The secret underground tunnel for gifts at the International Friendship Exhibition
The year was 1994. North Korea had begun its “Arduous March” following the collapse of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. Kim Jong Il, who was...
The story of one victim of North Korea’s informant system
In early February 2023, a young woman knelt in a cell at a police station in Haeju, South Hwanghae Province, her hands cuffed through...
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...
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...
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...
Three soldiers caught mimicking S. Korean dance moves sent to political prison camp
Three soldiers with a unit under the Korean People's Army Air and Anti Air Force Command were arrested during a tour of Mount Paekdu...
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...
The tragic story of one outspoken North Korean journalist
On Jan. 1, 2012, shortly after taking power, Kim Jong Un visited the offices of Rodong Sinmun - the country's most prominent newspaper -...
N. Korean smuggling of S. Korean goods never stopped during the pandemic
This article is part of a series written by Daily NK journalist Kim Jeong Yoon entitled “North Korea’s Secret Stories.”
One day in November 2020,...
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...
