DPRK blues: How I ended up working in development in North Korea | NK News
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October 04, 2026Oct 04, 2026

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DPRK blues: How I ended up working in development in North Korea

In the first part of a series, former NGO staffer writes about arriving in the North

This is the first part of a weekly series written by a former development worker in North Korea. 

When I turned 31, and my career as a performer looked like it would finally take off, I decided to abandon the stage and went to work as an aid worker in the DPRK.

The news of my departure was welcomed by various kinds of reactions, none of them enthusiastic. Nevertheless, on June 29 2012, I took off.

Kim Jong Il had unexpectedly died six months before, and his third son, the 29-year-old Kim Jong Un, had succeeded without having time to