Skip to main content
North Korean

North Korean

118 2.7
About North Korea, its people or its culture
  • adjective
  • /nɔrθ kəˈriən/
: norcoreano
  • The final portion of the Agreed Framework addressed the North Korean commitment to forgo nuclear weapons.
  • North Korean nuclear program
  • North Korean negotiators
  • a North Korean threat

And she played a North Korean version of Hava Nagila.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • But I'm telling you, North Korean cinema has its own weird wild flavor.

  • The North Korean government enforces strict control over its citizens.

  • There is the North Korean embassy just over there.

  • Third, unlike the United States, China has no reason to fear a North Korean nuclear capability.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Reports soon emerged that the target was a nuclear facility being built with North Korean aid.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Until the early 1990s, the North Korean government strictly controlled private markets.

    Academic text (2008)
  • I also have come here to this peninsula to deliver a message directly to the leader of the North Korean dictatorship.

  • In particular, North Korean negotiators may need to show progress on anniversary dates of key events.

    Academic text (2000)
  • The North Korean government perceives U.S. intentions on the Korean Peninsula as extremely hostile.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Going one step further, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dubbed himself the genius of all geniuses.

Surface Forms

North Korean positive

Morphology

North + Korean

The compound 'North Korean' is transparitionaly compositional: 'North' indicates the northern region and 'Korean' denotes nationality, so together they straightforwardly mean a person from North Korea. This direction/region + demonym pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard adjective+noun composition, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

North Korean: The adjective North Korean comes from the words North and Korean, used after Korea split into two countries to mark things from the northern side. So North Korean means 'of or from North Korea'.