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Quotes of the Day:
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't. It's knowing where to go to find out what you need to know; and it's knowing how to use the information you get."
– William Feather
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
"Champions keep playing until they get it right."
– Billie Jean King
1. Lee stresses ties with Japan as vital as China, urges dialogue to ease tensions
2. Police, military launch joint probe into N. Korea's claim of drone incursion
3. North Korea: the elephant in the room when Xi met Lee in Beijing
4. War of words: How to evaluate North Korean claims of another ROK drone incursion
5. North Korea slams US plan to present report on DPRK sanctions violations at UN
6. Defense chief says willing to propose inter-Korean probe over drone incursion claim
7. N. Korea drums up renewable energy use amid sanctions-caused electricity shortage
8. S. Korea, U.S. conduct security training after Osan Air Base gate access update
9. 7 Chinese, US nationals charged with smuggling weapons to North Korea
10. North Korea builds 2nd private car dealership, gaming center in elite district
11. Ex-PPP lawmaker Ihn Yohan calls martial law bid by ex-President Yoon 'humiliating'
12. North Korean workers walk out on Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech demanding more sacrifice
13. North Korea cracks down on tutoring boom as schools prioritize labor over learning
14. Civilian drones raise questions over border surveillance
15. N. Korea unlikely to respond to request for joint probe into drone incident
1. Lee stresses ties with Japan as vital as China, urges dialogue to ease tensions
Summary:
President Lee walks the tightrope. Japan is a democratic friend with shared values, markets, and alliance ties. China is an authoritarian challenger with leverage over trade, geography, and north Korea. Lee avoids choosing, urges dialogue, and frames Seoul as mediator rather than partisan. Yet strategy rarely permits neutrality. The axis of Seoul–Washington–Tokyo tightens amid the Asia-Indo-Pacific rivalry. Beijing watches for drift and punishes alignment. Lee hopes economics and diplomacy can delay the moment of choice, yet history suggests that crises over Taiwan or north Korea would force it. Democracies expect solidarity. Authoritarians demand deference. Few states can satisfy both for long.
Comment: Can a middle power truly “balance” when values and security bind it to one camp while commerce and geography tether it to another, or is balancing simply a way of buying time?
When the choice comes, does a state prioritize shared democratic norms and alliance credibility, or short-term economic stability and proximity to power?
What happens when delay itself becomes a choice that erodes trust with the democratic friend while emboldening the authoritarian challenger’s coercion?
(2nd LD) Lee stresses ties with Japan as vital as China, urges dialogue to ease tensions | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Eun-jung · January 12, 2026
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with latest details; CHANGES headline, photos)
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Monday that South Korea's relations with Japan are as important as those with China and that Seoul does not intend to intervene in tensions between the two Asian neighbors.
Lee made the remarks in an interview with Japan's public broadcaster NHK ahead of his visit to Japan's Nara Prefecture for summit talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The trip comes at a diplomatically delicate time, following Lee's state visit to China for summit talks with President Xi Jinping last week amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan.
Lee said he told Xi during the talks that for South Korea, "relations with Japan are as important as those with China."
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during an interview with Japan's public broadcaster NHK at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2026, in this photo provided by his office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
He noted that Xi holds "a very negative view" of Japan's position on Taiwan, but avoided taking sides on the sensitive issue, which Beijing considers to be related to its core interests.
"For me, this is a matter between China and Japan, not one in which we will deeply engage or intervene," Lee said.
"As conflict and confrontation between China and Japan are not appropriate for peace and stability in Northeast Asia, I hope the two countries will resolve the issue amicably through dialogue," he added.
As his administration seeks to strike a delicate balance between China, South Korea's major economic partner, and the United States, its longstanding ally, Lee reiterated his commitment to trilateral security cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.
"Since there is a basic axis of security cooperation among Korea, the United States and Japan, we will need to move forward with security cooperation in line with that framework," he said.
While acknowledging lingering concerns over mutual trust over historical issues, Lee suggested that the two countries should work together in areas where cooperation is possible amid the shifting geographical dynamics.
"In the complex situation facing Northeast Asia, Korea and Japan are very important to each other in that they share common values and orientation, and should complement each other's shortcomings," Lee said.
Lee also welcomed Takaichi's expression of intent to hold talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted to the North, stressing that dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington, as well as between Pyongyang and Tokyo, is vital to peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
"I think it would be good for Japan and North Korea to develop relations based on dialogue and communicate and if necessary, to move toward establishing diplomatic ties," he said, noting he would like to play a role in helping create conditions for such progress.
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during an interview with Japan's public broadcaster NHK at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2026, in this photo provided by his office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
Regarding South Korea's ban on seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures, Lee said the issue needs to be addressed "over the long term," as it requires the trust of the Korean people and therefore cannot be resolved in the short term.
Lee said the issue is a major item on Seoul's diplomatic agenda as it seeks Tokyo's support for its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The CPTPP is a multilateral trade pact led by Japan that currently includes 12 members, including Australia and several countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
South Korea imposed the ban in 2013 over radiation concerns following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and has vowed to keep the restrictions in place until public concerns are fully eased.
Lee's upcoming trip will mark his fifth summit with a Japanese prime minister since taking office last June. He held three rounds of talks with Takaichi's predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and held his first summit with Takaichi in October on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju.
Lee will visit the ancient city of Nara, Takaichi's hometown, as part of reciprocal leader-level visits dubbed "shuttle diplomacy" aimed at sustaining recent momentum in improved relations.
The upcoming talks are expected to cover regional and global issues, including North Korea, as well as cooperation in the economy, society and culture, Cheong Wa Dae said.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Kim Eun-jung · January 12, 2026
2. Police, military launch joint probe into N. Korea's claim of drone incursion
Summary:
South Korean police and military launched a joint probe after north Korea accused Seoul of drone incursions in September and on January 4. The defense ministry denies involvement, suggesting private actors instead. Experts say the drones shown by the North use cheap commercial parts, resembling Chinese-made Skywalker models.
(LEAD) Police, military launch joint probe into N. Korea's claim of drone incursion | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Chae Yun-hwan · January 12, 2026
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260112006451315
(ATTN: ADDS details in last 3 paras)
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- Police and military officials launched a joint investigation Monday to investigate North Korea's claims of drone incursions across the inter-Korean border.
On Saturday, the North's military claimed that South Korea violated the North's sovereignty by sending drones into its territory in September and on Jan. 4, but Seoul's defense ministry denied the claim.
The joint team of some 30 police and military officials has started investigating the alleged incursions, according to the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation.
South Korea's military has denied sending the drones or operating the models allegedly found in the North, raising the possibility that private entities may have been behind them.
Police are reportedly prioritizing looking into past cases involving drones similar to the model unveiled by North Korea.
Experts have rejected the drones in question were operated by the military, saying they appear to use low-cost commercial parts unfit for military purposes.
Some have said the drones appear similar to a model from Chinese drone manufacturer Skywalker Technology.
