{"id":323082,"date":"2026-03-05T06:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T21:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=323082"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T04:37:10","slug":"north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea&#8217;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Despite the North Korean authorities&#8217; intensified crackdown on superstitious practices, the fortune-telling market is spreading in ever more covert forms. Rather than suppressing demand, harsher punishments appear to be pushing the market underground, creating a paradox in which enforcement produces the very outcome it seeks to prevent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">A Daily NK source in South Pyongan province said Wednesday that &#8220;even as the party congress got underway and law enforcement officers including security agents and political security officials worked reinforced shifts around the clock across the country, superstitious practices among the North Korean people never stopped.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">In South Pyongan province, nighttime patrols and inspections by enforcement agencies expanded significantly in connection with the party congress. Because the congress is the most important political event in North Korea&#8217;s calendar \u2014 setting the country&#8217;s five-year policy direction \u2014 social controls in each region were tightened considerably under the pretext that not a single incident could be permitted to occur.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>Superstition as a threat to socialist values<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Superstitious practices are among the behaviors most frequently targeted by the North Korean authorities. Particularly as the regime has doubled down on ideological control over its people and placed increasing emphasis on ideological unity and preparedness, authorities have come to view superstition as an antisocialist element at odds with the socialist way of life \u2014 as well as a behavior that paralyzes people&#8217;s revolutionary consciousness and stirs up social disorder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Even so, superstitious practices have not declined. If anything, they have become more active in the shadows. The source said the North Korean people hold such a strong belief that ritual protection against evil spirits and bad fortune \u2014 so-called <em>aengmaegi<\/em> and <em>bangto<\/em> \u2014 are critical to determining the luck of the coming year that they continue these practices through ever more covert means to avoid detection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">This is not merely anecdotal. Food offerings, red beans, and coins discarded after protection rituals have been turning up one after another in alleys and at intersections throughout Pyongsong city. Some of the abandoned items have included banknotes ranging from 1,000 North Korean won (approximately $0.11) to 50,000 North Korean won (approximately $5.60) \u2014 all of them, according to the source, traces of superstitious activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;No one touches the food or money left on the street like that, even if they are starving for lack of rice,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;There is a widely held belief that eating food discarded after a ritual or picking up and spending that money will transfer the bad luck to yourself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">In response, security officials in Pyongsong have been making the rounds at neighborhood watch unit meetings, urging people to report immediately any traces of superstitious practices found on the streets. They have also repeatedly warned people that anyone caught in the act faces severe legal punishment, the source said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">The source said that &#8220;even knowing that punishments could be far heavier during a major political event like the party congress, the belief that the year&#8217;s fortune can only be set right by properly performing protection rituals was so deeply ingrained that superstitious practices continued.&#8221; The source added that traces of such practices &#8220;kept appearing from after the party congress through the Great Full Moon Festival,&#8221; referring to the first full moon of the lunar new year, known as Daeboreum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">North Korea&#8217;s criminal law, Article 291, stipulates that a person who engages in superstitious practices shall be sentenced to a labor discipline camp. Habitual offenders or those whose superstitious acts produce grave results face up to five years of reform through labor. In particularly serious cases, the sentence may range from five to 10 years of reform through labor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Articles 23 and 29 of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act explicitly prohibit the dissemination of superstition. Viewing, distributing, or reproducing publications that propagate superstition is banned, and violations can in some cases be punishable by death.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"><strong>Even enforcers seek out fortune tellers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">Despite this web of laws targeting superstitious practices, the behavior has not diminished. It has continued steadily and actively in the shadows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\">&#8220;Superstitious practices are inseparable from the daily lives of the North Korean people, so the harder the crackdown, the more deeply and covertly they spread rather than disappearing,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;Even the people conducting the crackdowns and their families are so caught up in visiting fortune tellers and engaging in superstitious practices out of anxiety about the future that enforcement has not had much effect.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20260224-7\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<!-- Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers \u2014 End of Article Pattern -->\n<div style=\"background:#1a1a1a;border-top:3px solid #cc0000;padding:0;margin-top:32px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;\">\n  <div style=\"padding:20px 24px 24px;\">\n\n    <!-- Header row -->\n    <div style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:12px;margin-bottom:14px;\">\n      <span style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.15em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 8px;flex-shrink:0;\">A Note to Readers<\/span>\n      <div style=\"flex:1;height:1px;background:#333;\"><\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Intro line -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:15px;color:#fff;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.4;margin:0 0 12px;\">Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n\n    <!-- Body -->\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 16px;\">\n      Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea &mdash; discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <p style=\"font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:13px;color:#bbb;line-height:1.75;margin:0 0 20px;\">\n      Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what&#8217;s happening inside one of the world&#8217;s most closed societies.