2026 Midterm Reports Show Progress Across HRF’s North Korea Grant Portfolio

Because the work described in this brief is sensitive, this article is not publicly listed and is accessible only to those with the direct URL.

This update provides a midterm overview of five North Korea-focused projects supported by HRF’s 2025 microgrants and being implemented in 2026. The grantees’ midterm reports demonstrate strong progress despite difficult, uncertain, and, in some cases, dangerous operating conditions. All five projects remain on budget and on track for completion.

Once the projects are completed, and after HRF receives the final deliverables and reports by December, selected outcomes may be shared publicly through HRF’s annual reports and social media platforms. However, in accordance with the grantees’ requests and due to safety and security concerns, the names of Vision North, North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Center, and Korea Campus Crusade for Christ should be anonymized in any public-facing materials.

Midterm report highlights

Vision North’s project, led by Heyokha Lee, a North Korean defector and the group’s director, received $28,000 for the project, Continuing the Record: Documents and Videos on Human Rights Violations in North Korea, covering May 5-December 20, 2026. The project seeks to obtain and smuggle out 12 internal documents produced by the North Korean regime, along with 10 pieces of footage exposing human rights violations and the regime’s evolving methods of control. During the first phase, the team traveled to Dandong, China, met with trusted collaborators, assessed border conditions, selected smart cameras and storage devices, and delivered operational funds from the grant to their contacts. The main uncertainty is whether contacts can safely return from North Korea to China with target materials; delivery is expected between September and November, “depending on operational conditions.” The group has responded by prioritizing security, trust, discreet equipment, emergency precautions, and in-person coordination. The group noted in the report, regarding the project’s operating ethic: “Throughout this process, we have carefully prioritized security, trust, and operational discipline.” For more details, please see the group’s midterm report.

North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Center’s project, led by Kim Jungae, a North Korean defector and the group’s chair, received $10,000 for the project, Uncovering North Korea: Reports Based on Internal Documentation, for January – December 2026. It has produced 25 of 50 planned analytical articles on repression, ideological control, surveillance, youth control, women’s policing, labor exploitation, public backlash, and regime anxiety. The main challenges have been security and publication capacity: collaborators inside North Korea face risk, and sensitive information is often difficult to timely verify. The group has adopted by carefully reviewing incoming information, protecting sources, publishing articles through HRF’s NK Insider and other outlets, and continuing coordination with HRF’s Korea Desk for the second half of the year. Its appreciation for HRF’s support is reflected in the rights-focused articles “despite the sensitive and restricted nature of the work.” Please see the group’s midterm report, for more details.

Lumina, led by Kim Yu-mi, a North Korean defector, OFF speaker, and the group’s president, is carrying out the Project 100 & Promoting NK Insider from January 1- December 30, 2026. As of June 18, it has produced 50 of 100 planned videos and reached 1.1 million views. These videos humanize North Korean human rights issues through testimonies, interviews, commentary, escape stories, and depictions of surveillance, propaganda, resettlement, women’s experiences, and outside information. A striking example was Kim Yumi’s recent encounter at Incheon International Airport in Seoul with visiting North Korean athletes, who had travelled to South Korea in May to attend the AFC Women’s Champions League semifinals. Under tight surveillance, the North Korean athletes “could not even make eye contact with her or respond to her message: ‘Welcome to South Korea. I also recently came from North Korea!’” Lumina’s challenge is to sustain quality and reach while covering painful, politically sensitive stories in a way board audiences will watch. Yumi expressed deep appreciation for HRF’s support, noting that it has been instrumental in expanding public understanding and making North Korean human rights issues emotionally accessible rather than abstract. The group’s midterm report can be accessed here.

Korea Campus Crusade for Christ’s project, led by Timothy Kim, a defector and the NK project director, received $23,000 for the project, Helping Realize the Potential of Tomorrow’s Leaders in North Korea II: The 2025–2026 Academic Year, covering January-December 2026. The project aims to support North Korean escaped graduate students with tuition and essential academic living expenses. In the first half of the year, support went to three Ph.D students who were studying in the United States, helping them remain on track academically. One especially powerful result is that Park, an HRF-supported recipient, became the first North Korean escapee appointed as a professor at a prestigious university in Japan. The project’s challenge is long-term: preparing a small number of highly capable escapees for leadership while protecting their identities and families still in North Korea. KCCC will distribute the remaining funds to two additional graduate students in the second half of 2026. The group expressed its appreciation for HRF’s support, writing, “No matter what difficulties we face, we will never stop this project.” It also shared its hope that one day North Koreans will “rejoice and express gratitude for HRF’s help and support.” The group’s full midterm report can also be read here.

NK Times’s project, led by Kim Sewon, a North Korean defector and the group’s CEO, received $10,000 for its News Strengthening Project,running from January 10 – December 31, 2026. During January-May, it produced 72 news and analytical articles and conducted ten journalist trainings. Its most important achievement was obtaining and reporting on three internal Ministry of Social Security reports, including materials on border blockade work, social security task forces, and crime-prevention regulations. The NK Times team is working in an increasingly restricted reporting environment, as North Korean authorities continue to treat outside information as a regime threat.The organization is addressing this through stronger source-based reporting, propaganda analysis, verification training, and capacity-building for journalists. HRF’s support has strengthened both its output and organizational capacity, helping NK Times move beyond event reporting toward deeper analysis of “the gap between North Korean policies and realities.” Its Korean-language articles produced under the HRF-sponsored project can be found on its website and their midterm report can be accessed here for full details.

Together, these projects demonstrate the impact of HRF’s support across key areas of the North Korean human rights field, including evidence preservation, research and analysis, public outreach, leadership development, and independent reporting.

Thank you for taking the time to review this report. Should you request additional details on any of the projects mentioned above, Seongmin Lee, HRF’s Director of the Korea Desk, can privately brief you. Please reach out to [email protected].