Analysis & Opinion About North Korea

grains, food purchases

Grain stores scramble the math on North Korea’s rice prices

Lee Sang Yong, Hwang Hyun-uk -
For decades, the price of a kilogram of rice at the market has served as the single most important gauge of North Korea’s economy....
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Propaganda mural depicting Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il surrounded by children at the Mangyongdae Funfair bullet train ride, Pyongyang

Fearing a slip, North Koreans avoid saying “unification”

Lee Sang Yong, Hwang Hyun-uk -
North Koreans still think of South Koreans as members of the same nation, but many now fear those words could slip out at the...
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Front cover of “Rich and Spicy Northern Dialects,” a book on North Korean regional dialects by defector Seol Song Ah

Listening to how North Koreans talk

Lee Sang-yong -
A film I watched recently added Korean subtitles to a conversation between North Korean characters, as though they were speaking a foreign language. Eight...
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Latest North Korea News

water, snow

Soaring prices strain North Korean winter preparations

Seon Hwa -
Coal prices in Sinuiju have climbed past 2 million North Korean won per metric ton this month, as a weakening currency is driving up...
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Silhouette of a hacker in a hooded sweatshirt in front of a computer screen showing code

Pyongyang denies Binance hack, but its own spy disagrees

Seulkee Jang -
A North Korean intelligence officer in China believes his own country carried out the record $6.3 billion Binance hack, which contradicts Kim Yo Jong’s...
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A blue FAW truck parked in front of a building at Chongsan-ri Farm in Kangso, North Korea, with a child walking in the foreground.

Empty-handed farmers drive up rice prices

Park Hee-soo -
Farm workers in South Hwanghae province are flooding local markets to buy rice in November 2026, with tighter state grain procurement leaving them with...
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Three North Korean women sitting down in front of kimchi.

Soaring cabbage prices push Hyesan families to skip kimjang

Lee Chae Eun -
Soaring food prices are pushing a growing number of North Korean households to skip kimjang, the annual autumn ritual of making enough kimchi to...
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Pyongyang Housing real estate prices, upper floors

Pyongyang tenants haul water up dark stairwells

Yoon HyeSeong -
A worsening Pyongyang power shortage has left the capital’s new high-rises without elevators or running water in fall 2026. Rather than fixing the problem,...
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North Korea Market Trends

Updated 26-11-08
Exchange Rate 1 USD → KPW
Pyongyang
71,200
Sinuiju
71,220
Hyesan
71,300
Full Exchange Rate Data →
Rice Prices KPW per kg
Pyongyang
50,300
Sinuiju
50,200
Hyesan
50,500
Full Rice Price Data →

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