North Korea has arrested two people in Wonsan, a city in Kangwon province, in mid-July 2026. Investigators say the pair used a “smishing” scheme, sending malware-laden text messages, to steal money from donju, the country’s wealthy market entrepreneurs. A Daily NK source in Kangwon province said recently that the two had brazenly exploited the fact that contactless mobile payments and money transfers have become the norm, the source said. The pair carried out a sophisticated information-technology crime, disrupting the Jonsong electronic payment system and telecommunications networks to steal users’ funds. The two arrested are reportedly gifted students who majored in information technology at Pyongyang’s Central University. The state later trained them as IT specialists for a government institution. Their method was revealed during the investigation. The pair first posed as the central bank or a senior inspection agency. They sent mass fake text messages to donju, the wealthy entrepreneurs who...

South Pyongan province’s Sunchon chemical industrial complex is a sprawling hub as it was built up over the past decade on the site of a former vinylon plant. Satellite imagery I analyzed in 2026 shows signs of dual-use infrastructure there that could support chemical weapons production. Using high-resolution WorldView-3 satellite imagery, I identified the complex’s main facilities stretching along the Taedong River. They run from the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory in the west to the Sunchon Pharmaceutical Factory and Sunchon Chemical Complex in the east. The Sunchon C1 Chemical Plant sits in the southeast. The facilities are close together and linked by road and rail, which lets raw materials and intermediate goods move easily between them. The imagery shows ore piles and smokestack emissions at the phosphatic fertilizer factory’s storage yard. Core infrastructure has been built that includes gas scrubbers and cooling towers at the chemical complex and a methanol...

North Korea-China border warning sign in 2010. (Flickr, Creative Commons) North Korean authorities have sharply intensified crackdowns on illegal money transfers made using Chinese mobile phones. Remittance brokers near the country’s border say their fees have climbed as a result, jumping from about 40% to more than 50% in 2026. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Thursday that remittance fees in border areas including Hoeryong have topped 50% in recent months. Crackdowns by the state security department have intensified, the source said, adding that penalties have grown harsher too. Brokers are folding that added risk into their fees. Remittance brokers make money by using Chinese mobile phones to contact people outside North Korea. They deliver funds sent by those contacts to the North Korean relatives of defectors, and typically charged a 40% cut of the money transferred. Fees were closer to 30% before the COVID-19 pandemic,...

North Korea’s capital has grown noticeably brighter at night over the past six years, but the added light is concentrated almost entirely downtown. Most of the city’s outskirts remain steeped in darkness. I compared monthly average nighttime light satellite imagery captured between April 2020 and April 2026. The data come from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), an instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite, which is jointly operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The satellite photographs the Earth at roughly the same time each night, around 1:30 a.m. I used monthly averages rather than single-night images to reduce distortion from clouds, moonlight and other atmospheric conditions. The timeframe covers North Korea’s 50,000-home construction project in Pyongyang. Leader Kim Jong Un announced the plan at the Eighth Party Congress in 2021, which called for 10,000 new homes a year in...

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, reported on October 14, 2025, that workers at Ipsok Farm in Mundok county had moved into new homes. (Photo: Rodong Sinmun-News1) Rising food prices and exchange rates in North Korea are sharply eroding the purchasing power of vulnerable households. Prices have climbed sharply, but incomes have not kept pace. For many families, a single earner’s income is no longer enough to survive. A Daily NK source in South Pyongan province said Tuesday that many households are struggling. The hardship spans Pyongsong, Anju and Sunchon. “In the past, one person earning money in a household was enough to sustain a livelihood,” the source said. “Now that’s nearly impossible.” Prices for food and daily necessities have risen sharply, the source said, while incomes have only inched up. That has widened the gap between earnings and expenses. As a result, having two...

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, reported on June 13, 2023, that “capabilities and means must be concentrated to complete weeding on time and with quality.” The photo shows Jangkyo Farm in Kangnam county, Pyongyang. Photo: Rodong Sinmun-News1 Farm workers in North Korea are voicing complaints after getting caught between two contradictory directives amid record heat. One directive calls for preventing crop damage. The other calls for preventing heatstroke cases. A Daily NK source in South Hwanghae province said Wednesday that authorities issued a high-temperature advisory on July 29. The advisory covered most areas south of the central region, and directives soon followed for the agriculture sector. Farm workers have been pouring out complaints about instructions that contradict each other, the source said. The heat-related directives for agriculture focus on minimizing damage to farmland and paddy-fish farms, key bases for food production, according to...

FILE PHOTO: North Korean women at the customs office in Dandong in mid-February 2019. (Daily NK) North Korea has expanded mandatory HIV testing beyond travelers entering and leaving the country. The policy now covers hotel, restaurant and department store workers who may come into contact with foreigners. It is drawing growing complaints in 2026 over its cost and the social stigma it carries. A Daily NK source in Pyongyang said Monday that North Korea has required quarterly HIV tests since last year. The tests apply to service-sector workers who interact with foreigners entering the country for trade, business, family visits or tourism. The testing covers hotel, restaurant and department store employees in the provinces as well as Pyongyang, the source said. Workers must undergo the tests regularly and pay for them out of pocket each time. “Workers have to pay $1 each time they’re tested,” the source said. “Getting a...

Children play in the Yalu River along the border in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, North Korea. Photographed in August 2013. /Image: Daily NK North Korean people struggling to make a living amid record heat are facing a double and triple crisis. Some collapse from heat illness while working outdoors; others run into robbers while moving at dawn or at night to avoid the heat. With no emergency medical system and public safety breaking down, their lives are at serious risk. A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province said Tuesday that people in Yomju and Ryongchon counties travel between the city and the countryside to sell vegetables, seasonal fruit and corn. Many have repeatedly collapsed in the street after exposure to the midday heat. “People who live hand to mouth have no choice but to go outside despite the heat,” the source said. “Their livelihood is cut off the moment they...

FILE PHOTO: The North Korean smartphone, Pyongyang 2425. (Daily NK) North Korean authorities caught a university student in Hamhung, South Hamgyong province, this July for using illicit software that opens access to unauthorized foreign electronic materials. Demand for outside information is growing beyond simple entertainment, driven by North Koreans seeking research and technical knowledge unavailable through state channels. The software, known as the Ryongaksan Program (named for Ryongaksan, a mountain in Pyongyang), has spread rapidly across North Korea in 2026. Authorities have launched an investigation into the program’s sellers and distribution network. A Daily NK source in South Hamgyong province said Monday that judicial authorities caught the 21-year-old student in mid-July. He had installed the Ryongaksan Program on his mobile phone in Hamhung. The investigation found he bought the program in Pyongyang for $30. Authorities are now tracking down the seller and the distribution route, the source said. Judicial authorities...

The Chinese Embassy in North Korea said it held a banquet on July 28 marking the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Wang Yajun, China’s ambassador to North Korea, and No Kwang Chol, North Korea’s minister of national defense, were among those who attended. / Photo: Screen capture from the Chinese Embassy in North Korea’s website The Chinese Embassy in North Korea held a banquet on July 28, 2026. The event marked the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. North Korean military officials, including Minister of National Defense No Kwang Chol, turned out in large numbers to showcase friendly ties between the two countries. North Korea has since reportedly conducted political study sessions for party and administrative officials, stressing the countries’ “blood alliance.” A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Tuesday that a large-scale lecture series followed immediately...