Headlines
The shrill attacks against South Korea and the United States that have made international headlines for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister are viewed inside the country as evidence of her arrogance and inexperience, government officials told RFA
North Korea has warned citizens to refrain from talking about national leader Kim Jong Un’s health after he recently lost weight, calling such gossip as a “reactionary act,” sources in the country say
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blamed senior ruling party officials for their failures in stopping the spread of COVID-19, days after local sources told RFA that authorities had closed all schools nationwide until the end of the year, despite claims that the country remains completely virus-free
North Koreans are growing anxious as food prices have begun to fluctuate wildly amid uncertainty over the reopening of the border with China and the resumption of trade with Pyongyang’s largest trading partner
North Korea’s widespread human rights violations, especially severe limitations on religious freedom, continue to concern the United States
Authorities in North Korea are asking residents to prepare for economic difficulties as bad as the 1994-1998 famine which killed millions, RFA has learned, but experts say the situation is dire, but not that extreme
North Korea has set up high-voltage electric fences around an important national landmark in a city near the Chinese border, a precaution authorities say is to defend it from would-be vandals opposed to the regime, sources in the country told RFA
More and more North Korean youth are dodging mandatory military service, because ruling party membership and all its perks are no longer as automatic for those who finish lengthy stints in the armed forces, sources in the country told RFA
In Worth Less Than an Animal: Abuses and Due Process Violations in Pretrial Detention in North Korea, Lim Ok Kyung, one of the former detainees, described extremely harsh conditions when she was arrested in 2014 for having appliances smuggled from China in her house
North Korea has arrested 20 “phone brokers” who arrange calls and money transfers from outside the country in a nationwide crackdown on illegal mobile phone users, sources familiar with the cases told RFA