Defectors and activists urge Canada to do more for North Korean asylum-seekers
Defectors from North Korea and activists who help them settle in South Korea and other countries have asked the Canadian government to more actively support...
Copyright in North Korea
For North Koreans, copyright is an unfamiliar concept. That said, if you were to ask whether copyright exists there, my answer would be yes. It’s...
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....
HRF announces new grants for North Korean human rights
NEW YORK (Oct. 3, 2024) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce a new set of grants to help strengthen the work of...
The dictator’s women
One day in July 2012, North Korea’s state media made a grand announcement. The First Lady, Ri Sol-ju, wife of the new leader Kim Jong-un,...
Obstacles to divorce force couples to live double lives
An increasing number of couples in North Korea live separately without divorcing and, at the same time, younger couples are increasingly living together without marrying. ...
North Korea does it “our way”
Every country has its own traditions, history, and way of doing things. In North Korea, they call this “our way.” The emotions people feel about...
Defectors accuse South Korean politician opposing unification of being a spy
Like a surgeon who recommends a heart transplant, when a politician says South Korea should change its core national objective, people need to trust him...
Crackdown on smoking doesn’t stop Kim Jong-un from lighting up
North Korea has launched an educational campaign telling people to get with the times and stop smoking, but the chain-smoking leader Kim Jong-un doesn’t appear...
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...
Four years later “The Mole” is still raising questions
When it came out, the 2020 documentary miniseries “The Mole: Undercover in North Korea” was a revelation, the clearest ever view through the window into...
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...
One party vs. multiple parties
The most cited difference between countries that are socialist or capitalist is the extent to which individual citizens are able to own the means of...
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...
Residents complain about Pyongyang’s fancy new apartments
It has been three years since people moved into their apartments in the futuristic 83-story Songhwa Street Main Tower in Pyongyang and they’re not happy. ...
North Korea tries to attract foreign investment
The North Korean regime appears to be making an effort to induce foreign business but, given international sanctions over its rogue nuclear weapons program and...
North Korean defectors rally in support of Venezuelan pro-democracy protesters
Representatives of leading South Korean civil society organizations and North Korean defectors gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on August 17 to condemn Maduro’s attempts...