Organized according to province and divided into three main categories, monuments, military, and domestic, the Pro version of the map offers nearly 70 item-specific categories for each province and a further 15+ that only apply to one or two provinces.
All told, there are over 3,100 additional places within the Pro Version. On top of that, more than 2,600 other locations have extra information added. When available, this includes things like construction dates, notes on factory expansions, hydroelectric dam capacities, notes on new military bases, when mines began operations, the yearly growth of the country's cellular network, and numerous links to relevant websites.
In short, the project helps to track the bulk of North Korea's development since Kim Jong Un came to power on top of all of the other places mapped in pervious versions.
Aside from all of the information itself, one major difference and benefit to the AccessDPRK map over other datasets is that you get the underlying data itself. You don't have to rely on static graphics or on the work of others in creating analyses. You get to "physically" (via the KMZ file) have the places and the notes, and can research what you want as you want. Additionally, since it's organized by province, you can explore things on a more local level and not be forced to have the placemarks of the whole county "turned on" (which also gets important depending on how old your computer is).
You can move things around, create custom folders, add, delete, merge, anything you need and all within the KMZ format. No special skills needed, no program subscriptions required.
It can also serve as a check to verify your own datasets, add to your own work, and help you check for mistakes, omissions, and new developments.
Another benefit is somewhat more frank. The entire project has taken me roughly 7,000 hours to produce. That's a lot of effort (and paychecks) you won't need to expend. And, it gives researchers a leg up to delve deeper into macro trends or the development of a single location.
Pro v. Free Version Differences
This is a list of some the things that won't be found in the Free Version.
- The area totals of over 400 market places. This can help with tracking the growth of North Korea's markets and the expansion of a market-based economic system.
- Improved titles and descriptions on scores of military locations, the general clean up of sites marked from 2017, and updated naval vessel counts at certain bases.
- Large military storage complexes can extend over a kilometer in narrow or winding valleys, and they can have thick tree cover making their full extent hard to ascertain. There are 137 of these very large storage complexes for which I have marked out their perimeters. Together they occupy thousands of acres.
- The location of over 140 gas stations and when they were built. This provides insight into the growth of private vehicle ownership and can offer a look into North Korea's fuel needs (which outstrip their legal imports).
- The locations of Railway Security Bureau facilities, probable military or paramilitary bases, and the location of nearly 500 former air defense batteries. Many open-source maps are based on projects created a decade or more ago. Those are not only out-of-date, but had numerous errors. The Pro map provides their correct status: active or decommissioned.
- Information on border posts built in the last several years.
- Information on dozens of new housing developments and other non-industrial construction across the country.
- The location of an undisclosed missile facility that likely serves as a training site.
- The instillation dates of hundreds of monuments to track the expansion of the personality cult under Kim Jong Un.
- The construction dates on every cell tower, enabling you to track the development of the whole network.
- Information on numerous military and industrial facilities
- Information on mining activities and the growth of the sector
Extras
1. During the course of 2020 I started working on some extras, but I didn't have the time to complete them. I am not going to promise that I will be able to rapidly finish these "mini maps", but anyone who buys the Pro Version in 2021 will automatically be entitled to the extra files for free if they want them.
2. "Customer service" - for non-profits, purchasing the map will also come with two hours (or ten email exchanges*) worth of my assistance. For commercial groups, it includes three hours or 15 email exchanges*. (*Email exchanges of reasonable length based on my discretion.)
This means two-three hours of my time dedicated to helping you answer any questions, clarifications, contract bidding assistance, or general inquiries about the map and country.
Access to this free service will only be available for 90 days after purchase date.
Pricing
For non-profit institutional research, the price of each copy is $500.
For students and individuals, I am willing to send you a list of the dozens of item categories mapped and let you decide which ones you need and which ones you don't. For example, if you're only wanting to study North Korea's mining sector, you may not be interested in having a map with all of the Railway Security Bureau sites. In such cases, the price will be discounted proportionately according to the number of places you need.
For commercial interests, the price will be a percentage of the project/contract value or $750, whichever is greater. If the file will form the majority of the project, the price will be increased. It only makes sense that if my work is going to save you a large number of man-hours or support numerous projects, that the price reflects its true value to your endeavor.
For media-only use, the price will be set at $750 so long as proper credit is given with each article written or other creation in any medium and format that was made with information from the map.
Contact
If you are interested in the Pro Version or have any other questions, please email me at jacob_bogle@yahoo.com or via the contact form at http://www.jacobbogle.com/contact-us.html
Reminder: I have talked about the purpose of this project multiple times over the years, but here's a reminder. This is a good faith effort to build something of value to others and to help shed light on North Korea. Nothing more, nothing less. While I used books, think tank reports, Western and DPRK media sources, government papers, older maps, discussions with knowledgeable individuals, and even Wikipedia to create this database, it has been a passion project of Jacob Bogle. I have no staff or interns, no regular financial backing other than my great Patreon supporters, and no institutional support. There will be occasional errors, as errors happen anytime a human does something. If you have questions, contact me.
Copyright/Sharing Information
Aspects within the Free and Pro versions of the file may be subject to copyright and intellectual property rights enforcement under United States' law. No part of either version of the file may be used for commercial purposes without the express written permission of Jacob Bogle. This includes but is not limited to: use in contract bidding or fulfilling contracts for private or government interests; use in creating articles, films, maps, graphics, or other content for a profit-based entity; the creation of any map, dataset, or GIS product on a website or app that requires paid access to use that website or app.
Pro Version owners may not share any portion of the Pro map with anyone or any organization for whom it was not originally intended as explicitly listed at the time of purchase without my prior authorization.
--Jacob Bogle, 1/31/2021
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