Many North Korea watchers think Asia Press is the best source for getting information from inside North Korea.

Founded in 1987, Asia Press is a network of freelance journalists, mainly from Asian countries, reporting from regions of conflict like Iraq or Syria. Ishimaru Jiro, the chief of the North Korean team, based for most of the year out of Osaka, operates the website and publishes Rimjin-gang based on sources in North Korea.

NK News spoke to Ishimaru during his visit to Seoul for a conference on inter-Korean broadcasting and communications. Ishimaru told NK Newsthat he decided to form a