People watch a TV news report on North Korea's claims of drone incursions by South Korea being aired at Seoul Station in central Seoul on Jan. 11, 2026. (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Chae Yun-hwan · January 12, 2026
3. North Korea: the elephant in the room when Xi met Lee in Beijing
Summary:
Xi Jinping and Lee Jae Myung restored tone, not strategy. Lee endorsed one-China language from the 1992 communiqué, declared 2026 the year to “fully restore” ties, and signed economic, digital, and cultural deals, yet north Korea stayed off the formal agenda. Beijing mentioned neither denuclearisation nor sanctions, while Lee later said Xi urged “patience” and asked China to mediate. Analysts see mismatched expectations: Seoul wants Chinese leverage on Pyongyang, Beijing wants more distance from Washington. With Lee heading next to Japan, China worries about tighter U.S., ROK, Japan cooperation, so both sides advance cautiously through low-risk cultural and economic engagement.
North Korea: the elephant in the room when Xi met Lee in Beijing
Lee Jae Myung and Xi Jinping found common ground on ‘one China’ but there was no word on what to do about Pyongyang
Published: 6:00pm, 10 Jan 2026
The leaders of South Korea and China wrapped up a summit this week with both underlining support for one of Beijing’s diplomatic priorities but making no tangible progress on North Korea, Seoul’s main concern.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday for a high-stakes summit held just over nine weeks after their first meeting.
During the trip, Lee declared 2026 as the year for the “full restoration of South Korea-China relations” and Xi vowed to facilitate “more frequent exchanges and closer communication”.
The two countries also finalised more than 10 cooperation agreements spanning areas such as industrial exchanges, digital technology, intellectual property and environmental collaboration.
According to Beijing, South Korea said it respected China’s core interests and major concerns and remained committed to the one-China policy, with Lee referring directly to the 1992 joint communique that formalised diplomatic ties between the two nations.
The communique states that Seoul respects Beijing’s position that there is only one China, with Taiwan as a part of it.
But there was no mention by China of North Korea’s nuclear programme or efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, suggesting lingering differences between Beijing and Seoul on security issues.
A South Korean official said both leaders acknowledged “the importance of resuming dialogue with North Korea”.
Two days after the summit, Lee said he had asked China to act as a “mediator for peace” on the Korean peninsula, including on the nuclear issue, and was told by Xi that “patience is needed”.
Xi and Lee snap selfie after China-South Korea summit
Some experts said the absence of a joint statement after the meeting – even after two back-to-back summits – showed a deep mismatch over expectations between the two sides.
“Seoul expects Beijing to play a more active role in persuading Pyongyang to engage in inter-Korean dialogue, while Beijing expects Seoul to adopt a more independent stance in criticising US hegemonic behaviour,” said Cho Sung-min, an associate professor in the department of political science at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul.
“Although these expectations were clearly not met, both sides may nevertheless be satisfied with having expressed their respective views, as they place greater emphasis on restoring and stabilising bilateral relations.”
Cho said Beijing’s influence over Pyongyang was not waning and might grow if the Ukraine war ended and North Korea’s ties with Russia weakened.
Jang Soo-jin, a South Korea-based analyst with the geopolitical risk consultancy NorthStar Insights, said China was looking at the Korean peninsula within a broader regional context.
Jang said the US was a higher priority for China than developments on the Korean peninsula and its ties with North Korea.
“As the North Korean nuclear problem becomes more advanced, there are limits to South Korea relying excessively on China’s role alone, and it raises the need to seek more realistic approaches to denuclearisation through the resumption of multilayered dialogues,” she said.
At the same time, experts said the modest outcome of the summit was understandable given the long hiatus in high-level exchanges.
“Despite the structural constraints of US-China competition, room was created for [China and South Korea] to advance bilateral relations in practical areas of cooperation such as culture and the economy,” Jang said.
South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung begins China state visit
With Lee set to visit Japan and hold talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Tokyo remains an unspoken but important factor in Beijing-Seoul relations.
China and Japan have been at odds since November when Takaichi said a conflict in the Taiwan Strait might be a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, suggesting that it would justify a military deployment.
The row shows no sign of abating, with China on Tuesday banning the export of products with both commercial and military applications to end users linked to the Japanese military.
Jang said China would be watching closely to see whether the Lee-Takaichi talks would cover Taiwan and Beijing’s tensions with Tokyo.
“From China’s perspective, a potential concern is that President Lee’s visit to Japan could be interpreted as a move towards strengthening trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan, or as a tilt towards a framework aimed at containing China,” she said.
She added that Seoul was more likely to focus on managing relations in parallel rather than leaning towards or excluding any of the surrounding major powers.
Cho agreed, saying: “Lee is unlikely to go beyond reaffirming South Korea’s long-standing position that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important to the country because this position does not imply any concrete actions that South Korea would take in the event of a Taiwan contingency.”
Lee has avoided any mention of Taiwan contingencies or broader regional security alignments, choosing instead to focus on the importance of regional peace and stability.
In terms of cultural exchanges, Seoul said Xi and Lee agreed to expand exchanges in football and the strategy game Go, and to hold working-level consultations related to films and television dramas.
Jang said the focus on less sensitive areas indicated “an understanding that South Korea and China intend to manage the restoration of their relationship cautiously rather than pursue it rapidly in the short term”.
To ease anti-China sentiment in South Korea, Lee has suggested Beijing donate giant pandas to Gwangju’s Uchi Zoo.
South Korea already has four of the animals and ministerial-level talks are under way to expand that cooperation.
Alyssa Chen
Alyssa joined the Post in 2023 as a reporter on China desk to cover diplomacy. Her interests lie in cross-strait relations and Sino-Japan relations. Previously, she was the Asia Correspondent for the Japan Times, and graduated from the University of Hong Kong.
4. War of words: How to evaluate North Korean claims of another ROK drone incursion
Summary:
North Korea alleges fresh ROK drone incursions, showing wreckage and flight paths, while Seoul swiftly denies any military role and notes the UAV appears to be a cheap commercial model. Analysts judge ROK military involvement unlikely, yet cannot dismiss North Korean fabrication or third-party actors, including hostile civilians, foreign intelligence services, or Ukraine. Civilian hobbyists and activists have a history of cross-border flights, and photos suggest off-the-shelf components, but motives remain unclear. Lee Jae Myung orders a strict probe, as Pyongyang hints even exoneration will not end the dispute. The incident risks miscalculation, tests Lee's engagement strategy, and strains deterrence.
Comment: How should Seoul balance transparency in the investigation with the need to avoid validating a manufactured North Korean crisis narrative?
War of words: How to evaluate North Korean claims of another ROK drone incursion
Civilian action appears most likely, but limited evidence means false flag and third-party operations can’t be ruled out
Joon Ha Park | Shreyas Reddy January 12, 2026
https://www.nknews.org/2026/01/north-korea-slams-us-plan-to-present-report-on-dprk-sanctions-violations-at-un/
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Rodong Sinmun’s report accusing Seoul of drone incursions | Images: KCTV (Nov. 30, 2025), Blue House (Dec. 29, 2025), Rodong Sinmun (Jan. 10, 2026), edited by NK News
North Korea’s accusation that the South sent surveillance drones across the border, followed by Seoul’s swift denial of responsibility, has once again raised the question: Who is telling the truth?
The latest case comes just over a year after the DPRK accused the ROK military of flying drones over Pyongyang in Oct. 2024.
But South Korea’s immediate rejection of the allegations this time marks a clear difference from the previous Yoon administration’s evasive response.
While it’s possible North Korea faked the latest incursion for propaganda purposes, experts say that such a blatant fabrication would pose major risks for the regime.
