By Jong-Min Lee
Edited by Raymond Ha, HRNK Director of Operations & Research

On May 19, 2023, the South Korean military discovered the body of a deceased North Korean escapee in its waters. According to the South Korean authorities, roughly 70g of methamphetamine was found on the individual’s leg.[1] Considering North Korea’s past actions and their impact on nearby countries, the concerns pertaining to methamphetamine from North Korea are nothing new for South Korea. This piece examines the past and present of narcotrafficking in relation to North Korea, with a focus on China's northeastern provinces that have been most affected by this issue.

History of North Korea’s State-led Narcotrafficking 

According to testimonies by high-ranking defectors, including Thae Yong-ho (former deputy ambassador to the UK) and Hwang Jang-yeop (former Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly), the North Korean regime started its narcotic-trafficking operations under Kim Jong-il’s guidance between the late 1960s and the early 1970s. This state-sponsored narcotrafficking started as an effort to prove Kim Jong-il’s political competency to his father, Kim Il-sung, by obtaining much-needed foreign currency for the regime.[2]
 
However, this state-sponsored narcotrafficking experienced drawbacks during the 1970s. These operations caused significant diplomatic problems. Numerous North Korean diplomats were implicated for their involvement. In 1976 alone, North Korean diplomats were expelled and designated persona non grata from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden for trafficking hashish.[3] Subsequently, North Korea started to work with criminal organizations in the 1980s to mitigate diplomatic complications.[4]
 
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, North Korea faced significant economic difficulties and experienced a famine in the mid- to late-1990s. The North Korean regime called the famine the “Arduous March.” Professor Sandra Fahy states that “Marching through Suffering” is a more faithful translation. It connotes valiantly struggling through the dire conditions of the famine, which North Korea blamed on the United States. In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse and the end of Soviet subsidies, Kim Il-sung expanded the regime’s narcotrafficking operations. In 1992, under Kim Il-sung’s orders, the cultivation of heroin was promoted on a national scale under the name of “White Bellflower Movement,” along with the production of methamphetamine, to secure foreign currency.[5]
 
During the famine, Kim Jong-il further encouraged North Korea’s illicit operations to overcome economic challenges.[6] In 1996, there was a major shift in North Korea’s narcotics production. Severe floods and the famine damaged its poppy fields and created difficulties for heroin production. The regime thus turned to methamphetamine as an alternative.[7]
 
Under orders from Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s diplomatic service, security apparatus, and numerous state agencies became involved in illicit activities.[8] For example, according to Hwang Jang-Yeop, North Korean naval vessels were routinely involved in narcotrafficking to Southeast Asia until the mid-1990s.[9] Hwang also testified in 1997 that Nanam Pharmaceutical plant managed heroin, Suncheon Pharmaceutical plant managed morphine, and Pyongyang Pharmaceutical plant managed meth production, showing deep and widespread state involvement in drug production.[10] In the case of heroin, it has been alleged that the forced labor of political prisoners was used to cultivate poppies. Satellite images have shown large poppy plantations near the Yodok political prison camp, and testimonies from refugees attest to the use of forced labor in heroin production.[11]
 
The North Korean regime was also deeply involved in the production of crystal meth. The use of government-sanctioned pharmaceutical plants guarantees a high level of purity for the end products.[12] It has been alleged that the regime enhanced its narco-products by recruiting professional methamphetamine producers from South Korea in the early 1990s.[13] Chinese court dockets indicate that both South Korean[14] and Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs)[15] have been involved in North Korea-related narcotrafficking.
 
Extensive state involvement in narco-production and trafficking has increased the commercial value of North Korean products in the global narco-market.[16] These narcotics have been sold through North Korea’s diplomatic outposts and restaurants,[17] and also with the cooperation of various TCOs, including the Yakuza, the Russian Mafia, and the Triads.[18] It has been alleged that North Korea partnered with these organizations to cover its tracks.[19][20]
 
Over time, this state-sponsored narcotrafficking project has resulted in the proliferation of professional narco-producers across the country. The regime has lost control over narcotics production, as these individuals are no longer constrained by the state. Drug-related crimes in North Korea have grown rampant despite the enactment of legislation on narco-control in 2004[21] and 2013.[22] Recent testimonies from refugees attest to an upsurge in public executions and criminal punishment for narcotics-related offenses.[23]
 
North Korean meth products have also been found in the Philippines,[24] Australia,[25] China,[26] and South Korea.[27] They even came close to entering the United States in 2013.[28] China has been a major point of transit for North Korean narcotics.[29] The scale of North Korea’s narco-production and trafficking cannot be verified, mainly due to China’s unwillingness to release detailed information that could be politically sensitive.[30] In the absence of official documentation, the main source of information on the subject has been the testimonies of North Korean refugees.[31]
 
Impact of North Korean Narcotics on the People’s Republic of China
 
It has been widely acknowledged that North Korea’s narcotrafficking has most heavily impacted Chinese cities near the Sino-North Korean border. Although aggregated data on North Korean narcotics is unavailable, its existence and impact can be inferred from Chinese and South Korean sources. North Korean crystal meth was sold for roughly 1,200 RMB per gram in northeast China in 2010,[32] and the estimated annual North Korean production of crystal meth and other synthetic drugs is around 3,000 kg.[33] Meanwhile, South Korean sources estimate that Bureau 39, which is tasked with raising foreign currency for the North Korean regime, has been making roughly $100-200 million annually through narcotrafficking operations.[34]
 
The high purity of North Korea’s crystal meth has made it increasingly competitive in the Chinese drug market. Police officers in northeast China have stated that North Korean crystal meth has been sold at a higher price than that from southern China, where illicit substances are obtained from the “Golden Triangle” (Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar). In contrast to crystal meth from southern China, which was sold at approximately 1g/1200 RMB (equivalent to $186), the starting price of North Korean crystal meth was approximately 1g/1500 RMB (equivalent to $232).[35] Even though exact information is not publicly available, narcotrafficking operations are likely to have been a major source of revenue for the North Korean regime.
 
