Ryanggang province occupies the mountainous northern interior of North Korea, bordering China’s Jilin Province along the upper Yalu River. Home to Hyesan — Daily NK’s most closely covered city — Ryanggang province is a focal point of our ground-level reporting on border trade, smuggling, market conditions, and the reach of the regime’s enforcement apparatus into remote communities. Despite its geographic isolation, Ryanggang province has long been a hub of informal economic activity and cross-border exchange, making it one of the most important windows into the realities of life in the DPRK.
Tag: Ryanggang province
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...
Sick and denied rest, detainees beaten in North Korean heat wave
North Korean labor training camp detainees are collapsing from dehydration during outdoor work in the ongoing heat wave, receiving neither proper medical treatment nor...
North Korea’s new factories struggle as workers sent to mines
North Korea is building new local industrial factories nationwide under its "Regional Development 20x10 Policy." The policy calls for building modern factories in 20...
Hyesan school shifts cooking exam costs to students
A technical senior middle school* in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, is drawing parent complaints over a new requirement. Students in its hotel cuisine class had...
N. Korea border guard duty loses its appeal as bribes dry...
Attitudes inside North Korea toward serving in the border guard have shifted completely. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, soldiers could collect bribes for turning a...
North Korean students resent piri in Kim Jong Un’s gift instruments
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave musical instruments to a lower secondary school in Ryanggang province last year. Now the school has assigned...
A teen’s vow to catch leeches moves North Koreans to tears
A high school sophomore in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, recently finished mandatory military training. The training is run by the Red Youth Guard, a paramilitary...
Purged military official’s graft case sparks outrage among North Koreans
North Korean people are calling for a sweeping investigation into corruption across the country's power organs. A senior military official's dramatic public downfall sparked...
In China, North Koreans hear they’re the poor ones
North Korean authorities boast of the country's rising international standing. But in 2026, a very different story is spreading among North Korean people in...
Elderly North Koreans recall Kim Il Sung era fondly despite hardship...
Elderly North Koreans in several regions are voicing nostalgia for the era of founding leader Kim Il Sung. They unfavorably compare today's economic hardship...
