Since the COVID-19 pandemic closed North Korea’s borders in Jan. 2020, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain new information from inside the country.

But just a short trip from Seoul, on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, beaches not far from DPRK territory are often littered with trash that currents and tides have washed ashore. Much of it is rubbish from North Korea that may even include political propaganda.

Beaches near the Demilitarized Zone on South Korea’s east coast can also have large quantities of discarded items from the DPRK, like empty toothpaste tubes.

In a new mini-documentary on YouTube, NK News explores the kinds of North Korean trash one can find on South Korean beaches and what it can reveal about changes that have taken place in the country under Kim Jong Un.

Edited by Bryan Betts