Shattered Dreams: The tragic journey of North Korean defectors in China
COVID-19 completely changed the fate of Eun-hye (pseudonym), a North Korean defector in her 30s who was living quietly as the wife of a...
One N. Korean worker’s tale of exploitation and desperation in China
In the fall of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Chinese middle manager approached Yong-hee (pseudonym), a North Korean worker in...
Refused asylum to S. Korea, N. Korean defector dies on the streets of Russia
As the world lived in fear of COVID-19 in the year 2020, a North Korean (identified here as "A") managed to escape from a...
The story of one N. Korean woman’s tragic death in a reeducation camp
One day in early 2019, a public trial took place in front of the Provincial Performing Troupe Plaza in North Pyongan Province.
That day, five...
The tragic fate of N. Korean workers in Russia’s Sakhalin Island
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in 2020, North Korean construction workers on Russia's Sakhalin Island were forced into endless, precarious efforts to...
Kaechon prison camp works its inmates to death
The North Korean authorities keep men and women serving life sentences in the Hamhung and Kaechon concentration camps in separate quarters in accordance with...
N. Korean scientist executed in 2021 for COVID-19 research
In September 2021, a researcher at a bioengineering laboratory under the North Korean State Academy of Sciences in Pyongyang examined samples taken from a...
Nampo’s 2021 lockdown led to tragedy for many people
In early 2020, as North Korea implemented a maritime lockdown in response to COVID-19, the port city of Nampo suffered a steep drop in...
How N. Korea’s COVID controls led to tragedy in a small mountain town
In 2020, North Korea enforced COVID quarantines even in the small mountain town of Chasong County, Chagang Province. The death of a woman surnamed...
N. Korean veteran disappears after speaking out against harsh COVID protocols
In autumn 2020, when North Korea implemented broad-ranging nationwide lockdowns in response to COVID-19, North Koreans faced limits in everything they did. Doing business...
