The Pakchon Uranium Concentration Pilot Plant is North Korea's first uranium concentration plant. Converted from a graphite processing facility, Pakchon began to process uranium ore into "yellowcake" in 1982. Based on open-source information and satellite observations, it has likely been in caretaker status since 2002. But, as previously reported by AccessDPRK, low-level activities have continued at the plant. The Pakchon Uranium Concentration Pilot Plant as of February 2024. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, such low-level activities may involve "small pro ..read more

This year is the 10th anniversary of the UN Human Rights Council's Commission of Inquiry report on human rights in North Korea. Using evidence from defector testimony, submissions from UN member states, and human rights organizations, the landmark report highlighted a range of state-directed human rights abuses in the country.   It concluded, "Systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations have been, and are being, committed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, its institutions and officials. In many instances, the violations of human rights found by the Commission ..read more

Located in the mountains west of the city of Sunchon, near a village called Unbong-dong, is a little-known reeducation labor camp (kyo-hwa-so) at 39.436033° 125.795551°.  Kyo-hwa-so are for those prisoners the regime considers "redeemable". Detainees are required to undergo ideological training and must endure forced labor. According to the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry report, detainees are also likely to experience beatings, torture, sexual assault, and starvation rations.  Photograph of similarly sized Samdong prison in South Pyongan Province. Photo: Asiapress, Au ..read more

North Korea doesn't have its own domestic supply of oil and relies on legal and illicit transfers of petroleum products for its economy to function. While AccessDPRK has documented the proliferation of gas stations around the country, those exist parallel to North Korea's traditional oil storage and delivery network, which it has maintained for decades.  Pyongyang-Kaesong Highway gas station at 38.973769° 125.719252°. Image: Wikimapia/Mar12. In much of the world, going to your local gas station is how most individuals get fuel. There are stations for cars, trucks, and there are dedicated ..read more

North Korea shares 1,369.3 km of border with China and Russia. Predominately demarcated by the Yalu and Tumen rivers, the border regions are mountainous, with the available farmland often squeezed into thin strips or even onto islands that completely flood every few years. With a few exceptions, such as the plains around Taehongdan and Onsong, farming in this region doesn't contribute significant amounts to the national food supply. However, they are important locally as are the forests which harbor herbs, mushrooms, and other plants used for food and in traditional medicines, and access to th ..read more

As has become tradition with each new map release, here is a list of what's inside. Although this only reflects what the 2023 Pro Map captured, with over 70,500 sites mapped and organized into 100+ different types of location, AccessDPRK has sought to locate and describe every important military, economic, and cultural site within North Korea. This latest release also gives me the opportunity to discuss in greater detail what the map contains as well as describe the improvements between this version and the 2021 version. Without repeating the full backstory to AccessDPRK (which can be found ..read more

AccessDPRK has been at the forefront of using satellite imagery to uncover North Korea's anti-pandemic measures. It was the first to use satellite imagery to verify reports of the "border blockade", it was the first to offer a nationwide look at those border changes via the AccessDPRK map, and it was the first to expose a network of covert COVID isolation facilities that was built across the country. Screenshot of KCTV program (July 27, 2020) showing a COVID disinfection checkpoint along the Pyongyang-Kaesong Highway. Image source: NK News. North Korea has used the pandemic to clamp down on h ..read more

If you've ever looked at a diagram of a nuclear bomb (whether of Little Boy or of a modern miniaturized warhead like the W-87), you might be forgiven for thinking constructing such devices looks fairly straightforward. For a gun-type fission weapon (like Little Boy), you simply fire a hollow chunk of uranium at a solid cylinder slug of uranium, setting off a chain reaction. For a simple implosion-type weapon, you just wrap a core of plutonium in a shell of conventional explosives and detonate it. That will create an implosion shockwave, compacting the plutonium until it reaches criticality and ..read more

Verifying the existence of underground facilities can be a difficult task, especially when their existence is a state secret. But rumors eventually come out and tantalizing hints of their presence can sometimes be found. For North Korea, these rumors tell of secret subway lines beneath Pyongyang and underground highways connecting major palaces, maybe even reaching as far north as the border with China. I have written quite a lot about North Korea's underground infrastructure, but direct evidence and declassified sources still remain scarce.  Overview of the Pyongyang Government District ..read more

Ever since Kim Jong Un came to power, North Korea's aviation infrastructure has undergone a series of changes, making it difficult to keep an up-to-date record of what airports and landing strips exist and where. For this article, I want to review more recent changes and provide an update to the last AccessDPRK post that focused on the country's air force back in 2018. KCNA photograph of Kim Jong Un inspecting aircraft at Kalma International Airport.  Starting in 2014 Kim constructed several small new runways at his favorite palaces, then he went about improving the country's emergency l ..read more