\n    <\/p>\n\n    <!-- CTA row -->\n    <div style=\"border-top:1px solid #333;padding-top:16px;display:flex;align-items:center;gap:16px;flex-wrap:wrap;\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/how-we-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:#cc0000;color:#fff;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 16px;text-decoration:none;flex-shrink:0;\">How We Report<\/a>\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/830d12539ead\/dnkweeklybriefing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\n         style=\"background:transparent;color:#cc0000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:9px 0;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #cc0000;flex-shrink:0;\">Subscribe to Our Weekly Briefing<\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- End Daily NK \u2014 A Note to Readers -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the North Korean authorities&#8217; intensified crackdown on superstitious practices, the fortune-telling market is spreading in ever more covert forms. Rather than suppressing demand, harsher punishments appear to be pushing the market underground, creating a paradox in which enforcement produces the very outcome it seeks to prevent. A Daily NK source in South Pyongan province [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":40626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1360],"tags":[673,724,794,959,1098,1656],"class_list":["post-323082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-society","tag-workers-party-of-korea","tag-kim-jong-un","tag-south-pyongan-province","tag-forced-labor","tag-pyongsong","tag-dprk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North Korea&#039;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korea&#039;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite the North Korean authorities&#8217; intensified crackdown on superstitious practices, the fortune-telling market is spreading in ever more covert forms. Rather than suppressing demand, harsher punishments appear to be pushing the market underground, creating a paradox in which enforcement produces the very outcome it seeks to prevent. A Daily NK source in South Pyongan province [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lee Chae Eun\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lee Chae Eun\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Chae Eun\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0\"},\"headline\":\"North Korea&#8217;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":741,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"workers' party of korea\",\"kim jong un\",\"south pyongan province\",\"forced labor\",\"pyongsong\",\"dprk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea's war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: A market official on patrol in Sunchon, South Pyongan province. (The Daily NK)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"North Korea&#8217;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Daily NK English\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/top_logo@1x.png\",\"width\":272,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Daily NK English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"description\":\"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0\",\"name\":\"Lee Chae Eun\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp\",\"caption\":\"Lee Chae Eun\"},\"description\":\"Lee Chae Eun covers trade and market trends, as well as the North Korean government's surveillance and control of its citizens. She also closely follows the situation of North Korean defectors living in China. Further details about her identity cannot be made public for security reasons. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/lee-chea-un\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"North Korea's war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"North Korea's war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground","og_description":"Despite the North Korean authorities&#8217; intensified crackdown on superstitious practices, the fortune-telling market is spreading in ever more covert forms. Rather than suppressing demand, harsher punishments appear to be pushing the market underground, creating a paradox in which enforcement produces the very outcome it seeks to prevent. A Daily NK source in South Pyongan province [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lee Chae Eun","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lee Chae Eun","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/"},"author":{"name":"Lee Chae Eun","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0"},"headline":"North Korea&#8217;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground","datePublished":"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/"},"wordCount":741,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg","keywords":["workers' party of korea","kim jong un","south pyongan province","forced labor","pyongsong","dprk"],"articleSection":["News","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/","name":"North Korea's war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-04T21:13:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T04:37:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/05\/2019-\u1107\u116e\u11a8\u1102\u1169\u11bc\u110e\u1169\u11ab_1-\u110c\u1161\u110c\u1165\u11ab\u1100\u1165-\u1109\u1169_\u1103\u1161\u11af\u1100\u116e\u110c\u1175-\u1109\u1161\u11af\u1105\u1175\u11b7\u110c\u1175\u11b8-\u1109\u116e\u11ab\u110e\u1165\u11ab-\u1100\u116a\u11ab\u1105\u1175\u110b\u116f\u11ab-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: A market official on patrol in Sunchon, South Pyongan province. (The Daily NK)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-koreas-war-on-superstition-backfires-as-fortune-telling-goes-underground\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"North Korea&#8217;s war on superstition backfires as fortune-telling goes underground"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization","name":"Daily NK English","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/top_logo@1x.png","width":272,"height":90,"caption":"Daily NK English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"description":"An independent online news organization based in Seoul, South Korea, reporting on internal North Korean affairs through a network of in-country sources and defector journalists. Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0","name":"Lee Chae Eun","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/9f4cf0f24b376077a2fcdab2e85c3584-150x150.webp","caption":"Lee Chae Eun"},"description":"Lee Chae Eun covers trade and market trends, as well as the North Korean government's surveillance and control of its citizens. She also closely follows the situation of North Korean defectors living in China. Further details about her identity cannot be made public for security reasons. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/lee-chea-un\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323082"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323084,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323082\/revisions\/323084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}