FILE PHOTO: A clip from a North Korean video showing a public struggle session obtained by Daily NK in March 2023. (Daily NK) North Korea’s University of Technology of Songrim conducted a campus-wide review last month of violations against the country’s anti-reactionary thought law, Daily NK has learned. “Late last month, all students and staff were summoned to the university’s assembly hall,” a source in North Hwanghae province told Daily NK recently. “The review examined every ‘anti-socialist and non-socialist’ incident that occurred on campus during the past year.” Officials from the city’s unified command on non-socialist behavior attended the session, creating a tense atmosphere as they detailed 2024’s violations and subsequent punishments. Among the cases highlighted was a professor caught possessing illegal USBs and SD cards. Despite containing few files and the professor claiming mere curiosity, the offense resulted in dismissal and six months of forced labor – officials emphasized...

FILE PHOTO: A border patrol checkpoint in Pungso county, Ryanggang province, can be seen in this photo, which was taken in February 2019. (Daily NK) In North Korea’s North Hamgyong province, a wave of arrests by state security agents has residents living in constant fear, with many wondering not if, but when they’ll be targeted in what locals describe as a campaign of terror. According to a source who spoke with Daily NK on Jan. 17, residents in the Chinese border areas of Hoeryong, Musan county, and Onsong county learned in early December that 30 Ministry of State Security inspectors had been deployed to their region. The news came through workplace announcements and neighborhood watch units. The campaign’s intensity became clear on Jan. 4, when six ministry inspectors stormed the home of a woman in her twenties around 11 p.m. After searching her residence, they handcuffed her and dragged her...

A rice field in North Korea (Wikimedia Commons) Officials at North Korea’s Ministry of Food Procurement and Administration gathered recently for a study session focusing on corruption between ministry officials and collective farm managers. A Pyongyang source told Daily NK on Wednesday that “high-ranking officials at section chief level and above attended a study session Dec. 28 in the Cabinet building’s main auditorium. The session tackled corruption in the grain procurement process.” The session detailed irregularities in grain procurement and resulting statistical manipulation, issuing stern warnings to officials accepting bribes. Several cases were highlighted where farms submitted false reports after failing to meet state quotas, with the blame falling on “unscrupulous and irresponsible” ministry officials assigned to these farms. The source revealed that ministry officials had collaborated with local managers to manipulate statistics and omit requisitioned grain, creating discrepancies between reported procurement totals and actual grain deliveries to state granaries....

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Dec. 29 that the politburo of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) convened on Dec. 27 for its 24th session, which lasted for two days. The politburo’s meeting, which was held immediately after the Central Committee’s plenary session began on Dec. 23, reviewed items consolidated from research groups and deliberative bodies in various subcommittees and revised and supplemented their draft decisions before submitting them to the plenary session, the newspaper reported. (Rodong Sinmun, News 1) North Korean authorities have mandated nationwide study sessions on the outcomes of December’s 11th Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee, requiring workers to memorize the content – a policy that’s drawing increasing complaints of exhaustion. “Regional party committees have ordered all party members and workers to study the plenary meeting decisions,” a Daily NK source in North Pyongan province reported recently. “Everyone must...

A view of the North Korean city of Sinuiju, in North Pyongan province, as seen from Dandong, Liaoning province, China. (Photo provided by Lee Seung-ju, a profiler with Transitional Justice Working Group) North Korea’s Ministry of Social Security has ordered local police boxes nationwide to intensify “mass educational activities,” a move that signals tighter surveillance of public ideological attitudes, according to sources. A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province reported that Sinuiju police boxes received directives early this month to implement enhanced public education programs. Police boxes, which form the lowest tier of North Korea’s public security system, monitor households in their jurisdictions and track resident movements. The order notably included instructions about “going into the masses to bring even just one person into the party’s fold” – language that suggests growing official concern about ideological discipline. According to the source, this reflects regime anxiety about public disaffection and...