Based on Chinese court cases, relevant statistics, and statements from senior Chinese Ministry of Public Safety (MPS) officials, North Korea’s narcotrafficking operations caused significant security challenges for the Chinese government and resulted in corruption among border security personnel. In 2011, Liu Yuejin, Vice Commissioner of the National Narcotics Control Commission, commented:
 
The number of people using methamphetamine in Northeast China has increased significantly. The abuse situation in Northeast China is prominent, and the registered synthetic drug abusers in the three Northeastern provinces have accounted for more than 72% of all drug users. To the surprise of the Chinese people, the three Eastern provinces, which are neither coastal nor drug-producing, have become the hardest hit areas. Russia and South Korea, which border the three Eastern provinces, are importers of drugs, are not important sources of exports, and only North Korea has grown to be the manufacturer of drugs on a large scale since the 1990s. There is also plenty of evidence that drugs from North Korea, especially methamphetamine, are rampant in the three Northeastern provinces.[36]
 
Northeast China has been hit the hardest by drug problems relative to other regions of the country. According to statistics from the Yanji municipal government in 2009, the number of narcotic offenders related to crystal meth in the city in 1995 was only 44, but the number had increased to 2,090 over a decade.[37] Meanwhile, the Shenyang City Prosecution Service stated that 73% of all narcotraffickers prosecuted between 2009 and 2011 were foreign nationals.[38] These “foreign” nationals are allegedly North Koreans. Furthermore, from January to May 2015, the Jilin provincial government seized and incinerated roughly 170 kg of narcotics.[39]
 
When the Regional Deputy Director of Ministry of Public Safety and the Commander of the Byeonbang (Border Area) Reconnaissance Battalion in Donggang City were indicted in 2015 for colluding with North Koreans, Chinese authorities seized approximately 50 kg of North Korean crystal meth during the arrest.[40] The opaqueness of narcotrafficking from North Korea also presents a significant challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who declared a war on drugs in 2014.[41] In 2020, Xi re-emphasized the importance of China’s counter-narcotic efforts.[42] China’s 2019 National Drugs Situation Report identified 0.16% of its population (2.148 million) as drug users.[43] This poses a significant challenge for Xi, and China has taken steps to address the problem over the past decade.
 
Despite the severity of this issue, information about North Korea’s narcotrafficking in China has not been publicized through foreign media outlets since 2018,[44] when there was a thaw in Sino-North Korean relations with multiple summit meetings between Xi and Kim.[45] Since then, Sino-North Korean relations have been reinforced as Sino-U.S. relations have deteriorated. Reports from the Liaoning Daily and statistics from the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenyang in 2020 note that the number of narcotics-related offenses had declined by 61.11% since 2016.[46] However, considering that North Korea enforced strong border control measures in response to COVID-19,[47][48] this decline may reflect North Korea’s extreme quarantine measures rather than a fundamental shift in policy.
 
North Korean narcotrafficking can also be examined through information from South Korean sources. In 2012, Representative Yoon Sang-hyun of the National Assembly stated that more than half of the narcotics entering South Korea originated from North Korea.[49] The problem has only grown in recent years. The number of maritime narcotrafficking interdictions by South Korea’s Coast Guard increased from 56 in 2016 to 962 in 2022.[50] According to figures from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the amount of confiscated heroin increased from 0.74g in the first half of 2020 to 1,210.26g in the first half of 2021, while the amount of seized methamphetamine jumped from 28,114.19g in the first half of 2020 to 93,065g in the first half of 2021.[51] These figures do not provide specific information about narcotrafficking originating from North Korea. However, given the past frequency of indictments and announcements by South Korean authorities implicating North Korea in narcotrafficking incidents, it is plausible that North Korea is involved in these developments.
 
North Korea’s Narcotrafficking: Recent Developments
 
Kim Jong-un has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with China on drug-related issues. In particular, the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) passed a new counter-narcotics law in July 2021. Compared to the 2004 and 2013 amendments that only included clauses related to the punishment of the production and trafficking of narcotics, this new law has a special provision that specifically refers to the prevention of narcotics usage and related crimes.[52] Considering the statements and relevant data from Chinese officials in the three northeastern provinces and from North Korean refugees, however, the new law is unlikely to have a meaningful impact.
 
The severity of narcotics usage among North Koreans may be attributed to state-sponsored narcotics production and distribution, a dilapidated healthcare system, food insecurity, and the rise in demand and distribution of narcotics throughout North Korea and its vicinity. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the famine in the 1990s devastated North Korea’s economy, public distribution system, and public health infrastructure. More North Koreans turned to illicit substances to evade hunger, illness, and pain.[53]
 
The severity of the issue is indicated by the testimony of a former North Korean counternarcotics prosecutor, who stated in a 2021 article that roughly 30 percent of the North Korean population has abused illicit substances. The problem is not solely restricted to adults. This former prosecutor testified that she had even witnessed seven-year-olds abusing narcotics.[54] A study by the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights in 2018 reached similar conclusions regarding the percentage of the population affected by drug abuse.[55] The gravity of the problem has also been well described in testimony from Chinese law enforcement. Yanbian police officers stated in a 2014 study that most North Korean households stored at least 2 grams of narcotics as first-aid medicine.[56]
 
To stabilize the region and to counter the spread of narcotics in northeast China, Chinese authorities initiated a cooperative investigation with South Korean authorities in 2011.[57] South Korea and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Enforcement of Criminal Laws for transnational crimes. However, compared to China's existing transnational counter-narcotic measures with ASEAN countries—ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Response to Dangerous Drugs (ACCORD)—Sino-South Korean cooperation on transnational crimes is not as well structured. Chinese authorities have often demonstrated a lack of cooperation in terms of the South Korean authorities’ requests for extradition and investigations of transnational crimes.[58] Furthermore, it has been alleged that Chinese authorities have been hesitant to actively apprehend North Korean operators based on shifting bilateral relations and the geopolitical climate.[59]
 
Concluding Remarks
 
North Korea’s narcotrafficking not only affects China, but also impacts South Korea, which has been experiencing an increase in methamphetamine-related cases. South Korean police and prosecutors have frequently referred to narcotrafficking cases involving narcotics originating from North Korea, with references to North Korea’s Ministry of State Security.[60]
 
On October 26, 2022, South Korea’s President Yoon and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) declared a war on drugs.[61] Earlier this year, there were revelations about a methamphetamine blackmail scheme targeting minors at a cram-school in Seoul, with the methamphetamine originating from China.[62] South Korea has been experiencing an increase in methamphetamine-related narcotrafficking cases, some of which may plausibly involve North Korea and other TCOs.
 
