North Korea isn’t building the next ChatGPT. It’s building something else.
When people hear that North Korea is investing in AI, they often imagine a familiar race to build the next ChatGPT, the next breakthrough AI...
Kim Jong-un inspects new facility as North Korea openly asserts its status as a nuclear state
North Korea has revealed a new nuclear production facility in what analysts say is a deliberate effort to showcase its determination to expand its nuclear...
Tactical weapons test signals more complex threats on the Korean peninsula amid growing Russia factor
North Korea’s latest test of advanced tactical weapons highlights a broader effort to modernize its artillery and missile forces, potentially creating more complex military challenges...
When seeing the world makes “My Country is the Best” harder to sing
There is a song beloved by many people in North Korea. It is called My Country Is the Best. Even the flowers blooming in a...
A North Korean team wins a trophy in South Korea. The victory raised harder questions about freedom.
Sign up here. North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s Football Club lifted a trophy on South Korean soil. On May 23, in the AFC Women’s Champions League...
Who created “Oppasi”? How tyranny thrives on power and silence
What is it that makes a person endlessly tyrannical? Is it the power that supports him? Or is it our own weakness in submitting to...
‘Even 12 bodies wouldn’t be enough’: North Koreans struggle under farm mobilization crackdown
With the start of the busy farming season, North Koreans are facing a sharp increase in street inspections. In addition to officers from the Ministry...
Kim Il-sung’s long record of murder, kidnapping, and plunder in the decade before he came to power
Sign up here. When it comes to his crimes against the Korean people, the record of the North’s founding dictator, Kim Il-sung, is long and...
War on women’s clothing: How fashion has become a political crime
Authorities in North Korea are intensifying propaganda against so-called “anti-socialist” behavior, condemning women’s clothing, hairstyles, speech, and other foreign cultural influences, according to a source...
North Korea’s COVID quarantine was a performance built on fear and deception
One night during the COVID-19 pandemic, while I was still living under quarantine in North Korea, I saw a group of people gathered around a...
Party members told they must become standard-bearers and shock troops
Sign up here. North Korea is rolling out a program for party members and workers at factories and enterprises, telling them they must become standard-bearers...
The unspoken burden of being a woman in North Korea
A few days ago, I was interviewed about the lives of women in North Korea. At first, I thought I would simply speak about what...
North Korea amends constitution to finalize rejection of unification
Sign up here. North Korea has revised its constitution to remove references to reunification with South Korea, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on May 5. The...
Kim Jong-un inspects new long-range artillery for deployment against Seoul
Sign up here. Kim Jong-un visited a key munitions plant producing a new 155mm self-propelled howitzer on May 6 in what analysts see as a...
Can South Koreans change how they see North Koreans?
Sign up here. When North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC arrives in Suwon on May 17, how will South Koreans view them? This is far from the...
May Day and the unheard cry beneath the propaganda
Sign up here. What began in 1886 with Chicago laborers demanding an eight-hour workday in response to brutal working conditions has since evolved into International...
Illegal transfer of funds to North Korea and forcible repatriation of defectors: Will justice ever be served at the highest levels?
Sign up here. In 2024, when President Lee Jae-myung was leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), he was indicted over allegations...
Teenager sent home from military service after becoming pregnant
Sign up here. A teenage soldier who was 14 months into her mandatory military service has been discharged and sent home after becoming pregnant. The 18-year-old...