Headlines
The halt in trade since January between the northeast Asian neighbors has had a crippling effect on North Korea’s economy, already struggling under years of U.S. and UN sanctions imposed to deprive Pyongyang of resources that could be funneled into its nuclear and missile programs
The Korea Institute for National Unification revealed in its ‘White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea in 2020’ that, released on May 11, that even after Kim Jong Un took office as the chairman of the State Council, public executions have continued
With food security and malnutrition already a serious problem under normal conditions in North Korea, the government appears to be showing no tolerance for those who would use the crisis as an opportunity to boost prices
Horses have great symbolic power in North Korean mythology and political culture, culminating in Chollima, a mythical winged horse that has inspired statues in the country’s cities and appeared on currency and postage stamps
A vast transportation lockdown meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus in China is forcing many North Korean refugees to suspend their escape to freedom. That is leaving many would-be defectors stranded in a country that has long sent them back home to certain punishment. The development comes as the number of North Korean defectors to South Korea has already dramatically slowed
Reports of cancer, infertility, and birth defects in the mining area of Tongam village are consistent with medical understandings that these things result from exposure to radiation
Medicines including painkillers and fever-reducing drugs brought into North Korea by the Red Cross and other international NGOs have become harder to obtain in recent years as U.N. sanctions punishing North Korea for its illicit nuclear weapons program have taken hold, sources told RFA in earlier reports
In North Korea it is rare that people from regions outside the capital would have access to any institutions reserved for Pyongyang’s privileged residents, much less a state-of-the-art hospital
The Korean writing system, known as Hangul, or Chosongul in North Korea, has been described by linguists as an alphabetic syllabary. Consonants and vowels are organized into syllabic blocks. In terms of the Rason project, that means 18 individual panels will be made, with one syllable of the slogan written on each
The report recommends that North Korea undergo comprehensive reforms, such as a review of the criminal codes and other laws so that North Koreans can participate in lawful market activities