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.
The shrill attacks against South Korea and the United States that have made international headlines for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister are viewed inside the country as evidence of her arrogance and inexperience, government officials told RFA
North Korea has warned citizens to refrain from talking about national leader Kim Jong Un’s health after he recently lost weight, calling such gossip as a “reactionary act,” sources in the country say
North Korea is forcibly mobilizing married women living near the border with China to toil away making cement blocks for the construction of a wall, sources in the country told RFA
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blamed senior ruling party officials for their failures in stopping the spread of COVID-19, days after local sources told RFA that authorities had closed all schools nationwide until the end of the year, despite claims that the country remains completely virus-free
North Koreans are growing anxious as food prices have begun to fluctuate wildly amid uncertainty over the reopening of the border with China and the resumption of trade with Pyongyang’s largest trading partner