Sticking your head out between the bars, What is the explanation for the new Yalu River cruise?
North Korea has been running river cruises since April along the Yalu River that forms the border with China in a development that is so...
North Korea under lockdown: My COVID experience (Part 6)
Everything started changing in North Korea in January 2020, when the border was suddenly closed. At first, we thought it would just be temporary, that...
The end of free medical care: My COVID experience in North Korea (Part 5)
During the pandemic, we would often see soldiers on TV and in movies in protective suits handing out medicine and checking people’s temperatures during the pandemic.
My COVID experience in North Korea (Part 4)
Most people naturally assume that when you get sick, you can go to the hospital, get a prescription, receive treatment, maybe even get vaccinated. But in North Korea, none of that was taken for granted.
As young people embrace the finger heart, the regime is yet to respond
Korea’s finger heart, arm heart, and cheek heart gestures have recently gained wide global popularity. Now, reports suggest that even in North Korea, they have...
My COVID experience in North Korea (Part 3)
To explain how North Korea initially responded to COVID, I originally planned to talk about the healthcare system, but then I came across the story...
Food warehouse robbed on military base… Inside job suspected
A recent case of theft at a military warehouse has prompted investigators to suspect the military was itself involved. According to sources contacted in North...
My COVID experience in North Korea (Part 2)
During COVID-19, an enormous amount of “filth” washed ashore. Many of these were strange items we had never seen in North Korea before. Some refrigerators were huge — unbelievably large ones — and yes, even refrigerators floated in from the sea.
My COVID experience in North Korea (Part 1)
Growing up in Haeju, in a coastal military area in North Korea’s South Hwanghae Province, Kim Yumi was able to secretly watch South Korean news...
Kim permits private car ownership… but not Benz and Lexus
After earlier allowing ordinary citizens to own their own cars, the government has taken high-end foreign luxury brands off the list of permitted vehicles. According...
The Indo-Pacific 80 years on from the nuclear bombs on Japan
August 6 and 9 this year mark the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
Mobile Phones in North Korea — A World of Surveillance and Control
Today we’d like to share a video by Kim Yumi, a North Korean defector and speaker at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum, titled “North Korea’s...
What sparked the new cheek-kissing trend between parents and children?
A new trend among young parents kissing their children on the cheek has reportedly taken hold in North Korea. The fad of parents sending their...