Kim Jong Un inspects service facilities in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district Phase 4 development zone ahead of their opening, as reported by the Rodong Sinmun on Apr. 3, 2026. /Photo: Rodong Sinmun-News1 North Korean authorities launched a large-scale car exhibition in Pyongyang in June 2026 while simultaneously ordering the Ministry of Social Security to covertly investigate the financial backgrounds of prospective buyers. A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Friday that a directive issued in mid-June instructed the Ministry of Social Security to provide full cooperation and conduct thorough follow-up organizational work in connection with a major vehicle exhibition and sale being led by two trade companies: one under the Cabinet’s Ministry of External Economic Affairs and one under the National Intelligence Agency. The National Intelligence Agency, formerly known as the Ministry of State Security, is North Korea’s primary internal security and counterintelligence organ, and maintains a network of trade...

Chinese and North Korean flags near the Tumen River in North Hamgyong province, February 2019. / Photo: Daily NK Tightened border controls along North Korea’s frontier with China have effectively shut down the mushroom smuggling trade in Ryanggang province in 2026, cutting off a seasonal source of cash income that local people had relied on for years. A source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Monday that in previous years, people would begin climbing the mountains from mid-June to gather mushrooms and pass them to China through middlemen, but this year the trade has come to a complete halt as border enforcement has intensified. According to the source, people living in Hyesan and nearby border towns and counties had made it a yearly tradition to collect wild mushrooms each June and sell them to smugglers or middlemen connected to buyers on the Chinese side, converting the harvest into ready...

A group of North Korean students in Pyongyang. (fresh888, Flickr, Creative Commons) A high school student in Hamhung city, South Hamgyong province, was subjected to a public criticism session in June 2026 after inviting classmates home for a birthday party, with the student’s homeroom teacher and parents also called in for reprimand. School authorities characterized the gathering as an act of “decadent behavior” incompatible with a socialist way of life. A source in South Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Friday that the student, enrolled at a senior middle school (the equivalent of a high school) in Hamhung, had invited most of the class home for a birthday dinner on June 13, with only an absent classmate excluded. The student and guests ate together, and with a speaker amplifier turned on, spent several hours singing and dancing. The gathering came to the attention of the school and the local neighborhood...

Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping hold summit talks in Pyongyang on June 8, 2026, in a photo published by the Rodong Sinmun the following day. Rodong Sinmun-News1 North Korea is preparing to host a delegation of Chinese business investors in August 2026, ordering major production facilities across the country to clean up their sites and present a picture of normal operations ahead of the visit. A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK on Thursday that relevant divisions under North Korea’s Ministry of External Economic Affairs — the cabinet-level body responsible for managing the country’s foreign trade and investment relationships — had instructed key production units to carry out site renovation and facility improvements in preparation for an on-site survey by a Chinese business investment delegation scheduled for August. The instructions specifically directed facilities to be thoroughly prepared so that Chinese entrepreneurs visiting the sites would see production...

A combine harvester works a wheat field in a photo published by the Rodong Sinmun on June 12, 2026. Rodong Sinmun-News1 Grain prices in North Korean markets fell slightly in the third week of June 2026 after hitting all-time highs earlier in the month, as early harvests of potatoes, wheat, and barley began to come in — but limited market supply of those crops is keeping the price decline modest, Daily NK’s regular market price survey has found. According to the survey, the price of one kilogram of rice at a Pyongyang market stood at 38,200 North Korean won as of June 21, down 0.8% from 38,500 won two weeks earlier on June 7. Rice prices at markets in Sinuiju, North Pyongan province, and Hyesan, Ryanggang province, were 38,100 won and 38,400 won per kilogram respectively on the same date, each down roughly 1% to 1.3% from the prior survey....

High-resolution satellite imagery of three transmission tower sites in North Korea — located in Gujang county, North Pyongan province; Namsan, Kaesong city; and Anak county, South Hwanghae province — reveals facilities operating in carefully calculated configurations tailored to their terrain and antenna structures. Shadow-length analysis, cross-referenced against solar elevation at the time of imaging and local topographic conditions, puts the towers at an estimated 50 to 80 meters in height, a scale consistent with infrastructure capable of broadcasting signals across wide areas. Taken together, the three sites appear to form part of the core infrastructure sustaining North Korea’s broadcast and communications network. Assessed against their structural characteristics and site positioning, the towers function as key nodes in North Korea’s broadcasting and communications system. The Anak county facility in particular bears structural similarities to antennas commonly used for medium-wave broadcasting. The large lattice towers at Gujang county and Kaesong are likewise...

Kim Ju Ae operates a new-model tank during a combined infantry and tank unit tactical exercise at Pyongyang’s 60th Training Base on March 19, 2026, as Kim Jong Un and military officers watch from above. Photo: Rodong Sinmun/News1 A gun barrel ruptured during rapid-fire testing of a new North Korean anti-aircraft gun at a firing range in Chongjin in mid-June 2026, seriously injuring two military officers. Insiders are questioning whether the accident was linked to a rushed development and deployment schedule. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Thursday that the test was conducted jointly by the anti-aircraft artillery testing division of the Academy of Defense Sciences, the artillery weapons inspection division under the Second Economic Committee, and operations staff from the Ninth Corps. The test was organized to conduct a final verification of the new gun’s rapid-fire capability and barrel reliability ahead of operational deployment. The...

A shock absorber is fitted to the rear wheel of an electric bicycle used in North Korea to handle heavier loads. /Photo: Daily NK Imports of Chinese-made electric bicycles and motorcycles are rising at border crossings in North Korea in 2026, driven by surging fuel prices that have made gas-powered vehicles increasingly costly to run. Demand has grown to the point that even wealthy North Koreans who previously considered electric bikes beneath them are now buying them. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Thursday that a range of electric bicycles and motorcycles had recently been imported from China through the Hoeryong city customs point and were being wholesaled to other parts of the country. Demand for both types of vehicle in Hoeryong and Chongjin had grown so sharply that traders who had not previously dealt in these products were entering the import business, intensifying competition. Profit...

A panoramic view of Chilbo Mountain in North Hamgyong province. Rodong Sinmun North Korean authorities are pushing organized domestic tourism ahead of summer 2026, but ordinary North Korean people facing economic hardship are responding with near-total indifference, saying survival takes priority over sightseeing. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Thursday that the North Hamgyong province party committee issued instructions on June 17 to party committees at major institutions and enterprises across the province, directing them to actively encourage employees to use local tourist sites. Party committees at those institutions have since been working through their affiliated General Federation of Trade Unions and Socialist Patriotic Youth League chapters to organize group tours to a selection of the province’s leading attractions, including Chilbo Mountain, Kyongsong hot springs, and Yombunjin beach, and to encourage participation. The source said the authorities’ underlying aim is to channel spending into domestic tourism...

Visitors enjoy a speedboat excursion at the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone in a photo published by the Rodong Sinmun on July 24, 2025. Rodong Sinmun-News1 Interest in North Korea’s Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone is rising sharply ahead of the summer season in 2026, with word-of-mouth praise from visitors spreading across the country — but steep costs are keeping the resort firmly out of reach for most North Korean people. A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that a noticeably growing number of people in Sinuiju have been making plans to visit the zone or asking around about the cost of staying there. Heavy state promotion of the resort, combined with positive accounts from those who visited during trial operations and incentive tourism programs last year, have helped build the sense that the Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone is somewhere every North Korean wants to see...