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2 weeks ago | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
Satellite Imagery Commercial satellite imagery indicates final preparations appear to be underway at the Wonsan-Kalma Beach Resort ahead of an anticipated opening event that will likely be attended by Kim Jong Un. Construction has ceased ahead of the end of May deadline set by Kim in July last year and seating areas are being set up on the beach.
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1 month ago | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
The regional industry push under the banner of the 20×10 regional development plan seeks to foster sustainable manufacturing by building new light industrial hubs in 20 cities and counties every year for ten years. The plan began in 2024 and that year, installed factories for food, clothing and daily goods in 20 communities across the country. While the project is nationally driven from Pyongyang, it appears the state has not gone for a one-size-fits-all approach.
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1 month ago | 
38north.org | Peter Makowsky |Jack J. Liu |Iliana Ragnone |Martyn Williams
Commercial satellite imagery of Nampho Port indicates North Korea’s newest warship has likely left the construction hall and is positioned inside a floating drydock berthed at the newly refurbished quay. It has been less than a year since the first observable signs of construction were seen at Nampho, the west coast command headquarters for North Korea’s navy and the country’s largest commercial port.
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2 months ago | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
Less than a month after North Korean state media conveyed Kim Jong Un’s ambitious 20×10 regional development plan, residents of Yonthan, North Hwanghae province—one of the first construction sites—were visited by then-Premier Kim Tok Hun to survey initial progress. Despite the importance of the plan, the premier’s visit received relatively muted coverage in state media—it was featured on the bottom of the front page Rodong Sinmun and ignored by state television.
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2 months ago | 
38north.org | Peter Makowsky |Jack J. Liu |Iliana Ragnone |Martyn Williams
As springtime brings warmer weather and softer ground, work to expand the road and rail infrastructure throughout North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station continues. Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that efforts to cut a new road, or possible rail bed, connecting the east tunnel entrance with the coastal launch pad and southern seaport are underway, which could allow for vehicles or launch materials to easily travel to and from the various parts of the complex.
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2 months ago | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
The first signs of work on the fifth and final stage of a project to build 50,000 new apartments in Pyongyang are now apparent. Commercial satellite imagery from March 13 shows that since a groundbreaking ceremony on February 16, building foundations have been excavated at the southern end of the Hwasong District as workers race to meet the year-end deadline. The footers for around 20 buildings are observed in the Hwawon 2-dong neighborhood in the Hwasong District.
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Mar 9, 2025 | 
myemail.constantcontact.com | Marc Santora |Peter Makowsky |Jack Liu |Iliana Ragnone
Quotes of the Day:"The worse that a man can do to himself is to do injustice to others."– Henrik Ibsen"If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you'd be furious. Yet you handover your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled – have you no shame in that?" – Epictetus. "Reality cannot be ignored, except at a price; and the longer the ignorance is persisted in, the higher and more terrible becomes the price that must be paid." – Aldous Huxley.
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Mar 4, 2025 | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
North Korea appears close to completing its first airborne early warning aircraft (AEW)—a significant upgrade for an air force that has not seen new airborne capabilities in years. Commercial satellite imagery shows an Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft parked alongside a maintenance hangar at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport, with a large radome mounted on top of the fuselage.
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Feb 27, 2025 | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Iliana Ragnone
North Korea’s push to modernize its regional industry and geographically diversify its production base is off to a strong start. Just over a year since Kim Jong Un first announced the “20×10” plan, new factories producing clothing, food and household goods have opened in 20 cities across the country, and work has already begun on the second year of the initiative’s construction projects.
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Feb 19, 2025 | 
38north.org | Martyn Williams |Peter Makowsky |Iliana Ragnone
Commercial satellite imagery indicates North Korea’s newest ballistic missile submarine (SSB), the Sinpo-C (Hero Kim Kun Ok), has left the drydock after an extended period. First moved to the drydock in mid-May 2024, a protective covering was built in July, and both the submarine and the covering were shifted to the south end of the drydock in late November, where it remained until recently. Imagery shows the Sinpo-C left the drydock sometime after February 11.
