List of Famous people born in North Korea

Kim Jong-un is a North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2012. He is the second child of Kim Jong-il (1941–2011), who was North Korea's second supreme leader from 1994 to 2011, and Ko Yong-hui (1952–2004). He is a grandson of Kim Il-sung, who was the founder and first supreme leader of North Korea from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.

Kenneth H. Rowe is a Korean American engineer and aviator who served as a senior lieutenant in the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force during the Korean War. Approximately two months after the end of hostilities, he defected to South Korea in a MiG-15 aircraft, and was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States.

Kim Yo-jong is a North Korean politician serving as the Deputy Director of the United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). She also served as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea from 2017 to 2019, and from 2020 to 2021.

Ri Sol-ju is the wife of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, and First Lady of North Korea.

Kim Jong-chul, sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol, is a son of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. His younger brother is current Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. His older half-brother Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in February 2017.

Yeonmi Park is a North Korean defector and activist whose family fled from North Korea to China in 2007 and settled in South Korea in 2009, before moving to the United States in 2014. Her family turned to black-market trading during North Korea's economic collapse in the 1990s. Her father was sent to a labor camp for smuggling. They fled to China, where Park and her mother fell into the hands of human traffickers and she was sold into slavery before escaping to Mongolia. She is now an advocate for victims of human trafficking in China and works to promote human rights in North Korea and around the globe.

Kim Han-sol is the eldest son of Kim Jong-nam and a grandson of the former North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il. His father was the unofficial heir apparent until 2001, when he fell out of favor with the regime after a failed attempt to secretly visit Japan's Disneyland in May 2001.

Choe Ryong-hae is a North Korean politician and military officer who is serving as President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly and First Vice Chairman of the State Affairs Commission since April 2019. He is also a member of the Presidium of the Politburo and Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). He also served as Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's military second-in-command. He is also father in law of Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong.

Kim Yong-nam is a North Korean politician who is the former President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, from 1998 until 2019. Previously, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1998. He was elected a member of the Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in 2010.

Mitsuhiro Momota , better known as Rikidōzan (力道山), was a Korean-Japanese wrestler who competed in professional wrestling and sumo wrestling. He known as The Father of Puroresu, and one of the most influential men in professional wrestling history. Initially, he had moved from his native country Korea to Japan to become a sumo wrestler. He was credited with bringing the sport of professional wrestling to Japan at a time when the Japanese needed a local hero to emulate and was lauded as a national hero. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, becoming the first Korean inductee and the third puroresu star to be inducted after Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami. He was killed by a member of the Yakuza in 1963.

Kim Hyon-hui, also known as Ok Hwa, is a former North Korean agent, responsible for the Korean Air Flight 858 bombing in 1987, which killed 115 people. She was arrested in Bahrain following the bombing and extradited to South Korea. There she was sentenced to death but later pardoned.

Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il-sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong-il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong-il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Sung-taek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.

Kang Chol-hwan is a North Korean defector and author. As a child, he was imprisoned in the Yodok concentration camp for 10 years. After his release he fled the country, first to China and eventually to South Korea. He is the author, with Pierre Rigoulot, of The Aquariums of Pyongyang and worked as a staff writer specialized in North Korean affairs for The Chosun Ilbo. He is the founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center.

Kim Pyong-il is the younger paternal half-brother of the former leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, and the only surviving son of former leader and president of North Korea Kim Il-sung. Choosing to serve his country as a foreign diplomat, Kim Pyong-il lived overseas between 1979 and 2019, and served in various diplomatic positions such as ambassador of North Korea to Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

Lee Hyeon-seo, best known for her book, The Girl with Seven Names, is a North Korean defector and activist who lives in Seoul, South Korea, where she is a student. She escaped from North Korea and later guided her family out of North Korea through China and Laos.

Ri Chun-hee is a news presenter for North Korean broadcaster Korean Central Television. She is most notable for her characteristic emotional and sometimes vitriolic tone, described as "passionate", "vaguely menacing", and "aggressive".

Hong Il-chon was the first wife of Kim Jong-il. She was the daughter of a soldier who died during the Korean War. In the early 1960s, Kim Il-sung, father of Kim Jong-il, introduced her to his son and handpicked her to marry him in 1966. Her only daughter is named Kim Hye-gyong, born in 1968, and is the first child of Kim Jong-il. They divorced in 1969.

Kim Sowol was a Korean language poet famous for his contributions to early modern poetry. Throughout his life he wrote his poignant poetry in a style reminiscent of traditional Korean folk songs. The most prized example of this style was "Azaleas (진달래꽃)", the title poem of his sole collection of poetry.

Thae Yong-ho, also known by his pseudonym, Tae Ku-min, is a South Korean politician, defector from North Korea, and former diplomat who is a member of the National Assembly for the Gangnam district of Seoul. He was North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, prior to defecting with his family to South Korea in 2016. Thae has been variously described as the highest-ranking North Korean official to defect, and the highest-ranking North Korean defector since the 1997 defection of juche ideologist Hwang Jang-yop. In August 2016, the South Korean government confirmed that Thae and his family were under their protection. Thae was elected to the National Assembly in the 2020 South Korean legislative election as a member of the United Future Party.

Jo Young-nam is a South Korean singer and television personality.