Ask A North Korean
Your chance to ask questions to North Koreans about life growing up in the DPRK
Ask a North Korean: How do public utilities work in the DPRK?
An escapee writes about gathering wood to heat homes, fetching water from wells and how the state collects utility fees
Ask a North Korean: What is the legal system like in the DPRK?
A defector writes about corrupt traffic police, the importance of bribes and the Kim regime’s disregard for rule of law
Ask a North Korean: What is English-language education like in the DPRK?
An escapee writes about the materials he used to learn and how his English skills were put to the test in South Korea
Ask a North Korean: How do people get where they need to go in the DPRK?
An escapee writes about trains, planes and automobiles and why the main form of transportation is one’s own two legs
Ask a North Korean: Why a party propagandist decided to escape the DPRK
Soo-ah went from warning citizens about the false promise of defecting to crossing the Yalu River to flee to the South
Ask a North Korean: What was it like working in Russia during the pandemic?
Former overseas worker recounts regime’s orders to follow strict COVID rules and threats to treat violators as traitors
Ask a North Korean: What are friendships like in the DPRK?
A defector writes about her difficulties making friends and why keeping secrets is so important for relationships
Ask a North Korean: Does North Korea really carry out public executions?
A defector writes about witnessing someone sentenced to death and why the regime ‘kills the chicken to warn the monkey’
Ask a North Korean: What is forced labor like in North Korea?
A defector writes about being forced to work even as an elementary school student and the trauma it left him with
Ask a North Korean: How do North Koreans spend their time?
A defector writes about daily routines and the supremacy of work, and why DPRK citizens don’t even think about hobbies