NK News analysis of the most plausible scenarios suggests that for now the best explanation is that civilians opposed to the Kim Jong Un regime launched the drones.
However, Seoul has yet to turn up a smoking gun, and the lack of evidence means that South Korea will need to act quickly to de-escalate tensions with an adversary that may be setting the stage for the next phase of inter-Korean relations.
SCENARIO 1: ROK MILITARY INCURSION
The first possibility is that North Korea’s original claim of an ROK-directed incursion was true.
In its initial statement on Saturday, Pyongyang asserted that the alleged flights could not have occurred without direct military involvement.
North Korea argued that the purported daytime drone launches from restricted zones at the border, along with the flights over airspace covered by South Korean radar and counter-drone networks, pointed to official authorization, rather than rogue, civilian activity.
But within hours, Seoul’s defense ministry said the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shown in North Korean photographs was “not a model operated by the South Korean military” and stated it conducted no unmanned aerial operations on the dates cited.
The Lee administration’s swift denial calls into question the DPRK’s official narrative and marks a departure from Oct. 2024, when North Korea accused South Korea of flying drones over Pyongyang.
At the time, Seoul declined to comment, while Pyongyang released photos and alleged flight logs to support its claims. Investigators have since accused then-President Yoon and senior military officials of authorizing drone incursions to provoke a North Korean military response.
Pyongyang’s claims also sit uneasily with Lee’s stated policy of keeping communication channels open with North Korea and pursuing stability through engagement.
He has repeatedly criticized his predecessor over the alleged 2024 drone flights, publicly floating the idea of apologizing to Pyongyang and branding drone incursions and loudspeaker broadcasts as “foolish acts.”
Images published with the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army statement in Rodong Sinmun show the remains of an alleged South Korean UAV that crashed inside its territory on Jan. 4, 2026 | Image: Rodong Sinmun (Jan. 10, 2026), edited by NK News
Experts told NK News that military-instigated drone flights under the current administration are extremely unlikely given the political fallout from the Yoon-era allegations.
Shin Seung-ki, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, noted that unlike the previous administration, the current government “has neither the intent nor the strategic rationale to send drones into North Korea.”
Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), also questioned the intelligence value of the imagery North Korea released, which showed areas around Kaesong and parts of North Hwanghae Province.
“These are locations South Korea already monitors extensively with far more capable assets,” he said. “There is no compelling reason to risk detection or an armistice violation to collect imagery of this kind using a low-end civilian drone.”
SCENARIO 2: NORTH KOREAN FALSE FLAG
After Pyongyang last accused Seoul of sending drones across the border in Oct. 2024, some skeptical South Korean experts suggested North Korea had staged the incursions to frame its neighbor as an aggressor.
Crafting a false flag operation involving counterfeit ROK military drones is within North Korean’s realm of expertise, given its proven ability to produce copycats of U.S., Israeli and Russian UAVs.
The DPRK has even admitted to carrying out fake artillery drills in the past in an attempt to embarrass the South Korean military.
Kim Jong Un inspecting North Korean “suicide drones” resembling Israeli and Russian UAVs | Image: KCNA (Aug. 26, 2024)
With Pyongyang set to outline new policies at the upcoming Ninth Party Congress, the operation may give North Korea a better sense of how the Lee administration responds to these types of incidents and sets itself apart from the Yoon government.
Shin said a North Korean false flag operation cannot be ruled out but is unlikely, as attempts to “fabricate” a ROK military operation would be exposed quickly.
“However, it seems quite likely that North Korea, knowing that the drone was not operated by our military, still chose to turn it into a political issue in order to exploit it politically,” he added.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, told NK News that a false flag operation would also pose risks.
“If it comes out that they manufactured it themselves and made it look like it came from the South, then from North Korea’s perspective, not only would the supreme leader’s credibility suffer, but it could actually trigger a backlash,” he said.
SCENARIO 3: CIVILIAN-MADE DRONES
On Saturday evening, President Lee ordered a “strict investigation” into possible civilian involvement, calling it a “serious crime” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula, if confirmed.
The possibility of civilian involvement is not without precedent.
Amateur South Korean drone hobbyist communities have reportedly flown homemade UAVs across the Demilitarized Zone to film North Korean territory for over a decade, with some footage posted to YouTube in Jan. 2023.
High-profile defector Park Sang-hak also told NK News in 2023 that he was preparing to fly drones into the North to disseminate anti-regime leaflets — though the attempt never materialized. Separately, footage posted to Reddit in March 2024 showed a Chinese hobbyist’s drone video of Sinuiju shot from Dandong from 2020, just across the Yalu River.
Park Sang-hak’s Oct. 2022 leaflet launch using a poster that condemns North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for threatening South Korea with nuclear weapons | Image: Courtesy of Park Sang-hak
The use of commercially available equipment, as seen in the photos published by state media, also lends weight to the civilian theory, according to Hong of KINU.
Jang Beong-chul, vice chair of the Korea Anti-Drone Industry Association, agreed, stating that, “It’s something even ordinary hobbyists could assemble and fly.” He said investigators will likely examine flight authorization records and question drone companies and hobbyist groups.
Questions remain about potential motives for a civilian-led drone flight into North Korea.
“Drones allow materials to be delivered into North Korea according to the operator’s intent, largely independent of weather conditions,” unlike balloons, Lim said. “In that sense, the incentive to use drones does exist.”
But he also noted the drone allegedly carried no propaganda materials and only reconnaissance equipment for surveilling uranium facilities and Kaesong infrastructure.
“What meaningful purpose would civilians have in reconnoitering these facilities?” Lim asked.
WILD CARD: OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE
A fourth, if highly unlikely, possibility is that a third party may have attempted to send drones to drive their own agenda.
The U.S. reportedly tried to infiltrate North Korea in 2019 with the goal of gathering intelligence ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. Experts previously told NK News that future attempts cannot be ruled out completely.
A similar operation this time would likely face opposition from Lee, who is keen to de-escalate military tensions with Pyongyang. However, Washington’s recent capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has raised questions about the U.S.’s scope for DPRK infiltration attempts.
There could be Chinese or Russian actors looking to ratchet up inter-Korean tensions to keep North Korea firmly on their side.
Ukraine also has a motive to target North Korea over its support for Russia’s war efforts, with previous NK News analysis suggesting Kyiv could launch drone strikes.
A Ukrainian soldier operating a drone | Image: Security Service of Ukraine (May 31, 2025)
WHAT COMES NEXT
North Korea’s allegations and the South’s denial leaves more questions than answers, and Seoul appears keen to fill the gaps as soon as possible to lower tensions.
However, Lee’s probe order may not satisfy Pyongyang, which said on Sunday that even disproving military involvement would not be enough.
To mitigate potential damage, ROK defense minister Ahn Gyu-back proposed a joint investigation with North Korea through the multinational U.N. Command (UNC), which monitors the inter-Korean armistice.
This appears unlikely amid stalled inter-Korean relations, with Pyongyang yet to respond to Seoul’s calls for military talks since November.
The UNC may also carry out an independent investigation, as it did with previous incursions in 2022 and 2024. But North Korea is unlikely to be satisfied with the results of a probe by the U.S.-led force.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Blue House | Image: Blue House (Jan. 9, 2026)
To help repair fraught inter-Korean ties, Lim emphasized that the Lee administration should mobilize all surveillance assets to determine who’s culpable and “build more credibility with North Korea.”
