in charge of road management)
Road management shall be done by the land environmental protection institution, municipal administration institution, and given institutions, enterprises and organizations. Highways and roads of Grade 1 to Grade 4 shall be managed by the land environmental protection institution or municipal administration institution, and roads of Grade 5 and Grade 6 shall be managed by the given institutions, enterprises and organizations.
Article 20 (Investigation and registration of state of roads)
The land environmental protection institution, municipal administration institution, and given institutions, enterprises and organizations must investigate and command the state of the roads and must register it on the road register. In the road register must be recorded the name of the road, and the grade, length, width, and state of paving of the road.
Article 21 (Maintenance and service of roads)
The land environmental protection institution, municipal administration institution, and given institutions, enterprises and organizations must adopt road maintenance and service plans by grade, by road, and by section, and must maintain and service roads in a planned way. Damaged portions of paved roads must be repaired in time, and dirt roads must have their flatness assured using the method of spreading broken stones or earth mixed with soft stones, or the method of cutting away and compacting the road service.
Article 22 (Car washing)
The land environmental protection institution and municipal administration institutions must manage car washes in required places such as city entrance roads, and must ensure that cars that enter the city are properly cleaned. Cars that have become dirty because they have been stained with dust or muddy water may not enter the city.
Article 23 (Management of the surroundings of a road)
The land environmental protection institution, municipal administration institutions, and given institutions, enterprises and organizations must plant trees or grass next to the roads. In these cases, good species of trees shall be planted that suit the nature of the road and its surrounding environment, and must properly adjust the distances between the trees.
Article 24 (Division of road management sections)
Local political institutions and the land environmental protection institution shall allocate a road management section to institutions, enterprises and organizations from the principle of a management system per m2, and institutions, enterprises and organizations that have received the management of a road must properly do the road management for their section in charge to maintain the safety and cultural character of the road. The land environmental protection institution, municipal administration institutions, and authorities concerned must place road managers in required sections of the roads. In cases of doing work such as road maintenance, cleaning, or snow clearing, the given members must wear high visibility vests, barricade markers must be installed, and guards must be placed to thoroughly adopt accident prevention measures. A worker may not work on a road without wearing a high visibility vest.
Article 25 (Road maintenance and service period)
The State shall determine a road maintenance and service period to intensively do road management. The work of determining a road maintenance service period shall be done by the Cabinet.
Article 26 (Intensive road maintenance and service)
Institutions, enterprises and organizations shall mobilize labour and transportation methods during the road maintenance and service period to intensively do road maintenance and service work.
Article 27 (Prohibition on acts that cause inconvenience to road management)
Institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens must not construct buildings within a determined distance from highways and important roads and shall plant forests of trees, and must move buildings in the surroundings of a highway to a different place. Acts such as causing road facilities to be unusable, or creating access roads into a highway without approval, or cutting down roadside trees, may not be done.
CHAPTER IV. ROAD USE
Article 28 (Basic requirements of road use)
Doing road use well is a fundamental way to assure the safety and speed of traffic. Institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens must willingly abide by the designated road use order.
Article 29 (Permit to use road)
Given cars may be operated on roads only if they have a permit to use the road. Permits to use roads shall be issued according to the road usage fee payment confirmation document of the given banking institution by the central land environmental protection guidance institution and the province, city, or county road management institution.
Article 30 (Prohibition on use of highways)
Only designated cars may operate on highways. In these cases, cars that are dirty or cannot drive at the speed as instituted must not be operated. Cars may not be operated on access roads of highways that have not been approved. Citizens must not walk on or ride bicycles on highways, and dogs may not be raised and domestic animals must not be grazed in the surroundings of a highway.
Article 31 (Road management during cargo transportation)
Institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens using the roads must not smear soil on paved roads and must not mess up the roads while transporting things such as coal or cement. In cases where cargo that can cause damage to the roads is sought to be transported, the required safety measures must be adopted.
Article 32 (Road markers)
Given institutions, enterprises and organizations shall install road markers such as warnings, prohibitions, directions, and guidance markers in designated places on the roads, to assure comfort in road use. Road markers must be made using reflective materials.
Article 33 (Car operation on city roads)
The operation of cars on city roads may only be done on designated roads. Caterpillar vehicles may not travel cement or asphalt paved roads without approval.
Article 34 (Prohibition of construction that can cause inconvenience to road use)
Institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens must not do construction that causes inconvenience to road use, such as installing facilities. In cases where construction is sought to be done as necessary, the agreement of the given people’s safety institutions and the approval of the land environmental protection institution or municipal administration institution shall be received, and detours and traffic safety facilities must be made so there is no interference to car operations.
Article 35 (Road usage fees)
Institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens operating cars on roads must pay a designated road usage fee. In cases where a foreign national uses the road for purposes such as tourism or cargo transportation, a usage fee shall also be paid. A road usage fee shall only be used for given uses such as road construction and maintenance. The work of determining the road usage fee shall be done by the State pricing institution.
CHAPTER V. GUIDANCE AND CONTROL FOR ROAD SECTOR WORK
Article 36 (Basic requirements of guidance and control over road sector work)
Strengthening guidance and control over road sector work is an important way to correctly implement the road management policy of the State. The State shall correctly adopt a guidance system for road sector work and strengthen control over it.
Article 37 (Guidance for road sector work)
Guidance for road sector work shall be done by the central land environmental protection guidance institution and the authorities concerned under the standardized guidance of the Cabinet. The central land environmental protection guidance institution and the authorities concerned must normally command and guide road sector work.
Article 38 (Inspection and findings on roads)
The land environmental protection institution and authorities concerned must organize inspections and findings on roads every year and must guide institutions, enterprises, organizations and citizens to do road management well.
Article 39 (Guarantee of working conditions in the road sector)
State planning institutions, resources supply institutions, labour administration institutions, financial banking institutions, and local political institutions must assure in time the labour, facilities, resources, and funds required for the road sector. Labour, facilities, resources, and funds in the road sector may not be used for a different purpose.
Article 40 (Supervision and control for road sector work)
Supervision and control for road sector work shall be done by the land environmental protection institution and the given supervision and control institution. The land environmental protection institution and the given supervision and control institution must properly do supervision and control for the construction, management, and use of roads.
Article 41 (Suspension of road construction)
In cases where a road has been constructed without approval, or the quality of the road construction has not been able to be assured, the road construction shall be suspended.
Article 42 (Suspension of operations, restoration, damage compensation)
In cases where a car does not have a permit to use the road, the operation of the car shall be suspended, and in cases where a road and its facilities have been damaged, it shall be restored or the given damage shall be compensated.
Article 43 (Administrative or criminal responsibility)
Responsible workers of institutions, enterprises and organizations and individual citizens who have violated this law and caused grave consequences in the construction, management, and use of roads may have administrative or criminal responsibility imposed depending on the gravity.
Last updated 23 February 2021