social control
KJI Concerned About "Unrest" in Early February Over Money Crunch (revised 18 April)
Choson Ilbo, citing a story from Open Radio for NK, reports that Kim Jong Il was worried about public discontent at a meeting in early February. At a meeting on Feb. 2 in which he […]
KIS Birthday (A lot of water under the bridge)
The country held a relatively subdued celebration on Thursday (15 April) for the 98th birthday of the late DPRK President, Kim Il Sung. Unlike the dual debauchery of the February celebrations for the Lunar New […]
Ri Chol's Last Minute Business
Despite reports that he is leaving his concurrent positions as DPRK Ambassador to Switzerland and the UN Mission in Geneva, Ri Chol still has official business to attend to. Yonhap reports that Ambassador Ri appeared […]
ICG Study on NK Under UN Sanctions
The International Crisis Group has published a study as an Update Briefing under the title North Korea Under Tightening Sanctions. The study suggests that the recent UN sanctions, currency redenomination and the unfolding succession campaign […]
Watching the Defectors
Citing ROK and US intelligence sources, Chosun Ilbo reports that in May 2008 Kim Jong-il toughened penalties for North Korean citizens caught attempting to migrate to China. CI reports that DPRK security officials were […]
Truckin' with the Kim Il-sung Youth League
Late last week, selected members of the Kim Il-sung Youth League embarked on a national study tour commemorating Kim Il-sung’s long, strange trip from Pyongyang to Jilin in 1925. Making a long story (literally, it’s […]
H1N1 in DPRK
KCNA won’t make any announcements about the currency redomination, but it’s ready to admit the H1N1 outbreak in the DPRK. The North Koreans have yet to reply to offers of assistance by the ROK, which […]
