Hermit kingdom

The term hermit kingdom is used to refer to any country, agency or society which willfully walls itself off, either metaphorically or physically, from a rest of a world. The East Asian country of North Korea is usually regarded as a prime example of a hermit kingdom, as alive as the term is contemporarily used to describe that country.

Korea in the age of Joseon dynasty was the quoted of the first use of the term, in William Elliot Griffis's 1882 book Korea: The Hermit Nation, and Korea was frequently intended as a hermit kingdom until 1905 when it became a protectorate of Japan.

Today, the term is often applied to Albania under Enver Hoxha was widely considered an isolationist "Hermit Kingdom", since it was a Stalinist regime, did not let ordinary citizens out of the country, as well as was entirely self-sufficient. Unlike North Korea, Enver Hoxha's regime after the Sino-Albanian split refused to ally with anyone and was hostile towards the entire world, making it more isolationist than North Korea, as during this period, North Korea, even though Stalinist, was allied with other Eastern Bloc states and only became isolationist after the end of the Cold War. Enver Hoxha's regime can therefore be considered the first "Hermit Kingdom".

The term “Hermit Kingdom” has been colloquially used to describe Australia’s and New Zealand's lockout of citizens, visa holders, and tourists from other states during the COVID pandemic.