North Korea

North Korea resumes rail trade with China, imports badly needed food and medicine

North Korea resumes rail trade with China, imports badly needed food and medicine

Rail freight resumed on Monday after COVID restrictions stopped trade for five months.

Deaths continue a month after North Korea declared ‘victory’ over COVID

Deaths continue a month after North Korea declared ‘victory’ over COVID

Cases are unofficially confirmed using self-test kits, but patients are starving during long quarantines at home.

North Korea inspects air-raid shelters as tensions rise with US

North Korea inspects air-raid shelters as tensions rise with US

Officials want to ensure readiness, but bribes mean shoddy shelters can still pass inspection.

North Korea rolls out new software to keep tabs on its officials in China

North Korea rolls out new software to keep tabs on its officials in China

‘Secure Shield’ and ‘Hangro’ allow the government back home to monitor calls and restrict access to the internet.

North Korea restricts citizens’ movements to prevent spread of ‘seasonal flu’

Residents say the measure is meant to prevent further transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

North Korea installs more complaint boxes to tackle corruption

North Korea installs more complaint boxes to tackle corruption

Critics say the campaign to make reporting easier is unlikely to stop abuses.

People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, in Seoul, South Korea, September 25, 2022.

North Korea missile tests fail to impress its struggling citizens

2022-09-30

North Koreans ‘gave up their interest in this topic long ago,’ one source told RFA.

Army medics involved medicine distribution work amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Pyongyang, North Korea, May 22, 2022.

North Korea tells officials that 350,000 people died of diseases this year

2022-09-29

Many of the deaths are likely related to COVID-19, sowing doubt about officially reported figures.

Special report

Kim Jong Un firmly in control of North Korea after 10 years despite economic record

Kim Jong Un firmly in control of North Korea after 10 years despite economic record

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North Korea creates, smears refugees

North Korea creates, smears refugees

Special report

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North Korean women find their place in the "Atlas of Beauty"

Kim Jong Un’s reference to COVID vaccine draws wide interest in North Korea

Kim Jong Un’s reference to COVID vaccine draws wide interest in North Korea

Authorities have yet to say when a nationwide inoculation campaign would start.

A locomotive pulls two freight cars on the Friendship Bridge over the Yalu River, which connects the Chinese city of Dandong with Sinuiju in North Korea, Jan. 8, 2010.

North Korea eager to restart rail trade with China, Russia

Reopening the rails would be a boost to the economy, but Beijing and Moscow have final say.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks away from what state media reports as a "new type" of intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released on March 24, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim has vowed never to give up nuclear weapons.

North Korea forces citizens to attend lectures about new nuclear force law

North Korean soldiers sing a song as they exit the Jonsyng Revolutionary Museum in Pyongyang in this file photo.

North Korea cracks down on soldiers singing and joking like ‘South Koreans’

During the much-publicized COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea earlier this year, workers wearing protective face masks carry vegetables to a shop for distribution to households in Pyongyang, North Korea, May 16, 2022.

North Korea reinstates mask mandate one month after declaring victory over COVID

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Turning to folk remedies

Turning to folk remedies

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