North vs South Korea
206 articles
ASF resurges in North Korea, pushing pork prices higher and exposing structural failures
African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious and often fatal viral disease in pigs for which no vaccine currently exists, is spreading again across parts of North Korea in 2026, driving down pig numbers at both state farms and private household operations and sending pork prices sharply higher in
North Korea food factory contaminants erode public trust in state-made goods
North Korean food factories are producing confectionery products riddled with contaminants, including hair and thin metal wire, fueling a growing public health controversy and eroding trust in state-manufactured goods. A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Friday that markets in the area a
North Korea threatens to send failing students to coal mines after mass exam failures
North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) launched a sweeping inspection of senior middle schools in 2026 after a new elective subject system introduced at the start of the academic year produced mass failures in specialization track exams. A source in North Hamgyong province to
North Korea orders purge of officials with any ties to reunification
North Korea has intensified its ideological crackdown following the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), with the WPK Secretariat ordering security agencies to root out anyone who still harbors sympathies toward reunification or holds grievances against state policy, Daily NK h
Quick Take: North Korea’s Sinpo-B Class Submarine Drydocked
On commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Sinpho South Shipyard, it appears that the ... The post Quick Take: North Korea’s Sinpo-B Class Submarine Drydocked appeared first on 38 North.
North Koreans trust foreign news but still tune out state TV
North Koreans in 2026 are tuning out state media — but they aren’t tuning out entirely. While most North Koreans dismiss domestic news broadcasts as regime propaganda, many still regard the international news segment as broadly factual, according to sources inside the country who spoke with Da
Political bloodlines drive North Korea’s Social Safety Forces recruitment
North Korea’s annual military conscription season is now underway, and the Social Safety Forces — the country’s internal security force, roughly equivalent to South Korea’s combat police, a paramilitary unit under the Korean National Police — is recruiting new members under standar
North Korea vows new 10-year forest push, but satellite data reveals persistent gaps
North Korea announced a second 10-year reforestation campaign in April 2026, pledging to restore degraded forests across the country through 2035 — but satellite imagery analysis reveals structural limits that could undermine the effort without outside support. On April 1, the Rodong Sinmun, North K
North Korea’s black market dollar rate breaks all-time record as China trade expands
North Korea’s black market exchange rate for the U.S. dollar broke 70,000 North Korean won for the first time in recorded history in April 2026, surging nearly 30% in just two weeks as expanding China trade drove up foreign currency demand and sent prices for food, fuel, and imported goods sha
North Korean farmers ditch food crops for cash crops as market logic takes hold
North Korean farmers in parts of North Pyongan province are increasingly abandoning staple food crops on their private plots in favor of higher-value cash crops, signaling a broader shift in rural survival strategy from subsistence farming to market-oriented production. According to a Daily NK sourc
Kim Jong Un marks special forces anniversary with rest order and ideological crackdown
North Korea issued a special order to its special operations forces on April 3, 2026, marking the first anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to a special operations training base. The order combined a day of rest for enlisted troops with a sweeping political education campaign focused on
With Little Incentive to Engage the US, North Korea Deepens Russia and China Ties
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly ... The post With Little Incentive to Engage the US, North Korea Deepens Russia and China Ties appeared first on 38 North.
Construction Projects Making Headway as Part of Five-Year Plan
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly ... The post Construction Projects Making Headway as Part of Five-Year Plan appeared first on 38 North.
Post-Party Congress Elections
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly ... The post Post-Party Congress Elections appeared first on 38 North.
From Party Congress to Supreme People’s Assembly: Kim’s Power Consolidation, Self-Reliance Strategy, and New Five-Year Plan
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly ... The post From Party Congress to Supreme People’s Assembly: Kim’s Power Consolidation, Self-Reliance Strategy, and New Five-Year Plan appeared first on 38 North.
North Korea Tests New Theater Launch Platforms as Party Congress Continues Nuclear/Missile Buildup
This article is from the fourth edition (January – March 2026) of 38 North’s quarterly ... The post North Korea Tests New Theater Launch Platforms as Party Congress Continues Nuclear/Missile Buildup appeared first on 38 North.
Call for Applications: 38 North Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program 2026-2027
38 NORTH EMERGING SCHOLARS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM 2026-2027 Application Open: April 13, 2025 ... The post Call for Applications: 38 North Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program 2026-2027 appeared first on 38 North.
Wang Yi’s Pyongyang Visit: Kim Jong Un Signals Renewed Efforts to Improve Ties but Alignment Still Lacking
Notably, North Korea’s summary report of the Ninth Party Congress made no mention of China or ... The post Wang Yi’s Pyongyang Visit: Kim Jong Un Signals Renewed Efforts to Improve Ties but Alignment Still Lacking appeared first on 38 North.
