Because ordinary citizens are not issued passports. A passport here is not an ordinary civil document but something issued to those sent abroad — diplomats, approved official travellers, state-dispatched workers, athletes. The figure describes a capability the overwhelming majority of 26 million people cannot access — not technically wrong, but not describing what people assume.

An indicator means something only when its precondition holds. Passport rankings implicitly assume anyone who wants a passport can obtain one. Across most of the world that holds; here it does not, and when the underlying assumption collapses, the number above it says nothing.

A system classifying people by political and family background across generations, into broad groups usually described as core, wavering and hostile. It is documented as affecting where one may live, how far one may study, what work one may do, whether one may enter the military or state apparatus, and how food is allocated.

In most countries citizen is a condition you either hold or do not. Myanmar grades by ethnicity within the law, North Korea classifies by background — and once grading exists, a person's rights are determined not by whether they hold nationality but by which grade they occupy. Holding nationality is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one.

South Korea's constitution defines its territory as the entire peninsula, so it regards people born in the north as South Korean nationals under its own constitution. Those who reach South Korea can be recognised as citizens through a verification and integration process set out in dedicated legislation. South Korea treats this not as naturalisation but as recognition of a status already existing — a very rare case worldwide.

Because it operates only once a person has reached South Korea. With no direct route across the demilitarised zone, the journey usually runs through a third country, and people in transit typically hold a very precarious legal position there — no documents, no residence status, and children born along the way risk being registered nowhere at all.

The 1950-1953 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, so legally the state of war has never formally ended. This little-known detail explains a great deal about how both states organise government, military and travel rules to this day.

This site gives no investment advice and there is nothing here to advise. Any transaction touching North Korea must be checked carefully against the international sanctions framework in force — a serious legal matter for any business, not a prudential suggestion.