A truck loaded with crates hauls produce past greenhouse tunnels and orchard rows at the Yonpho Greenhouse Farm. Rodong Sinmun reported July 6, 2026, that the farm’s vegetable output is helping improve the diet of Hamhung and South Hamgyong province people. (Image: Rodong Sinmun-News1) Hunger is driving teenagers in Kwail county, South Hwanghae province, to sneak into state orchards this summer. They pick peaches and plums to eat on the spot or carry home. Guards increasingly look the other way rather than punish them. A source in the province described the pattern to Daily NK recently, pointing to worsening hunger among North Korean children in 2026. Peaches and plums are now in season, the source said. In Kwail county, teenagers in groups of two or three have been slipping into orchards to eat fruit or take it home. “Orchard guards only shout to scare them off,” the source said. “They...

Pyongsong’s city center. (Bjørn Christian Tørrissen) North Korean authorities arrested two young men in Pyongsong, South Pyongan province, in 2026. Their crime was watching K-drama, the South Korean dramas widely popular among North Korean people, along with other videos the state brands as impure recordings. A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the Ministry of Social Security arrested the two young men late last month. They had been watching a South Korean television series that has recently drawn intense interest among young North Koreans. They were also watching a number of other banned recordings, the source said. According to the source, the two young men have been close friends since their school days. For several years, they secretly watched foreign videos together. In mid-June, they invited a third close friend to join them. They felt it was a shame to enjoy the material alone. The...

FILE PHOTO: Popular media players for watching foreign content in North Korea (left, notel; right, mp4 player). (Daily NK) Police in Pyongsong city, South Pyongan province, arrested two young North Korean men in June 2026. A friend who had watched banned South Korean dramas with them turned himself in first, overcome with guilt, a source told Daily NK. A source in South Pyongan province said on Wednesday that the Ministry of Social Security, North Korea’s police agency, arrested the two men at the end of last month. Officers accused them of secretly watching a stack of what North Korean authorities call “impure recorded material,” a term the state uses for foreign videos it deems politically corrupting. The stack included a South Korean drama that has recently exploded in popularity among young North Koreans. The two men had been close friends since their school days. They had secretly watched videos smuggled...

A train crosses the Yalu River between China and North Korea. Photo: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) North Korean authorities boast of the country’s rising international standing. But in 2026, a very different story is spreading among North Korean people in border areas. Private visit travelers returning from China say North Koreans in China are treated as poor. South Koreans, they say, are treated as wealthy. A source in North Hamgyong province spoke to Daily NK on Wednesday. The source said these accounts have recently spread by word of mouth among Hoeryong residents. Many people feel bitter about the stories, the source said. Chinese people treat South Koreans as wealthy, the accounts claim, but treat North Koreans as poor. The accounts trace back to private visit travelers who went to China before the COVID-19 pandemic. They could not return home once the border closed. Only recently...

A monument marking the China–North Korea–Russia tripoint at the Fangchuan National Scenic Area observation deck in China’s Jilin province. /Photo: Senkaku Islands (Wikimedia Commons) A North Korean trade official spent months preparing for a work assignment in Russia. Then, this month, he was disqualified at the final stage of his overseas dispatch screening after officials discovered a missing relative in his extended family. The case shows that family background, not professional skill, remains the decisive factor in North Korea’s dispatch process in 2026. A source inside North Korea told Daily NK that a trade official in his 50s from Pyongyang had been preparing for a Russia posting. Officials dropped him from consideration earlier this month after a final identity check turned up a missing relative, a nephew of one of his cousins on his mother’s side. North Korean authorities had classified the relative as haengbulja, a status they apply to...

Kim Yo Jong at the 2018 Singapore Summit. / Photo: The White House (Public Domain) North Korea’s foreign ministry held an urgent briefing for senior officials after the United States extended its national emergency declaration over North Korea for another year. A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Thursday that North Korea’s Cabinet-level foreign ministry summoned key officials to its headquarters on June 30. The session was an urgent briefing, organized in direct response to Washington’s decision to extend the national emergency, the source said. The U.S. order cites North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. The briefing drew on a wider range of international affairs material than previous sessions, the source said. Officials were reportedly handed down three party principles for external survival in response to the U.S. move. The first principle calls for fully institutionalizing a military alliance with Russia without compromise. The source said the party center...

A welcome performance at Pyongyang Gymnasium marks Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to North Korea on June 8, 2026. Rodong Sinmun-News1 North Korea has issued a new China directive to cabinet officials, ordering them to separate economic gains from ideological control even as Pyongyang seeks warmer ties with Beijing in 2026. A source in North Korea’s Kangwon province told Daily NK on Tuesday that the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea’s central leadership urgently sent the directive to the cabinet in late June. Party leaders want to prevent an erosion of ideological discipline, the source said. At the same time, they want to seize on the ostensibly warmer China-North Korea relationship following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pyongyang and maximize economic gains. The directive appears to reflect a calculated strategy. North Korea wants to publicly showcase closeness with China. Behind the scenes, though, it continues a delicate balancing act...

A shock absorber is fitted to the rear wheel of an electric bicycle used in North Korea to handle heavier loads. /Photo: Daily NK North Korea is ordering custom electric bicycles from Chinese manufacturers and importing the finished products to meet rising domestic demand. At the same time, it appears to be laying the groundwork for a domestic e-bike brand, a source said. A source who monitors North Korea told Daily NK on Wednesday that North Korea has recently expanded cooperation with Chinese electric bicycle producers. Authorized agencies are ordering custom-made e-bikes and importing them to boost supply, the source said. “Outside observers often assume North Korea simply imports Chinese-made electric bicycles as is, but that is not the case,” the source said. Agencies authorized by North Korea’s Ministry of External Economic Relations sign contracts directly with Chinese companies. They order products built to North Korea’s own specifications. The source...

Employees at North Korea’s Central Industrial Art Bureau sing songs expressing devotion to the leader, July 8, 2025. Rodong Sinmun-News1 North Korean authorities are reviving an old loyalty song to teach young people that happiness comes only from following Kim Jong Un. Officials are stepping up ideological crackdowns and loyalty education among young people. They consider the group especially vulnerable to outside cultural influence, sources say. A source in North Korea’s South Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Tuesday that Youth League branches across Hamhung began a coordinated campaign on July 9. The campaign spanned factories and enterprises citywide. The campaign centers on the song “I Think.” The order came from the Hamhung city committee of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League. The league is the state youth organization responsible for ideological education of North Koreans in their teens and twenties. The song campaign formed part of broader ideological education aimed...

A barbershop at the Munsu Water Park in Pyongyang (Uri Tours, Creative Commons, Flickr) North Korean beauty salons and sauna houses are increasingly rebranding themselves as premium service providers in 2026, bundling haircuts, massages, skin care treatments and laser procedures into package deals and introducing membership programs to draw well-heeled customers. A Daily NK source in South Hamgyong province said state-run beauty salons and sauna houses in Hamhung, facilities historically limited to basic haircuts and baths, have introduced a series of upscale treatments in recent months as they compete for customers. Beyond providing services tied to their original purposes, such as grooming and bathing, these facilities are now offering package deals that combine multiple treatments, along with prepaid membership options, marking an apparent shift in how they do business. Salons once focused on haircuts and styling are expanding their facilities to offer skin care, facial massages and laser treatments, while...