What Life Is Really Like for North Korean Elite

Oct 27, 2025 | Behind Pyongyang’s spotless skyline lies a secret world of unimaginable privilege and silent terror. From million-dollar Mercedes convoys and $30,000 cognac to private zoos, smuggling networks, and fear-based loyalty — this is the untold story of North Korea’s élite.

Discover how the “Little Royals” live like kings while the rest of the nation survives on two bowls of rice a day. Explore a world built on contradictions — where luxury meets paranoia, and privilege depends on obedience.

Covert Journey into North Korea’s Daily Life

Oct 5, 2025 | Step inside the world’s most secretive nation. This documentary takes you behind the curtain of North Korea under Kim Jong Un, revealing rare glimpses of everyday life in Pyongyang and beyond. From choreographed public displays and propaganda-filled subways to elite schools, kindergartens, water parks, and heavily monitored family homes — every scene reflects a society shaped by loyalty to the Kim dynasty. We explore how ordinary citizens live under strict surveillance, limited freedoms, and constant state control, while the regime projects an image of prosperity and pride.

A North Korean Family's Life 10 Years after Their Escape | BBC News

Oct 10, 2025 | A decade ago, BBC journalist Danny Vincent documented a North Korean family’s 3,000-kilometre journey to freedom. If caught, they faced almost certain death. They risked all to be reunited with their loved ones in the South.

Today, the number of North Korean defectors escaping the country has dropped dramatically. Escapees speak of increased ideological control and a shoot to kill policy at the border.

Ten years on, we go back to meet the Park family as they retell the story of their daring escape and their new life in South Korea.

The film has some scenes some viewers may find upsetting.

Pivotal Regional Powers Are Turning Away from America and toward China

Sep 7, 2025 | CNN’s Fareed Zakaria speaks with The Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum about China calling attention to its growing global strength, with a huge military parade and a summit between China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

Trump Accuses Xi Jinping, Putin, and Kim Jong Un of 'Conspiring' against the US | DW News

Sep 4, 2025 | China marked 80 years since Japan's surrender in the Second World War with its largest ever parade on Wednesday - a two-hour show of national unity, diplomatic depth and military might. President Xi was the star of the show. He traveled in an open-top car and wore a Mao-style suit as a tribute to the founding father of the People’s Republic. His guests were a rogue’s gallery of leaders who reject the American-led world order, among them Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who rarely leaves his country. Also on display was an array of military hardware, some of it never seen before. Xi cast himself as the leader of a new world order and characterized his country as “unstoppable” in a speech delivered at Wednesday’s parade.

World Leaders Snub Trump at Beijing Military Parade, as Putin, Kim and Xi Mark the End of WW2

Sep 4, 2025 | Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who made a rare foreign trip to attend, flanked President Xi as they ascended to the viewing platform overlooking Tiananmen Square and watched the display of military hardware and marching troops. Observers say the joint appearance was a show of unity against the United States.

ANTHONY DAVIS can be supported on Patreon here.

This Is How Trump Just Got Triply Humiliated | The Daily Beast Podcast

Sept 4, 2025 | The Daily Beast’s brilliant columnist David Rothkopf joins Joanna Coles to examine Donald Trump’s disastrous week on the world stage. From being overheard on a hot mic talking about deals with Vladimir Putin, to Modi undercutting his peacemaker myth, to world leaders gathering in China without him, Trump finds himself without a seat on the world stage. They explore how his failed military parade compares to China’s massive display of power, how his fixation on the Rose Garden reveals his petty interests, and how his “Gaza Riviera” plan turns tragedy into a dark and twisted real estate play. The conversation shows how China and others are moving forward while Trump obsesses over himself and the past.

North Korea Sends Troops, Ammunition to Russia: What It Means for NATO | DW News

Jul 21, 2025 | As Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraine, the Kremlin is once again seeking help from North Korea. South Korean intelligence reports that the country has already sent Russia weapons and North Korean troops could soon be sent to the front.

Jesse Dollemore: Insane Fox Interview! Trump Calls Canada Enemy and Russia Friend!