“Rather than letting this fade away ambiguously, the government should make a clear effort, respond quickly and say: We had no intention of provoking you, we did not do this, but we regret that such an unfortunate incident occurred,” he said.
Edited by David Choi
Correction: Updated at 9:40 p.m. KST on Jan. 12 to correct expert comment.
5. North Korea slams US plan to present report on DPRK sanctions violations at UN
Summary:
North Korea condemned U.S. plans to brief the U.N. on a new Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team report detailing DPRK sanctions evasion, especially cyber theft. Pyongyang calls the MSMT an “illegal,” Western-created ghost group, rejects its findings as fabricated, and claims the event insults the U.N. Charter. The statement urges members to focus instead on alleged U.S. violations of international law, citing the Maduro abduction as hegemonic use of force, and again threatens that those behind such “smear campaigns” will pay a “dear price,” underscoring how sensitive the regime remains to coordinated, non-U.N. monitoring of its illicit activities.
Comment: Of course they would condemn the monitoring team. Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter accusations.
North Korea slams US plan to present report on DPRK sanctions violations at UN
Statement denounces Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team as ‘illegal’ ahead of briefing on Pyongyang’s cybercrime
Seung-Yeon Chung January 12, 2026
https://www.nknews.org/2026/01/north-korea-slams-us-plan-to-present-report-on-dprk-sanctions-violations-at-un/
North Korean ambassador to the U.N. Kim Song | Image: U.N. Web TV (May 18, 2025)
North Korea has denounced U.S. plans to present a multilateral report on Pyongyang’s sanctions evasion activities at the U.N., dismissing the findings as “fabricated.”
In a statement Monday, the DPRK Permanent Mission to the U.N. accused the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) of being an “illegal” organization that has no connection with the intergovernmental body.
It also expressed serious concern that the U.S. is attempting to “attach ‘legitimacy’” to the MSMT through the U.N. briefing, describing the organization as “cooked up by some Western countries hostile to the DPRK.”
“It is a mockery of all U.N. member states and an open insult to the U.N. Charter that the briefing is going to be convened at the U.N. conference room in order to propagate the data fabricated by the illegal organization which is not internationally recognized,” the statement reads.
The MSMT was launched in Oct. 2024 by 11 countries, including the U.S., South Korea, Japan and the U.K. It was envisioned as a replacement for the U.N. Panel of Experts, which published biannual reports on DPRK sanctions violations until Russia vetoed its mandate and it disbanded in May 2024.
The U.N. website states that a “rollout event” for the MSMT’s second report will take place on the sidelines of the U.N. at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday. The event is hosted by MSMT’s 11 participating states.
The multilateral organization released its second report in October focusing on North Korean cybercrime, finding that the country had stolen $2.84 billion worth of cryptocurrency from Jan. 2024 to Sept. 2025.
MSMT’s first report released in May 2025 focused on Russia-DPRK cooperation over the war in Ukraine and asserted Moscow had transferred advanced air defense systems to its ally.
Since its founding, North Korea has repeatedly condemned the organization as “bogus” and “an illegal and criminal ghost group,” threatening that “the forces involved in the smear campaign against the DPRK will have to pay a dear price for it.”
Monday’s statement, published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), asserted that the U.N. should pay attention not to MSMT’s findings, but to U.S. violations of the “spirit of the U.N. charter and other international laws.”
It notably accused Washington of destroying “the international order through the outrageous use of force,” an apparent reference to the recent U.S. military operation that abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The DPRK previously censured the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela as a “hegemony-seeking act” that violated its long-time ally’s sovereignty.
Edited by Bryan Betts
6. Defense chief says willing to propose inter-Korean probe over drone incursion claim
Summary:
Defense Minister Ahn said Seoul denies the North’s drone-incursion claim, but is willing to suggest a joint investigation with Pyongyang via the UNC, while a 30-member police, military, and ministry team probes possible civilian involvement. He “assumes” civilian responsibility is likely, and portrays the offer as a de-escalatory gesture.
Comment: Good call by the MINDEF. Recommend an UNCMAC investigation to reinforce the UN armistice authorities (though I am not sure if that is his intent but I will choose to interpret it that way). However, north Korea will certainly oppose an UNCMAC investigation. It would be great to expose that this was conducted by the RGB as a way to subvert South Korea (but such exposure would be a longshot for obvious reasons).
Defense chief says willing to propose inter-Korean probe over drone incursion claim | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Lee Minji · January 12, 2026
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260112008500315
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said Monday he is open to the idea of proposing a joint probe with North Korea into its claim of drone incursions into the country through the United Nations Command (UNC).
On Saturday, the North's military claimed that South Korea violated the North's sovereignty by sending drones into its territory in September and on Jan. 4, but Seoul's defense ministry denied the claim.
"I am thinking of suggesting a joint inter-Korean probe through the UNC," Ahn told lawmakers at a parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee session, when asked about whether he is open to such an option in the event the North returns the drones.
On whether the possibility of the drones being sent by civilians is high, Ahn said he "assumes so."
A joint team of some 30 police and military officials has started investigating the alleged incursions, after President Lee Jae Myung called for a prompt probe into the allegations.
The U.S.-led UNC is an enforcer of the armistice that stopped the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War and oversees activities inside the Demilitarized Zone -- a buffer zone between the two Koreas since the three-year conflict ended without a peace treaty.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back attends a parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2026. (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Lee Minji · January 12, 2026
7. N. Korea drums up renewable energy use amid sanctions-caused electricity shortage
Summary:
north Korea touts a model seafood plant in Unryul using 11,000 solar panels and wind turbines to offset regime-wide power shortages under sanctions. Rodong Sinmun claims the hybrid system powers factories, workers’ homes, and the grid, echoing Pyongyang’s 2013 renewable energy act amid electricity output far below South Korea’s levels.
N. Korea drums up renewable energy use amid sanctions-caused electricity shortage | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Park Boram · January 12, 2026
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260112006200315
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is drumming up the utilization of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, local media showed Monday, as the country faces a chronic shortage of fuel and electricity amid continuing international sanctions.
The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper ran an article introducing a pickled seafood processing factory in Unryul County, South Hwanghae Province, as a model case of utilizing natural energy sources.
The newspaper said the region had solar and wind power plants constructed at the instruction of leader Kim Jong-un, who visited the area in 2015, with the solar power facility housing about 11,000 solar panels.
The Rodong Sinmun touted that the facilities, which combine solar and wind power stations, overcome days with insufficient sunlight by switching to wind power generation to produce electricity.
The paper also reported that the regional power stations generate enough electricity to power factories and supply surplus electricity to the homes of factory employees, as well as to the national power grid.
"Since the factory began operations, we have not known such a thing as an electricity shortage to this day," a factory manager was quoted as saying.
The emphasis on reliance on renewable energy appears to be related to North Korea's chronic electricity shortage, caused by international sanctions limiting fuel imports.
South Korea's statistics agency said electricity generation by North Korea reached 25.3 billion kilowatt hours in 2024, only 4.2 percent of what South Korea generated that year.
In an effort to combat electricity shortages, North Korea adopted a renewable energy act in 2013, promoting the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.
