China is North Korea’s most important economic partner, diplomatic protector, and geographic neighbor, sharing a 1,400-kilometer border along the Yalu and Tumen rivers. Daily NK covers North Korea China relations across multiple dimensions — bilateral trade and smuggling, the treatment of North Korean defectors in China, Beijing’s enforcement of UN sanctions, and the strategic calculations behind China’s support for the Kim regime. Our border-region sources provide unmatched ground-level insight into one of the world’s most consequential and opaque bilateral relationships.
Tag: china
North Korea’s meth prices surge as drug trafficking crackdown intensifies
North Korea's crackdown on drug trafficking has intensified sharply this year. The tightened enforcement has shrunk methamphetamine distribution networks, and it has driven prices...
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...
Private traders still control goods distribution after passing through customs
North Korea has consolidated its foreign trade under officially licensed trading companies, sidelining independent traders from the import process. But once goods clear customs,...
North Korean workers in China pay for injury insurance but rarely...
North Korean workers dispatched to factories in China are paying monthly premiums for workplace accident insurance, but many receive little or no compensation when...
North Korea turns to China for printing and packaging technology
North Korea is working to acquire printing equipment and packaging technology from China. Authorities want to improve the quality of product packaging, labels and...
Battery demand surges in North Korea as customs clearance opens
North Korean trading companies are placing sharply higher orders for batteries now that customs clearance has opened between China and North Korea, but strict...
In North Korea, a Chinese phone now costs as much as...
Chinese phone prices have surged along North Korea's border with China this year. Intensifying crackdowns and a halt in state-led smuggling have sharply reduced...
North Korea cuts English classes, expands Russian at foreign language schools
North Korea's Ministry of Education has ordered foreign language schools nationwide to cut back on English classes and expand Russian instruction. Sources link the...
N. Korea tightens vetting for overseas workers, demands verified contacts
North Korean authorities are requiring organizations seeking to deploy overseas workers to submit contracts bearing the actual seals of foreign business partners, then granting...
North Korea sends new wave of workers to China as surveillance...
North Korean workers are once again filling factory floors in China, as large numbers of new arrivals replace those who returned home over the...
