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2 weeks ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Hwang Hyun-uk
When “A,” a North Pyongan province woman, first heard her son in the military had been deployed to Russia, she assumed he was just there for training. “Another soldier in our son’s unit wrote that he’d gone to train overseas in a big, cold country,” “A” told Daily NK. But as time passed, rumors began circulating in the neighborhood that North Korean troops had gone overseas.
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2 weeks ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Hwang Hyun-uk
North Korea is preparing to send up to 28,000 more workers overseas. Recruitment efforts that began last year have entered the selection phase as Pyongyang seeks to boost foreign currency earnings by exploiting gaps in international sanctions. The latest deployment will send workers to more than 10 countries, with Russia receiving the vast majority, a Daily NK source in North Korea said recently.
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1 month ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong
A car rental service that North Korea is testing in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district has been well-received by both business owners and young people. Young people see car rental as an exciting new experience, since even people without their own car can spend a romantic day driving around. A Pyongyang source told Daily NK recently that the car rental service has been popular with local residents.
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1 month ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong
North Korea has begun piloting car rental services in Pyongyang’s Hwasong district, signaling efforts to develop new service industries. Former vehicle repair centers are transforming into multipurpose service facilities offering car rentals, cautiously introducing the concept of vehicle sharing to the isolated nation.
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1 month ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong
North Korea demands women serve solely as dutiful wives and mothers with no personal identity. A new book, “Women Are Not Dead,” chronicles Seol Song-a’s fight against this oppression and her life after escaping. Two themes permeate the book: marketization and women’s rights.
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1 month ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong
North Korea recently broke its silence and acknowledged deploying troops to Russia, despite previously maintaining silence amid reports from Ukraine and South Korea. This unexpected shift raises several important questions about the regime’s strategy. Official Procedures and State LegitimacyRather than coming directly from Kim Jong Un, the announcement emerged as a written statement from the Central Military Commission.
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1 month ago | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Hwang Hyun-uk
“I cut myself trimming frozen pollack. I was bleeding badly and it hurt a lot, but they just put a band-aid on it and I went back to work.”A North Korean worker at a seafood processing plant in Liaoning province, China, expressed her frustration when asked about working conditions. According to her, workers must pay for most medical treatment, so when they’re seriously injured, they quickly patch up their wounds and continue working.
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Mar 27, 2025 | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Hwang Hyun-uk
North Korea’s cyber capabilities have evolved dramatically in recent years, progressing beyond simple hacking to encompass public opinion manipulation, military technology theft, and cryptocurrency mining. The country increasingly deploys IT workers in sophisticated “asymmetric operations” that face few geographic or temporal constraints and are difficult to trace. The regime recently established the “227 Research Center” under the Reconnaissance General Bureau of the Korean People’s Army.
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Mar 26, 2025 | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Lee Sang-yong
North Korea began selecting workers and technicians in early March for reconstruction projects in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including the Donbas region. These labor assignments, already agreed upon with Russia, appear designed to earn foreign currency while strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. A source in North Korea told Daily NK recently that the country is reviewing plans to send groups of 1,000–2,000 workers for Ukrainian reconstruction projects.
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Mar 16, 2025 | 
dailynk.com | Lee Sang Yong |Lee Sang-yong
As the Trump administration pushes to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, North Korean officials are developing plans to maintain a military alliance with Russia even after the conflict concludes. A North Korean source told Daily NK recently that Pyongyang’s position is that its military strategy isn’t influenced by specific events. This stance suggests that North Korea fundamentally intends to continue developing its military alliance with Russia.