North Korea’s economy defies easy categorization — a nominally socialist system hollowed out by decades of mismanagement and sanctions, sustained by a sprawling informal market economy that the regime alternately tolerates and suppresses. Daily NK covers the North Korea economy through ground-level price tracking, foreign currency monitoring, reporting on economic policy directives, and analysis of how ordinary North Koreans navigate an environment of chronic scarcity and institutional dysfunction. Our market data — collected through a network of in-country sources — provides economic intelligence on the DPRK unavailable anywhere else in English.
Tag: economy
Two perspectives of one North Korean Potemkin village
A North Korean Potemkin Village
People view North Korea in two different ways. For example, take a look at the picture above. You can see...
Facing food shortages, North Korea taps rice reserves
Significant quantities of military rice reserves at a storage facility in Daeosichon, Ryanggang Province, are being trucked out and may be heading to the...
Pyongyang factories encourage workplace exemption program
Managers of some Pyongyang-based factories are encouraging their workers to take part in a popular workplace exemption program referred to colloquially as “8.3 Earnings,”...
North Korea intensifies prostitution crackdown
Prostitution has been on the rise in tandem with increasing economic difficulties in North Korea. The government is now taking wider steps to crackdown...
North Korea Market Prices Update: August 21, 2018
All prices shown in KPW and current as of August 21, 2018. Data: Daily NK
North Korea Market Prices Update: August 14, 2018
All prices shown in KPW and current as of August 14, 2018. Data: Daily NK
‘Mallima speed’ and ‘socialist revolution’ dominate state media
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a construction site in Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province. Image: Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The North Korean authorities...
North Korea’s economic improvement depends on denuclearization
Editor’s Note: Thae Yong Ho was serving as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom when he chose to defect with his family...
North Korea Market Prices Update: July 24, 2018
All prices shown in KPW and current as of July 24, 2018. Data: Daily NK
North Korea Market Prices Update: July 17, 2018
All prices shown in KPW and current as of July 17, 2018. Data: Daily NK



















