North Korea develops agricultural drones
North Korea has introduced a pesticide-spraying drone that it claims can do the work of 35 farm laborers. The drone, called the Jongdari-101, can carry...
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...
Kim comes to the rescue of flood victims
Kim Jong-un personally directed rescue operations last weekend following severe flooding in the city of Sinuiju and Uiju county on the Chinese border, according to...
Remote education starts to spread in the provinces
Defectors imagine a day when they might be able to have video calls with their families in North Korea via Zoom. It is a hope...
South Korea needs to take action to deal with Pyongyang’s hackers
South Korean policy makers are calling for urgent measures to deal with hacking by North Korea. "The regime in Pyongyang views cyber attacks as a...
Russians promote weirdness of North Korea for tourism
When 200 young Russians arrived at Pyongyang’s Sunan Airport on Monday this week, they were excited to touch down in a strange and exotic place...
Do recent changes presage an imminent wave of mass defections?
The arrival in South Korea of a senior North Korean diplomat based in Cuba, which was confirmed earlier this month by Seoul’s intelligence agency, highlights...
North Korea trade fair in Russia violates sanctions
A North Korean trade fair in Russia at the end of June directly challenged sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. The event, held in...
Futuristic new tower unveiled in Pyongyang
A futuristic new tower unveiled in Pyongyang symbolizes the regime’s ambitions in science and technology, but whether actual capability goes beyond aspirational architecture remains to...
Overseas experts worry how North Korea might use AI
North Korea is using artificial intelligence to assist its extensive hacking activity and appears to be exploring the possibility of developing its own generative AI,...
North Koreans forced to attend war anniversary lectures
The Workers’ Party is forcing government and ordinary citizens to attend weekly lectures this month commemorating the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 to...
Are the upgraded Russia-North Korea ties just skin-deep?
Russia and North Korea last week upgraded their relationship from “friendly” to a strategic partnership with a mutual defense commitment that has prompted concerns about...
Excessive security annoys Putin aides and disturbs citizens in Pyongyang
Several senior Russian officials were undiplomatically expelled from a meeting room by North Korean security during last week’s visit to Pyongyang by Vladimir Putin, underscoring...