News & Insights

Tag: North Korea

  • Report on Women’s Rights in North Korea

    Report on Women’s Rights in North Korea

    A report by Daily NK explores the state of Women’s Rights in North Korea. More than half of the respondents reported being sexually victimized by officials in state institutions like the national police agency and correctional centers. Furthermore, a shocking 73% said they had experienced situations in the workplace, military, or markets where officials pressured, manipulated, or tricked them into engaging in sexual activities in exchange for promotions or business opportunities.

    These results highlight the widespread nature of workplace discrimination and sexual harassment in North Korea. This survey reveals the harsh reality that North Korean women face, which starkly contrasts with the regime’s portrayal of their lives. It underscores the urgent need for increased awareness, protection, and enforcement of women’s rights in North Korea.

    Link to Report

  • Attempted Defections among NK Studying Abroad Leads to Increased Surveillance

    Attempted Defections among NK Studying Abroad Leads to Increased Surveillance

    “Students abroad have many opportunities to encounter foreign culture, so authorities constantly worry they might defect,” the source noted. “The Ministry of State Security considers these students ‘high-value state assets’ representing significant party investment and is determined to prevent any escapes.”

    “Under the policy changes, state security agents will conduct regular face-to-face interviews with families of students who fled abroad and report their activities,” the source explained. “They plan to strengthen systems to monitor and prevent these families from contacting the outside world.”

    The ministry will also introduce a “mutual indirect evaluation” system conducted monthly for students considered flight risks. These evaluations, submitted twice monthly by other students or embassy staff, will assess the subject’s academic performance, ideological commitment, statements, and behavior.

    The system regularly rotates subjects and evaluators while punishing false reports, creating an evaluation structure that prevents collusion among students.

    Link to Article

  • North Korean Urban Centers Rapidly Expanding Digital Payments via Cell Phones, But Rural Areas Lag Behind

    North Korean Urban Centers Rapidly Expanding Digital Payments via Cell Phones, But Rural Areas Lag Behind

    According to a Daily NK source recently, “The Central Committee’s Economic Department instructed the Central Bank through the Cabinet in early April to conduct a nationwide survey on electronic payments and foreign currency transactions. The survey was completed on Apr. 11, and currently, banks in all 13 provinces (and directly-governed cities) are analyzing the results based on reports compiling first-quarter data.”

    According to the findings, urban areas in the capital region, including Pyongyang and Nampo, saw approximately a 10 percentage point increase in the use of mobile phone payment apps based on barcodes and QR codes compared to the previous year. In fact, some stores in Pyongyang now display notices stating, “You only need your mobile phone, no cash required,” indicating that electronic payments are becoming relatively well-established.

    The survey found that electronic payments are most active in Pyongyang, Rason, Sinuiju, and Kaesong, with about 23% of people in these areas responding that “electronic payments are more convenient.” The source reported that “mobile phone payments” are rapidly becoming commonplace, especially among people in their 20s and 30s.

    Meanwhile, the electronic payment system barely functions in state-owned stores in remote areas of Gangwon, Jagang, and North and South Hamgyong provinces. 

    Link to Article

  • Larger North Korean Companies Authorized to Trade Independently with Russia and Middle East

    Larger North Korean Companies Authorized to Trade Independently with Russia and Middle East

    According to a Daily NK source in Pyongyang recently, “The Ministry of External Economic Affairs issued a directive in late March to trading companies and first-class enterprises under various ministries and central agencies, instructing them to independently develop and pursue trade activities according to their own circumstances starting this month.”

    The source explained that the core of this directive is to allow these entities to engage in foreign currency earning activities with minimal state intervention in their finances, while also granting them authority to independently establish joint ventures and collaborative projects.

    The source further revealed that “this directive is actually an attempt to secure funds for the party. Trading companies under Room 39 have already initiated practical contacts with Russia and the Middle East, and some have established joint ventures for medium to long-term business projects in foreign countries.”

