The North Korean Cabinet’s Agricultural Commission recently sent amended seasonal agricultural guidance materials to Chagang Province, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in Chagang Province said Monday that the Cabinet’s Agricultural Commission sent the amended materials on Apr. 13 to the province’s agricultural village finance committee, which delivered them to city and county agricultural management committees. “The amendments aim to improve agricultural production and farming efficiency,” he said. According to the source, the existing materials advis ..read more

The North Korean Ministry of State Security has recently informed senior officials at provincial bureaus about the punishment given to people arrested in connection with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia last September, Daily NK has learned. “Political departments at state security bureaus in North Hamgyong Province received classified material from the Ministry of State Security and distributed that to bureau officials at the rank of department head and higher at a Saturday study session on the morning of Apr. 13,” a source in the province told Daily NK on Tuesday, speaking on ..read more

The North Korean government is encouraging Chinese businesspeople to resume business activities they were forced to suspend when North Korea closed its borders because of COVID-19. This suggests that economic cooperation between North Korea and China appears to be picking up speed following the visit to North Korea by Zhao Leji, chair of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that the North Korean authorities have issued entrance permits for around 10 Chinese businesspeop ..read more

Several opium addicts have died recently in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province said Monday that a man in his 50s who lived alone after his wife divorced him over his opium habit was found dead by the head of his neighborhood watch on Apr. 13 when she came by to deliver instructions regarding Kim Il Sung’s birthday on Apr. 15. The man – who used to take opium at least twice a day – had shown signs of mental problems when he was unable to buy opium this year due to debts and worsening money ..read more

Some of the more than 200 defectors repatriated from China to North Korea last year are being held in political prison camps. Among the 200 defectors, all those who tried to reach South Korea or interacted with Christians while in China were sent to the camps without exception. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Korea told Daily NK on Monday that ten of the defectors who were forcibly repatriated last October were sent to political prison camps after three months of intense interrogation about their defection and behavior in China. The defectors were interrogated at centers ..read more

North Korea continues to spread propaganda about the ruling party’s childcare programs, including the distribution of free dairy products to children. Recently, the party even ran a story in the Rodong Sinmun quoting grateful members of the public. But some North Koreans grumble that few actually benefit from these childcare programs. “Many parents in Hyesan cannot afford to send their children to nurseries or kindergartens. So people scoff at the nonstop propaganda in the Rodong Sinmun and on TV about how the party’s love makes it possible to raise children without any worries,” a source in Y ..read more

The Chongjin Department Store in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, has been the subject of an investigation by the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea for corruption among its officials, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that the Central Committee sent an inspection team after receiving a complaint about corruption by officials of the Chongjin Department Store. “The inspection team unearthed all the officials’ corruption during a 10-day inspection between the end of last month ..read more

A North Korean manager at the Samsu Power Plant in Yanggang Province has been punished in connection with his son’s transgressions, Daily NK has learned. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Monday that a manager at the power plant was summoned to a company-wide struggle meeting earlier this month because of his son’s non-socialist behavior. The manager, who is in his 50s, was declared unfit as a father, official and party member, and was expelled from the party, dismissed from his job, and relocated to a rural area. The manager’s son, in his 20s ..read more

Market exchange rates in North Korea have hit another high as the US dollar climbs in international markets and trading activity expands in certain parts of North Korea. According to Daily NK’s regular survey of market prices in North Korea, the yuan was trading at KPW 1,810 in markets in Hyesan, Yanggang Province, as of Apr. 14. The yuan had climbed another 12.4% in the two weeks since the previous survey on Mar. 31, when the Chinese currency was trading at KPW 1,610, a record high since Daily NK began tracking North Korea’s market exchange rates in 2015. While the exchange rate itself was hi ..read more

The infant mortality rate in North Korea’s rural areas is higher than in the country’s cities, a source in the country told Daily NK recently. “Although the percentage of women having children in rural areas of North Hamgyong Province such as Yonsa County and Orang County is lower than in the past, it’s still higher than in the cities. If only one in five married women has children in the cities, the rate is two in five in the countryside,” a source in the province told Daily NK on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The reason why more rural women have children is because they can ..read more