{"id":63285,"date":"2025-05-12T10:16:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T01:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=63285"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:16:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:16:46","slug":"satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim’s orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 2021, when Kim Jong Un ordered a shift in grain production to address food shortages, North Korea has been promoting wheat and barley cultivation over corn. Despite this being official policy from the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, farmers have shown little enthusiasm due to the manual labor required for seed sorting, lower yields, and concerns about soil acidification.<\/p>\n

Daily NK recently analyzed satellite imagery to examine North Korea’s spring wheat and barley cultivation across three major agricultural regions: Turusom island in Pyongyang, Kaechon in South Pyongan province, and Sariwon in North Hwanghae province. The analysis revealed an average 22.3% increase in acreage dedicated to these crops compared to last year.<\/p>\n

Turus Island: Prime Agricultural Land<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Spring wheat and barley cultivation in Pyongyang\u2019s Turu island is at its height. The light green squares indicate where wheat and barley are growing well. (Sentinel-2B and 2C)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Turu Island, which was formed by sediment in Pyongyang’s Taedong River, features exceptionally fertile soil ideal for agriculture. Similar to Seoul’s Yeouido, this sediment-formed island primarily supplies vegetables to Pyongyang through its collective farm greenhouses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Satellite images captured on the same day last year and this year were analyzed to identify wheat and barley cultivation areas, which are highlighted in yellow. Analysis results show that wheat and barley cultivation area in Pyongyang’s Turu Island increased by 10.5ha (26.9%) compared to last year. (Sentinel-2B\u00b72C)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recent images from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2B and 2C satellites show light green rectangular fields throughout the island where spring wheat and barley are thriving. These standardized rectangular patterns clearly indicate cultivated crops rather than wild vegetation. Analysis of satellite images taken on the same day in both years shows that wheat and barley acreage on Turu Island increased by 10.5 hectares (26.9%), growing from 39.1 hectares in 2024 to 49.6 hectares this spring.<\/p>\n

Growth in Other Regions<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Wheat and barley cultivation in Kaechon\u2019s Yongjin neighborhood in South Pyongan province grew by 6.9 hectares, or 12.0%, between this year and last. (Sentinel-2B and 2C)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Kaechon’s Yongjin neighborhood (South Pyongan province), wheat and barley cultivation increased by 6.9 hectares (12%), from 57.4 hectares to 64.3 hectares. The area is intersected by National Road 65 and the Manpo railway line connecting Sunchon and Manpo.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In the Sariwon sample, wheat and barley cultivation grew 24.1 hectares, or 27.0%, between this year and last. (Sentinel-2B and 2C)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Around Chongbang village in Sariwon (North Hwanghae province), cultivation expanded by 24.1 hectares (27%), from 89.3 hectares to 113.4 hectares.<\/p>\n

Regional Disparities and Farmer Concerns<\/h4>\n

While these three sample areas showed significant increases totaling 41.5 hectares (22.3%), conditions vary across the country. According to Radio Free Asia (RFA), wheat and barley farming in northern regions like Ryanggang province has suffered from cold weather damage and winter droughts.<\/p>\n

(Table) Spring Wheat and Barley Cultivation in N. Korea by Sample Analysis<\/em>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/h6>\n

Kim Jong Un emphasized wheat and barley farming in his September 2021 policy speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly, directing efforts toward improving seeds and doubling acreage. As a result, North Korea has rapidly replaced corn with wheat and barley in many fields. However, according to RFA, many North Koreans remain skeptical, complaining they are “planting barley and corn because the leader ordered it as he called for an ‘enlightened food culture,'” while doubting they will achieve higher yields than with traditional corn cultivation.<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since 2021, when Kim Jong Un ordered a shift in grain production to address food shortages, North Korea has been promoting wheat and barley cultivation over corn. Despite this being official policy from the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, farmers have shown little enthusiasm due to the manual labor required for seed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":50841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[123,271,710,767,794,924,1334,1405,1425,3236],"class_list":["post-63285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion","tag-farming","tag-ryanggang-province","tag-food-shortages","tag-food","tag-south-pyongan-province","tag-north-hwanghae-province","tag-manpo","tag-satellite-imagery","tag-satellite","tag-bruce-songhak-chung-columns"],"yoast_head":"\nSatellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.\" \/>\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\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1702\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bruce Songhak Chung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bruce Songhak Chung\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bruce Songhak Chung\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11\"},\"headline\":\"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim’s orders\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":593,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"farming\",\"Ryanggang province\",\"food shortages\",\"food\",\"south pyongan province\",\"north hwanghae province\",\"manpo\",\"satellite imagery\",\"satellite\",\"Bruce Songhak Chung Columns\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Analysis & Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/\",\"name\":\"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders - 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\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1702,\"caption\":\"FILE PHOTO: A farm in North Korea's Anbyon county. (Daily NK)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim’s orders\"}]},{\"@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\\\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11\",\"name\":\"Bruce Songhak Chung\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bruce Songhak Chung\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Bruce S. Chung previously worked for the Korea Forest Research Institute and the South Korean government\u2019s intelligence agency, and is currently the head of the Satellite Analysis Center at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy. Bruce received his Ph.D. in remote sensing and GIS from the University of Idaho in the United States. He can be reached at chungsh1024@naver.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/jungsonghak\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.","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\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders","og_description":"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1702,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bruce Songhak Chung","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Songhak Chung","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/"},"author":{"name":"Bruce Songhak Chung","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11"},"headline":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim’s orders","datePublished":"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/"},"wordCount":593,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg","keywords":["farming","Ryanggang province","food shortages","food","south pyongan province","north hwanghae province","manpo","satellite imagery","satellite","Bruce Songhak Chung Columns"],"articleSection":["Analysis & Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/","name":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim's orders - 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\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-12T01:16:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:16:46+00:00","description":"North Korea has increased wheat and barley cultivation by 22.3% across key agricultural regions following a 2021 directive by Kim Jong Un.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/03\/North_Korea-Anbyon_County-Chonsam_Cooperative_Farm-01-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1702,"caption":"FILE PHOTO: A farm in North Korea's Anbyon county. (Daily NK)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Satellites show North Korean wheat, barley cultivation up 22% under Kim’s orders"}]},{"@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\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11","name":"Bruce Songhak Chung","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","caption":"Bruce Songhak Chung"},"description":"Dr. Bruce S. Chung previously worked for the Korea Forest Research Institute and the South Korean government\u2019s intelligence agency, and is currently the head of the Satellite Analysis Center at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy. Bruce received his Ph.D. in remote sensing and GIS from the University of Idaho in the United States. He can be reached at chungsh1024@naver.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/jungsonghak\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63285","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\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63285"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63293,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63285\/revisions\/63293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}