This image, captured from the Korean Central Television on Dec. 11, 2023, shows a solar power plant in North Korea. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Park Boram · January 12, 2026
8. S. Korea, U.S. conduct security training after Osan Air Base gate access update
Summary:
South Korean and U.S. forces ran joint drills at Osan Air Base to implement new, U.S-controlled gate access procedures after Washington tightened ID rules for ROKAF personnel. The change followed U.S. protests over a 2025 special counsel raid linked to Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial-law bid at the joint base.
Comment: This is a point of alliance friction. Hopefully this will help reduce it.
S. Korea, U.S. conduct security training after Osan Air Base gate access update | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Lee Minji · January 12, 2026
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260112006800315
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean and U.S. troops have conducted drills to standardize new entry procedures at Osan Air Base, the U.S. Air Force said Monday, following its decision to transfer control of access to gates from previous joint management to the U.S. side.
The move comes a month after the U.S. 51st Fighter Wing said that base access requirements have been "updated" to ensure security, in a move that would mandate South Korean military personnel use U.S.-approved identification cards to access gates at the air base in Pyeongtaek, some 65 kilometers south of Seoul.
"Installation security is a shared responsibility," a U.S. Air Force Operations Command representative was quoted as saying in a release. "By training together and operating under a single set of procedures, we reduce vulnerabilities and improve our ability to protect the entire installation."
The fighter wing said the unified procedures were "developed through coordination and negotiation between U.S. and ROKAF leadership, with both sides contributing to procedures that support overall safety and security of Osan."
ROKAF is short for the Republic of Korea Air Force.
The access policy update apparently came after the U.S. military lodged a complaint over a special counsel team's search and seizure at the air base in July last year as part of its investigation into former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid.
Following the special counsel team's raid conducted under the South Korean side's access authority, U.S. Forces Korea Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. David Iverson reportedly sent a letter to the foreign ministry protesting the search.
Alongside U.S. military facilities, the air base also stations key facilities operated by the South Korean Air Force, such as the Air Force Operations Command, and the Air Force Master Control and Reporting Center.
South Korean and U.S. military personnel review entry procedures at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 5, 2026, in this photo provided by the U.S. Air Force. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
mlee@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Lee Minji · January 12, 2026
9. 7 Chinese, US nationals charged with smuggling weapons to North Korea
Summary:
The U.S. Justice Department charged seven Chinese and U.S. nationals for smuggling around 170 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition to north Korea, led by Shenghua Wen, already serving eight years for related exports. Using a purchased gun store and straw buyers, they moved weapons via Houston for DPRK clients. Separately, Zhenxing “Danny” Wang pled guilty to helping north Korean IT workers infiltrate U.S. firms, including Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor, using stolen identities, shell companies, and remote jobs. The scheme generated at least $5 million for overseas workers, with about $3 million in losses to U.S. firms.
Comment: Useful idiots or profiteers? Or committed ideologues? (doubtful, in my opinion)
7 Chinese, US nationals charged with smuggling weapons to North Korea
Justice Department presses additional charges against Chinese man serving 8 years for shipping firearms from LA
Anton Sokolin January 12, 2026
https://www.nknews.org/2026/01/7-chinese-us-nationals-charged-with-smuggling-weapons-to-north-korea/
Guns on display at a shooting range in North Korea in Aug. 2014 | Image: NK News
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged seven Chinese and U.S. nationals for their alleged roles in smuggling weapons to North Korea, including a man previously convicted for shipping firearms from Los Angeles.
Shenghua Wen, who had been living in the U.S. illegally since 2013, faces new charges as the leader of the arms smuggling scheme. He received a 96-month sentence in August after admitting to acquiring weapons on behalf of North Korean officials in exchange for $2 million.
The new indictment alleges that Wen and his girlfriend, Jin Yang, “purchased a gun store and directed the purchase of specific firearms and their sale to straw purchasers,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Wen and Yang’s clients allegedly included Chinese nationals Sifu Zhao, Mingtong Tan, Yiyang Wu and Mingze Li, as well as U.S. citizen Richard Arredondo.
“Wu also allegedly recruited one straw purchaser into the ring and transported pistols to a second Houston gun dealer for sale to others,” prosecutors added.
The suspects obtained around “170 firearms and several thousand rounds of ammunition that were destined for North Korea” in 2023 and 2024, according to the statement.
The DOJ charged Wen and Yang with conspiracy and conspiring to commit firearms trafficking, offenses punishable by up to five and 15 years in prison, respectively.
Wen could also face another five years in prison on each of the seven counts of aiding and abetting false statements to a federal firearms licensee.
Their alleged co-conspirators Li, Arredondo, Wu, Zhao and Tan face a maximum of five-year terms, according to the statement. The suspects also face fines of up to $250,000 each.
The investigation was carried out in cooperation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Houston Police Department.
Investigators previously established that North Korean officials recruited Wen before he entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2012. He remained in the country illegally after his visa expired in 2013, up until his arrest in Dec. 2024.
Wen shipped at least three containers of weapons from the Port of Long Beach to China for eventual delivery to North Korea, disguising the contents by filing false export information in 2022, investigators alleged. He once declared a container with firearms as a refrigerator.
In addition to the thousands of rounds of 9mm ammunition he bought for export in 2024, Wen also tried to procure sensitive technology, including a chemical threat detection device, a broadband receiver, an aircraft engine and a thermal imaging system that could be fitted on an aerial vehicle for reconnaissance.
U.S. authorities seized Wen’s cellphone and retrieved conversations with his co-conspirators about shipments of military equipment.
Wen pleaded guilty, admitting he knew it was illegal to ship firearms, ammunition and other sensitive technology to North Korea and that he had never acquired licenses to export the products, the DOJ announced in June.
DPRK IT WORKERS AT US FIRMS
In a separate case, U.S. national Zhenxing “Danny” Wang pleaded guilty Thursday to helping North Korean IT workers infiltrate American companies to generate revenue for the DPRK’s weapons programs, following his arrest earlier this year, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ said Wang’s scheme relied on IT workers using fake identities of U.S. citizens to obtain remote tech jobs with U.S. firms, “including several Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor” in California.
The New Jersey resident admitted to “one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering,” the DOJ said. His sentencing is set for April 14.
Wang and his alleged co-conspirators carried out “a massive fraud scheme” by providing false information to multiple U.S. companies, financial institutions and government agencies from 2021 through Oct. 2024.
In that period, they “compromised the identities of more than 80 U.S. persons,” accessed the internal systems of infiltrated companies and “generated at least $5 million in revenue for the overseas IT workers,” while incurring losses for victim firms of about $3 million.
Wang and his partners also created shell companies like Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC and Independent Lab LLC to pass off the IT workers as legitimate U.S. employees. Wang and his partners collected at least $700,000 in fees for funneling funds they received from targeted U.S. firms to their overseas conspirators.
Kejia Wang, one of Wang’s five facilitators, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in Sept. 2025, according to the DOJ.
The two men face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The DOJ said the charges were part of its “DPRK: Domestic Enabler” initiative, which targets North Korea’s “illicit revenue generation efforts through remote IT workers and the U.S.-based individuals who enable them.”
The U.S. has prosecuted several Americans for supporting DPRK IT workers schemes in recent years, including a woman who ran a laptop farm on behalf of North Koreans who had unlawfully gained remote employment at U.S. companies.
