{"id":61862,"date":"2024-11-19T11:05:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T02:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=61862"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:11:20","slug":"death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/","title":{"rendered":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A senior official from North Korea\u2019s Ministry of State Security was recently executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader, Daily NK has learned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe official was arrested for providing a summary of internal ministry documents to a Chinese trader and sentenced to death on Nov. 1. The execution was carried out immediately,\u201d a source in North Korea told Daily NK recently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The official who was executed held the rank of colonel, went by the surname Cho, and was in his 50s. He oversaw the overall guidance and inspections for the 31st Border Guard Brigade within the Border Security Command.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the source, Cho was arrested by the Ministry of State Security this past March on charges of giving Chinese traders an SD card hidden in contraband containing internal documents from the ministry, which were categorized as first-class and second-class secrets. Cho had allegedly transmitted the documents during his trading activities with China while ostensibly inspecting a unit of the 31<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade in North Pyongan province.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe background of Cho\u2019s arrest isn\u2019t exactly known, even inside the military. Various possibilities have been raised, such as that the state security department in the 31<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade was tipped off or a Chinese national in North Korea provided incriminating information. But the Ministry of State Security said that Cho confessed to selling state secrets for money during questioning and that execution is the fate of every traitor,\u201d the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">News about the official\u2019s execution was given in back-to-back &#8220;emergency lectures&#8221; on Nov. 6 and 7 for department heads at the Ministry of State Security and for department heads at the command posts of the 25<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade (in Ryanggang province), the 27<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade (in North Hamgyong province), the 29<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade (in Jagang province) and the 31<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">st<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Brigade (in North Pyongan province), all border guard brigades under the Border Security Command.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These lectures disclosed Cho\u2019s identity and rank and stated that he had been executed for espionage because the secrets he had provided to Chinese traders had been then leaked to South Korea, which North Korea now regards as a hostile state.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Execution underscores regime&#8217;s determination to weed out security threats<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the lectures about Cho\u2019s execution, a grim mood has settled over officials at the Ministry of State Security and the border guard, the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The execution of such a high-ranking official is thought to underscore the Ministry of State Security\u2019s determination to beef up internal security and harshly combat security threats following the recent amendment of the North Korean constitution to define South Korea as a hostile state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe lecture emphasized the urgency of fully reviewing the safety of state secrets and measures to ensure those secrets aren\u2019t leaked. Officials say this is the first internal probe at the ministry to be addressed in such detail since the execution of Jang Song Taek. They regard it as signaling sweeping punishment of anyone who has profited financially from selling secrets to China,\u201d the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOfficials say the incident goes to show you can\u2019t trust your peers in state security departments because anybody could be watching you and ready to stab you in the back. They say this underscores the fact that people nowadays should watch what they say and do and keep an eye on each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amid the high level of vigilance inside the ministry following Cho\u2019s execution, more inspections are likely to be held to test security at the ministry, the source added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><em>Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20241114-1\/\"><em>Read in Korean<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A senior official from North Korea\u2019s Ministry of State Security was recently executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader, Daily NK has learned. \u201cThe official was arrested for providing a summary of internal ministry documents to a Chinese trader and sentenced to death on Nov. 1. The execution was carried out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":56910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[696,731,735,773,1035,1646,1750,1941,162,222,271,691],"class_list":["post-61862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-jagang-province","tag-trade","tag-north-hamgyong-province","tag-lectures","tag-punishment","tag-state-secrets","tag-espionage","tag-ministry-of-state-security","tag-border","tag-ryanggang-province","tag-military"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.\" \/>\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\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeong Tae Joo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeong Tae Joo\" \/>\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\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeong Tae Joo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/054bbb68a21014341831df9d65d085f1\"},\"headline\":\"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":634,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"north pyongan province\",\"jagang province\",\"trade\",\"north hamgyong province\",\"lectures\",\"punishment\",\"state secrets\",\"espionage\",\"ministry of state security\",\"border\",\"Ryanggang province\",\"military\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/\",\"name\":\"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader - 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\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00\",\"description\":\"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg\",\"width\":1902,\"height\":596,\"caption\":\"A photo taken of the North Korea - China border in 2014. (Lawrence Wang, Flickr, Creative Commons)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader\"}]},{\"@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\\\/054bbb68a21014341831df9d65d085f1\",\"name\":\"Jeong Tae Joo\",\"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\":\"Jeong Tae Joo\"},\"description\":\"Jeong Tae Joo specializes in North Korean military and security affairs, providing insights that help readers understand the country's internal policies and strategies. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/jong-tae-ju\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.","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\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader","og_description":"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeong Tae Joo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeong Tae Joo","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeong Tae Joo","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/054bbb68a21014341831df9d65d085f1"},"headline":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader","datePublished":"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/"},"wordCount":634,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg","keywords":["north pyongan province","jagang province","trade","north hamgyong province","lectures","punishment","state secrets","espionage","ministry of state security","border","Ryanggang province","military"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/","name":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader - 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\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-19T02:05:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T06:11:20+00:00","description":"A senior state security official was arrested and executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/15354311408_76f6957f73_k-e1776065766869.jpg","width":1902,"height":596,"caption":"A photo taken of the North Korea - China border in 2014. (Lawrence Wang, Flickr, Creative Commons)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/death-sentence-senior-state-security-official-sold-secrets-to-chinese-trader\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Death sentence: Senior state security official sold secrets to Chinese trader"}]},{"@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\/054bbb68a21014341831df9d65d085f1","name":"Jeong Tae Joo","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":"Jeong Tae Joo"},"description":"Jeong Tae Joo specializes in North Korean military and security affairs, providing insights that help readers understand the country's internal policies and strategies. Questions about her articles can be directed to dailynkenglish(at)uni-media.net.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/jong-tae-ju\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61862","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\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61865,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61862\/revisions\/61865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}