North Korea broke out of its pandemic isolation this year with a number of surprises up its sleeve, ready to fire missiles, launch satellites, throw grand parades and reinforce alliances.

But as eventful as 2023 was for the DPRK, the country remained impossible to visit for most outsiders, and it continued to be a challenge to peer past the curtain of propaganda to assess what’s actually happening on the ground.

Even so, data on everything from appearances by Kim Jong Un’s daughter to the number of tons of wigs exported to China helps to