The police in Changchun, the capital of China’s Jilin Province, have announced plans to update the personal information of female North Korean defectors who are living with Chinese men. The announcement has made some defectors anxious becomes it follows the visit to North Korea by China’s No. 3 official Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. “The police in Changchun said on Apr. 21 that they would be carrying out a hukou [household registration] survey through the end of May to update the personal information of all North Korean women who are currently cohabi ..read more

Recent imagery from the Maxar WorldView-3 satellite confirmed that the Monument to the Three-Point Charter for National Reunification — a symbol of Kim Il Sung’s dying wish for the reunification of Korea — was demolished and the site wiped clean. Based on the images and satellite images run in overseas media reports, the monument appears to have been torn down methodically rather than blown up. Demolition of the Monument to the Three-Point Charter for National Reunification Recent satellite images confirm that the Monument to the Three-Point Charter for National Reunification, which used to st ..read more

Some recent graduates of North Korean high schools in Sinuiju are frustrated because they have no money to get into institutes of higher education, Daily NK has learned.  “This month, graduates of high schools in Sinuiju launched their adult lives in various places, including education-focused institutions like universities and vocational schools, but also workplaces and the military. But most of them are upset they didn’t get to go where they’d hoped,” a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.  According to the source, this ye ..read more

Small-scale forced repatriations of North Korean defectors have taken place even after about 200 detectors who were locked up in Chinese prisons were sent back against their will last October. Such forced repatriations are likely to grow more frequent, with cooperation between North Korean and Chinese police and security agencies expected to intensify. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a high-ranking Daily NK source in North Korea said Wednesday that defectors forcibly repatriated from China were recently handed over to local branches of the Ministry of State Security and detained in ministr ..read more

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