Edited by Bryan Betts
10. North Korea builds 2nd private car dealership, gaming center in elite district
Summary:
north Korea is building a second private car dealership and a new computer gaming arcade in Pyongyang’s elite Hwasong district, tied to a nearly complete 10,000 home high rise project. Kim Jong Un touts these amenities as symbols of a modern, future capital and promises similar projects nationwide. Chinese cars, smuggled through the border, feed a booming private market for wealthy loyalists. A new Saeppyol Street complex, with 2,500 apartments reportedly for families of soldiers killed in Ukraine, signals high war casualties and deepening inequality between privileged Pyongyang residents and the rest of north Korea.
Comment: You cannot stop capitalism once the genie is out of the bottle. How might these new elite consumer enclaves undermine the regime’s claim to socialist equality, and generate resentment among less privileged urban and provincial populations?
North Korea builds 2nd private car dealership, gaming center in elite district
Kim Jong Un vows to provide modern amenities nationwide during inspection of skyscraper projects in Pyongyang
Colin Zwirko January 12, 2026
https://www.nknews.org/2026/01/north-korea-builds-2nd-private-car-dealership-gaming-center-in-elite-district/
The new Misan car dealership in Pyongyang's Hwasong area appears in the background. | Image: KCTV (Jan. 11, 2026)
North Korea has built the country’s second private car dealership and computer gaming center in the newest Hwasong housing district under construction in Pyongyang, according to a state media report on leader Kim Jong Un’s inspections over the weekend.
The construction follows the opening of such facilities for the first time nearby last spring, as part of Kim’s efforts to offer more modern privileges to wealthier residents of the capital.
Kim claimed the Hwasong area stage four project — comprising 10,000 homes in a cluster of apartment towers and skyscrapers — is 99% complete, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday, suggesting authorities may organize an official opening ceremony soon.
The new computer gaming center is located at the northern corner of Saeppyol Street, across the roundabout from the Hwasong area stage four site. | Image: KCTV (Jan. 11, 2026)
The new Saeppyol Computer Game Arcade (새별콤퓨터오락관) is a standalone two-story building built in a modern cyber-kitsch architectural style on the corner of a large intersection.
The inside is likely similar to the Hwasong Computer Game Arcade unveiled last April, which featured hundreds of computers where users can purchase time and play mostly older Western shooter and sports games.
Construction of the new Misan Automobile Technology Service Center (미산차동차기술봉사소) is in line with the rapidly growing number of private cars in Pyongyang in the last year. The building and name are similar to the Amisan dealership built last year.
The influx of Chinese cars is due to Kim’s apparent decision to allow private car ownership for wealthy, well-connected elites. A large-scale border smuggling operation with China has facilitated the private car market.
This photo faces east toward the main new skyscrapers under te Hwasong area fourth stage project for 2025. The Saebyol Street skyscraper appears to the south on the far right of the photo. | Image: KCTV (Jan. 11, 2026)
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Kim reportedly said during his inspection of these facilities that the “function and appearance of the capital city are undergoing signal change,” and that he is trying to “actively develop and arrange new service occupations capable of satisfying the cultural needs and demands of citizens.”
The Hwasong area is “a symbol of the times convincing one of the bright future of our cause,” and it “will be the most developed area in the capital city” by the end of this year, he reportedly said.
He also suggested that millions of people living outside these privileged areas of the capital should expect aid from the government soon, saying similar construction will be “carried out across the country in the future.”
During his visit to the housing project sites on Saturday, Kim also inspected an additional 2,500 homes as part of “Saeppyol Street” in the Hwasong area, KCNA photos showed. The leader previously said the neighborhood was reserved for the families of soldiers killed fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine.
The 3D rendering behind Kim on the right features a label that says there are 2,500 homes in the Saeppyol Street apartment buildings. It also suggests there are plans to build a large university or ministry campus between the new Saeppyol Street lake and Hwasong area apartments, as well as various new hotels throughout the district. | Image: KCTV (Jan. 11, 2026)
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This is the main skyscraper of the L-shaped Saeppyol Street housing area, with Hwasong area apartments in the distance on the right and the new war memorial across the main street out of frame on the left | Image: KCNA (Jan. 11, 2026)
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If each household is for one family of a dead soldier, this would suggest a death toll of around 2,500 — much higher than the 400 or so graves shown in state media earlier this month at a new war memorial and cemetery on Saeppyol Street (also spelled Saebyol).
Construction on the fourth stage of the Hwasong Area project, representing the fifth stage of the 50,000-home capital housing project for 2021 to 2025, kicked off last February. The Saeppyol Street construction started in March.
Homes are reportedly offered free of charge to citizens, who move into their new apartments soon after the official opening date, but authorities are not transparent about the selection and awards process.
NK News analysis has also found that footage of the Hwasong area has consistently shown empty streets and sidewalks relative to older parts of Pyongyang, suggesting the new buildings may not be fully occupied due to unfinished construction or issues with the real estate market.
Meanwhile, the leader reportedly talked about “drawing up a plan for the capital city construction to be submitted to the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK).” State media has yet to announce the start date of the party congress.
Kim previously outlined a plan to raze three sprawling “rundown” areas of Pyongyang and to build more skyscraper streets further east of the capital under the next stage of housing construction in 2026 and beyond, but satellite imagery suggests work on these projects hasn’t started yet.
Edited by Bryan Betts
11. Ex-PPP lawmaker Ihn Yohan calls martial law bid by ex-President Yoon 'humiliating'
Summary:
Former PPP lawmaker Ihn Yohan condemned ex President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law attempt as deeply disappointing and humiliating, admitting he first believed a crisis justified it. Citing his 1980 Gwangju experience, he warned of wrongful martial law’s horrors and called himself a failed lawmaker while backing his successor.
Comment; He will always be Dr. Linton to me.
Ex-PPP lawmaker Ihn Yohan calls martial law bid by ex-President Yoon 'humiliating' | Yonhap News Agency
en.yna.co.kr · Yi Wonju · January 12, 2026
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260112006500315
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- A former lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Ihn Yohan, criticized former President Yook Suk Yeol's martial law declaration Monday, saying he thought Yoon had a compelling reason to impose it.
Ihn expressed "deep" disappointment over the crisis in a video posted on his YouTube channel to congratulate Rep. Lee So-hee, who succeeded him as a proportional representative after his resignation last month.
"When martial law was declared a year ago, I thought there was a national crisis that the president could not fully disclose to the people," he said. "I thought there must there have been a compelling and urgent reason for the commander-in-chief to declare it."
"But that was not the case," he added.
Ihn said he knew how "horrific" a wrongful declaration of martial law can be as he recalled being labeled as an instigator after interpreting for foreign correspondents during the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
"What has been revealed over the past year since the martial law is deeply disappointing and humiliating," he said.
He also expressed hope that Lee would become a successful lawmaker, describing himself as a "failed" one.
Ihn, who had been closely aligned with Yoon and won a proportional seat in the April 10 general elections last year, resigned in mid-December, saying South Korea overcame the "unfortunate events" that have unfolded since Yoon's failed martial law bid.
A great-grandson of American missionary Eugene Bell, Ihn was born in 1959 in Suncheon, 290 kilometers south of Seoul, in South Jeolla Province, and worked as a medical doctor before becoming a lawmaker.
