Civil defense youth submit petitions for deployment to Russia
The news that soldiers are being deployed to Russia has spread across North Korea, prompting a wave of petitions from military-age people in the civil...
How should we interpret China’s occasional release of detained North Korean refugees?
While China formally stands by its obligation to North Korea to repatriate escapees, many defectors arrive in South Korea after having been detained by Chinese...
Defectors step up to support soldiers deployed to Russia to escape
While news reports confirming that North Korea has dispatched special forces to fight for the Russians in their war against Ukraine have raised international concern,...
Why fight for Russia? Deaths of North Korean officers in Ukraine raises questions about morale
The deaths of six North Korean military officers in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine, in a Ukrainian missile strike that wounded 20 other soldiers, highlighted...
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...
North Korean workers investigated for murder after China labor protest
Several North Korean workers have been repatriated and remain under investigation on possible murder charges after protests at an industrial complex in China erupted in...
Secret police start annual propaganda performances
Propaganda teams organized by the secret police this month started touring the provinces and staging performances about attempted coups to educate the public in how...
North Korea adopts the concept of “human rights abuse” for law enforcement training
The Ministry of Social Security, North Korea’s main law enforcement agency, is stepping up education for its own officials and police to train them not...
Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il Fund, “Using the Dead to Exploit the Living”
The bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leaders who died in 1994 and 2011 respectively, are enshrined in the...
Defectors Prefer a Preemptive Strike to Remove Kim Jong Un but Speaking Softly and Carrying a Big Stick is the Wiser Strategy
One of the options for dealing with North Korea’s military provocations is a preemptive strike, on military targets and/or on Kim Jong Un himself. Given what could go wrong, this is a scary idea, especially for those of us living close by in South Korea. It also appears somehow undemocratic or certainly unpeaceful for a democracy to even consider it. Furthermore, why advocate war in a situation where war has been avoided for 70 years?
Secret Police Intensifies Pressure on Defectors’ Families
The secret police in North Korea has increased surveillance and suppression of families of people known to have defected to South Korea. Defectors say they have been receiving more worrying news about their relatives since Kim Jong Un re-framed South Korea as the North’s number one enemy on January 15.
North Korea’s Internal War Against South Korean Culture and Market Ideas May Be Unwinnable
As the generation of North Koreans who grew up familiar with the jangmadang market system enters adulthood, the state is cracking down harshly to prevent their “impure” attitudes and tastes – which include a preference for South Korean music and movies – from going mainstream.
Provincial Governments Tap Wealthy Traders to Donate for Regional Development
Provincial governments are conducting a donation campaign targeting wealthy merchants to fund local development projects, according to sources in North Korea.