LAUSR

Abstract The Korean Peninsula (KP) occupies a junction area of three big tectonic domains that are the Paleo-Central Asian Orogenic Belt, Paleo-Tethyan Orogenic Belt and the Western Pacific Orogenic Belt. Therefore the KP is a key area to understand the Northeast Asian and even global geotectonic evolution. In terms of geological unit division, the KP has long been thought to be closely tied with the mainland of China, with using collective term the Sino-Korea Craton for the North China Craton (NCC). However, such correlation suffered from the absence of relevant geological information in North Korea (NK). To bridge this knowledge gap, our group carries out a long-term collaborative study between the two-sides of the KP and China，and organized united field investigation in the North Korea, South Korea (SK) and China as possible. This paper introduces general geology in the North Korea，and simply make comparison with the NCC and South Korea. These pioneering works culminated in the following summaries. (1) The KP comprises three major Precambrian massifs, i.e., Rangnim, Gyeonggi and Yeongnam massifs. The Rangnim and Gyeonggi massifs are separated by the Imjingang Structural Belt, while the Gyeonggi and Yeongnam massifs are separated by the Ogcheon Structural Belt. (2) The basement of the Rangnim massif is correlated with that of the NCC. The characteristic metamorphic rocks of high- temperature/high-pressure granulite facies including meta- sedimentary rocks (kondalites and meta-sandstones and marbles) with ~1.9–1.8 Ga metamorphic ages occur in the three massifs, similar to the NCC. (3) The Proterozoic rift sedimentary sequences are developed in the NCC and North Korea, but Lower Paleoproterozoic strata are rare, and Neoproterozoic strata are more developed in North Korea relative to the NCC. (4) Two main Paleozoic basins within the Rangnim massif and within the Gyeonggi and Yeongnam massifs are the Phyongnam basin and Taebaeksan Basin. Both of them have a similar Paleozoic tectono-stratigraphy to the NCC. (5) Although the nature and tectonic significance of the Imjingang belt remains controversial, it doesn't show characteristics and natures of collisional orogenic belt. (6) The eclogite-bearing Hongseong Complex (HSC) is located in the southwestern part of the Gyeonggi Massif in South Korea, but no similar rock unit has been found in North Korea. (7) Mesozoic igneous rocks are widespread throughout the northern and southern parts of the KP. Triassic magmatism is related to Indosinian orogeny. Jurassic and Cretaceous igneous rocks are different and irregular from those in the NCC on age and spatial-temporal distribution. This paper also suggests several key and controversial academic issues that are worthwhile to study in the future.