North Korea’s widespread human rights violations, especially severe limitations on religious freedom, continue to concern the United States
Authorities in North Korea are asking residents to prepare for economic difficulties as bad as the 1994-1998 famine which killed millions, RFA has learned, but experts say the situation is dire, but not that extreme
North Korea has set up high-voltage electric fences around an important national landmark in a city near the Chinese border, a precaution authorities say is to defend it from would-be vandals opposed to the regime, sources in the country told RFA
More and more North Korean youth are dodging mandatory military service, because ruling party membership and all its perks are no longer as automatic for those who finish lengthy stints in the armed forces, sources in the country told RFA
In Worth Less Than an Animal: Abuses and Due Process Violations in Pretrial Detention in North Korea, Lim Ok Kyung, one of the former detainees, described extremely harsh conditions when she was arrested in 2014 for having appliances smuggled from China in her house
North Korea has arrested 20 “phone brokers” who arrange calls and money transfers from outside the country in a nationwide crackdown on illegal mobile phone users, sources familiar with the cases told RFA
The halt in trade since January between the northeast Asian neighbors has had a crippling effect on North Korea’s economy, already struggling under years of U.S. and UN sanctions imposed to deprive Pyongyang of resources that could be funneled into its nuclear and missile programs
Authorities on both sides have stepped up physical barriers and electronic monitoring of the border area in recent years, while the ruling Chinese Communist Party relies on an army of citizens with red armbands to keep tabs on illegal immigrants and report them to the authorities.