All walls fall eventually, and with the coronavirus decline, it also seems that the days of “self-isolation by the whole country” are coming to an end. Remember that North Korea implemented “emergency anti-epidemic measures” in May 2022 amid the “fever epidemic” and quarantined people at the border starting in early 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea’s leader declared victory against the virus in August 2022, following which rail freight trade resumed. According to Korean specialist and journalist Oleg Kiryanov, the DPRK’s coming discovery…

Discussions that the DPRK’s attempt to launch a satellite will entail the rupture of the inter-Korean military agreement impel the author to remind the audience how the preparation process for this launch is going on. On May 31, North Korea launched its first military spy satellite, Malligyong-1, mounted on a new-type carrier rocket, Chollima-1. According to North Korean media, the rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after the second stage engine malfunctioned. In July 2023, North Korean satellite debris was retrieved from the Yellow Sea, after which South Korean experts declared that…

Several embassies and consulates were closed by North Korea in late October and early November of 2023. On October 23, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the DPRK Chon Dong-hak “paid a farewell visit” to Yoweri Kaguta Museven, President of the Republic of Uganda, and on October 27, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Jo Pyong Chol of the DPRK paid a similar farewell visit to President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola. North Korea reportedly closed its embassy in Spain on November 1…

The Ministry of Reunification declared on November 2, 2023 that it chose to identify family members of South Korean nationals who had been detained in North Korea for a prolonged amount of time as Pyongyang abduction victims. Four family members living in the ROK will receive benefits ranging from 15 million to 20 million won ($11,000 to $15,000) per family. “For a substantial solution to the issue of detainees, abductees and prisoners of war (in North Korea), the government will cooperate with civic groups to continue to draw attention at home and abroad…

The Russian audience was very surprised when, during a visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at a press conference that he would recommend Russian citizens to rest in the DPRK. They wondered what there was to see in North Korea other than statues of leaders and wondered if there were beach holidays in North Korea, and, of course, recalled the sad stories of Park Wang-Ja and Otto Warmbier, pointing out the safety of travelling. In fact, there is something to see in North Korea not only for a person…

The author has devoted about ten articles to the activities of Park Sang-hak and his organization Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK), who was viewed as being quite dangerous. Recall that some of his alleged “merits” include attempting to send coronavirus-infected items to North Korea, for which he was criticized by other defectors, or launching drones with explosives from the PRC to blow up statues of Kim, which were supposed to be a justification for “humanitarian intervention.” In 2020, Park & Co.’s activities triggered an inter-Korean crisis…

On October 18–19, 2023, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a ceremonial visit to Pyongyang to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the DPRK. Following a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on September 13, the visit was officially announced to the Russian Foreign Minister on October 16, who accepted the invitation to visit the country…

The final article in this author’s series on the state visit by the leader of the DPRK to Russia will focus on its consequences for Russia’s relations with the Republic of Korea. After all, now we are already seeing the first political consequences of the strengthening of Moscow and Pyongyang. The DPRK’s leadership placed a high value on the visit, and as readers may remember, while he was still in Russia Kim Jong-un stated that “now the first priority for our country is our relations with the Russian Federation.” As the KNCA later reported…

On September 26-27, the ninth session of the 14th convocation of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) was held at the Mansudae Palace of Congresses. As part of anti-Pyongyang propaganda, every news item about this event in the Republic of Korea (ROK, South Korea) central media included the passage that “the Supreme People’s Assembly is the supreme organ of state power in accordance with the North’s constitution, but in reality it only stamps the decisions of the ruling Worker’s Party of Korea (WPK)”…

On July 18, 2023, a 23-year-old US Army soldier Travis King defected to North Korea through the demilitarized zone from the South. In the history of the South-North Korean division, there have only been six instances (King was the seventh one) of U.S. soldiers fleeing to North Korea. King was a troublemaking soldier. Let us recall that, on October 8, 2022, King was detained by the South Korean police on the nightclub violence charges. The private was not cooperating with the police officers who demanded his personal data and kicked open their car door. From May 24 to July 10, King was held in a South Korean prison after failing to pay a fine…

The previous series of trials of the leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) ended with him indicating his readiness for trial; before that he had miraculously escaped arrest during the parliamentary vote. However, the prosecutor’s office began preparing a second arrest warrant as part of an investigation into the development of the Baekhyeon-dong neighborhood of Seongnam (as mayor) and the illegal transfer of funds to the DPRK (as governor of Gyeonggi).   We specifically covered the details…

Following Kim Jong-un’s visit to Russia, perhaps hundreds of articles have been written in the Western and South Korean press, and dozens of experts have given their opinions. In this author’s view, the reactions have been quite revealing, and they can be categorized in several ways. The first category largely corresponds to the official reaction of the West and the ROK.  Despite the fact that there is still no sign of manifestation of the arms deal reached between North Korea and Russia, Washington and Seoul issued a series of condemnatory statements and began discussing what measures should be taken on this matter. Let’s start with reactions…