NK News

Last updated
NK News
NK News Logo.svg
Type of site
 News website
Available inEnglish
FoundedApril 2010;14 years ago (2010-04)
OwnerNK Consulting, Inc.
CEOChad O’Carroll
URL www.nknews.org
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched2011
Current statusActive

NK News is an American subscription-based news website that provides stories and analysis about North Korea. Established in 2011, it is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea with reporters in Washington, D.C., and London. [1] 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, who has written on North Korea and North Korea issues for The Daily Telegraph . [2] [3]

Contents

Regular features

In 2015, NK News held a Kickstarter 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.[ needs update ]

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. [7] KCNA Watch, however, has been criticized for providing incomplete archives of North Korean websites in comparison to those of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and web caches of various search engines. [8] Free of charge, KCNA Watch allows users to watch both archives and live streams of Korean Central Television. [9]

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 and his son Kim Jong-un have attended since 1994. [10] [11] 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, [12] and the site was subsequently named by KTXL news anchor Paul Robins as his "pick of the day." [13]

Other scoops include the identification of Kim Jong-un's US$7 million yacht [14] and images proving the date of the 2014 Pyongyang apartment collapse. [15] NK News stories have been cited by USA Today , [16] Österreich , Business Insider , and others.

Since 2014, NK News also operates a content syndication agreement with The Guardian , 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, ostensibly for violating the nation's National Security Law, a censorship regulation that prohibits some reports originating from North Korea. [17]

In November 2014, NK News published a series of accusations by the former Associated Press 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. [18] AP denied the reports, and said that Thayer was merely a disgruntled former employee. [19]

NK News has been accused of being a front for the CIA by members of the Korean Friendship Association, which is a Spain-based friendship association with North Korea. [20]

Journalists

Japanese journalist Kosuke Takahashi is a contributor to the site. [21]

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. [22] In June 2019, Sigley was detained and deported after being accused of espionage. [23] The following year, he would go on to deny these charges and claimed that his confession was coerced. [24]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean Central News Agency</span> North Korean state news agency

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) (Korean: 조선중앙통신) is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features online coverage.

<i>Rodong Sinmun</i> Official newspaper of North Korea

Rodong Sinmun is a North Korean newspaper that serves as the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. It was first published on 1 November 1945, as Chŏngro, serving as a communication channel for the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea; it was renamed in September 1946. Quoted frequently by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and international media, it is regarded as a source of official North Korean viewpoints on many issues.

The mass media in North Korea is amongst the most strictly controlled in the world. The constitution nominally provides for freedom of speech and the press. However, the government routinely disregards these rights, and seeks to mold information at its source. A typical example of this was the death of Kim Jong Il, news of which was not divulged until two days after it occurred. Kim Jong Un, who replaced his father as the leader, has largely followed in the footsteps of both his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father. However, new technologies are being made more freely available in the country. State-run media outlets are setting up websites, while mobile phone ownership in the country has escalated rapidly. "There is no country which monopolizes and controls successfully the internet and information as North Korea does," said Kang Shin-sam, an expert on North Korean technology and co-head of the International Solidarity for Freedom of Information in North Korea, a nonprofit based in South Korea. North Korea has about four million mobile-phone subscribers circa 2022—roughly one-sixth of the population and four times the number in 2012, according to an estimate by Kim Yon-ho, a senior researcher at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jang Song-thaek</span> North Korean government official (1946–2013)

Jang Song-thaek was a North Korean politician. He was married to Kim Kyong-hui, the only daughter of North Korean premier Kim Il Sung and his first wife Kim Jong Suk, and only sister of North Korean general secretary Kim Jong Il. He was therefore the uncle of the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.

<i>Daily NK</i> South Korean online newspaper

Daily NK is an online newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, where it reports on various aspects of North Korean society from information obtained from inside and outside of North Korea via a network of informants. North Korea is ranked 177 out of 180 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, which is compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyongyang (restaurant chain)</span> North Korean restaurant chain

Pyongyang (Korean: 평양관) is a restaurant chain named after the capital of North Korea, with around 130 locations worldwide. The restaurants are owned and operated by the Haedanghwa Group, an organization of the government of North Korea.

The award system of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was initially created less than one month after the foundation of the Republic. During the years of Japanese occupation of Korea, many of the future leaders fled to the Soviet Union. During World War II many if not close to all party leaders and Korean People's Army commanders served in the Soviet Army and as such adopted many of the Soviet awards criteria for their own. During the late 1940s and until the Sino-Soviet Split in late 1958, orders and titles were made in the Soviet Money Mints in Moscow or Leningrad. Soviet made awards were modeled after Soviet orders and made of sterling silver. Initially the orders were attached to clothing with a screw-plate, but after Soviet production stopped, production was moved to North Korea. The screwback was replaced with a pin and the silver content was replaced with cheap tin. With the exception of a few examples of modern orders, Soviet and Czech KPA awards are the most sought after in current militaria markets.

