It is widely reported that North Korea has an unofficial ban on the manufacture and sale of condoms as part of a state effort to encourage a higher birth rate, but possession and use are still legal, which is why they are also smuggled there.
According to a report, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has encouraged a higher birth rate in the country. It is claimed that no one wants to make policies against Kim for fear of being killed. North Korea has also banned abortion in an effort to stop the country’s declining birth rate.
Condoms are a sought-after gift in North Korea. Visitors to neighbouring China often bring condoms as gifts for both men and women. Smugglers, meanwhile, profit handsomely by selling them to s*x workers at high prices to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Condoms, widely available in other countries around the world, are banned from being manufactured or sold in North Korea. They are blocked from entering at customs checkpoints, a report said.
According to a report published in an English daily, a man who escaped from North Korea said in an interview that he grew up in the capital, Pyongyang, yet he had never heard the word “condom.” He said, “I didn’t know what a condom was.”
“Even in the early days after migrating to South Korea, I had no idea what they were, how to use them, or where to buy them. After leaving the country, I was surprised to see that in other countries, s*x education was being taught in schools and students were being taught to use condoms in class.
“Of course, people in North Korea have s*x, marry, and have children. It’s just that there’s no provision for s*x education. Discussing s*x education or watching p*rn is illegal. People aren’t aware of family planning. The sale and production of condoms is banned there.
“When teenagers reach puberty and become interested in these things, they are not provided with any information about safe s*x in schools or anywhere else. Most young people there have no idea what a condom is or how to use it. This is why condoms are so difficult to find in North Korea.”