Eerie NASA image shows North Korea shrouded in darkness

A nation of 25 million people, huddled in the dark.

An eerie image taken recently from aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and published by US space agency NASA shows in stark relief the isolation and economic backwardness of North Korea.

The dictator-led country lies shrouded in darkness, outshone by the lights of its neighbours South Korea and China.

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"Flying over East Asia, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) took this night image of the Korean Peninsula," NASA said in a statement.

"North Korea is almost completely dark compared to neighbouring South Korea and China.

"The darkened land appears as if it were a patch of water joining the Yellow Sea to the Sea of Japan.

"Its capital city, Pyongyang, appears like a small island, despite a population of 3.26 million (as of 2008).

"The light emission from Pyongyang is equivalent to the smaller towns in South Korea."

The county is so dark that its coastline is 'difficult to detect', NASA said.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a communist nation of almost 25 million people led by Kim Jong Un, son of former supreme leader Kim Jong Il.

It is one of the most closed economies in the world, with successive rulers accused of decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, with its population suffering under conditions of famine and economic hardship.