    Link to Article

  • US Dollar Most Commonly Used Foreign Currency, Followed by Euro, Yuan and Yen

    US Dollar Most Commonly Used Foreign Currency, Followed by Euro, Yuan and Yen

    In Pyongyang, the U.S. dollar remains the most commonly used foreign currency, followed by the euro, yuan, and yen. The use of the Japanese yen slightly increased compared to the Chinese yuan in the beginning of this year.

    Link to Article

  • Hundreds of N. Korean workers hired by Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries

    Hundreds of N. Korean workers hired by Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries

    Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, is thought to have hired hundreds of North Korean workers, Russian media outlets reported recently, despite the wide range of economic sanctions imposed by the international community.

    “Hundreds” of North Korean nationals have been hired by the company, the English- and Russian-language news outlet the Moscow Times reported, citing a report by media platform RTVI. Addressing the allegations, Wildberries acknowledged what it called a pilot project to hire foreign workers but did not elaborate on their nationalities.

    The claims stem from two videos of workers alleged to be North Koreans wearing Wildberries work apparel, which reportedly appeared in a group chat for employees of the retailer’s warehouse in the city of Elektrostal in Moscow Oblast, western Russia.

    Link to Article

    Link to Video

    Map Elektrostal, Moscow

  • Up to 16% of Theft, A result of Former Army Officers

    Up to 16% of Theft, A result of Former Army Officers

    A source in Jagang province told Daily NK recently that there has been a noticeable increase in former officers’ involvement in theft related crimes this month.

    “The political department of the provincial police considers this a serious issue and officially notified the provincial party committee on March 22,” the source said.

    According to the political department’s report, discharged officers were involved in dozens of poverty-related crimes in March, accounting for approximately 16% of all crimes in the province.

    Link to Article

  • The Few Freedoms North Koreans Enjoyed, Vanished After the Pandemic

    The Few Freedoms North Koreans Enjoyed, Vanished After the Pandemic

    The city of Hyesan, just over the river from China, once offered a glimpse of a more open North Korea. Now it exemplifies Kim Jong Un’s mounting authoritarianism. Kim has also used the pretext  of the pandemic to put up new barriers — both literally and figuratively — that have isolated Hyesan residents like never before: New fencing stops people crossing the river. Clampdowns on illicit phone calls made using Chinese cellphone towers have made it much harder for residents to call or text family and friends in China or South Korea, and mindlessly scroll through China’s version of TikTok.

    Link to Article

  • First British tourists allowed back into North Korea tell BBC what they saw

    First British tourists allowed back into North Korea tell BBC what they saw

    Don’t insult the leaders. Don’t insult the ideology. And don’t judge.

    These are the rules tour guides read out to Western tourists as they prepare to drive across the border into North Korea, arguably the most secretive and repressive country in the world.

    “They’ve had five years to fix things. North Koreans are so sensitive about what they show tourists. If this is the best they can show, I dread to think what else is out there”, he said. 

    The regime’s photographs might make North Korea look clean and shiny, Joe said, but in person you realise “the roads are awful, the pavements are wobbly, and the buildings are weirdly constructed”. His hotel room was old-fashioned and filthy, he said, resembling “his grandma’s living room”. The whole window was cracked.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0jggdnej0do

  • Russia and North Korea Building Bridge for Cars and Trucks, to be finished 2026

    Russia and North Korea Building Bridge for Cars and Trucks, to be finished 2026

    In a sign of increasing economic partnership between the two nations, construction of a Road Bridge has been planned, and a contract has been awarded to a contractor. The bridge is to be completed by the end of 2026.

    North Korea’s only land connection to Russia is a single rail bridge, so a road crossing is expected to increase trade and tourism once it is connected to a road network.

    A similar road bridge, the New Yalu, was built between North Korea and China about 10 years ago, but has yet to open because the Koreans have not built a road at their end. As a result, all traffic between the two countries must use the Sino–Korean Friendship Bridge, completed in 1943.

    Building a road bridge has been a recurring feature of Russian-Korean relations.

    https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/russia-awards-contract-to-build-first-road-bridge-to-north-korea