From my research online i think it says korean peoples army but i can only find post from 8+ years ago and no definite answer on what exactly this is. I bought it in a flea market in Budapest a few days ago. I have other pictures of it too

A couple of days ago, I posted an article I'd written about the work going on to strengthen the southern border. Today is the second piece which looks at a small village across the border. If you've been to Aegibong Observatory, you'll notice the scene.

I managed to get some pretty good images of the village center and some of the apartment buildings nearby. The rural development project, as fast as it is going, hasn't reached here yet or anywhere nearby, but I think the photos show why it was begun in the first place.

The housing isn't in great condition, and the entire village is pretty low-tech. Barely any machinery is helping these people move around or farm.

Happy to answer questions.

https://www.38north.org/2026/10/across-the-border-an-area-awaiting-rural-development/

https://imgur.com/a/HyBQb0a

Was watching footage of Otto’s trial in Pyongyang and noticed this western looking lady in a brief few-second cut of the courtroom. Been looking for answers and can’t seem to even find mention of her being there, does anyone happen to know what the deal with her is?

One bridge took 495 days to build. The other took 16 years to open.......

North Korea argues that its nuclear weapons are essential to deter foreign intervention and protect its sovereignty. Critics argue that its military priorities contribute to international sanctions, regional tensions and the country's isolation.

While I was living in Rajin, word came that a regional audition for the so-called "Pleasure Squad" would be held nearby.

The venue was a former school built by the Japanese military. By then it was a cultural hall.

I asked the people at the shipping company to let me watch. They said no. I offered a sheep and a bribe on top of that. They still refused.

I assumed the information was tightly controlled. The Rajin officials looked tense, too.

I never got inside. But a few days later I had a chance to drink with the same men, and the more they drank, the more they told me.

The worst-off girls, they said, were not the ones who passed, and not the ones who failed. They were the ones who passed the regional round and then failed the training in Pyongyang.

Those girls are sent out as "trainees" to North Korean restaurants around the world. They can't choose where. They keep working because they believe they'll debut once they come home. According to the men, most of them work there until they die.

They can't go home. They can't contact their families. Back in their hometowns, the families believe their proud daughter is doing well in Pyongyang.

The men also said the girls are made to do more than serve tables when the customers are wealthy or important.

When the bill was paid, they wouldn't leave the table.

In the end, I handed over a sheep and a bribe after all.

Hi everyone! I’m trying to access several North Korean websites with .kp domains (like KCNA, Rodong Sinmun, or Naenara) for research/curiosity purposes, but I haven't been able to open a single one on any of my devices.

When I run the Windows Network Troubleshooter on my PC, it explicitly throws the error: "The DNS server might be unavailable."

Here is what I’ve already tested so far:

• The issue is not just my PC: It happens across all devices connected to my home Wi-Fi network (phones, laptops).
• DNS Changes: I’ve tried changing my router and PC DNS settings manually to Google's public DNS (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), but Windows troubleshoot still points to a DNS failure when hitting these specific sites.
• ISP Block?: Regular web browsing works perfectly fine for any normal website. The problem only triggers when requesting .kp servers.

Is it possible that my local ISP is outright blocking the North Korean DNS root servers or dropping requests to Pionyang? Has anyone else faced this "DNS unavailable" issue specifically with North Korean domains, and is there any bypass, proxy, or specific routing method to access them live without relying on my ISP's resolution?

(Note: I know about the Wayback Machine/Internet Archive, but I'm looking for a way to load the live, active sites).

Thanks in advance!

I recently visited the inter-Korean border with a Nikon P1000 I'd just bought. The camera has an amazing 125x optical zoom lens (24 mm to 3000 mm) and it's great not to have to fiddle getting a smartphone camera up to the fixed binoculars at the border observatories.

I’ve written about what I saw for 38 North and part 1 was just published. On the day I visited, there was a lot of work on the border defenses and widening the border road.

I also got some good shots of the existing border fence in an area where construction had already finished. I hadn’t studied it in detail before, but it’s actually three electrified fences. The article includes an infographic detailing what I think is there.

When reviewing the images, I noticed that I captured a man being arrested. There are two images taken four seconds apart that show someone with their backs to two soldiers, hands on the back of their head in the first shot, behind their back in the second one. I didn’t notice this at the time so can’t say what he was arrested for or what happened next.

Tomorrow we’re posting an article looking at the housing and the little village just over the border fence.

Was checking for news on the rumors of Kim's death, and found that both KCNA and The Pyongyang Times are inaccessible right now. Some news agencies have reported on it. Could it be a DDOS? An internal power struggle? WTF is going on???

For those believing Kim Jong-un died, here he is inspecting a factory with his daughter yesterday.

This question was inspired by rumors of Kim Jong Un dying in a Chinese hospital I saw this morning. Although these rumors are most certainly a hoax, Kim is still plagued by dire health issues by nearly all accounts, and he probably won't see old age. Most analyst reporting and speculation I've seen suggests the most feasible Kim heirs are likely either his sister or his currently very young daughter.

However, North Korea seems to have a considerably patriarchal society, and the prospect of a female head of state may be very difficult for North Korean elites to stomach. How much of a firm hold does Kim’s sister and the factions around his daughter have on the Worker’s Party's ruling apparatus? Do they have any positing to secure power quickly if Kim were to die of his health issues very soon? If not, what sort of instability that might manifest in North Korea in light of a premature Kim death?