SMS API for North Korea: bulk SMS to +850 numbers

North Korea, located in East Asia, has Pyongyang as its capital and is known for its centralized economy and industrial activities. Software products used here include government systems, educational platforms, and state-run enterprises. Messages are often triggered by updates in public services, educational schedules, or official announcements. SMS is chosen for its reliability, ensuring that information reaches every citizen quickly, even in remote areas.

North Korea

Calling code +850

Per SMS segment
$0.05677
Messages for $100
1,761
Local language
Korean
Encoding
Unicode (UCS-2)

What a bulk SMS send to North Korea costs

Every message is priced at $0.05677 per segment to North Korea. Texts over 160 GSM-7 or 70 Unicode characters are split into segments, so a two-segment text costs twice as much.
Messages1 segment2 segments
1$0.05677$0.11354
1,000$56.77$113.54
10,000$567.70$1,135.40
100,000$5,677.00$11,354.00

Number format in North Korea

Mobile numbers in North Korea have 10 digits after +850. Locally they are written with a leading 0 (0192 123 4567); in the API that 0 is dropped, so the same number goes in the to field as +850 192 123 4567.

Alphabet and segments

Text in Hangul is always Unicode, so a message to North Korea written in Korean carries 70 characters in one segment and 67 in each part of a longer one. Codes and alerts written in English or plain Latin letters fit 160 characters, which halves the cost of a long notice.

Time zone and timing

North Korea keeps UTC+9 all year with no clock change, so 09:00 in Pyongyang is always 00:00 UTC. send_at takes UTC or any ISO 8601 offset, and the console scheduler converts from your own time zone.

Send to North Korea with one request

The answer comes back at once with the message id, the country the number was matched to (KP) and the price. A delivered or failed event follows on your webhook, and a failed message is refunded.

For a list, send the same text to up to 10,000 numbers with POST /v1/batches, or a personal text per number in messages.

curl https://bulksmsapi.cc/v1/messages \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BULKSMSAPI_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "+8501921234567", "text": "Your Northwind code is 482913. It expires in 10 minutes."}'

What developers send to North Korea

Common integrations that call the SMS API for recipients in North Korea.

Service updates

Public service announcements notify residents in Pyongyang about changes in utility schedules or maintenance work.

Educational alerts

Schools send messages to parents in rural areas about exam dates or school closures.

Official notices

Government agencies inform citizens in Kaesong about new regulations or public safety measures.

Event reminders

Cultural centers in Hamhung send reminders about public events or exhibitions.

SMS to North Korea: questions

More answers on accounts, payments and the API are in the FAQ.

How much does it cost to send bulk SMS to North Korea?

Each message segment to North Korea costs $0.05677. A plain text of up to 160 characters is one segment, so 1,000 one-segment messages cost $56.77 and 10,000 cost $567.70. Failed messages are refunded to the balance.

How many SMS to North Korea does a $100 top-up send?

$100 covers about 1,761 one-segment messages to North Korea at $0.05677 each. The first top-up adds a bonus on top, which raises that number. The balance is shared by every country, so the same top-up also pays for messages anywhere else on the list.

How do I write North Korea numbers for the API?

Send them in international format with the plus sign: +850 192 123 4567 becomes "+8501921234567" in the to field. The API also accepts spaces, dashes and a 00 prefix and cleans them, and numbers that cannot be read are listed in set_aside instead of being charged.

What language should messages be in?

Messages should be in Korean, as it is the official language and widely understood across the country.

Are there specific times to avoid sending messages?

Avoid sending messages during late evening or early morning hours to respect local customs and routines.

Start sending to North Korea

Create an account, top up from $40 and send to North Korea at $0.05677 per segment, from the console or with one API call.

SMS API North Korea: Bulk SMS to +850 From $0.05677 | BulkSMSAPI