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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave musical instruments to a lower secondary school in Ryanggang province last year. Now the school has assigned those instruments to students for next year’s Lunar New Year performance. Students given the piri, a traditional Korean bamboo flute, have openly shown their discontent. A Daily NK source in Ryanggang []
Attendance is improving at schools in Kimchaek city, North Hamgyong province. Authorities there have eased a longstanding practice that forced students and parents to cover school repair costs. A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently that the shift is already showing results. According to the source, every school in Kimchaek now has []
Apartment prices in Sinuiju, a North Korean border city, have been climbing steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic. A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that a new bridge and growing trade with China are now adding fresh momentum. The increase is not a sudden spike. Instead, it reflects a gradual recovery from []
A high school sophomore in Hyesan, Ryanggang province, recently finished mandatory military training. The training is run by the Red Youth Guard, a paramilitary youth organization in North Korea. What happened afterward has moved people across the province to tears, a source there told Daily NK recently. According to the source, the student entered training []
North Korea’s state youth organization has ordered a special crackdown on banned foreign media. It has named university students as the “primary target,” a source in South Hwanghae province told Daily NK recently. The Socialist Patriotic Youth League, commonly known as the Youth League, has declared an “anti-American class education period.” It runs from July []
Young North Koreans from wealthy families are deliberately buying old, worn-out video players instead of newer models. They can easily afford better devices. Instead, they are betting that crackdown squads will never suspect a well-off household of using such outdated gear, a source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently. North Korean authorities have []
North Koreans sweltering through a nationwide heat wave are flocking to an unlikely refuge: abandoned coal mine shafts. A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK in 2026 that people in Kaechon are gathering at old mine entrances to escape the heat. Chronic power shortages leave most households without any way to run cooling []
North Korean people are calling for a sweeping investigation into corruption across the country’s power organs. A senior military official’s dramatic public downfall sparked the demand. It happened at a July 2026 conference attended by leader Kim Jong Un. Senior party, state and military officials gathered in Pyongyang on July 10. There, authorities publicly exposed []
North Korean authorities arrested two young men in Pyongsong, South Pyongan province, in 2026. Their crime was watching K-drama, the South Korean dramas widely popular among North Korean people, along with other videos the state brands as impure recordings. A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK on Wednesday that the Ministry of Social []
North Korean authorities boast of the country’s rising international standing. But in 2026, a very different story is spreading among North Korean people in border areas. Private visit travelers returning from China say North Koreans in China are treated as poor. South Koreans, they say, are treated as wealthy. A source in North Hamgyong province []
