Daily NK

Daily NK is a defector and anti-DPRK dissident-run online newspaper based in South Korea,[1][2] where it allegedly reports stories obtained from inside North Korea via a network of informants.

Daily NK
FormatOnline
Owner(s)Lee Kwang-baek
PublisherLee Kwang-baek
Editor-in-chiefLee Sang Yong
Staff writers10
FoundedDecember 2004 (2004-12)
LanguageEnglish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese
HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
Websitewww.dailynk.com

Daily NK is a recipient of funding from multiple institutions and private donors, including the National Endowment for Democracy,[3] an NGO run by Carl Gershman and funded by the U.S. Congress. Daily NK's president is Lee Kwang-baek.[4]

History

Founded in December 2004 by Han Ki Hong and the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights,[5] Daily NK covers stories pertaining to North Korea, with a focus on inside information and human rights issues. It publishes primarily in Korean, but also in English, Chinese and Japanese. Its sources inside North Korea communicate with the main office using Chinese cell phones,[6] while it also has several correspondents based in China who interview people coming and going across the Sino-North Korean border.[7] It also carries stories from North Korean defectors[8] and monitors the output of the North Korean media.[9]

Reception

Daily NK reports are frequently cited by international media,[10][11] and former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il's eldest son Kim Jong-nam described it as the most accurate source of inside information on North Korea, particularly the country's markets.[12] According to The Atlantic, agents of South Korea's National Intelligence Service have allegedly contacted Daily NK for information.[10] While it has apparently been able to take news stories out of North Korea, the news created by such organisations are unconfirmed and often contradict other news outlets,[13] such as Daily NK reporting that the government was instructing residents to be prepared for longer border lockdowns, while Yonhap reported that borders were in the 'final stage' towards reopen.[14] This results in analysis being based almost wholly on unverified information, carried by outlets such as Daily NK and Radio Free Asia.[15]

Hwang Jang-yop, a leading political figure in North Korea prior to his 1997 defection, contributed a regular column to the site prior to his death in Seoul in 2010.[16] Thae Yong-ho, a diplomat from North Korea prior to his 2016 defection, has also contributed a series of columns about North Korea-South Korea relations.[17]

North Korea's National Reconciliation Council, in an official statement carried by KCNA, has criticized Daily NK for what it called "anti-DPRK smear campaigns," and Lee Chan-ho of the South Korean Ministry of Unification warned in 2010 that the “flood of raw, unconfirmed reports” from organizations including Daily NK "complicates efforts to understand the North."[18]

In 2020, it claimed that Kim Jong-un had under gone cardiovascular surgery at 'Hyangsan hospital', which it claims to be a hospital built for the Kim family.[19] However, the actual Hyangsan Hospital is only a public health clinic, and is unsuited to undertaking surgery. The surgery was labeled as fake news by Kim Yeon-chul, the minister of unification.[20] During this period, however, the trains used by Kim Jong-un was captured multiple times in Wonsan, on the eastern coast and far from the claimed location of Mount Myohyang.[21]

It was also revealed in 2021 that the website had been hacked for at least from March to June, and that readers of the website were not notified of it. The website was poorly protected, and a exploit in Microsoft Edge was used to deliver the malware, which would take screenshots and steal personal information, such as passwords. A security research group linked the attack to a North Korean group, but did not elaborate on their claims. Although the malware was removed, the website has yet to implement a Content Security Policy, which would stop similar breaches, and is still vulnerable to a similar attack.[22] In a later statement, the website claimed that it had discovered the breach in 2020, but deliberately chose not to inform users, and also claimed that the breach affected only staff members, even though this is contradicted by security researchers, who found that it also affected regular users.[23]

See also

References
  1. "Between Sanctions, Drought and Tensions: How Bad is North Korea's Food Situation? - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea". 38 North. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  2. "That Ain't My Truck: Where North Korea Assembled Its Chinese Transporter-Erector-Launchers". 38 North. 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  3. National Endowment for Democracy Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Fast and Accurate North Korea News". Daily NK.
  5. ‘인터넷 뉴스’로 북한 정보 갈증 해소. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). December 16, 2004. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  6. Choe, Sang-Hun (January 24, 2010). "'Nimble Agencies Sneak News Out of North Korea'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015.
  7. Human Rights Watch (2006). A matter of survival. 18. Human Rights Watch. p. 20.
  8. "Defector's Story Archived 2009-12-17 at the Wayback Machine". Daily NK.
  9. "NK Media Output Archived 2009-12-19 at the Wayback Machine". Daily NK.
  10. Robert S. Boynton (24 February 2011). "North Korea's Digital Underground". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  11. For example, citations in Al Jazeera Archived 2009-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times Archived 2017-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Chosun Ilbo Archived 2009-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, BBC, The Independent Archived 2017-07-01 at the Wayback Machine, Dantri - Vietnam Archived 2009-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, China Daily Archived 2006-12-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. "NRC Accuses S. Korea of Using "North Defectors" for Smear Campaign". KCNA. March 23, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-05-29.
  13. Sang-Hun, Choe (2020-04-21). "Speculation Over Kim Jong-un's Health Is Fueled by North Korea's Own Secrecy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  14. "Squaring the conflicting news reports on North Korea's border reopening". 38 North. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  15. "North Korea's "Anti-Capitalist" Crackdown: Old Roots but New Vigor - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea". 38 North. 2021-11-05. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  16. "With Hwang Jang-yop Archived 2009-08-18 at the Wayback Machine"
  17. Thae Yong Ho Video Series
  18. Choe, Sang-Hun (January 24, 2010). "Nimble Agencies Sneak News Out of North Korea". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015.
  19. Ah, Ha Yoon (2020-04-21). "[CORRECTION] Source: Kim Jong Un recently underwent a cardiovascular procedure". Daily NK. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  20. "South Korean minister dismisses "fake news" surrounding Kim Jong Un's health | NK News". NK News - North Korea News. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  21. "Nothing to See Here? How Not to React to North Korea Rumors - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea". 38 North. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  22. "Hackers infect DailyNK website with malware to spy on readers | NK News". NK News - North Korea News. 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  23. "Hacked DailyNK website infected broad range of organizations | NK News". NK News - North Korea News. 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
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