Ask A North Korean
Your chance to ask questions to North Koreans about life growing up in the DPRK
Ask a North Korean: What impact do defectors have on North Korean society?
"The families and relatives of defectors, who were once despised, are now admired"
Ask a North Korean: what kind of traditional culture still exists in the DPRK?
"Stop laughing and listen! This fortuneteller is really good, she figures things out well"
Ask a North Korean: What is the ‘songbun’ system like under Kim Jong Un?
"The songbun system exists in name only for many"
Ask a North Korean: how did N. Koreans react to Moon’s 2018 visit to Pyongyang?
"Whether it's a summit with the U.S. or South Korea, people just dismiss it as political theater"
Ask a North Korean: smuggling goods and helping escapees across the Yalu River
"God, please help me live. Help me not get washed away by the force of the current...."
Ask a North Korean: is anyone genuinely loyal to the ruling Kims anymore?
"With my body in chains, I learned that the culprits of our suffering were the incapable leadership"
Ask a North Korean: introducing the “Smuggler Kingpin” of Hyesan
The story of our second new contributor, from starving taekwondo teacher to TV smuggler
Ask a North Korean: from middle-class life to famine and freedom
Introducing a new writer, a former resident of Hyesan, Ryanggang-do
Inter-Korean family reunions: a defector’s perspective
"If it took these people 70 years, how long will it take for me to see my family in the North?"
Ask a North Korean: how do you feel about Moon Jae-in’s policies so far?
"I'm the very first in my family to publicly and freely write about my leader"