Kim Kyong-hui is the aunt of current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. She is the daughter of the founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and the sister of the late leader Kim Jong Il. She currently serves as Secretary for Organization of the Workers' Party of Korea. An important member of Kim Jong Il's inner circle of trusted friends and advisors, she was director of the WPK Light Industry Department from 1988 to 2012. She was married to Jang Song-thaek, who was executed in December 2013 in Pyongyang, after being charged with treason and corruption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangyongdae Funfair</span> Amusement park in Mangyongdae-guyok

The Mangyongdae Funfair is an amusement park located in Mangyongdae-guyok, 12 kilometres from Pyongyang, North Korea. It has an area of 70 hectares including a funfair and wading pool. In autumn 2011 the funfair was reported to have little or no Korean patronage. It has been alleged that there is a lack of genuine customers with many visitors being bussed in to the attraction. It had a roller coaster, which, while operational, was in poor repair. There is a merry-go-round and a ridable miniature railway.

Media coverage of North Korea is hampered by an extreme lack of reliable information, coupled with an abundant number of sensationalist falsehoods. There are a number of reasons for this lack of information and incorrect stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Kim Il Sung</span> North Korean award decoration

The Order of Kim Il Sung (Korean: 김일성훈장) is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong Il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of Kim Jong Il</span> North Korean award

The Order of Kim Jong Il is a North Korean order named after Kim Jong Il, the former leader of North Korea. It is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Il Sung, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choe Son-hui</span> North Korean politician (born 1964)

Choe Son-hui is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea. Previously the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, she was appointed Minister on 11 June 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the position and is one of few North Korean women holding a high-level office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Jong Un bibliography</span>

Kim Jong Un has been the supreme leader of North Korea since the death of Kim Jong Il in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Site</span> Designated historical sites in North Korea

Revolutionary Sites (Korean: 혁명사적지) are designated historical sites in North Korea. The sites were designated by Kim Jong Il when he began working at the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1966. He would send troops all over the country to unearth sites that "were supposedly once forgotten and undiscovered". By converting North Korea into a "huge open museum", Kim's goal in designating the sites was to solidify the North Korean cult of personality centered around him and his father Kim Il Sung.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea</span>

The COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea was part of a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). North Korea confirmed its first case on 8 May 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea</span> Current WPK Central Committee

The 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea was elected at the party's 8th Congress on 10 January 2021, and will sit until the convocation of the next party congress. In between party congresses and specially convened conferences the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution in the WPK and North Korea. The Central Committee is not a permanent institution and delegates day-to-day work to the Presidium, the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Central Military Commission and the Central Auditing Commission. It convenes meetings, known as "Plenary Session of the [term] Central Committee", to discuss major policies. Only full members have the right to vote, but if a full member cannot attend a plenary session, the person's spot is taken over by an alternate. Plenary session can also be attended by non-members, such meetings are known as "Enlarged Plenary Session", to participate in the committee's discussions.

Alek Sigley is an Australian national who was detained in North Korea in 2019 on espionage charges.

References

  1. ↑ "About". NK News . Archived from the original on 11 April 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  2. ↑ O'Carroll, Chad (14 January 2014). "North Korea: Kim family's former sushi chef says uncle was executed over 'pleasure brigade'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. ↑ O'Carroll, Chad (6 January 2014). "North Korea's invisible phone, killer dogs and other such stories – why the world is transfixed". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Ask a North Korean: My thoughts on Jang Song Theak’s execution | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-12 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  5. ↑ Expert Surveys | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  6. ↑ Defector Survey 2014 | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  7. ↑ "NK Pro Services". NK News . Archived from the original on 2017-03-10. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  8. ↑ Weiser, Martin (31 October 2016). "On Reading North Korean Media: The Curse of the Web". Sino-NK. Archived from the original on 7 September 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "KOREA CENTRAL TV (LIVESTREAM)". KCNA Watch. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  10. ↑ Branigan, Tania (1 November 2012). "North Korean leadership visualised". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Ramstad, Evan (1 November 2012). "Web Site Presents North Korea Data In Visual Form". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Photo Shows North Korea's 'U.S. Mainland Strike Plan': L.A., D.C. and Austin, Texas". gawker.com. Gawker. Archived from the original on 18 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "The News from North Korea". ktxl.com. KTXL-TV. 3 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  14. ↑ Exclusive: Fit for a princess: Kim Jong Un’s $7m yacht | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-12 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  15. ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Photos confirm date of North Korea building collapse | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-12 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  16. ↑ "Rodman sings happy birthday to N. Korean leader". azcentral.com. AZCentral. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Kim, Young-jin (6 January 2014). "US-based website on NK blocked". Korea Times. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  18. ↑ The Associated Press in North Korea: A Potemkin news bureau? | NK News – North Korea News Archived 2015-07-12 at the Wayback Machine . NK News. Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  19. ↑ Statement from AP on our North Korea bureau Archived 2015-07-13 at the Wayback Machine . Ap.org (2014-12-24). Retrieved on 2015-08-11.
  20. ↑ Hotham, Oliver (11 November 2013). "UK KFA protests South Korean embassy in London". NK News . Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  21. ↑ Takahashi, Kosuke. "About the Author – Kosuke Takahashi". NK News . Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  22. ↑ Sigley, Alek. "About the Author – Alek Sigley". NK News . Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  23. ↑ "Alek Sigley: North Korea accuses Australian of 'spying'". BBC. 6 July 2019. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  24. ↑ "Alek Sigley describes being 'kidnapped' by North Korea and forced to admit to spying". South China Morning Post. Agence France-Presse. 15 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.