Launched in 2004 and now part of a consortium headed by the Unification Media Group (UMG), Daily NK is a media organization based in Seoul, South Korea, and a provider of news about North Korea from a wide range of sources based inside and outside the country. Daily NK’s sources in North Korea provide an unparalleled glimpse into the lives of North Koreans. This page provides a glimpse of important milestones in the history of Daily NK.
December 2004: Launched Korean and English language websites
January 2005: Began publishing a regular column by Hwang Jang Yop, the former international secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK)
March 2005: Broke news about footage of a public execution in North Korea – the first-ever confirmation of a public execution in North Korea
January 2007: Launched Chinese and Japanese language websites
November 2009: Broke news of North Korea’s currency redenomination and its aftermath
December 2009: Published North Korea’s New Year’s Statement a day in advance of publication by North Korea’s official news agency, Korea Central News Agency (KCNA)
July 2011: Published a series of exclusive interviews in a book entitled “NK People Speak”
September 2011: Established a news sharing partnership with Bloomberg
July 2012: Broke news of the “6.28 (June 28) Policy” focusing on North Korean economic reforms ordered by the Kim Jong Un regime.
January 2013: Published a report, “North Korea in 2012,” in Korean and English
October 2013: Held an academic forum entitled “Lifting the Fog” at the British Embassy with renown North Korea experts
May 2014: Reported on the conditions of North Koreans in China with funding from the Korea Press Foundation
November 2015: Conducted a survey on North Korea’s agricultural conditions along with the Korea Rural Community Corporation
May 2016: Published feature stories on the conditions faced by North Korean workers in Mongolia, Russia and China
April 2017: Published feature stories on the lives of North Koreans working as laborers in China
July 2018: Former high-level diplomat Thae Yong-ho started writing columns for Daily NK
June 2019: Daily NK/UMG released a report surveying 200 North Koreans and defectors on the country’s shifting media landscape
For more information about Daily NK’s history, please contact us at dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
The latest citations of our reports in the international media can be found on our Daily NK in the News web page.
