Tyranny Tracker: identifying authoritarianism, illuminating freedom
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has launched Tyranny Tracker — a qualitative democracy index that classifies countries and territories as democratic, hybrid authoritarian, or fully...
What does the attack on Iran mean for North Korea?
Missiles have been crisscrossing Middle Eastern skies in early March, as the American and Israeli war on Iran enters its second week. The immediate backdrop...
The horizon I had to cross, the life I had to endure
The nights in my hometown were not a time for dreaming. Life then was a matter of endurance and the night the only time to...
Kim Jong-un’s emphasis on women is core part of regime survival strategy
For Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, women are “incomparably beautiful beings” who are indispensable to the revolution and to nation-building. This was how he described them...
Exchange rates surge, then drop slightly… Yuan reaches 7,700 won
Exchange rates for the U.S. dollar and Chinese yuan in North Korea are showing unstable fluctuations. Recent reports indicate that in border regions between North...
North Korea extends strategic nuclearization to its navy
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the Nampo Shipyard and the new destroyer Choe Hyon on March 3 and 4, according to KCNA. Kim inspected...
Never-ending repression: The continuous purges and ideological campaigns of North Korea and other communist regimes
The historiography of communist states often portrays them as featuring cyclical patterns of repression and liberalization, of murderous crackdowns followed by calm and normalcy. However,...
Fate of two POWs held in Ukraine hands in the balance
These two North Korean POWs in Ukrainian custody face a danger that is not theoretical. It is an escalating reality. Russia has already attempted to...
The value of a being a Party member
(Part Two) The most important factor for advancement is never ability or loyalty. It is family background. If your parents worked in the security services,...
North Korea responds to Iran crisis: Will Pyongyang go down a path of “reckless survival?”
On March 1, after the United States and Israel launched their military assault on Iran, North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a strong condemnation. The attack...
Party Congress reaffirms rejection of reunification, South Korea is now an “enemy”
The 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), which ended on February 25, reaffirmed Kim Jong-un’s position as General Secretary, solidifying his absolute...
The value of a being a Party member
(Part One) Every North Korean dreams of becoming a member of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. Why? To be more loyal to the Party...
The threat of America’s isolationist faction and Korea’s autonomy faction to the U.S.-ROK alliance
For better or worse, whatever transpires in U.S.-ROK relations in 2026 and the remainder of the Trump administration will depend not only on decisions made...
Regime showcases new nuclear-capable rocket launchers ahead of Party Congress
North Korea showcased 50 nuclear-capable rocket launchers at a ceremony on February 18 ahead of the all-important Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of...
Power, the dinner table, and the cold sea
If a fisherman working for Songhak Fisheries dies on a boat on the icy winter waters of the Yellow Sea, the boat does not return...
Can ordinary joy awaken the people of North Korea?
Today I went to the playground with my children. It’s already been three years since I came to South Korea, but everyday moments like this...
“Patriots who gave their lives without compensation” — Apartments in Pyongyang for families of fallen soldiers
Kim Jong‑un attended the completion ceremony on February 15 of a new apartment district in Pyongyang that has been specially built for the families of...
On Kim Jong-un’s “two hostile enemy states” theory and de-emphasis on unification policy
For two years now, one of the most written about and discussed topics among Korea watchers, analysts of Asian security, and international affairs experts in...