{"id":51302,"date":"2022-04-13T13:57:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T04:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=51302"},"modified":"2022-04-13T17:27:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T08:27:14","slug":"north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#8217;s birthday celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starting in April, North Korea has increased the operating hours of markets in the country. The authorities are apparently trying to soothe public sentiment by lengthening market hours in the runup to the commemoration of Kim Il Sung\u2019s birth on Apr. 15.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province on Tuesday, the authorities lengthened market hours in Hoeryong by two hours from the first day of April. Market hours had been 2 PM to 5 PM; they are now 2 PM to 7 PM. The increase is partly due to the approaching summer season, but the authorities are also allowing the markets to open earlier than before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has divided market operating hours into \u201csummer hours\u201d and \u201cwinter hours.\u201d During past summer seasons \u2014 stretching from April to September \u2014 markets have operated for four hours, from 3 PM to 7 PM. This year, however, the markets are opening one hour earlier at 2 PM, allowing shoppers to use them for five hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With North Korea extending market hours ahead of the birthday of late national founder Kim Il Sung, North Korea\u2019s biggest holiday, people in the country are rejoicing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The source said people suffered many inconveniences because market hours were so short. He said with the authorities extending market hours a bit this year \u2014 perhaps because North Korea emphasizes fifth and 10th year anniversaries \u2014 North Koreans will have a slightly easier time preparing for the holiday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, the authorities continue to crack down on street merchants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Operating on little capital, street merchants are among the people having the toughest time getting by in North Korea. However, streetside commerce runs counter to the celebratory social atmosphere to mark the holiday, and the authorities are cracking down hard on what they call \u201canti-socialist behavior\u201d that muddies the country\u2019s \u201csocialist image.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, police and enforcement personnel arrested a Hoeryong resident early this month when they caught him selling rice cakes in an alleyway in the city\u2019s Nammun-dong. The reason: he was doing business in an alley, where the authorities ban the buying and selling of goods.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The individual begged the police to let him go, but the officers reportedly dragged him off to the Ministry of Social Security anyway, explaining that it was a \u201cspecial enforcement period.\u201d Ultimately, he was freed only after he paid a KPW 10,000 fine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In regards to the incident, locals complain that the authorities are &#8220;preparing&#8221; for the holiday by squeezing street merchants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the source, people are saying that authorities take few fines or bribes from people doing official business in the markets, but the police show great zeal in clamping down on street merchants for bribes \u2014 even if just a pack of smokes \u2014 ostensibly because streetside commerce is illegal.<\/span><\/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\/20220412-3\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starting in April, North Korea has increased the operating hours of markets in the country. The authorities are apparently trying to soothe public sentiment by lengthening market hours in the runup to the commemoration of Kim Il Sung\u2019s birth on Apr. 15.\u00a0 According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province on Tuesday, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":41618,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645],"tags":[100,773],"class_list":["post-51302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","tag-markets","tag-north-hamgyong-province"],"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>N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#039;s birthday celebration - 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-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#039;s birthday celebration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Starting in April, North Korea has increased the operating hours of markets in the country. The authorities are apparently trying to soothe public sentiment by lengthening market hours in the runup to the commemoration of Kim Il Sung\u2019s birth on Apr. 15.\u00a0 According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province on Tuesday, the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\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=\"2 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-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Chae Eun\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0\"},\"headline\":\"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#8217;s birthday celebration\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":490,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/6-min.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"markets\",\"north hamgyong province\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/\",\"name\":\"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung's birthday celebration - 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-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/6-min.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/6-min.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/6-min.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: North Koreans are seen peddling goods at a street market in Hyesan, Yanggang Province. (\u00a9 Daily NK)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#8217;s birthday celebration\"}]},{\"@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":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung's birthday celebration - 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-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung's birthday celebration","og_description":"Starting in April, North Korea has increased the operating hours of markets in the country. The authorities are apparently trying to soothe public sentiment by lengthening market hours in the runup to the commemoration of Kim Il Sung\u2019s birth on Apr. 15.\u00a0 According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province on Tuesday, the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lee Chae Eun","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lee Chae Eun","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/"},"author":{"name":"Lee Chae Eun","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/6c9f40b0a89c4a5354607f43756dbbe0"},"headline":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#8217;s birthday celebration","datePublished":"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/"},"wordCount":490,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg","keywords":["markets","north hamgyong province"],"articleSection":["News","Economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/","name":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung's birthday celebration - 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-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg","datePublished":"2022-04-13T04:57:08+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-13T08:27:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/6-min.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: North Koreans are seen peddling goods at a street market in Hyesan, Yanggang Province. (\u00a9 Daily NK)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-lengthens-market-operating-hours-ahead-kim-il-sung-birthday-celebration\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"N. Korea lengthens market operating hours ahead of Kim Il Sung&#8217;s birthday celebration"}]},{"@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\/51302","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=51302"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51312,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51302\/revisions\/51312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}