NK News is an

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subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C. and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Reporting is based on information collected from in-country sources, recently returned western visitors to North Korea, stories filed by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), interviews with defectors, and reports published by NGOs and western governments. The site's founder and Managing Director is Chad O'Carroll, a former employee of the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the ...

, who has written on North Korea and North Korea issues for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''.

Regular features

* ''Ask a North Korean'': a forum whereby readers can submit questions about daily life in North Korea which are answered by a panel of four defectors. The column covering Jang Song-thaek's execution received particular attention. * ''Expert Survey'': in which various Korean and Western experts on the politics, economics and history of North Korea provide answers to a questionnaire covering various aspects of North Korea's current situation and future prospects. * ''Defector Survey'': asking various North Korean defectors about daily life inside North Korea and their opinions on subjects such as tourism in North Korea, foreign aid and the things that defectors miss most after leaving. In 2015, NK News held a

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fundraising drive to pay to send an investigative journalist to the China–North Korea border. The reporter is expected to provide regular dispatches from the region over the coming months.

Subscription

NK News' sister platform, NK Pro, goes beyond the function of a news outlet and also provides subscription-based data analysis tools designed for use by experts and analysts in public and private sector research and analysis postings. These tools include the North Korea Leadership Tracker, the North Korea Ship Tracker, the North Korea Aviation Tracker, Leading Indicators, and KCNA Watch. KCNA Watch, however, has been criticized for providing incomplete archives of North Korean websites in comparison to those of the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

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and web caches of various

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Media coverage

NK News gained international headlines in November 2012 for its "North Korean Leadership Tracker," which presents a graphic visualization of every event

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Ki ...

and his son

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

have attended since 1994. The following year, NK News was credited with breaking news of a purported North Korean "strike plan" against U.S. targets, based on analysis of a photo published by North Korean media, and the site was subsequently named by KTXL news anchor Paul Robins as his "pick of the day." Other scoops include the identification of Kim Jong-un's US$7 million yacht and images proving the date of the 2014 Pyongyang apartment collapse. NK News stories have been cited by ''

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'', ''

Österreich Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ci ...

'', ''

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'', and others. Since 2014, NK News also operates a content syndication agreement with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'', with various articles being published on ''The Guardian'' NK website.

Controversies

In early 2014, NK News was partially blocked by the government of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, ostensibly for violating the nation's National Security Law, a censorship regulation that prohibits some reports originating from North Korea. In November 2014, NK News published a series of accusations by the former

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

stringer Nate Thayer, suggesting that the AP bureau in Pyongyang had signed secret agreements with the North Korean government that compromised its journalistic independence and integrity. AP denied the reports, and said that Thayer was merely a disgruntled former employee. NK News has been accused of being a front for the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

by members of the

Korean Friendship Association The Korean Friendship Association (KFA, es, Asociación de Amistad con Corea) is a Spain-based friendship association with North Korea. The KFA was established in November 2000. It claims to have official representatives in 34 countries. The K ...

, which is a Spain-based friendship association with North Korea.

Journalists

Japanese journalist Kosuke Takahashi is a contributor to the site. Alek Sigley, an Australian national who was a graduate student of Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University, contributed articles about daily life in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

. In June 2019, Sigley was detained and deported after being accused of espionage. The following year, he would go on to deny these charges and claimed that his confession was coerced.

References

External links

* {{Media specialized on news and/or analysis about North Korea American news websites Internet properties established in 2011 Organizations specializing in North Korean issues North Korean studies