A childhood friend that has visited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un several times over the years told Radio Free Asia that he has never met Kim’s son, casting doubt on previous intelligence reports about the leader’s family life.
‘Judas’ has become a scornful nickname for informers in North Korea.For example, when a girl confided in her friend during the COVID-19 pandemic that she planned to escape North Korea once the border with China reopened, she was brought before authorities and punished.
North Korea banned the use of foreign currency this month and has begun confiscating yuan and dollars from citizens by stopping them on the street for random searches, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.
The holiday spirit in North Korea is at a low ebb as higher prices for meat, rice and other foods make celebrating the Lunar New Year a costly affair, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.
North Koreans are no longer allowed to bring their cellphones into propaganda lectures, which are a regular, mandatory part of life there, sources in the country say.
Like his father, Kim Jong Un has a penchant for ambitious building projects, including 82- and 70-story residences in the capital’s “Ryomyong,” or “dawn,” district that opened last year and a massive science and technology complex with a main building shaped like a giant atom