While cooperation between China and South Korea is needed to effectively address this issue, it is unclear whether such cooperation will be forthcoming. Consider, for example, the lack of cooperation thus far between the United States and China regarding the fentanyl crisis.[63] The current geopolitical environment does not appear to be conducive to significant bilateral cooperation between Seoul and Beijing on narcotrafficking, including narcotics originating from North Korea.
 
Jong-Min Lee is a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, pursuing a concentration in International Security and Public International Law. He is a graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, where he pursued a concentration in Security Policy and Global Public Health.

[1] Kim Yejin, “마약 들고 탈북 추정...북한 남성 시신 발견해 조사 중” [Suspected to have escaped from North Korea with Narcotics... Authorities are Investigating after the Body of a Deceased North Korean Man is Found], Segye Ilbo, May 27, 2023. https://m.segye.com/view/20230527505240.
[2] Thae Yong-ho, “북한에 마약 많이 퍼졌다는 소문 돌지만... 실제론 철저히 단속” [Despite the Rumors of Prevalence of Narcotics in North Korea, the Authorities have Responded with Strict Measures], Chosun Ilbo, April 27, 2023. https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/04/26/2019042602028.html.
[3] “Letter from Norwegian Police Security Service to Foreign Ministry, “The North Korean Embassy-Illegal Import and Distribution of Spirits, Cigarettes, etc.,” The Wilson Center Digital Archive, March 28, 2017. https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/letter-norwegian-police-security-service-foreign-ministry-north-korean-embassy-illegal?_ga=2.196974126.321082836.1627586055-1512673604.1622236090&_gac=1.219723243.1626069560.Cj0KCQjwraqHBhDsARIsAKuGZeGaI3t0CVh5E0--v3SlEoOhNqLnVITICdtPvYlXg9PqOfLDsdfu8zsaAuF6EALw_wcB.
[4] William Bach, “Drugs, Counterfeiting, and Arms Trade: The North Korean Connection,” 2001-2009 Archive for the U.S. Department of State, May 20, 2003. https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rm/21044.htm.
[5] Hwang Hyung-joon, “양귀비 직접 재배해 마약 제조’…북한군의 ‘백도라지 사업’” [Producing Narcotics through Cultivating own Poppy Plantations…Korean People’s Army’s “White Bellflower Project”], Dong-A Ilbo, December 8, 2008. https://www.donga.com/news/Politics/article/all/20081208/8668334/1.
[6] Jang Won-jae, “장원재의 북한 요지경: ‘마약의 나라’ 북한 주민의 30%가 마약 상복” [Country of Narcotics: 30% of North Korean Population Abuses Narcotics], Monthly Chosun, November 2019.
http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=&nNewsNumb=201911100048.
[7] Lee Hong, “추적! 평양發 마약 커넥션의 내막 국가기관이 헤로인ㆍ필로폰 밀조ㆍ밀매를 주관하는 세계 유일의 사례 연구” [Drug Ring Originating from Pyongyang, Research on the World’s Only Narco-State, the Drug Rings’ Connection to North Korea’s State-led Production and Smuggling of Heroin and Methamphetamine], Monthly Chosun, July 2003.
http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=&nNewsNumb=200307100056.
[8] Michael Miklaucic and Moisés Naím, “The Criminal State,” in Convergence: Illicit Networks and National Security in the Age of Globalization, eds. Michael Miklaucic and Jacqueline Brewer (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 2013), 164–65. https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/Books/convergence.pdf.
[9] Yang Jung-ah, “황장엽 ‘김정일 비자금 마카오-광저우 두 곳에서 관리” [Hwang Jang-yeop says Kim Jong-il’s Slush Funds are managed in Macau and Guangzhou], Daily NK, January 16, 2006. https://www.dailynk.com/%ED%99%A9%EC%9E%A5%EC%97%BD-%EA%B9%80%EC%A0%95%EC%9D%BC-%EB%B9%84%EC%9E%90%EA%B8%88-%EB%A7%88%EC%B9%B4%EC%98%A4%EA%B4%91%EC%A0%80%EC%9A%B0/.
[10] Jang, “Country of Narcotics.”
[11] Ed Barnes, “Flourishing Poppy Fields Outside Prison Camps Are Heroin Cash Crop for North Korea,” Fox News, May 10, 2011.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/flourishing-poppy-fields-outside-prison-camps-are-heroin-cash-crop-for-north-korea.
[12] Jang, “Country of Narcotics."
[13] Jung Hee-sang, “한국 기술자 2명, 북한에서 마약 제조” [Two South Koreans are Producing Narcotics in North Korea],
Sisa Journal, November 11, 2001. https://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=79131.
[14] Liu Yang, “两名韩国人在中国东北地区贩毒 分获死刑及死缓” [Two South Koreans Sentenced to Death for Narcotrafficking in Northeast China], Sohu, August 14, 2012. http://news.sohu.com/20120814/n350626755.shtml.
[15] Liu Li, “家禁毒委、公安部公布近期破获的十起毒品大案” [The National Narcotic Control Commission and the Ministry of Public Safety’s Ten Major Counter-Narcotics Sting Operations], China Central Television, June 25, 2008. http://news.cctv.com/society/20080625/106509.shtml.
[16] Jung, “Two South Koreans are Producing Narcotics in North Korea.”
[17] Joo Seong-ha, “마약에 빠진 북한… ‘동네마다 얼음 파는 집’” [North Korea on Drugs… ‘Prevalence of Methamphetamine’], Dong-A Ilbo, May 25, 2019. https://www.donga.com/news/Politics/article/all/20190525/95690028/1.
[18] Bach, “Drugs, Counterfeiting, and Arms Trade.”
[19] David L. Asher, “Policy Forum 05-92A: The North Korean Criminal State, its Ties to Organized Crime, and the Possibility of WMD Proliferation.”, Nautilus Institute, November 15, 2005. https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-policy-forum/the-north-korean-criminal-state-its-ties-to-organized-crime-and-the-possibility-of-wmd-proliferation/?msclkid=808ba4d8b6db11ecbe8709e0f0316cb3.
[20] Miklaucic and Naím, “The Criminal State,” 164–65.
[21] Yang Ok-kyung et al., “Bukhan jumin-ui mayak sayong mit jungdok” [North Korea’s Illegal Drug Use and Abuse: Current Situation and Solutions], Dong-A Yeongu 37, no. 1 (2018):  233–70. https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002323057.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Oh Gyeong-seob et al., White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea 2021 (Seoul, Korea: Korea Institute for National Unification, 2021), 45–56. https://www.kinu.or.kr/main/module/report/view.do?idx=837&nav_code=mai1674786121.
[24] Rosette Adel, “Sebastian: Drugs in Bilibid come from China, North Korea,” Philstar Global, October 10, 2016.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/10/10/1632237/sebastian-drugs-bilibid-come-china-north-korea.
[25] Doug Struck, “Heroin Trail Leads to North Korea,” The Washington Post, May 12, 2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/05/12/heroin-trail-leads-to-north-korea/017fa657-ce96-4eae-b44e-16f9376816ff/.
[26] Son Hye-min, “북 보위성 소속 마약밀수조직 중국 공안에 체포돼” [Drug Ring under North Korea’s Ministry of State Security Operatives have been Apprehended by the Chinese Ministry of Public Safety], Radio Free Asia, May 24, 2019.
https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/ne-hm-05242019090806.html.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Sari Horwitz, “5 Extradited in Plot to Import North Korean Meth to U.S.,” The Washington Post, November 20, 2013. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/5-extradited-in-plot-to-import-north-korean-meth-to-us/2013/11/20/4a2a3840-5222-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html.
[29] “중국 지린성, 북-중 마약밀매 거점부상” [Jilin Province of China has become the epicenter of Sino-North Korean Narcotrafficking], VOA News, January 26, 2010. https://www.voakorea.com/a/a-35-2010-01-26-voa22-91428629/1331770.html.
