{"id":55761,"date":"2023-08-07T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T01:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=55761"},"modified":"2023-08-04T03:17:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T18:17:36","slug":"north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>North Korea is using prisoners to provide labor for its contract manufacturing sector as part of efforts to earn foreign currency, Daily NK has learned.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Korea told Daily NK last Tuesday that some 20 to 30% of North Korea\u2019s contract manufacturing activities \u2014 including wigs, fake eyelashes, beadwork, hand-knit hats, clothing and tablecloths exported to China \u2014 are produced by inmates at North Korean prisons, including prisoners at forced labor camps and political prisons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korea imports the raw materials for the contract manufacturing orders it receives from China, usually by freight train, and then exports the finished items back to China.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In general, North Korea gets more contract manufacturing orders from China in the winter than the summer. When business is good, the country exports items through not only Dandong, but also Hunchun or Linjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the source, the production department of the reeducation bureau of the Ministry of Social Security and farm management bureau of the Ministry of State Security\u00a0 handle contract manufacturing activities at prisons. These agencies handle the entire process, from receiving orders from China to importing the raw materials, distributing the work and collecting and exporting the processed items.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a North Korean clothing company receives an order to manufacture an item, it must pay its workers. But because prison labor is practically \u201cfree,\u201d the authorities take 100% of the profits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, North Korea receives RMB 25-50 (around USD 3.50 to 7) from China for wigs that undergo primary processing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, contract manufacturing for Chinese customers is high-income labor, considering that North Korean workers usually make no more than enough to buy a kilogram of rice in the market, and the market cost of rice \u2014 when converted into Chinese currency \u2014 is about RMB 4 or 5 (around USD 0.50 to 0.80) per kilogram.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>N. Korea earns millions of dollars through contract manufacturing activities<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to China Customs, wigs and fake eyelashes accounted for 65% of North Korea\u2019s total exports to China in May, amounting to USD 23.94 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assuming that 20% of North Korea\u2019s contract manufacturing exports are produced by prisoners, North Korean authorities essentially earned nearly USD 4.79 million in May through prisoner labor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, 70% of the profits earned through contract manufacturing by this forced labor goes to the state, while agencies such as the Ministry of Social Security and Ministry of State Security use the remaining 30%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The source told Daily NK that prisoners mobilized for contract manufacturing work over 12 hours a day. If they are unable to fulfill their assigned quota, they are forced to work overtime as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article 29 of the International Labour Organization (ILO)\u2019s charter bans the use of forced labor. In its \u201cGlobal Estimates of Modern Slavery\u201d report published last year, the ILO criticized the North Korean authorities\u2019 levying of forced labor on prisoners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, North Korea does not accept the ILO charter since it is not a member state of the organization, and it has never responded to the organization&#8217;s criticism of the country&#8217;s labor practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK\u2019s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/faq\/\">here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20230801-1\/\"><i>Read in Korean<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korea is using prisoners to provide labor for its contract manufacturing sector as part of efforts to earn foreign currency, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Korea told Daily NK last Tuesday that some 20 to 30% of North Korea\u2019s contract manufacturing activities \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":43070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1361],"tags":[1656],"class_list":["post-55761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-prison-camps","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>N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities - 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-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korea is using prisoners to provide labor for its contract manufacturing sector as part of efforts to earn foreign currency, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Korea told Daily NK last Tuesday that some 20 to 30% of North Korea\u2019s contract manufacturing activities \u2014 [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\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-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":583,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"dprk\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Prison Camps\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/\",\"name\":\"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities - 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-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Image: pixabay\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities\"}]},{\"@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\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\",\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"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\":\"Seulkee Jang\"},\"description\":\"Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK's full-time reporters and covers North Korean economic and diplomatic issues, including workers dispatched abroad. Jang has a M.A. in Sociology from University of North Korean Studies and a B.A. in Sociology from Yonsei University. She can be reached at skjang(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/jang-seul-gi\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities - 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-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities","og_description":"North Korea is using prisoners to provide labor for its contract manufacturing sector as part of efforts to earn foreign currency, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Korea told Daily NK last Tuesday that some 20 to 30% of North Korea\u2019s contract manufacturing activities \u2014 [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Seulkee Jang","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seulkee Jang","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/"},"author":{"name":"Seulkee Jang","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857"},"headline":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities","datePublished":"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/"},"wordCount":583,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg","keywords":["dprk"],"articleSection":["News","Prison Camps"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/","name":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities - 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-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-07T01:00:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/12\/prison_prison_cell_jail_crime_prisoner_criminal_cage_bar-1088841.jpg","width":1200,"height":720,"caption":"Image: pixabay"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-uses-prisoners-labor-force-contract-manufacturing-activities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"N. Korea uses prisoners as labor force in its contract manufacturing activities"}]},{"@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\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857","name":"Seulkee Jang","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":"Seulkee Jang"},"description":"Seulkee Jang is one of Daily NK's full-time reporters and covers North Korean economic and diplomatic issues, including workers dispatched abroad. Jang has a M.A. in Sociology from University of North Korean Studies and a B.A. in Sociology from Yonsei University. She can be reached at skjang(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/jang-seul-gi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55761","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\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55761"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55764,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55761\/revisions\/55764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}