North Korea factories join spring foraging scramble, squeezing out ordinary people
As spring foraging season gets underway across North Korea, workers from state-run food factories have joined the annual race for wild mountain vegetables. Their organized presence is intensifying competition with local communities and cutting into a food source many families depend on for basic nut
Pet shop in Pyongyang sparks anger and envy among North Korea’s provincial poor
North Koreans outside Pyongyang are reacting with resentment and disbelief after state media broadcast footage of Kim Jong Un and his daughter, Ju Ae, touring a pet shop at the newly opened Hwasong District Phase 4 service complex in the capital. Many provincial North Koreans say the luxury facility
A Probable New Hospital at Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort
Commercial satellite imagery shows the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort likely has a new hospital. ... The post A Probable New Hospital at Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort appeared first on 38 North.
Satellite imagery shows Yongbyon nuclear complex in active modernization phase
Recent satellite imagery and analysis by international monitoring organizations indicate that North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, the country’s primary nuclear complex located in North Pyongan province, is undergoing simultaneous reactor operations, enrichment faci
North Korea resumes China transport links but clamps down on tourist entry
North Korea resumed rail and air links with China in late March after a roughly six-year COVID-19 suspension, marking a significant development in North Korea-China travel. But the reopening has already hit a snag. Air China suspended new bookings on the Beijing-Pyongyang route within days of launch
North Korea’s rote learning sessions pressure workers after Ninth Party Congress
North Korea has tightened ideological controls since the Ninth Workers’ Party of Korea Congress. Now, first-quarter Q&A-style ideological review sessions have swept across nearly all institutions and organizations, Daily NK has learned. From late March through early April, officials conduc
North Korean students mobilized to farm school land as rations dry up
North Korean students have barely settled into the new school year before being pulled out of class to expand school farmland plots, with parents in South Pyongan province voicing sharp frustration over an education system that increasingly prioritizes labor over learning. A Daily NK source in South
North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress: Key takeaways
Daily NK has released a report analyzing North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress, examining what the congress reveals about the future direction of Kim Jong Un’s rule across the political, military, economic, and diplomatic spheres. The report finds that rather than introducing major new poli
Water crisis grips Hyesan as tap water flows just once every five days
Tap water in Hyesan, a city in North Korea’s Ryanggang province bordering China, now flows roughly once every five days, and even then reaches only some households, according to a local source, leaving the city’s population scrambling to stockpile water whenever supply briefly resumes. &
Pyongyang tells diplomats to drop denuclearization, push arms control instead
North Korea’s government issued a strategic directive in late March ordering its foreign affairs and military officials to abandon denuclearization as a negotiating framework and pursue arms control talks with the United States instead, according to a source in Pyongyang who spoke to Daily NK
North Korea discharges soldiers early to send them to Russia as laborers
North Korea has been discharging soldiers early from active military service and sending them to Russia as overseas laborers, Daily NK has learned. Families of those deployed are divided — some hoping for foreign currency earnings, others fearful for their children’s safety. A Daily NK source
Hyesan border trade halted again as North Korean traders count the cost
State-led smuggling operations along the Hyesan border in Ryanggang province have been suspended again, just weeks after resuming, triggering growing frustration among smugglers and the broader North Korean public alike. A Daily NK source in Ryanggang province said on Thursday that when state smuggl
North Korea courts Chinese fishing investment while preaching self-reliance
Despite publicly championing “self-reliance,” North Korea has been quietly courting Chinese investment in its fishing and aquaculture sectors, dispatching officials to China’s border regions in late March to solicit capital and equipment — only to find investors wary after years of
Flu outbreak overwhelms North Korean hospitals as children develop pneumonia
A flu outbreak is sweeping parts of North Korea, overwhelming hospitals and forcing parents to seek private doctors as children as young as one year old develop pneumonia, Daily NK has learned. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Wednesday that flu cases have surged in recent weeks
North Korea rejects 90% of local party documents in post-congress crackdown
North Korea has launched an unprecedented inspection campaign targeting party documents submitted by local Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) organizations following the Ninth Party Congress, with officials reporting rejection rates approaching 90% for paperwork sent to Pyongyang. A source in South
Quick Take: Kim Yo Jong’s Evolving Messaging
Kim Yo Jong’s April 6 communiqué replying to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s apology for ... The post Quick Take: Kim Yo Jong’s Evolving Messaging appeared first on 38 North.
