North Korean province launches student tracking app, but glitches pile up
North Korean education officials in South Hamgyong province have launched a student tracking app for high schools. Students can now borrow library books and...
Smartphone apps widen North Korea’s education gap
North Korean students in some regions are increasingly turning to smartphone apps to study English and Chinese in 2026. The trend is widening an...
North Korea’s smartphone payments reveal convenience and control
Electronic payment through smartphones is spreading rapidly across North Korea, with cash transactions increasingly giving way to digital payments in Pyongyang and other major...
University mobilizes students to dig trenches for campus intranet
A university in Hungnam district in Hamhung city, South Hamgyong province, mobilized students for three days of trench-digging work in late August 2026. The...
North Korea quietly hikes phone prices at the border
North Korea has quietly raised the prices of two mobile phone models sold in four border provinces, adding 500 Chinese yuan (about $74) to...
North Korea busts elite hacking ring inside its own banks
A criminal ring hacked into the internal networks of North Korea's central bank and its main foreign trade bank. The ring used cryptocurrency to...
North Korea’s mobile phone insurance scheme draws anger as claims routinely denied
North Korea's state-run mobile phone insurance program promises to reimburse policyholders for theft and technical failures, but the benefits rarely materialize in practice, with...
Pyongyang targets software developers in crackdown on unauthorized programs
North Korea gathered more than 30 software developers in Pyongyang in mid-April 2026 to take part in what authorities billed as a technical training...
North Korean traders make fake calls to cover Chinese phone use
North Korean traders near the Chinese border have been deliberately placing brief international calls on state-issued mobile phones to create false records and disguise...
North Korea orders AI and new energy push, threatens managers who inflate results
North Korea has ordered industrial managers across the country to abandon inflated production statistics and pivot to quality-driven economic growth powered by new energy...