In this file photo, Ihn Yohan, then a lawmaker of the main opposition People Power Party, holds a news conference at the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 10, 2025, to express his intent to resign. (Yonhap)
julesyi@yna.co.kr
(END)
en.yna.co.kr · Yi Wonju · January 12, 2026
12. North Korean workers walk out on Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech demanding more sacrifice
Summary:
Workers in Hoeryong, a showcase city in north Korea, reacted with visible frustration to Kim Jong Un’s New Year speech, walking out of study sessions as soon as they ended. The speech praised “patriotism and loyalty” as the engine of 2025’s “unprecedented struggle,” signaling more unpaid mobilization. Many workers, already exhausted by constant labor demands without compensation, resented being told their forced sacrifices were the regime’s main resource. Their quiet exit, and the sharp contrast with glowing state media coverage, reveal deep fatigue, growing cynicism, and a widening gap between official narrative and lived reality, even in regime heartland areas.
Comment: How might rising fatigue, cynicism, and quiet acts of noncompliance among workers in key cities like Hoeryong evolve into more organized, collective resistance against the regime over time?
What additional shocks or structural stresses would be required to turn this kind of simmering discontent into a genuine regime crisis or collapse, especially given the security apparatus, surveillance system, and ideological controls in north Korea?
Are we sufficiently prioritizing our intelligence collection to observe for indications and warnings in internal resistance, instability and potential regime collapse?
See "Pattern of Collapse in North Korea" By Robert Collins
https://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/pattern-collapse-north-korea
North Korean workers walk out on Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s speech demanding more sacrifice
Even in Hoeryong, considered a privileged city as Kim Jong Suk's birthplace, workers expressed fatigue and irritation with recurring demands for sacrifice disguised as patriotic strength
By Eun Seol - January 12, 2026
https://www.dailynk.com/english/north-korean-workers-walk-out-on-kim-jong-uns-new-years-speech-demanding-more-sacrifice/
dailynk.com
Kim Jong Un at the plenary session, which was held from Feb. 26 to Mar. 1, 2023. (Rodong Sinmun-News1)
North Korean workers were frustrated with the speech national leader Kim Jong Un delivered in Pyongyang on New Year’s Day. The speech was distributed to factories and enterprises nationwide to be studied during morning reading sessions the following day.
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently that the text of Kim’s speech, printed in the Rodong Sinmun, reached factories and enterprises in downtown Hoeryong in time for the morning reading session on Jan. 2.
At one factory, workers rose from their seats and left the room as soon as the session ended. While these sessions typically conclude with the workplace manager or team leader giving instructions for the day’s work, workers left so suddenly that instructions had to be skipped.
“The reason workers abruptly left after the reading session was because they were disturbed by the speech’s content. Most workers strained to keep their faces blank during the session, anxious they would be ordered to join more construction projects or increase output yet again,” the source said.
The source said the part that bothered workers ran as follows: “We entered the year 2025 with a heavy heart as we were confronted with huge tasks; what we believed in was nothing but our people’s patriotism and loyalty, and they were the real driving force that propelled our unprecedented struggle throughout the year.”
“What this boils down to is a demand to keep showing patriotism and loyalty. People are already displeased about being constantly called up for jobs without any compensation or reward. So they were irritated that this was spun as the people’s strength and that they’re expected to keep making such contributions and sacrifices in the future,” the source said.
Even Kim’s hometown shows frustration
“Hoeryong, as the birthplace of Kim Jong Suk (wife of Kim Il Sung and mother of Kim Jong Il), is considered a better place to live than surrounding cities and counties. The fact that the speech is getting such a reaction there expresses the frustration and fatigue with recurring mandatory service projects.”
Notably, some workers expressed discomfort and even revulsion with Kim’s address reminding them of difficulties they faced in 2025.
This cynical response on the ground contrasts sharply with North Korean state media reports of sensational endorsement from all sectors of society. “The mountains and rivers of the entire nation are fired up over the New Year’s address,” one outlet said.
The Rodong Sinmun, official newspaper of the Workers’ Party of Korea, proclaimed on Jan. 2 that members from across society—including workers, farmers, young people, scientists, and athletes—had responded to Kim’s speech with tears of passion.
“The hearts of the people of this land are now brimming over with the desire to faithfully accept the leadership of the man who loves the people most of all and admires them for their greatness and goodness, as well as the desire to reciprocate by engaging ever more boldly in the struggle to drive the development of our form of socialism in all areas,” the Rodong Sinmun said.
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
13. North Korea cracks down on tutoring boom as schools prioritize labor over learning
Summary:
north Korea is cracking down on a boom in private tutoring, denouncing it as “non-socialist behavior” and ordering security services and neighborhood watch units to root it out. Parents across North Pyongan, from Sinuiju to rural counties, turn to tutors because schools prioritize unpaid “patriotic labor” over learning. Children spend afternoons building roads and working on farms, then fall asleep in class, and some finish elementary school barely able to read or write. Families call the ban absurd, insisting the state fix broken schools. Despite threats, officials admit determined parents will likely keep tutoring alive underground as subtle social protest.
Comment: "Labor over learning." That is a theme for the PSYOP team.
When parents quietly defy education decrees to protect their children’s future, how close does that come to organized political opposition in a system like this?
If a whole generation learns that the state sabotaged their education, how might that delayed anger shape future resistance to the regime?
North Korea cracks down on tutoring boom as schools prioritize labor over learning
Parents argue that if authorities want to eliminate tutoring, they must fix schools where students can't read after graduation because afternoons are spent on road construction and farm work
dailynk.com
"A national convention of the Korean Children's Union to celebrate the 78th anniversary of its founding was held in Pyongyang on July 6," Rodong Sinmun reported on June 7, 2024. (Rodong Sinmun-News1)
North Korea has launched a harsh crackdown on the recent boom in private tutoring. The official reason: tutoring is “non-socialist behavior.” But parents have expressed anger, arguing authorities must “normalize” public education if they want to bring tutoring under control.
According to a Daily NK source in North Pyongan province, the provincial party committee warned late last month that “tutoring, one form of educational fervor seen in capitalist societies, has infiltrated our society,” and issued a special order to state security and police to launch a “mop-up operation” against this “non-socialist behavior.”
The provincial party committee said “non-socialist behavior, such as tutoring, must not be allowed to set foot in our society,” and instructed schools to meet with parents and advise them against hiring tutors. “If they fail to heed this advice, neighborhood watch units should be mobilized to report families that hire tutors,” it ordered.
In major cities like Sinuiju and even rural areas like Sakju and Pihyun counties, hiring tutors has become trendy among parents.
“There’s been a tutoring boom because schools can’t properly educate students,” the source said. “So parents hire tutors to give their children a better future.”
The provincial party committee launched its “mop-up operation” because, unlike the past when only wealthy families hired tutors, tutoring has recently become universal—even ordinary families with little money are hiring them.
Moreover, most schools focus more on mobilizing students for state labor than raising educational achievement. In practice, students spend more time on outside tasks than studying in classrooms.
Labor trumps learning in North Korean schools
“Students are mobilized as labor for the state from third or fourth grade in elementary school,” the source said. “They only study a bit in the morning. In the afternoon, they perform patriotic labor like road construction or helping on farms with basins, shovels, or hoes in hand.”
“Many young students who’ve performed patriotic labor until late afternoon sleep at their desks the next morning because they’re tired,” the source said. “With this being the case, how can you not hire a tutor?”
