{"id":51227,"date":"2022-04-06T12:38:32","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T03:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=51227"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:50:58","slug":"north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean soldiers sent to Russia to earn foreign currency have been unable to return back home, despite having completed their full three years of service overseas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A North Korean source in Russia told Daily NK on Apr. 1 that a North Korean soldier in his 20s, surnamed Choi &#8211; along with four other soldiers from the Seventh General Bureau &#8211; have not been allowed to return home. Their three year service in Russia ended a long time ago, but instead of returning home, they are involved in foreign currency earning activities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In general, North Korea\u2019s overseas workers are sent abroad for three years before others are sent to replace them. After the three years are up, the workers are supposed to return home to their original positions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, North Korea\u2019s prolonged border closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the return of many workers living abroad. This is reportedly what happened to Choi and the four other soldiers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choi and the other soldiers were sent to Russia in 2018 before the outbreak of the pandemic. In principle, they should have returned back to North Korea in 2021. Although they were eligible for discharges from the military last year, ther discharge orders were delayed and they are still in Russia earning foreign currency for the North Korean government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some soldiers in similar positions have even tried to escape. According to the source, two soldiers from the Seventh General Bureau left their base in Moscow without permission in mid-March. They were subsequently apprehended by Ministry of State Security (MSS) officials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During their interrogation, the two soldiers told the MSS officials that they went out to earn some extra money, but this failed to convince the authorities. The soldiers are currently being imprisoned on charges of attempting to defect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe first thing North Korean authorities consider when choosing soldiers to send abroad is whether or not an individual will run away while in a foreign country,\u201d the source said, adding that, \u201cSince soldiers are thoroughly armed politically and ideologically speaking, and because they have families back home, [the authorities] prefer them over regular workers.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To the North Korean government, the most important thing when dispatching North Koreans abroad is loyalty to the ruling Workers\u2019 Party and the Supreme Leader (Kim Jong Un). In addition, the families of soldiers sent abroad are used as hostages to make sure no defections take place. The logic is that, even though one\u2019s thoughts or ideology may change, family is something much more permanent, and thus a much more powerful tool the government can use to prevent defections.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are soldiers in other units who have not been able to return home despite being old enough to be discharged from the military,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut I also know that there are many soldiers who are considering escaping due to the long working hours that stretch into the night and poor pay, which is not even enough to buy cigarettes.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a report submitted by South Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Service to the National Assembly\u2019s Intelligence Committee in February 2021, North Korea has shortened mandatory military service periods for both North Korean men and women. For men, the service time has been shortened from \u201cnine to 10 years\u201d to \u201cseven to eight years,\u201d while for women it has been shortened to five years from the previous \u201csix to seven years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Translated by Gabriela Bernal<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20220401-4\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korean soldiers sent to Russia to earn foreign currency have been unable to return back home, despite having completed their full three years of service overseas.\u00a0 A North Korean source in Russia told Daily NK on Apr. 1 that a North Korean soldier in his 20s, surnamed Choi &#8211; along with four other soldiers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":50936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,646],"tags":[1017,691,930],"class_list":["post-51227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-military","tag-russia","tag-military","tag-foreign-currency"],"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 Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home - 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-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korean soldiers sent to Russia to earn foreign currency have been unable to return back home, despite having completed their full three years of service overseas.\u00a0 A North Korean source in Russia told Daily NK on Apr. 1 that a North Korean soldier in his 20s, surnamed Choi &#8211; along with four other soldiers [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"554\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kim Chae Hwan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kim Chae Hwan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 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-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kim Chae Hwan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1629fb3d8bb4ae2ecd69089c22875eee\"},\"headline\":\"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":597,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"russia\",\"military\",\"foreign currency\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Military\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home - 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-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":554,\"caption\":\"North Korean workers in Russia. (Courtesy of Kang Dong Wan)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home\"}]},{\"@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\\\/1629fb3d8bb4ae2ecd69089c22875eee\",\"name\":\"Kim Chae Hwan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png\",\"caption\":\"Kim Chae Hwan\"},\"description\":\"Kim Chae Hwan is one of Daily NK's full-time journalists. He can be contacted at dailynk@uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/kimchaehwan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home - 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-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home","og_description":"North Korean soldiers sent to Russia to earn foreign currency have been unable to return back home, despite having completed their full three years of service overseas.\u00a0 A North Korean source in Russia told Daily NK on Apr. 1 that a North Korean soldier in his 20s, surnamed Choi &#8211; along with four other soldiers [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":554,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kim Chae Hwan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kim Chae Hwan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/"},"author":{"name":"Kim Chae Hwan","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/1629fb3d8bb4ae2ecd69089c22875eee"},"headline":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home","datePublished":"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/"},"wordCount":597,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg","keywords":["russia","military","foreign currency"],"articleSection":["News","Military"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/","name":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home - 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-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-06T03:38:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:50:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/\ub7ec\uc2dc\uc544-\ubd81\ud55c-\ub178\ub3d9\uc790.jpg","width":800,"height":554,"caption":"North Korean workers in Russia. (Courtesy of Kang Dong Wan)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-soldiers-russia-earning-foreign-currency-still-unable-return-home\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"North Korean soldiers in Russia earning foreign currency still unable to return home"}]},{"@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\/1629fb3d8bb4ae2ecd69089c22875eee","name":"Kim Chae Hwan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/images-1-e1589857625251-150x119.png","caption":"Kim Chae Hwan"},"description":"Kim Chae Hwan is one of Daily NK's full-time journalists. He can be contacted at dailynk@uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/kimchaehwan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51227","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\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51229,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51227\/revisions\/51229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}