Korea, North

What if our understanding of North Korea is inadvertently colored by the very resources that we rely on to deepen our knowledge of the country? What does this say about our policies…

Even before the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, foreign policy practitioners and observers were talking about the difficulties of sequencing international sanctions relief for North Korea…

We imagine North Korea as a country that is carrying on not only a conflict left over from the Cold War, but also a decrepit legacy economy from the past.…

The second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on February 27 and 28 ended without an agreement. The key difference in the two leaders’ negotiating…

Update on October 23, 2024: Since this article was published, US authorities have also said North Korean soldiers are in Russia. The evidence of a deepening military axis between North Korea and Russia has been mounting in recent days, causing alarm from Kyiv to Seoul. In the latest development, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS)…

North Korea’s won has fallen in half against the US dollar since July for unclear reasons. An internal North Korean document collected by Daily NK blames perverse psychology for the trouble and warns that the won must be protected from further devaluation, suggesting high-level concerns of destabilizing inflation and a potential new banking crisis. The…

The overwhelming majority of refugees who flee North Korea are generally those who live in border areas adjacent to China and do not have prominent government or economic positions. Few are from Pyongyang because it is very difficult for citizens to travel within the country unless police and internal security officials approve the travel. Meanwhile,…

The Yalu River floods have receded, but Kim Jong-un might still feel underwater. The North Korean won has fallen nearly in half against the US dollar in informal markets this month and similarly against the Chinese yuan, as reliably reported by Daily NK and Asia Press. This development suggests inflation is on the way in…

Please join KEI for a discussion on North Korea’s potential incorporation of AI into its cyber arsenal.