[30] Wang Jiawei et al., “朝鲜攻陷东北” [North Korea Narcotics Took Over Northeast China], Wenmi, October 24, 2022.
https://www.wenmi.com/article/pzv4j903t2ri.html.
[31] U.S. Department of State, 2017 INCSR-Volume I: Drug and Chemical Control (as Submitted to Congress), March 2, 2017, 143. https://www.state.gov/2017-incsr-volume-i-drug-and-chemical-control-as-submitted-to-congress/.
[32] Choi Won-gi, “북한 사회의 마약 실태” [The Drug Problem in North Korea], VOA Korea, August 11, 2010. https://www.voakorea.com/a/nk-drug-100462074/1347301.html.
[33] Lee Dong-hwi, “북한産 필로폰 국내 유통시킨 19명 검거” [Nineteen Individuals Arrested for Distributing North Korean Meth], Chosun Ilbo, October 10, 2019. https://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/10/08/2019100800156.html.
[34] Lee Jang-hoon, “북한 노동당 39호실의 외화벌이 사업” [Korean Workers’ Party Bureau 39’s Foreign Currency Operations], Monthly Chosun, August 2015. http://monthly.chosun.com/client/news/viw.asp?ctcd=&nNewsNumb=201508100036.
[35] Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Illicit: North Korea’s Evolving Operations to Earn Hard Currency (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2014), 85–88. https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/SCG-FINAL-FINAL.pdf.
[36] Li Cong, “Drugged by Comrades,” Global Times, March 12, 2013. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/201303/767651.shtml.
[37] Kim Kyong-chan et al., “Joongguk dongbuk jiyeok hanguk gwallyeon mayak beomjoe wa boisu pishing beomjoe ui siltae mit daeung bangan-e gwanhan yeongu” [The Research and Legal Studies on the Policy and the Trends of Drug and Voice Phishing Crime Related to Koreans in Northeast China] (Seoul, Korea: Korea Institute of Criminology, 2014), 100. https://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE02393421. 
[38] Ibid., 63.
[39] “길림성 마약 170여키로그람 집중소각” [Jilin Province Incinerates 170kg Worth of Narcotics], People’s Network, June 24, 2015. http://korean.people.com.cn/85524/15516533.html.
[40] Joo, “North Korea on Drugs.”
[41] Shannon Tiezzi, “China's War on Drugs,” The Diplomat, May 29, 2015. https://thediplomat.com/2014/08/chinas-war-on-drugs/.
[42]  “习近平对禁毒工作作出重要指示强调 坚持厉行禁毒方针 打好禁毒人民战争 推动禁毒工作不断取得新成效” [President Xi Jinping Issues Important Instructions and Expects Effective Results on Counter-Narcotic Efforts and Declares People’s War on Drugs], Xinhua, June 23, 2020. http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/leaders/2020-06/23/c_1126150124.htm.
[43] Aksu District Public Security Bureau Cyber Division, 《2019年中国毒品形势报告》发布（附全文） [China’s National Drug Situation Report 2019 (Full Text)], Baidu, June 25, 2020. https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1670462119974013484&wfr=spider&for=pc.
[44] Author’s finding from researching major Chinese internet portals and state media outlets.
[45] Steven Lee Myers and Jane Perlez, “Kim Jong-Un Met with Xi Jinping in Secret Beijing Visit,” The New York Times, March 27, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/world/asia/kim-jong-un-china-north-korea.html.
[46] Zhou Xianzhong et al., “市法院发布禁毒工作白皮书（2016-2020）” [City Court Releases White Paper on Anti-drug Work (2016-2020)], Shenyang Net, June 23, 2021. https://news.syd.com.cn/system/2021/06/23/011925533.shtml.
[47] Jesse Jonson, “North Korea Closes Borders to All Foreign Tourists as New Coronavirus Spreads from China,” The Japan Times, January 22, 2020. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/22/asia-pacific/science-health-asia-pacific/north-korea-closes-borders-all-foreign-tourists-coronavirus-china/.
[48] Ji Jeong-eun, “North Korea Accepts Pandemic Aid, but Border with China Remains Closed,” Radio Free Asia, October 7, 2021.  https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/aid-10072021191235.html.
[49] Jung Ah-ran, “윤상현 ‘국내반입 마약 절반 이상이 북한산’” [Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun: ‘More than half of the Narcotics in South Korea originates from North Korea’], Yonhap News, February 6, 2012. https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20120206062000001.
[50] Republic of Korea Coast Guard, “지표서비스 나라 지표-마약사범 단속 현황” [Statistics on Apprehension and Crackdown of Narcotraffickers], January 9, 2023. https://www.index.go.kr/unity/potal/main/EachDtlPageDetail.do;jsessionid=9HQEWIWkUeP6_phzbGwjMQS57_jVe8jh8hoZrYhQ.node11?idx_cd=A0001.
[51] Supreme Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Korea, “2021년 6월 마약류 월간동향” [2021 June Report: Monthly Trends for Narcotrafficking], July 23, 2023. https://www.spo.go.kr/site/spo/ex/board/List.do?cbIdx=1201. 
[52] Lee Myong-cheol, “북, 마약사범 급증에 ‘마약범죄방지법’ 새로 제정” [North Korea Newly Adopts ‘Drug Crime Prevention Act’ to Counter Increase of Narcotic-Related Offenders], Radio Free Asia, August 3, 2021. https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/ne-lm-08032021091443.html.
[53] Yang et al., “North Korea’s Illegal Drug Use and Abuse.”
[54] Ahn Yong-hyun, “주민 30% 마약...한류에 푹빠져’ 김정은이 말한 '악성암' 北 덮쳤다” [30% of the Population Suspected to Abuse Narcotics, Absorbed in Korean Wave; ‘Terminal Cancer’ Mentioned by Kim Jong-un has Struck North Korea], Chosun Ilbo, July 23, 2021. https://www.chosun.com/politics/north_korea/2021/07/23/ER57Y5DENZGILNAAW7V2KLDAUM/.
[55] Koo Eun-hyung, “이관형 “북한은 왜? <北 주민 30%... 마약 경험?>” [Why has 30% of North Koreans Experienced Narcotics?], MBC News, December 19, 2016. https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/unity/4186812_29114.html. 
[56] Kim et al., “The Research and Legal Studies on the Policy and the Trends of Drug and Voice Phishing Crime Related to Koreans in Northeast China,” 97.
[57] Yoon Wan-jun, “[단독]中, 북한산 마약에 뿔났다” [Exclusive: China Infuriated over North Korean Narcotics], Dong-A Ilbo, July 5, 2011. https://www.donga.com/news/Inter/article/all/20110705/38547901/1.
[58] Song Young-ji, “Han joong hyeongsa sabeop gongjo-eui munjaejeom-gwa gaesun bangan” [Problems in International Mutual Assistance between Korea and China and the Improvement Plan], Kangwon Law Review 59 (2020): 263–94. 
https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002567640.
[59] Son Hye-min, “China Uncovers North Korean State-Sponsored Drug Ring after Arrests,” Radio Free Asia, October 11, 2020.  https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nk-china-meth-agents-05282019164756.html.
[60] For example, see Park Hyun-jun, “검찰, 北에 포섭돼 마약판매 시도 50대 구속기소” [Prosecution Service Indicts 50-year-old for Attempting to Sell Narcotics on North Korea’s Behalf], Asia Business Daily, May 25, 2010. http://cm.asiae.co.kr/article/2010052516351574974. 
[61] Lee Sung-eun, “Yoon, PPP Declare War on Drugs,” Korea JoongAng Daily, October 26, 2022. https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2022/10/26/national/socialAffairs/korea-drugs-drug-smuggling/20221026184624813.html. 
[62] Jun Ji-hye, “Police Request Chinese Authorities’ Assistance in Drug-Laced Drinks Case,” The Korea Times, April 10, 2023.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/05/113_348773.html.
[63] Vanda Felbab-Brown, “China’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis,” The Brookings Institute, March 31, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/chinas-role-in-the-fentanyl-crisis/.