Screenshot from a video produced in North Korea in 2022 showing a public struggle session of those caught violating the country’s “anti-reactionary thought law.” (©Daily NK) Daily NK has released a comprehensive report examining how North Korea’s “Anti-Reactionary Thought Law” is severely restricting citizens’ basic rights and daily lives. The report, titled “Suppresssing Foreign Influence: The Impact of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Law on North Korean society,” provides an in-depth analysis of the law’s implementation and its effects on the North Korean population. The findings reveal that since the law’s enactment, North Korean authorities have expanded both enforcement agencies and their jurisdiction, extending control into citizens’ everyday activities. The report highlights that most citizens have received no formal education about the law’s provisions or their rights, instead being subjected to state-driven ideological instruction that has instilled a deep-seated fear of punishment. Implementation of the law has been marked...

FILE PHOTO: North Korean currency. (Daily NK) Amid persistent rumors of currency redenomination, North Koreans are increasingly shunning the domestic won in favor of foreign currencies. This growing distrust is accelerating the economy’s dependence on foreign money. “Rumors about currency redenomination that began last year continue to spread, and more North Koreans are refusing to hold the domestic currency,” a source in South Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Thursday. At marketplaces and shops, customers are noticeably avoiding the won. U.S. dollars and Chinese yuan now dominate transactions, with won-based exchanges becoming increasingly rare. While merchants have long preferred foreign currency due to mistrust in the won, this preference has now reached unprecedented levels. A veteran vendor in her 50s, who has operated in Hamhung for over two decades, described the situation as unprecedented. “Dollars were always common here, but now the yuan is everywhere too. Vendors resist accepting won,...

A source in the province told Daily NK on Thursday that cities and counties throughout the region have seen a surge in officials’ wives joining road maintenance crews. “You now see well-off women walking through parks, hospitals, and train stations wearing road maintenance armbands. Most are married to officials from municipal and county party committees or people’s committees,” the source said. The move comes as members of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea face increasingly demanding work assignments. The union has been mobilizing members for factory construction, tideland reclamation, and river embankment projects. Additionally, members are being pressured to “volunteer” for “shock troops” dispatched to some of the country’s most challenging regions. Union propaganda describes these shock troops as “powerful units driving socialist development and progress” that must provide labor in demanding areas. Some women are trying to leave the union entirely to avoid these assignments, including officials’ wives seeking...

A panorama of Hyesan taken in 2013. (Wikimedia Commons) Cargo-laden trucks have begun crossing through customs in Hyesan, marking a significant shift from last year’s empty traffic. This development has sparked optimism among North Korean traders about expanding bilateral trade. “Since early January, trucks carrying minerals and seafood have been passing through Hyesan customs into China,” a source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Wednesday. This represents the first export activity since North Korea sealed its borders in January 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Chinese goods began entering North Korea through Hyesan customs in late 2023, North Korean exports only resumed this month. The cargo primarily consists of coal, molybdenum, mackerel, and sturgeon. Trucks are also queuing at the unofficial customs office used for “state-sponsored smuggling.” The resumption of exports has raised hopes among both traders and shipping workers. “The return of cross-border trucking means former drivers...

A view of the venue of a central report meeting commemorating the 100th birthday of Kang Kon. (Rodong Sinmun) The sudden death of a high-ranking military commander is an event that inevitably captures the attention of both contemporaries and historians. Recently, the world learned of Ukraine’s successful killing of Russian Lieutenant-General Igor Kirillov. For those with an interest in World War II, similar high-profile assassinations come to mind, such as the killing of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi German Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, or the plane crash that claimed the life of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. During the Korean War (1950–1953), similar incidents occurred as well, but one notable event failed to attract nearly as much attention as one would expect: the sudden death of Kang Kon (1918–1950), North Korea’s first Chief of Staff, on Sept. 8, 1950. At the time of his death, Kang was the sixth most...