North Korea tells UN General Assembly it will not give up its nukes
At the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 29, North Korea delivered one of its most uncompromising messages of recent years...
A world I never knew was revealed by a USB
As everyone knows, information in North Korea is completely blocked. No internet, no foreign broadcasts, no international news. All TV and radio are state-controlled. The...
North Korea’s taxis are more than just a ride
As everyone knows, information in North Korea is completely blocked. No internet, no foreign broadcasts, no international news. All TV and radio are state-controlled. The...
The rise and fall of the jangmadang street markets
In any discussion about the economy in North Korea, you can’t ignore the pivotal role of the jangmadang, the informal markets that have become the...
What is something women could never imagine in North Korea?
I want to talk about a special kind of freedom, something truly unimaginable in North Korea. I’d like to talk about driving. When I first...
Traveling on North Korea’s long-distance buses
I’m often asked whether there are city buses and intercity buses in North Korea. Yes, there are. But they’re not the kind of buses you...
Kim Jong-un’s special train: bulletproof carriages and luxury facilities
When Kim Jong-un traveled to China recently, he went via a special train. Or, to be more precise, a moving hotel. The moment I saw...
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.
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...
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...