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Sun, April 22, 2018 | 08:16

Opinion > Columnists > Andrei Lankov >

Facts and rumors in N. Korea

By Andrei Lankov So, the world media recently treated us with a gruesome story: the prominent North Korean singer, Hyon Song-wol, as well as a number of other North Korean actors and actresses, was reportedly executed for her involvement with the clandestine production of pornographic movies.It has been frequently added that the poor girl was a former girlfriend of Supreme Leader Marshall Kim Jong-un, so her death looks even more tragic (and, of course, there is a hint that Kim’s current paramour, Yi Sol-ju is somehow behind the incident).So, should we feel pity about the sorry fa...

2013-09-08 17:20

N. Korea's war theatrics

As most of readers will still vividly remember, the world media assured us that the Korean Peninsula was on the brink of war five months ago.

2013-08-25 17:12

Household checks in N. Korea

Imagine that you are a North Korean - well, let's say it just happened that you were born in that very peculiar country.

2013-08-11 17:42

Education in N. Korea

When it comes to education, North Korea is clearly lagging well behind its southern rival and other developed countries, but it is doing exceptionally well for a country whose income is roughly equivalent to that of Mozambique or Ghana. The college admission rate in North Korea is a respectable 15 percent. In other words, North Korea is a remarkably well-educated country considering its extremely low income level.

2013-07-28 17:02

Kim Jong-il's private life

Recently, the South Korean media, citing unnamed sources in the North Korean bureaucracy, reported that Kim Ok (the former wife of the now deceased dictator Kim Jong-il) has been removed from all her official positions. The same fate is also said to have befallen her father Kim Hyo who was the deputy head of the Korean Worker’s Party’s finance department.

2013-07-14 17:17

Koreas and China

Over the last 15 years or so, China has been the major variable when it comes to analyzing and understanding the North Korean question. Indeed, China has all but monopolized North Korea’s foreign trade - making up some 85 percent of total. In recent years, it has remained almost the sole provider of aid to North Korea as well.

2013-06-30 17:07

Nouveau riche in Pyongyang

For readers of Western media, the usual image of North Korea is that of a starving Stalinist state, a place where the people, clad in rags, march through colourless streets completely devoid of traffic.

2013-06-16 17:10

Bosses and bourgeoisie

North Korea has got its bourgeoisie - and in North Korean terms it is relatively large in number and powerful. The North Korean rich class was born amid the devastation of the 1990s, when dead bodies could be seen alongside countryside roads and when the grand edifice of control collapsed almost overnight.

2013-06-02 17:25

Why did they close Gaeseong?

In early April, the North Korean government did something it had not dared to do before: it recalled all North Korean workers from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex - by far the largest inter-Korean economic project.

2013-05-19 17:12

No longer a Stalinist state

Even though North Korea is often described as a "Stalinist" nation, this label has long become anachronistic. The last 15 years have seen the dramatic rise of the market economy in the North.

2013-05-05 17:20

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Missile attack on Syria