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Taiwan opens representative office in Phoenix

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung attended the launch of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Phoenix, Arizona, Oct. 5.   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs...

Interview: How bribery holds North Korea’s market economy together

A few years ago, two researchers – Dr. Andrew Yeo (Brookings Institution) and Dr....

MOFA welcomes Japan’s Kumamoto Gov. Kimura

The Oct. 6 visit by Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura and Prefectural Assembly Chair Koki...

South Korean-style natural makeup catches on among young North Koreans

Young North Koreans in cities such as Chongjin are embracing a subtle, natural South...

North Korean remittance brokers shut down for SPA election

North Korean remittance brokers suspended operations in border cities ahead of the March 15 Supreme People’s Assembly election, shifting instead to public participation in...

Ninth Party Congress purge signals sweeping overhaul of provincial party officials

The sweeping personnel overhaul launched at the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) is now pushing into the provinces. The North...

North Korea tourism hopes rise as Beijing-Pyongyang train resumes

North Korea-China passenger train service resumed last week for the first time in more than six years, raising hopes among Chinese travel operators of...

Smuggling resumes at Hyesan as North Korea-China trade signals point to broader thaw

State-sanctioned smuggling along the border in Hyesan, Ryanggang province has resumed after a roughly three-month suspension, bringing relief to traders whose goods had been...

North Koreans unimpressed by missile tests as prices soar

North Koreans expressed frustration this week over a series of missile test launches carried out amid soaring food prices, with many people saying the...

Satellite analysis: North Korea’s 5,000-ton destroyer fleet in construction but short on combat readiness

North Korea began building and publicly unveiling its 5,000-ton destroyers starting in 2025. Recent satellite imagery suggests the vessels are not yet fully operational...

North Korea’s beauty boom: Slim figures and wrinkle-free skin

Well-off North Korean women are taking a greater interest in their physical appearance. There are generational differences in this beauty trend, with young women...

North Korea’s electricity shortage threatens five-year plan targets

North Korean companies have struggled to maintain production since the start of the year due to a severe electricity shortage that officials say is...

In North Korea’s Hyesan, men’s new income is tearing families apart

North Korean women in Hyesan who used their market savings to buy vehicles for their husbands are now divorcing them after the men spent...

Orders return to North Korea’s contract manufacturing sector, but earnings lag

North Korea’s contract manufacturing sector, known as imga-gong (processing-on-commission work), is showing tentative signs of recovery in 2026 after years of near-total collapse following...

North Korea orders 400 housing units built in North Hamgyong in a single month

North Korea is pushing a sweeping housing construction drive across the country under the banner of “regional development,” and central party officials traveled to...

North Korea schools lean on prominent parents as renovation costs mount

North Korean schools in South Pyongan province are pressing parents to fund building repairs and purchase educational materials during March, which authorities have dubbed...

Is Kim Jong Un about to become DPRK president?

North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly convenes March 22 to elect state leadership and revise the constitution. With Kim Jong Un freshly re-elected as Workers’...

North Korean youth stands his ground after arrest for listening to South Korean music

When a Ministry of State Security agent stopped a young man in a Hyesan alley in mid-February 2026 and demanded to know why he...

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