Analysis & Opinion About North Korea

Satellite map showing the pollution spread route from North Korea's Bupo mine to the Bupo saltworks and Kangnyong Bay

Satellite images show mine drainage nearing North Korea’s Kangnyong Bay

Lee Sang-yong, Bruce Sunghak Chung -
Satellite imagery shows yellow-tinted mine drainage spreading from North Korea's Bupo mine toward farmland and a saltworks in South Hwanghae province's Kangnyong county, with...
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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump talk in the Oval Office at a 2025 White House summit

Trump plays the Kim Jong Un card amid Seoul-Washington discord

Jung Kyo-jin -
Recently, South Korea-US relations have taken a troubling turn. After North Korea's military pushed ahead with fortification work along the Military Demarcation Line, including...
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Side-by-side satellite images comparing sludge coverage at the Pyongsan uranium plant's settling pond in September 2025 and June 2026, with yellow outlines marking 0.5, 0.2 and 0.1 hectare areas of new sludge buildup.

Satellite images show growing waste buildup at North Korea’s uranium plant

Lee Sang-yong, Bruce Sunghak Chung -
Recent high-resolution satellite imagery shows that the sludge-covered area within a settling pond at North Korea's Pyongsan uranium concentration plant grew by about 0.8...
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Latest North Korea News

special patrols coronavirus outbreak smuggler mobile phones strict smuggler border, remittance, defections, fear

As smugglers vanish from North Korea’s border, security agents’ lifestyles take a hit

Seon Hwa -
North Korea's crackdown on smuggling along its border with China has cut off a key source of side income for state security agents who...
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university, school, education, probe

North Korea cracks down on ghostwritten graduation theses at Pyongyang universities

Eun Seol -
North Korea's Cabinet Ministry of Education has ordered major universities in Pyongyang to stamp out the ghostwriting of graduation theses, sparking anxiety among soon-to-graduate...
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View of Dandong from the North Korean bank of the Yalu River, with the Yalu River Broken Bridge and Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge visible.

North Korea foreign trade shifts to state control

Seon Hwa -
North Korea is overhauling its foreign trade system to route transactions only through official state trade organizations this year. Authorities have banned individual traders...
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pay, wages

As won crashes, rural North Koreans rush to buy dollars

Lee Chae Eun -
A growing number of people in rural North Korea are converting their spare cash into U.S. dollars or Chinese yuan, as fears grow that...
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Students work at computers inside a computer center at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang

North Korea orders nationwide university crackdown after Kim Chaek arrests

Lee Chae Eun -
North Korean authorities have ordered intensive inspections at universities nationwide, including in Pyongyang, after seven students at Kim Chaek University of Technology were arrested. A...
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North Korea Market Trends

Updated 26-08-16
Exchange Rate 1 USD → KPW
Pyongyang
67,500
Sinuiju
67,530
Hyesan
67,530
Full Exchange Rate Data →
Rice Prices KPW per kg
Pyongyang
46,800
Sinuiju
46,900
Hyesan
47,200
Full Rice Price Data →

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