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More articles by 'Peter Ward'
A war on words: Kim Jong Un’s Orwellian crackdown on talking like South Koreans
A new North Korean law polices intonation, jargon and more in futile effort to curtail ‘the puppet way of speaking’
The other Korean demographic crisis: Unmasking North Korea’s population data
DPRK has likely fudged numbers since 90s famine, a finding that impacts assessments of military and economic strength
One step forward, two back: North Korea’s confounding new financial reforms
Reports suggest regional banks have more power than ever, even as state reigns in market mechanisms on national level
Poker face: North Korea tries new strategy in crackdown on ‘bluffing’ and lying
Penalties for poor performance and inability to fact check has made false reporting endemic, analysis of new law shows
Don’t have a cow, man? Now North Korean farmers can get one at oxen marketplace
Recent DPRK law creates legal market for the draft animal in the most significant agricultural reform in years
How North Korea’s decrepit tax system encourages illicit market activity
Poor collection mechanisms cannot fund state largesse, incentivizing even the military to seek cash from elsewhere
Friendship and family networks are key to getting outside info to North Koreans
Autocratic regimes atomize communities and increase suspicion, but some spaces are safer for sharing illicit info
Why Kim Jong Un’s farming ‘revolution’ will do little to curb food insecurity
At latest plenum, North Korea promised bright communist future but refused to address chronic structural issues
How North Korean state firms bend the rules to rake in cash from market activity
Newly revealed DPRK law details crackdown on use of special privileges to dodge taxes, embezzle funds and more
Blurred lines: Inside North Korea’s messy business ecosystem
Both state power and market forces shape the DPRK economy in ways that are only now coming into focus