North Koreans mourn a holiday emptied by grave removal campaign
North Korea’s grave removal campaign has drained one of the country’s last traditional holidays of meaning, as North Koreans across North Pyongan province marked Chongmyong this past Sunday with little of the ritual that once defined the day. Chongmyong, observed on April 5, is a traditi
North Korea electricity conservation drive mocked amid chronic blackouts
North Korea’s electricity shortage has become so severe that a state-run campaign urging people to conserve power is drawing open ridicule from the very people it targets. Teachers at a middle school in Hyesan, the capital of Ryanggang province, went door-to-door through neighborhood watch uni
North Korea mocks Seoul over drone apology. Time to reflect.
In a Kim Yo Jong South Korea statement issued April 6, the senior WPK official acknowledged President Lee Jae-myung’s apology over a South Korean drone incursion into North Korean airspace — but paired it with an unambiguous threat. A follow-up statement the next day from Jang Kum Chol, the No
North Koreans in China gripped by repatriation fears as bilateral ties resume
North Koreans living in China without legal status are growing increasingly anxious as signs emerge of a broader thaw in relations between Pyongyang and Beijing, with many interpreting resumed transportation links as a signal that a systematic forced repatriation program could soon be restored. The
North Korea orders military loyalty lectures ahead of April 25 army anniversary
North Korea’s Korean People’s Army General Political Bureau (GPB), the military’s primary organ for political indoctrination, ordered a series of special lectures across the armed forces in late March to reinforce loyalty to the Paektu bloodline ahead of the April 25 Korean People&
North Korean parents forced to feed laborers renovating schools
North Korean parents in Chongjin are being forced to cover meals, snacks and cigarettes for laborers mobilized to renovate school facilities. The costs fall disproportionately on families with the least means, a Daily NK source reported Sunday. A district in Chongjin, the capital of North Hamgyong p
Youth weddings in North Korea go bare-bones as photo traditions fade
North Korea’s youth weddings are getting smaller, cheaper, and in some cases, nearly invisible. Newlyweds across the country are increasingly skipping one of the most visible rituals of a traditional ceremony: the commemorative photo shoot. Some couples are opting instead for digitally composi
North Korea loosens mobile restrictions as it courts Chinese investment
North Korea appears to be easing mobile phone restrictions on Chinese nationals entering the country for business, a move observers inside the country are linking to Pyongyang’s broader push to attract North Korea Chinese investment along its northern border. A Daily NK source in Ryanggang pro
Is Kim Ju Ae really North Korea’s next leader?
Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on Daily NK’s Korean website in March 2024. Kim Jong Un’s youngest daughter, Kim Ju Ae, has now been appearing at her father’s side in public for more than a year and a half. Each appearance stirs fresh debate among analysts
North Korea arrests factory workers for diverting goods to markets
Three workers at a state-run local industry factory in North Hamgyong province were publicly struggled against and arrested last month after diverting factory output to jangmadang (informal markets), Daily NK has learned. According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province, the public struggle
Assessing the Limits of Female Leadership in North Korea
This article was written and researched as part of the second cohort of 38 North’s Emerging ... The post Assessing the Limits of Female Leadership in North Korea appeared first on 38 North.
Over Three Decades of North Korea Policy Divide: South Korea Should Give Bipartisanship a Chance
This article was written and researched as part of the second cohort of 38 North’s Emerging ... The post Over Three Decades of North Korea Policy Divide: South Korea Should Give Bipartisanship a Chance appeared first on 38 North.
North Korea’s new spy agency name evokes South Korea’s Cold War secret police
North Korea’s renaming of its feared political police agency is sending a chill through the population, with many people drawing uncomfortable comparisons to a South Korean intelligence body long associated in state propaganda with torture and death. Following the rebranding of the Ministry of
North Korea-China trade grows, but new customs rules shut out small traders
China’s customs authorities have sharply tightened export requirements for North Korea-bound goods since the second half of last year. The new rules are squeezing out smaller traders even as overall cross-border volumes grow, Daily NK has learned. Exporters must now submit formal sales contra
How North Korea built its African empire of stone and steel
For decades, North Korea has generated foreign currency by designing and constructing commemorative monuments across Africa — statues, museums, and public memorials built for governments from Algiers to Harare. International sanctions targeting this network have curtailed but failed to eliminate it.
Beyond hereditary rule: The remaking of Kim Jong Un’s system
North Korea analysts have long viewed Kim Jong Un’s government through a familiar lens: a third-generation hereditary dictatorship sustained by the same tools of terror and ideology that kept his father and grandfather in power. The Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), he