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North Korean authorities recently discharged a military officer stationed in Hamhung after discovering that his wife has a relative in China who is an ethnic Korean-Chinese. The abrupt dismissal has fueled suspicion inside his unit that a power struggle over his position, not the relative, was the real motive. A source in South Hamgyong province […]
Housing prices near a market in the North Korean city of Chongjin have climbed as much as three times their pre-pandemic levels in 2026. Homes closest to the market are commanding the steepest premiums, a source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK. Prices around Sunam Market, one of Chongjin’s largest, have risen sharply since […]
North Korea’s State Hydro-Meteorological Administration is undergoing a sweeping, party-ordered ideological review this month after a string of forecasting failures worsened storm and heat wave damage across the country in 2026. The ruling Workers’ Party of Korea has ordered agency staff and workers at related institutions to hold monthlong self-criticism sessions starting in mid-August. A […]
Recently, South Korea-US relations have taken a troubling turn. After North Korea’s military pushed ahead with fortification work along the Military Demarcation Line, including building tactical roads, laying mines and installing obstacles, Seoul strongly condemned the move as a clear violation that guts the armistice’s buffer zone. The armistice agreement established a 2-kilometer buffer zone […]
Growing garment subcontracting trade between North Korea and China is pulling young women into export garment factories in cities including Sinuiju, Nampo and Pyongyang this year. The jobs offer salaries, rations and extra benefits that are hard to find elsewhere, according to a source inside the country. A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province […]
A growing number of North Koreans struggling to make ends meet are selling homes to raise trading capital as soaring prices have sharply driven up the funds needed to start even a small business. A source in South Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Tuesday that more people in Hamhung are selling their homes, with […]
A hospital in Chongjin, the capital of North Korea’s North Hamgyong province, cremated a patient’s body without the family’s consent this month, after power outages disabled the morgue’s refrigeration equipment. The secret cremation came to light when a grieving relative arrived to collect the body and found it gone. The family’s outrage has since prompted […]
Rice prices in North Korea climbed to their highest level since the country’s 2009 currency redenomination in mid-August 2026, according to Daily NK’s latest market survey. Corn prices, a staple for low income households, rose even faster over the same period. North Korea carried out a currency redenomination in 2009 that stripped two zeros from […]
A prolonged heat wave overwhelmed North Hwanghae province’s aging power infrastructure this month, triggering a province-wide blackout in North Korea that even cut electricity to statues and monuments honoring the country’s leadership. The unprecedented outage, which struck in August 2026, forced authorities to mobilize security officers and soldiers for emergency repairs, according to a source…
North Korean authorities urgently released state reserve grain to farms in South Hwanghae province, the country’s principal grain-producing region, after a growing number of farm worker households struggling to find food caused a sharp drop in farm attendance. According to a source in the province, the Cabinet, the administrative body that oversees North Korea’s economy, […]
Recent high-resolution satellite imagery shows that the sludge-covered area within a settling pond at North Korea’s Pyongsan uranium concentration plant grew by about 0.8 hectares, roughly the size of one and a half soccer fields, over approximately nine months in 2026. Sludge is the dark residue left behind after uranium ore is processed into yellowcake, […]
North Korea passed a sweeping law in 2025 that regulates soil pollution from initial monitoring through investigation, cleanup and punishment of violators. The move marks a rare case of Pyongyang addressing an environmental problem through its own dedicated statute. Daily NK obtained a copy of the law, called the Soil Pollution Prevention Act. The Standing […]
Authorities in South Hamgyong province are cracking down on private hairdressers and barbers, but young North Koreans who want personalized styles are still seeking the stylists out. Many now take only regular customers or make house calls to stay out of view. A source told Daily NK on Wednesday that Hamhung’s People’s Committee, the city’s […]
North Korea is shifting its foreign currency strategy in 2026, with trading units moving away from raw material exports to China and turning instead toward joint ventures with Chinese investors. The source spoke to Daily NK on Wednesday and described a clear shift in recent months. North Korean trading units are changing how they earn […]
