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 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
Ask a North Korean: Can North Korean couples get divorced?
DPRK society has become more accepting of divorce over the years, but this hasn’t made getting one much easier
Ask a North Korean: What is North Korea like for people with disabilities?
A defector shares how her father carried her paraplegic mother on his back to escape injustices in DPRK
Ask a North Korean: What are working hours like in the DPRK?
The state frames labor as a form of war and gives workers little rest, wringing out everything it can from citizens
