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 amendment,...
North Korea to send a club team to play in “hostile state” of South Korea… Could a women’s football match open a small crack in the glacier of inter-Korean relations?
Sign up here. Despite long-frozen inter-Korean relations, North Korea’s women’s football team, the Naegohyang Women’s Football Club, will arrive in South Korea on May 17...
The void of civilization
Sign up here. Today, I would like to begin my story by quoting a line from a North Korean song: “We, with 5,000 years of...
The problem of the means of production
Sign up here. These words are often thrown around, but what is the real difference between socialism and capitalism? At its core, it is a...
What are they afraid of? Why are some of America’s leading experts on Korea scared of criticizing the South Korean government?
Sign up here. Something rather unusual - and frankly welcome - occurred in late April 2026: the rare shattering of a Washington, D.C., taboo. A group...
North Korea links rising delinquency to foreign culture
North Korea has reportedly launched a sweeping ideological education campaign aimed at eradicating various illegal activities that have recently emerged among young people. Analysts say...
Blood alliance or mistrust? The uncomfortable update to China–North Korea relations
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang on April 10, in what analysts describe as a significant moment for the two...
North Korea’s new cybercriminals
For decades, North Korea sent workers abroad to build buildings, cut timber and slave in factories. Their wages in dollars flowed back to Pyongyang. Then...
Is a purge or at least a crackdown in the offing in North Korea?
Even the best of the previous century's Kremlinologists who monitored trends in the former Soviet Union, and “China Hands” who followed developments in Communist China,...
North Korea and its money-making overseas workers
With turmoil spread across the Middle East in recent weeks, international attention is drawn once again to the familiar specter of North Korea. The connection...
Kim says new main battle tank capable of “neutralizing almost all” existing anti‑tank weapons
Supreme Leader Kim Jong‑un observed a performance evaluation test of a new man battle tank, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported March 29....
Life in the country without taxes
In North Korea, the word “tax” does not exist. Instead, we talk of a “usage fee.” Why the euphemism? To be frank, I don’t know....
Border security units ordered to ensure no “breaches” by defectors and smugglers
The Ministry of Social Security, the main law enforcement agency, has instructed units in the northern provinces to strengthen the already intense blockade along the...
Seoul reverses course, joins U.N. resolution on North Korean human rights
South Korea has formally decided to co-sponsor an upcoming United Nations resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses. The decision represents a significant reversal of...
Does the fighting man’s morale still matter in modern warfare?
Lately, the world has begun to change in unsettling ways. After World War II, despite localized conflicts, it seemed as if global peace might last...
Rising oil prices send ordinary North Koreans into survival mode
When I escaped from North Korea and came to South Korea in May 2023, I had no way of knowing when or how deeply the...
Carbon‑fiber solid‑fuel engine test marks new phase in North Korea’s ICBM advancement
North Korean leader Kim Jong‑un observed a ground test of a high‑power solid‑fuel engine, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on March 29....
The campaign to nominate Kim Jong-un for a Nobel Peace Prize
Until the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat was nominated for and then shockingly awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, to the eternal infamy of the Nobel...