By Daniel McDowall, former HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Raymond Ha, HRNK Director of Operations and Research

July 11, 2023

Understanding what ordinary life—or what may be considered ordinary—in North Korea is a challenge. A major difficulty in investigating “normality” is identifying the groups that can be considered ordinary. One North Korean escapee explains that 10% of the population can be considered upper-class, a further 10% middle-class, and the remaining 80% poor.[1] However, there are groups outside of this 80% that may also be considered relatively “ordinary.” This includes those who do not live the luxurious lifestyle of the top elites, but do not experience the serious poverty that is common in the rural areas of the country’s northern provinces.
 
This article aims to explain what “ordinary life” is like in North Korea. It also seeks to identify the features of North Korean life that are arguably unique to the country—features that are so routine they make up a significant part of day-to-day life. Lastly, it also discusses how North Koreans navigate areas of ordinary life, such as family, relationships, and leisure.
 
Poverty and Famine as Ordinary Life
 
North Korea has long faced severe food shortages. In December 2021, the World Food Programme estimated that around 40% of the population was undernourished and 18% of children suffered from impaired growth and development due to chronic malnutrition.[2] Noland, Robinson, and Wang blame North Korea’s food difficulties on the “overcentralization of decision making and an emphasis on large state farms.”[3] Additionally, the prioritization of Pyongyang’s food supplies has implications for rural provinces. For example, in August 2011, Russia sent North Korea 50,000 tons of food aid, 80% of which went to Pyongyang.[4]
 
Mismanagement, as well as badly conceived priorities, led to disaster in North Korea in the 1990s. The consequence for North Koreans was staggeringly harsh. In 1998, surveys revealed that 15.6% of children aged 6-84 months had acute malnutrition.[5] Additionally, although the regime’s estimate of the death toll during the “Arduous March” of the 1990s was 220,000, external estimates put it as high as 2.5 million.[6] Jae-Young Yoon discusses the role of everyday language in referring to this famine. He explains how “if someone died of hunger you couldn’t say that they were so hungry they died. You would say they were in so much pain they died,” and that all manner of references to “hunger” should be replaced by “pain.”[7] This is indicative of not only the harsh experiences of North Koreans during the famine, but also the regime’s attempts to prevent people from directly discussing the food situation.
 