May 19, 2025 | Jesse talks about the upside-down world that Trump has created and the bizarre interview he did with Laura Ingraham last night, where he viciously attacked Canada while inviting Russia to be a trading partner with the United States.

Kim Jong-un Vows Toughest Anti-US Policy before Trump Takes Office

THE TELEGRAPH: North Korean leader threatens ‘aggressive counteraction’ and demands more ‘mental toughness’ from troops, state TV says

North Korea will adopt the “toughest” strategy against the United States and increase its defence capabilities, officials said at a policy meeting last week.

During a five-day plenary gathering, Kim Jong-un called the US “the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy”.

He said that the security partnership between the US, South Korea and Japan was expanding into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression”. » | Beatrice Siviero in Laos | Sunday, December 29, 2024

North Korean Troops in Russia: How Dangerous Is the World Right Now? | BBC News

Oct 27, 2024 | In his first BBC interview since standing down as chief of the general staff, General Sir Patrick Sanders has shared his views on whether peace with Russia is possible.

The ex-British Army chief has told Ukrainecast that he believes the world is more dangerous than it was during the Cold War.

Why Are North Korean Troops in Russia?

Over the last month, North Korea’s role aiding Russia in its war in Ukraine has significantly escalated. U.S. officials reported that North Korean soldiers are already operating in the Kursk region in western Russia, where Ukrainian forces are staging a counteroffensive. Michael Shear, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, explains what the deeping relationship between Russia and North Korea means for the war in Ukraine and the world. | By Michael D. Shear, Nikolay Nikolov and Laura Salaberry • October 26, 2024
Watch the NYT video here.

North Korean Troops Set to Join Russian Army as Pyongyang ‘Fully Enters’ War

THE TELEGRAPH: Intelligence sources say a battalion of 3,000 has been secretly training to fight against Ukraine

An image released by North Korean state media of young people reportedly signing petitions to join or return to the army this week | KCNA via Reuters
A battalion of 3,000 North Korean soldiers will shortly join Russian troops in fighting Ukraine, marking Pyongyang’s full entry into the war.

Intelligence sources said the unit has been secretly training in Russia’s Far East ahead of deployment as part of a Russian airborne regiment.

“They are called the Buryat Battalion,” a senior Ukrainian military source told Politico. Buryatia is a remote region of Russia bordering Mongolia that the Kremlin has targeted heavily for military recruitment.

The Kyiv Independent quoted another Western intelligence source claiming that North Korea had sent 10,000 soldiers to join the Russian army. » | James Kilner | Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Meek Europe is now in North Korea’s crosshairs: Reports suggest Moscow may be about to receive 10,000 troops from Pyongyang. Why is no one in uproar? »

In Need of Munitions, Putin to Visit North Korea

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Seeking more weapons for the war in Ukraine, the Russian president plans to return to the country on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will visit North Korea this week for a meeting with its leader, Kim Jong-un, their second in nine months, as the two countries deepen military ties to support Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine with North Korean weapons.

Mr. Putin last visited North Korea in 2000, when he became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the nation. This week’s trip, beginning on Tuesday, highlights North Korea’s growing strategic importance for Mr. Putin, especially its ability to supply badly needed conventional weapons for the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Kim met with Mr. Putin in Russia’s Far East last September, ushering in a new era of relations between the two countries.

For Mr. Kim, it was a rare moment of his country, a pariah in the West, being sought after as an ally. For Russia, it’s a strengthening of ties with a country that is providing it with much-needed munitions for its war in Ukraine. » | Choe Sang-Hun, Reporting from Seoul | Monday, June 17, 2024

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North Korean Teens Get 12 Years’ Hard Labour for Watching South Korean Videos

GUARDIAN EUROPE: Footage shows two 16-year-olds being sentenced in front of hundreds of their peers in an amphitheatre

Video footage released by an organisation that works with North Korean defectors shows North Korean authorities publicly sentencing two teenagers to 12 years’ hard labour for watching South Korean videos.

