North Korea

North Korean Leader’s Sister Seen as Erratic and Arrogant at Home, Officials Say

“It seems that she doesn’t know when to hold her tongue, and she also lacks humility,” said a Ryanggang province official.

North Koreans visit familial gravesites to observe Chuseok, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this file photo.

North Korean Food Shortages Hobble Autumn Holiday Rituals and Feasts

2021-09-21

High food prices make it impossible to observe Chuseok, an important holiday in Korean culture.

Two men rest outside an apartment building in the outskirts of Rason city in North Korea in this file photo.

North Koreans Resentful of Missile Launches Amid Hunger and Poverty

2021-09-17

Citizens are also criticizing frivolous military parades when soldiers are not properly fed.

People watch a TV broadcasting file footage of a news report on North Korea firing what appeared to be a pair of ballistic missiles off its east coast, in Seoul, South Korea, September 15, 2021.

North Korea Tests First Ballistic Missiles Since March

2021-09-15

The tests occurred during a South Korean weapons test, a Chinese diplomatic visit to South Korea, and a denuclearization strategy meeting in Tokyo.

A man uses his phone as he sits along the Taedong river in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 12, 2018

North Korean Cops Go Undercover as Phone Brokers to Entrap Refugees’ Families

2021-09-14

Authorities threaten to send families to prison camps if a member contacts relatives overseas.

The Academy of National Defense Science conducts long-range cruise missile tests in North Korea, as pictured in this combination of undated photos supplied by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 13, 2021.

North Korea Tests First Cruise Missiles Capable of Hitting Japan

2021-09-13

The new missiles could deliver a nuclear payload if Pyongyang can make smaller warheads, experts say.

At the Okryu-gwan restaurant in Pyongyang, famous for its naengmyeon noodles, a waitress serves a customer while wearing traditional Korean clothing in this file photo.

North Korean Restaurants Abandon Price Controls Amid Food Shortages

2021-09-09

Pyongyang’s Okryu-gwan restaurant can no longer carry out its state-sponsored mission to serve naengmyeon noodles to the masses.

In a file photo, a North Korean man rests near a farm field along a highway outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea.

Amid Food Shortage, North Korea Orders Army to Shoot Crop Thieves on Sight

2021-09-08

An unprecedented medicine burglary from wartime stocks has shocked officials.

North Korean cabbage farmers mix fertilizer in this file photo.

North Korea Orders Factories and Firms to Provide Farm Equipment for Harvest

2021-09-07

New burdens fall on companies that are struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A health worker holds a syringe and a vial of the Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at a market in Bangkok, Thailand, March 17, 2021.

Domestic Politics Could be Behind North Korea’s Rejection of Sinovac Jabs, Experts say

2021-09-03

Experts say the country is a ticking time bomb without mass inoculation.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves as he attends a photo session with participants during Youth Day celebrations, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this image supplied by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on August 31, 2021.

North Korea Investigates Youth Who Avoid Hard Labor Mobilization Drives

2021-09-02

Hundreds of young people are forced to “volunteer” for work in coal mines and farms.

Children wait with their families next to a bus stop in central Pyongyang, North Korea, September 10, 2018.

Two North Korean Children Kidnapped by Desperate, Hungry Citizens

2021-08-31

Tough times drive citizens to try to get ransom money from well-off families.

A satellite image shows the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea in a file photo.

Report on North Korea’s Yongbyon Prompts Calls by US, South Korea For Restart of Denuclearization Talks

2021-08-30

The report by the UN’s atomic energy agency 'underscores the urgent need for dialogue and diplomacy,’' the White House says.

North Koreans read reports about the country's leader Kim Jong Un's arrival in Vietnam for his second summit with the U.S. President Donald Trump by using a smartphone in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo February 27, 2019.

North Korean Phone Brokers Take Huge Risk to Resume Remittances

2021-08-30

The government crackdown is as intense as ever, but people are becoming desperate, including the brokers themselves.

View more items >>

Captive in North Korea: The Story of the USS Pueblo

A Timeline of Xi-Kim Summit Meetings

Not Everybody Wins

In-Depth Coverage

E-Book

Download from iTunes

Download from Google Play