What do we know about North Korea? What do the vast majority of Russian citizens know about this country, which is located next door and even shares a small common land border with us? Perhaps it is not an exaggeration to say that almost nothing. Despite the well-known difficulties, the author managed to visit the DPRK and spend almost a year there. Combining the impressions of the trip and the results of work with extensive archival materials on the history of North Korea, the author wrote a book in which the reader can get acquainted with the unbiased history of the DPRK for the first time. (File compiler's note: the cover is taken from the 2005 edition.)