Some individuals were not exposed to the worst consequences of the famine. Young-mi Park discusses how she “never tried the so-called maize” that most North Koreans ate.[8] As the head (inminbanjang) of a neighborhood watch unit (inminban), Park had a more privileged position and better access to food. This differential provision of food is intended to foster loyalty and compliance. The regime leverages food to stabilize itself at the expense of ordinary North Koreans. Political loyalty leads to greater food privileges, and ultimately a greater chance of survival. The report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korean human rights discusses how the regime prioritized food toward people it saw as most useful for its own survival, at the expense of those that it perceived as expendable. For example, an agent in the KPA Escort Command--responsible for guarding Kim Jong-un and his family--recalled how people within this organization received good rations, even during periods of famine.[9] 
 
Since the famine, food shortages have continued to be prevalent in North Korea. The food situation has worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the regime has used as an excuse to tighten border controls and increase repression. After the regime shut its borders in response to the pandemic, China’s food exports to North Korea fell by 80%.[10] The weather also compounded difficulties in producing enough food, with typhoons destroying 100,000 acres of cropland in 2021, and 2022 being far too dry with months like April and May receiving only 70% of the average expected rainfall.[11] The current food crisis is reportedly the worst the country has experienced since the ”Arduous March” of the 1990s. Testimonies from a recent BBC report include harrowing images of people starving--even in Pyongyang--and that beggars can often be found dead on the street.[12]
 
Because of the widespread food shortages experienced by a large proportion of North Koreans, hunger, poverty, and significant food shortages can be considered features of “ordinary” life in North Korea. The regime deliberately uses food as a means of control and compliance.
 
Work, Self-Criticism, and Policing: "Ordinary" Features Exclusive to North Korea
 
There are several characteristics of life in North Korea that can be considered ordinary to its residents. They may be extraordinary to people from other countries, but these features are embedded in everyday life in North Korea. This includes work assignments, self-criticism sessions, policing methods, and strict controls on information.
 
Work assignments and the way in which they are distributed are critical aspects of everyday life. North Koreans work long, arduous days. For the most part, men join the military for ten years or so after secondary school, while most women are assigned to clerical or blue-collar work.[13] Women who do not gain employment are expected to join the Korea Democratic Women’s Union.
 
Work assignments are almost always arbitrary. They are not just strenuous, but often dangerous. Kyung-hee Kim recalls how “no matter how capable we might have been, we had to work the mine. It was a wretched life. Even with no modern facilities or equipment useful for health and safety, we were told to work […] when they set dynamite they don’t wait until the risk is clear. One day dozens of people died that way in a rockslide.”[14] Many North Koreans work in dangerous conditions. There is virtually no chance of social mobility because of the centrality of one’s songbun (socio-political classification). Those with a higher songbun may have alternatives. Jung-go Park explains that “the Party in North Korea is the best organization to work for.”[15]
 
Outside the workplace, North Koreans are expected to attend regular self-criticism sessions in which citizens are expected to “evaluate how well they had complied with directions from the party and state.”[16] Not only do North Koreans evaluate their own performance, but also those of their fellow citizens. This practice begins at a young age. For the most part, the offense that North Koreans admit to is a small one, such as “not trying hard enough when carrying out their communal neighborhood duties.”[17] Personnel from the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of the Korean Workers’ Party record these confessions and prepare reports that are sent up the chain of command. For wrongdoings, individuals may be given a “warning, severe warning, or even Party disqualification. They could be punished with labour with no pay for a month or several months. They may even receive revolutionary re-education.”[18] These regular self-criticism sessions likely have psychological impacts on the population, in a way that strengthens the regime’s control over the population.
 
Similarly, the internal security agencies are a major element of everyday life. According to a 2012 study, the Ministry of State Security (previously known as the State Security Department or SSD) and the Ministry of Social Security (previously known as the Ministry of People’s Security or MPS) employ a total of 260,000 people in a country of 25 million.[19] The Ministry of State Security searches out those accused of disloyalty and other anti-state crimes and runs North Korea’s political prison camps (kwanliso), while the Ministry of Social Security acts as a national police force and operates the long-term prison labor facilities (kyohwaso).[20] Contact with these security services is a part of daily life, and North Koreans have to cooperate with “on-the-spot street inspections where security officials search for anything suspicious.”[21]
 
These searches can be intrusive. One escapee notes how officials would search phones to look for South Korean colloquialisms in text messages as evidence of using foreign media.[22] Furthermore, security services often conduct unannounced raids and searches of people’s homes. These searches do not require warrants and can happen at any time. Officials sometimes cut the electricity supply to a city block and then conduct raids, as the lack of electricity means that VHS tapes would be stuck inside the player.[23] Naturally, as technology has progressed, catching “offenders” is no longer this simple.
 
This is all part of the regime’s efforts to strictly control access to information. Hassig and Oh note that “during the Cold War, citizens of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had more information available to them about life outside their country than North Koreans do today.”[24] Limited knowledge of the outside world solidifies the regime’s hold on power. As technology has developed, it has become easier for North Koreans to access outside information, especially if they have relatives or friends outside of the country. Jung-ok Choi explains how “since we heard from our relatives in China a lot, we knew how China was and how South Korea was all from stories.”[25]
 
Family, Schooling, and Alcohol: "Ordinary" Features of North Korean Life
 
While North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship, there are aspects of life that are recognizable elsewhere. This may manifest itself in the shape of family life, going to school, and even how regular people find entertainment despite the difficult circumstances they are in.
 
Naturally, these tasks can be much more difficult in North Korea due to a lack of investment by the regime in basic infrastructure. For example, washing and maintaining hygiene are not always straightforward. People wash themselves at home using a tank of hot water or visit a public bathhouse.[26] Most North Koreans opt for the public bathhouse, though typically wash once every two weeks. These bathhouses are generally large rooms with a pool of heated water, with people using small buckets to rinse themselves. Clothes are mostly washed by hand using soap, rather than detergent.[27]
 
Attending school in North Korea is also unusual, especially terms of the curriculum and activities. According to Hassig and Oh, the school year begins in April, and the first half hour of school is devoted to political messages.[28] Classes begin at 8am. Students are taught to be “good communists and loyal supporters of the regime” and are instructed in “academic skills necessary to make North Korea a kangsong taeguk [strong and prosperous country].”[29] Interestingly, some students are “exposed to capitalist ideas to prepare them to do business with foreigners,” despite the regime’s hostility toward such ideas.[30] Students engage in community services after school, and they attend self-criticism sessions once or twice a week. These children are also a part of official organizations, such as the Korea Children’s Union for children aged 9 to 13.[31]
 
Family life can be a challenge in North Korea. Before 1988, upon having a baby, mothers were given 10kg of rice and other benefits to help feed the baby, such as powders and formulas.[32] This has now been phased out, making it harder for mothers to feed their young children. Additionally, John Everard, the former British Ambassador to North Korea, describes how “all the homes described to me seemed to be very crowded. Several of my friends talked about the intricacies of getting out in the morning – carefully sequenced breakfasts and use of space to dress to ensure that nobody was late for work or for school.”[33] Multiple families sometimes share the same unit.
 
