Features
Long-form reporting on timeless issues and human interest stories by NK News journalists and contributors.
“Kings of the country”: growing up in North Korea isn’t always as bad as you’d think
Children in the DPRK enjoy more freedom and less mollycoddling from parents than kids in the West
Sowing the seeds of improving agriculture: Quakers in North Korea
The American Friends Service Committee has been helping farmers in North Korea for nearly 40 years
Politics and the Korean language: a history of Chinese characters in the DPRK
Both simplified and traditional characters remain in use to this day
Dangerous myths: why North Korean culture idolizes the Koguryo period
DPRK-made cartoons often distort historical reality and perpetuate nationalist falsehoods
Underfunded: the urgent need for emergency reproductive health kits in N. Korea
Kits for pregnant women simple and effective, but only 1% of those targeted by UN in 2018 benefited
The historical roots of North Korea’s notoriously-unreliable statistics
From grain cultivation to heavy industry, manipulation of data made numbers larger than reality
“The great successor”: making sense of the rise and rise of Kim Jong Un
A new book paints a compelling, if limited, picture of the young leader’s life and changing country
Signage vendor gives insight into growing North Korean entrepreneurship
B2B vendor offers DPRK business owners bright and colorful signage to stand out
Dizzy with success: North Korea’s ambitious, and troubled, first five year plan
The DPRK's first experience with long-term economic planning produced mixed results
Dining out in the DPRK capital: Pyongyang’s (surprisingly) good restaurants
As consumer choice for the upper classes has grown, so too have options for eating out
