Tag: Daily NK: North Korea

North Korean women turn to subtle manicures to evade beauty crackdowns

Young North Korean women are increasingly turning to light-colored nail polish as a form of “modest adornment” that allows them to express individuality while...

Self-reliance campaign forces vendors away from markets during crucial winter selling season

As business slows to a trickle at North Korea’s informal marketplaces, North Koreans are complaining about being constantly called up for mandatory community service...

Hongxiang Group executives return to Pyongyang years after U.S. froze assets for sanctions violations

Representatives from Chinese companies that previously dealt with North Korea recently visited the country, including a company that was sanctioned for providing supplies for...

Economic desperation drives surge of North Korean women into hazardous mining work

Several North Koreans who had resorted to gold mining as a last resort in the face of economic difficulties recently died when mines collapsed,...

Smuggling crackdown leaves hungry border guards stealing from farms instead of taking bribes

Soldiers of the 25th Brigade of North Korea’s border guard based in Ryanggang province have gone on a rampage of crop theft this harvest...

N. Korea’s criminal justice reform: Control under cover

North Korea recently scrapped its system of preliminary examinations—a legal procedure the country maintained for roughly 70 years since the regime’s founding. This change...

N. Korean farmers stand guard day and night as thieves target private plots

Exhausted farmers in Sakju county, North Pyongan province, are watching their fields around the clock after repeated thefts from family plots, working late into...

North Korean rice prices drop nearly 30% in two weeks amid harvest season

Rice prices are plunging at North Korean marketplaces as demand falls with this year’s corn harvest and imported grains reaching markets, even as exchange...

Satellite imagery reveals unauthorized expansion of South Korean bus operations in North Korea

North Korea has continued using South Korean buses from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in an unauthorized fashion even after the complex was closed, and...

Pyongyang’s mining recruitment crisis: Free housing can’t keep workers from fleeing

North Korea is forcing discharged soldiers and young people to fill gaps at the country’s mines, offering housing, matchmaking services and material assistance to...

When North Korea’s police fail, an underground believer steps in to help

A mysterious act of kindness toward two stranded market vendors in South Hwanghae province has sparked widespread speculation about underground Christian believers after the...

Kim Jong Un orders ideological crackdown on citizens hoping for outside help

North Korea has begun activities to once again imprint the regime’s policy of “self-reliance,” ordering security and administrative agencies at all levels to reinforce...

Central Committee bypasses company presidents to install handpicked managers in Russian operations

North Korea has replaced ten mid-level officials at two construction companies operating in Nakhodka, a city in Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East....

Pyongyang enacts sweeping transportation controls that violate international human rights standards

Daily NK has reviewed the full text of North Korea’s Railroad Passenger Transportation Act, which was enacted in May. The law prohibits North Koreans...

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