The difficulties of starting a family because of restrictions on space and state help are likely compounded by extremely conservative social attitudes. Ji-min Kang speaks of the North Korean education system’s failure to teach sex education, and how sex is the “forbidden fruit that can destroy one’s wealth and power.”[34] The absence of sex education and lack of information about contraceptives means that there are great social difficulties when unexpected pregnancies happen outside of marriage. Sex before marriage is frowned upon, especially so in rural provinces, where even holding hands in public is not deemed socially acceptable.[35]
 
Nonetheless, North Koreans are much more liberal when it comes to alcohol and leisure. Even children have been known to partake in beer drinking, according to North Korean escapees like Je-son Lee.[36] Tudor explains how “Eumjugamu--drinking, singing, and dancing--are part of Korea’s heritage, and have been for centuries. So when North Koreans drink, music will never be far away.”[37] For young North Koreans, this may come in the shape of using abandoned buildings and dancing to South Korean music, an activity that is strictly forbidden by the regime.[38] Purchasing alcohol is relatively simple. Lee explains that one can obtain alcohol by going to the factory and paying in cash, or by going to a local market where you can find domestic, imported, and home-brewed alcohol. While this is illegal, Lee explains that “the authorities cannot control it.”[39]
 
Criminal Activity and Law-Breaking as "Ordinary"
 
Lee’s description of illegally purchasing alcohol is one of several prohibited activities that happen regularly. Law-breaking is extremely common. According to Changyong Choi’s “Everyday Politics” in North Korea, “every interviewee, regardless of occupation, age, and gender, answered that he or she had participated in a legal or illegal market activity and testified that ‘it was impossible to live without the market, and all the necessities were purchased from the market.’”[40]
 
As a result of the failure of the Public Distribution System, North Koreans engage in private market activity to survive. Residents of urban areas trade with China, and some people are able to make money, especially in Pyongyang, by selling imported shoes and famous brands.[41] One North Korean escapee explains that he would pay to take leave from his work and earn up to 300,000 won in a month, a much higher figure than he would otherwise have received.[42] Private enterprise and market activity also extend to food. People may try to plant their own fields, though these are stifled upon discovery by officials.[43]
 
Consumption of foreign media is a similarly prevalent illegal activity that ordinary North Koreans enjoy. Chinese and South Korean dramas are the most popular, and they make up the bulk of the foreign content consumed in North Korea. Williams states that “the lowest-risk material includes movies from countries such as China, India, and Russia. These pose a low threat as their story lines are rarely political and the countries are not judged to be hostile to North Korea […] the riskiest content includes anything that is anti-regime, religious, explores or attacks the Kim family, and all pornography.”[44]
 
The regime has recently intensified measures to restrict and punish the consumption of outside information. In December 2020, the regime passed a law designed to reject “reactionary ideology and culture.” This involved harsher punishments for “offenders” such as fines or even sentences in prison camps for distributing or consuming foreign media.[45] The new anti-reactionary law is particularly notable for its application of the death penalty, unlike other existing laws, demonstrating how the regime’s policy has escalated in response to the influx of foreign media.[46] In May 2022, an individual was accused by authorities of distributing South Korean media and executed. Similarly, in April 2023, a military officer was executed in public in Pyongyang for distributing information about world news.[47]
 
In tandem with these illegal activities is the high prevalence of bribes. Williams notes that “local officials are most likely to accept bribes, especially when the alleged crimes involve relatively common illicit content such as Chinese television dramas,” although things become more complicated if provincial or national level officers get involved and if the content is of a seriously illegal background.[48] Similarly, it is common for illegal private business owners to make connections with people within the military and bribe them to use officially registered vehicles for their business.[49]
 
On the other hand, there is some debate as to whether bribery can be considered ordinary. While it is certainly widespread, the typical cost of bribes raises the question of who can afford to pay them. For example, one North Korean escapee notes that a bribe should be at least $2 to $3, but it would be much better to offer between $10 and $50. This is much higher than the 40-50 U.S. cents that the average worker earns per month. Another North Korean says that “if you’re not rich then it’s really hard for you to even dare to watch” illegal content, as the bribe to avoid punishment would be too high.[50]
 
Life in Pyongyang as a "Lesser Elite"
 
Robert Collins’ Pyongyang Republic offers great insight to life in the capital city. One of the groups he discusses are the "lesser elite" of North Korea.[51] These individuals experience neither the luxury of the top elite nor the poverty that is common in the northern provinces. From this perspective, the lesser elite can be considered “ordinary” in a broader sense.
 
The lesser elite are usually Party members who hold low positions in government, though they may also work at factories or in agriculture.[52] While these positions are poorly renumerated, it is still much more wealth than can be observed in the rural areas of North Korea. Collins highlights that the lesser elite still feel “fortunate” to live in Pyongyang, and residency here is “paramount to their calculus of survival, because of access to some food, healthcare, and higher quality education for their children.”[53] Life can still be difficult for these people, and the difference between the lesser elite and the upper elite is considerable.
 
Despite the relative wealth that the lesser elite experience in Pyongyang, they also face challenges. Access to food can be problematic. As Collins explains, “even in Pyongyang, there is not enough food for every resident,” and they do not have steady running water, electricity, or heating.[54] When Dong-hyun Lee was living in Pyongyang, he found a woman and a child outside the entrance of his home who had died of hunger. After reporting the deaths, he was shocked by how blasé the response from the authorities was. He also had already found out that morning that there had been multiple reports of dead people on the street.[55] Securing food is not always an easy task, even for the relatively wealthy in Pyongyang.
 
