2026: In a world hungrier than ever for electricity, nuclear-armed North Korea is unable to power daily life
Dandong, the Chinese port of 2.4 million on the North Korean border, remains brightly lit well into the night. At 9 p.m., neon signs glow...
Suppression of protests in Iran as viewed by pro-North Korean forces
Pro-North Korean forces in the U.S. have opposed any U.S. military action against Iran in light of the massacre of thousands of unarmed civilian protesters...
The illusion of a photo with Kim Jong-un: The tears behind North Korea’s military parades
Pyongyang’s military parades are portrayed by global media as dazzling displays of power. The world is familiar with the images of thousands of soldiers goose-stepping...
Weapons modernization and anti-U.S. strategic calculations amid the Russia–Ukraine war
North Korea has supplied Russia with large quantities of artillery shells and military equipment during what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. This...
Reporting the unreachable: why we need to keep paying attention
Journalists who cover North Korea face a simple reality: they do so despite knowing they almost certainly won’t get into the country itself — not...
Briefing January 9 ~ January 13
In a strongly worded statement, North Korea denounced what it claims was a “serious violation of sovereignty” after shooting down a drone which it said...
The low status and sorry life of scientists in North Korea
“Plant your feet firmly on your own soil, and set your eyes upon the world.” There is not a single university student in North Korea...
“I defended the fatherland, but it did not defend me.”
Youth is not a time for making choices for North Koreans. Rather, it is a period of obligation to the state, a time when personal...
Outlook for 2026: Pro-North Korean and other far-left forces versus the U.S.-ROK alliance
Pro-North Korean and other far-left forces in the United States were in somewhat of a "continuation" mode in 2025. They continued their Congressional lobbying, agitation/propaganda,...
What Venezuela taught me about North Korea
When U.S. President Donald J. Trump ordered the military strike against Venezuela and the arrest of its president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, he acted...
Propaganda refers to the country as “Kim Jong-un’s Korea”… Growing possibility of public backlash
Lecture materials produced by the state last month and obtained from sources inside the country refer to the North as “Kim Jong-un’s Korea.” The materials...
Defectors no longer able to send money home amid crackdown on Chinese mobile phone use
Brokers in North Korea who have for several years now undertaken the risky but lucrative task of delivering money from defectors overseas to their family...
Pressure on all citizens to supply fertilizer creates a clandestine trade
Fertilizer has recently become a significant commodity in North Korea. Sources reached in the northern provinces bordering on China say that the official setting of...
Unusually, no mention of South Korea or the U.S. in Kim Jong-un’s new year address
In a major departure for a new year address, Kim Jong-un made not a single reference this time to South Korea or the United States....
Will Kim Ju-ae be anointed as the successor this year?
When Kim Jong-un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on New Year’s Day with his wife and daughter to pay his respects to his...
Kim Jong-un: What kind of leader is he really?
Until now, in writing about Kim Jong-un, I have focused on his humanity or lack of it. For example, I’ve noted what we all know,...