Corruption is woven into daily life in North Korea. Daily NK’s sources document it firsthand — officials demanding bribes, black market dealings, and a shadow economy the regime can’t suppress. This is the DPRK that Pyongyang doesn’t want you to see.
Tag: Crime & Corruption
North Korea’s state security apparatus undergoes generational overhaul after party congress
North Korea's state security bureau in North Hamgyong province has ordered the replacement of roughly 40% of its agents at municipal and county offices...
Drug traffickers caught at N. Korean checkpoint with hundreds of grams...
Two North Korean drug traffickers were arrested at a checkpoint in North Hamgyong province in recent days after attempting to smuggle methamphetamine from Hamhung...
North Korean family faces ten years prison as neighbors suspect police...
A North Korean family in Onsong county, North Hamgyong province, is being questioned by police after being caught watching foreign media.
The community has been...
Gold dealers arrested as North Korea targets illicit bullion market
As North Korea launched a fresh crackdown on the illicit gold trade in early February 2025, state security agents in North Pyongan province arrested...
North Korea cracks down on corrupt prosecutors shielding elite students
North Korea's Supreme Prosecutor's Office issued an emergency order Jan. 19 activating a long-dormant legal provision that allows the replacement of corrupt prosecutors at...
North Korea defense ministry finds massive embezzlement in elite Pyongyang guard...
Commanders of North Korea's elite 91 Metropolitan Defense Corps were caught embezzling funds collected from soldiers and their families for modernizing and renovating base...
North Korean fugitive caught after assaulting officer, stealing gun in Sinuiju
A man who allegedly assaulted a police officer during a stop in November in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, and made off with the officer's...
Three Pyongyang women sentenced to labor for forging permits in illegal...
Three women were subjected to a struggle session and public trial for involvement in illegal housing sales late last month in Pyongyang, Daily NK...
Sophisticated pickpocket gangs drive shoppers from Sariwon markets to stores
Rampant pickpockets are becoming a serious nuisance for market vendors and customers in Sariwon, North Hwanghae province. Fewer people are visiting markets because of...
North Korean military couriers dishonorably discharged for smuggling merchants’ cargo
Several military couriers tasked with carrying classified documents received dishonorable discharges when an intensive inspection of train use at the end of last year...