Housing is another area where the lesser elite experience some challenges. While their housing is often better than housing in rural areas, it is still by no means particularly good. Housing is in short supply in Pyongyang, and families live in two-room apartments. Those who have just married may wait years before they have their own apartment. The buildings that the lesser elite live in are often poorly constructed and older. Access to higher quality housing is based on one's songbun, as is the case with all aspects of life in North Korea.[56]
 
There are unique features to ordinary life in Pyongyang as a lesser elite. For example, residents are required to take part in political events, such as observing military parades and carrying out chores like street cleaning.[57] This takes place far more frequently than in the provinces. Additionally, political control and surveillance is much stronger in Pyongyang, making it harder for those in the city to engage in illicit market activity or consume foreign media. Interestingly, when purchasing things in Pyongyang, very rarely is the price asked for in the local currency. The upper elite will ask for the price in U.S. dollars, while those at the middle level will request the price in Chinese currency. Only the poor in Pyongyang ask for prices in North Korean won.[58]
 
Concluding Remarks
 
Identifying what is “ordinary” in North Korea is difficult, given the unusual nature of the Kim regime. Nevertheless, there are some themes and experiences that can be understood as “ordinary.” Ordinary life in North Korea is difficult, often characterized by hardship and lack of essentials. Lack of food and adequate housing, as well as extremely high levels of political coercion, constitute the central features of life in North Korea.
 
In these circumstances, there is still space to observe what may be considered “ordinary” parts of life in other countries, including finding time for family and relationships, for example. Activities that are outlawed by the regime, including the consumption of foreign media, are also a part of ordinary life in North Korea.
 
To improve the quality of life for ordinary North Koreas, there must be a more equitable distribution of the country’s resources, especially to the country’s rural areas. The kleptocratic nature of the Kim regime will, however, make this difficult. The international community must seek creative ways to ensure the North Korean people’s fundamental human rights, and to improve the human security situation for the ordinary people of North Korea.

Daniel McDowall is a Master of Global Affairs student at the University of Toronto with a concentration in global security issues and international diplomacy.

[1] Robert Collins, South Africa’s Apartheid and North Korea’s Songbun: Parallels in Crimes Against Humanity (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2021), 74.
[2] World Food Programme, DPR Korea Country Brief, December 2021. https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000135453/download/?_ga=2.237313792.1492437778.1687791406-1580620096.1687791406.
[3] Marcus Noland, Sherman Robinson, and Tao Wang, “Famine in North Korea: Causes and Cures,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 49, no. 4 (2001): 743.
[4] Robert Collins, Pyongyang Republic: North Korea’s Capital of Human Rights Denial (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2016), 66.
[5] Rita Bhatia, “Food Shortages and Nutrition in North Korea,” The Lancet 360 (2002): 27.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Sandra Fahy, Marching Through Suffering: Loss and Survival in North Korea (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015), 86–87.
[8] Ibid., 25. Young-mi Park was 65 years old at the time of the interview.
[9] UN Human Rights Council, Report of the detailed findings of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, UN Doc. A/HRC/25/CRP.1, February 7, 2014, 172–73.
[10] Jack Goodman and Alistair Coleman, “North Korea: Why Doesn’t it Have Enough Food This Year?,” BBC News, June 23, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/57524614.
[11] Ibid.; “North Korea’s Dire Food Shortage May Become More Acute,” The Economist, July 6, 2022. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/07/06/north-koreas-dire-food-shortage-may-become-more-acute.
[12] “North Koreans Tell BBC They are Stuck and Waiting to Die,” BBC News, June 15, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiviOdWDl9o.
[13] Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh, The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009), 95.
[14] Fahy, Marching Through Suffering, 31.
[15] Ibid., 32.
[16] Changyong Choi, “‘Everyday Politics’ in North Korea,” Journal of Asian Studies 72, no. 3 (2013): 661.
[17] Martyn Williams, Digital Trenches: North Korea’s Information Counter-Offensive (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2019), 22.
[18] Robert Collins, North Korea’s Organization and Guidance Department: The Control Tower of Human Rights Denial (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2019), 112.
[19] Ken Gause, Coercion, Control, Surveillance, and Punishment: An Examination of the North Korean Police State (Washington, D.C.: Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012), 17, 27.
[20] Ibid, 17–18, 26.
[21] Williams, Digital Trenches, 12.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Hassig and Oh, The Hidden People of North Korea, 134.
[25] Fahy, Marching Through Suffering, 62.
[26] Andrei Lankov, North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea (London: McFarland and Company, 2007), 97.
[27] Ibid., 98.
[28] Hassig and Oh, The Hidden People of North Korea, 257.
[29] Ibid., 154.
[30] Ibid., 156.
[31] Ibid., 98.
[32] Fahy, Marching Through Suffering, 22.
[33] John Everard, Only Beautiful, Please: A British Diplomat in North Korea (Stanford: The Walter Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Centre, 2012), 4–5.
[34] Daniel Tudor, Ask a North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives Inside the World’s Most Secretive Nation (Tokyo: Tuttle, 2017), 205.
[35] Ibid., 201–3.
[36] Ibid., 220.
[37] Ibid., 218.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Ibid., 219.
[40] Choi, “‘Everyday Politics’ in North Korea,” 659.
[41] Ibid.
[42] Ibid., 665.
[43] Fahy, Marching Through Suffering, 46.
[44] Williams, Digital Trenches, 8.
[45] Josh Smith, “North Korea Cracks Down on Foreign Media, Speaking Styles,” Reuters, January 19, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-media/north-korea-cracks-down-on-foreign-media-speaking-styles-idUSKBN29P0C4.
[46] Sang Yong Lee, “North Korea’s War Against Outside Information and Culture,” 38 North, May 25, 2023. https://www.38north.org/2023/05/north-koreas-war-against-outside-information-and-culture/.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Williams, Digital Trenches, 6.
[49] Choi, “‘Everyday Politics’ in North Korea,” 659.
[50] Williams, Digital Trenches, 7.
[51] Collins, Pyongyang Republic, 33.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Ibid., 37.
[54] Ibid., 37, 43.
[55] Fahy, Marching Through Suffering, 109.
[56] Collins, Pyongyang Republic, 59–60; Hassig and Oh, The Hidden People of North Korea, 128.
[57] Collins, Pyongyang Republic, 74.
[58] Ibid., 72.