The footage, which shows the two 16-year-olds in Pyongyang convicted of watching South Korean films and music videos, was released by the South and North Development Institute (Sand).

Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage, which was first reported by the BBC. (+ video) » | Reuters | Friday, January 19, 2024

Unification with South Korea No Longer Possible, Says Kim Jong-un

THE GUARDIAN: In a speech, the North Korean leader has called for constitutional change to identify the south as ‘number one hostile state’

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang, North Korea on Monday. Photograph: 朝鮮通信社/AP
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has called for a change to the constitution to identify South Korea as the “number one hostile state”, ending the regime’s commitment to unifying the Korean peninsula.

In a speech to the supreme people’s assembly – North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament – Kim said he no longer believed unification was possible and accused the South of attempting to foment regime change and promote unification by stealth.

In another sign of quickly deteriorating ties between the two Koreas, which ended their 1950-53 war with a truce but not a peace treaty – Kim said: “We don’t want war, but we have no intention of avoiding it.” » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies | Tuesday, January 16, 2024

U.S. Soldier Who Entered North Korea Is Charged With Desertion

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Army is also accusing Pvt. Travis T. King of other crimes including assaulting other soldiers and child pornography, according to a charging document.

Pvt. Travis T. King left North Korea last month after officials there said they had found him guilty of “illegally intruding” into their territory. | Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press
Pvt. Travis T. King, the American soldier who returned to the United States last month after crossing into North Korea in July, has been charged in military court with multiple offenses, including desertion, assaulting other soldiers and child pornography.

Private King, 23, is being held at a civilian jail just outside Fort Bliss, near El Paso, according to a family spokesman. He was moved there from Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio, where he had been undergoing reintegration procedures.

The charges were filed on Sunday by officials at Fort Bliss. Private King was made aware of them on Wednesday, the family spokesman said.

Private King’s mother, Claudine Gates of Racine, Wis., said in a statement that her son should be presumed innocent and that she was “extremely concerned about his mental health.” » | Dan Simmons and John Ismay | Friday, October 20, 2023

North Korea Deports US Soldier Who Had Crossed into the Country from the South | DW News

Sep 27, 2023 | North Korean authorities expelled Travis King, the US soldier who had crossed into the country from the South in July, Pyongyang's state media reported on Wednesday. According to the KCNA news agency, authorities finished questioning King, who had confessed to entering the country illegally because of his "ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the US Army. Later on Wednesday, Washington said King was in US custody.

EN FRANÇAIS :

Corée du Nord : le soldat américain qui avait passé la frontière a été remis « aux mains » des Etats-Unis : Travis King, 23 ans, avait franchi la ligne de démarcation entre la Corée du Sud et la Corée du Nord le 18 juillet, probablement pour échapper à des sanctions disciplinaires dans son pays. La Maison Blanche a remercié la Suède et la Chine pour avoir facilité son « transfert » via la frontière chinoise avec la Corée du Nord. »

What Possible Kim-Putin Deals Could Look Like? | DW News

Sep 13, 2023 | North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday for a day of talks that began at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East. The two leaders were at a remote Siberian rocket launch site, and began the day by inspecting a Soyuz-2 space facility. Later, the two lavished one another with compliments during a state dinner. …

Putin Toasts Kim over a Six-course Lunch.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: After a closely watched two-hour summit in Russia’s Far East, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sat down for a six-course lunch intended to showcase the wide span of Russian cuisine.

According to a menu posted on the messaging app Telegram by Russian reporters who cover the Kremlin, the meal opened with two appetizers: a duck salad with figs; and dumplings, called pelmeni, stuffed with crab from Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula on Russia’s Pacific Coast that is known for its wildlife. The first two courses were followed by a clear-broth soup called ukha that is usually made with trout, salmon or other fish; parsley; dill; and potatoes or other root vegetables.

A sorbet made from sea buckthorn berries served as a palate cleanser before the main course, a choice of sturgeon with mushrooms and potatoes or entrecôte beef with baked vegetables. » | Valeriya Safronova | Wednesday, September 13, 2023