The state takes over smuggling, violating sanctions and threatening livelihoods
The widespread smuggling which has long been a means of livelihood for many ordinary citizens has been replaced by what is known inside North Korea...
Families of soldiers killed in Russia compensated with 30 days’ worth of groceries
Government authorities are providing a month’s worth of groceries to the families of soldiers killed in combat in Russia in its war with Ukraine, according...
Ministry of Social Security drastically tightens control over the people
The Ministry of Social Security, the main law enforcement agency in North Korea, is significantly beefing up its remit and intensifying control over the populace. ...
What now for the North Korean human rights movement with the loss of US support?
The experience of the North Korean human rights movement resembles that of Sisyphus, the mythological king of Corinth condemned in the underworld to roll a...
Remember the innocents who dreamed of freedom
Countless numbers of North Koreans have disappeared into the gulag where they are never heard from again. This article delves into the shocking reality of...
Two North Korean women arrested at Dalian Airport, activists call for urgent response from international community
A mother and daughter who defected from North Korea have been arrested by Chinese authorities Gyeoreol Unification Federation calls for diplomatic action and international intervention...
Role reversal: why most criminals in North Korea are now women
A recent video used in public lectures and compulsory study sessions provides a glimpse into the types of crimes prevalent these days in North Korea....
Busting of a smuggling ring in Guangxi Province blocks commonly used North Korean escape routes
Police have busted an extensive smuggling ring in China’s southernmost port, near the border with Vietnam, which has made it more difficult for escaping North...
Neighborhood watch units now expected to do police work
Police in North Korea are handing responsibility for local crime to neighborhood watch units. Untrained residents are even being held accountable for crimes in their...
Women forced into military service face increasing sexual abuse
After graduating from middle school in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province in 2019, Kwon (not her real name) enlisted in the Korean People's Army, determined to...
The logging company that functions like a labor camp
When Choi, 57, failed to turn up for work at the Pihyon Logging Company at the end of May, the work unit sent someone over...
600 escapees repatriated from China are sentenced to life in the gulag
Six hundred North Korean escapees who were rounded up last year in China and forcibly repatriated have been given life sentences in political prison camps...
A virgin raped in a prison camp
We won’t say her full name, for reasons which will become obvious, but Choi was not really a defector. Nor was she caught by the...