Updates

North Korean teen defies mother to join army

A widowed mother in Tanchon, South Hamgyong province, has begged her son’s school to keep him off North Korea’s 2026 conscription rolls. The teenager, however, is refusing his military...

North Korea screens young single women for factory jobs in China

North Korea has begun final screening of unmarried female workers in their 20s bound...

Smuggling ban drives North Korean units to cheap Chinese work

North Korea’s foreign currency-earning units are scrambling for low-paying contract manufacturing work from China...

Satellite imagery maps 23 towers at North Korea’s Voice of Korea transmitter site

Satellite imagery of a shortwave radio transmitter site in Hyangsan county, Jagang province, shows...

North Korean mothers sent to China struggle with years apart from their children

Married women in their mid-40s make up a growing share of the North Korean workers sent to China in 2026. Many of them left...

Farm workers balk as Pyongyang pushes electronic payment cards

North Korean authorities are pressing South Pyongan province farm workers to load their savings onto electronic payment cards, saying the cashless shift will prevent...

MOFA, MOHW host annual health, welfare forum

Organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 2026 Global Health and Welfare Forum in Taiwan is...

Taiwan, Philippines convene agricultural, fisheries meeting

The 13th Taiwan-Philippines agricultural and fisheries cooperative meeting was held Oct. 16 in the Philippines, according to the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs.   During...

How Kim Jong Un’s state is taming trade outside North Korea’s general markets

Where do North Koreans buy their food and daily necessities in 2026? Most still go to the general markets that have anchored the country’s...

Satellite data trace a drainage route from North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium plant to the Ryesong River

Satellite imagery shows a wastewater pond below North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium plant repeatedly expanding and shrinking between February and September 2026. The fluctuations keep...

MOFA welcomes Marshall Islands delegation

The Oct. 17-24 visit by a seven-member Marshall Islands delegation led by Natural Resources and Commerce Minister Anthony Muller and Mrs. Muller is sincerely...

MOEA holds APEC digital health forum

The Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration staged the Asia-Pacific Economy Cooperation Digital Health Forum Oct. 16 in Taipei City, according to the...

Steep Dandong-Sinuiju shipping costs leave traders with little profit

Shipping a single container from Dandong to Sinuiju now costs up to 8,000 yuan despite the three-kilometer journey, leaving traders with almost no profit....

Chinese goods flow back into Hyesan as customs ends holiday shutdown

The Hyesan customs office in North Korea’s Ryanggang province reopened on Oct. 12, 2026, after a closure tied to China’s National Day holiday. Autumn...

North Korea searches fishing boats for hidden radios along its Yellow Sea coast

North Korea has launched a sweeping inspection of fishing boats along the Yellow Sea coast of South Hwanghae province in October 2026 that targets...

North Korea pushes Russian classes in schools but lacks teachers to run them

North Korea is expanding Russian-language classes in schools in 2026 as its alliance with Moscow deepens. A severe shortage of trained Russian teachers, however,...

MOEA holds low emission strategy forum

The Ministry of Economic Affairs hosted the 2026 Asia Low Emission Development Strategies Partnership Forum, demonstrating commitment to international exchange and cooperation in energy...

President Lai attends Micron Technology’s new plant in Taichung

President Lai Ching-te attended the inauguration of an advanced assembly and testing plant Oct. 15 in Taichung City, stressing that the government will continue...

- A word from our sponsors -

Follow us

HomeUpdates