Some elementary school students can’t read or write correctly when they graduate, so parents must hire tutors to teach even basic lessons nowadays, the source said. Regardless of financial status, parents increasingly agree their children “must at least learn to read to go to the army and enter society.”
The provincial party committee’s crackdown order has left parents bewildered.
“It’s absurd that the party doesn’t care about providing proper education in schools and simply bans tutoring,” parents say. “If you just ban tutoring, nobody will take responsibility for our children’s basic education.”
“Given that the provincial party committee said it would crack down hard on hiring private tutors, tutors will be less active for now,” the source said. “However, because parents are determined to make their children learn no matter what, authorities won’t be able to root out tutoring.”
Read in Korean
dailynk.com
14. Civilian drones raise questions over border surveillance
Summary:
Suspected civilian hobbyist drones twice crossing the MDL into north Korea expose serious gaps in South Korea’s border surveillance. Launches from Paju and Ganghwa, inside tightly controlled no-fly zone P518, using cheap, tiny, low-flying platforms, show current radar, and air defense systems struggle to reliably detect or stop such incursions.
Comment: Hobbyists? Or useful idiots recruited/manipulated by RGB operatives? Or actually conducted by RGB operatives or their agents in the South.
Civilian drones raise questions over border surveillance
Posted January. 12, 2026 09:32,
Updated January. 12, 2026 09:32
https://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20260112/6053890/1
If it is confirmed that drones crossed the Military Demarcation Line, or MDL, and entered North Korea on Sept. 27 last year and again on Jan. 4, and that the flights were conducted by civilians, the South Korean military is likely to face difficulty avoiding responsibility for a failure in border surveillance.
Airspace near the inter-Korean border is strictly controlled as a no-fly zone known as P518. Only military drones are permitted to operate in the area, and civilian drone flights require prior approval from the military.
However, the military reportedly granted no such approval for civilian drone operations during either period. This raises the possibility that drones covertly flown by civilians crossed the MDL on two occasions without being detected by military surveillance.
North Korea has claimed that the drone launch sites in September last year and on Jan. 4 were in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and in Ganghwa County, Incheon, including Ganghwa Island, respectively. In late 2022, North Korean drones also breached South Korea’s air defense network in those areas and flew as far as the vicinity of the presidential office in Yongsan.
Some civilian drone hobby groups in South Korea are reported to have filmed locations across North Korea for more than a decade using drones assembled from commercially available parts purchased online. In 2023, a member of one such group flew a drone built for less than 1 million won into North Korea, recorded footage of the Mount Kumgang area, and uploaded the video to YouTube. The drones were equipped with autopilot systems programmed in advance with GPS data and flight routes, from takeoff through return, allowing onboard cameras to capture images of North Korea’s ground and airspace.
A military official said drones operated by civilian hobbyists are extremely small and made of materials such as lightweight Styrofoam, making them difficult for radar to detect. The official added that when small drones measuring less than two meters in length fly at low altitudes below 150 meters, the current air defense network has inherent limitations in detecting all of them.
Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com
15. N. Korea unlikely to respond to request for joint probe into drone incident
Summary:
South Korean police and military formed a 30-member task force to investigate alleged civilian drone incursions into north Korea after Pyongyang accused Seoul of violating its airspace in September and on Jan. 4, allegations the ROK military denies. Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back floated a joint probe via the UN Command, and some politicians see an opportunity for dialogue. Analysts are skeptical, citing Kim Jong Un’s declared policy of treating Seoul as a hostile state, continued silence on military talks, and propaganda value in blaming the South.
Comment: What advantage would north Korea see in accepting a joint investigation? If there is none then KJU would surely not agree to participate.
N. Korea unlikely to respond to request for joint probe into drone incident
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By Lee Hyo-jin
- Published Jan 12, 2026 4:28 pm KST
- Updated Jan 12, 2026 4:42 pm KST
South Korea's police, military launch joint investigation team into alleged civilian drone incursion
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/northkorea/20260112/n-korea-unlikely-to-respond-to-request-for-joint-probe-into-drone-incident
Gaepung County, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, is seen from an observatory in Incheon, Sunday. Yonhap
North Korea is unlikely to respond to calls from South Korea for a joint investigation into an alleged drone incursion, analysts said, dimming hopes in Seoul that the incident could help break a deadlock in inter-Korean relations.
Pyongyang has accused South Korea of sending drones into its territory on two occasions — once in September last year and again on Jan. 4 — claims Seoul's military immediately denied. South Korean officials said they will continue efforts to de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
On Monday, South Korea's police and military launched a joint task force of about 30 members to investigate the incident. The move came two days after President Lee Jae Myung ordered a swift probe, warning that any drone flights carried out by civilians pose a serious threat to national security.
Later in the day, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said he was considering proposing a joint investigation with North Korea.
"I am considering proposing a joint inter-Korean investigation through the United Nations Command," Ahn said during a National Assembly session, adding that at this stage, authorities believe the drone was likely sent by civilians.
The UNC, which oversees the Armistice Agreement between the two Koreas, declined to comment when asked by The Korea Times whether it plans to launch an investigation into the latest drone incident.
South Korea's defense ministry said a joint probe with the North has not been formally proposed to Pyongyang, but remains a possible option depending on the outcome of the ongoing police investigation.
"The facts need to be clarified through the investigation before we can review our next steps," defense ministry spokesperson Chung Binna said during a briefing, when asked about the possibility of the joint probe.
A warning sign in a border area in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, alerts visitors that the area is designated as a no-drone zone, Sunday. Yonhap
Rep. Park Jie-won of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a former director of the National Intelligence Service, urged Seoul to turn the situation into an opportunity for dialogue by pursuing a joint investigation with Pyongyang.
"In principle, the two Koreas should conduct a joint investigation to determine the facts, which would be necessary to prevent a recurrence," he said in a radio interview.
The calls for a joint probe have also been fueled by questions over whether North Korea's claims match the evidence it has released, including photos of the drone debris and flight records.
Some critics have pointed out that discrepancies between the materials released by South Korea and Pyongyang’s assertions suggest an investigation conducted solely by Seoul may be insufficient to fully clarify the facts.
Analysts, however, were skeptical that Pyongyang would cooperate.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University, said it was highly unlikely that North Korea would agree to a joint investigation.
"North Korea's exclusion of South Korea is not a short-term decision but part of its long-term policy line. The regime will use the drone incident to justify its hostility toward South Korea in its propaganda to the public," he said.
In December 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un described ties with Seoul as those between "two states hostile to each other," and has since largely ignored Seoul's proposals for talks.
Pyongyang has also remained silent on South Korea’s request for military talks made in November last year to clarify issues related to the Military Demarcation Line along the border.
The Ministry of Unification confirmed Monday that the North has not responded to the hotline, often referred to as the "pink phone," which connects the United Nations Command (UNC) with the North Korean military.
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Lee Hyo-jin
I cover South Korea's foreign policy, defense and security issues on the Korean Peninsula. Before that, I reported on immigration policies and human rights — topics I continue to follow closely. I strive to gain an accurate understanding of the issues I cover and am particularly interested in stories that amplify often overlooked voices. Tips and story ideas via email are always welcome.
lhj@koreatimes.co.kr
De Oppresso Liber,
David Maxwell
Vice President, Center for Asia Pacific Strategy
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Executive Director, Korea Regional Review
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