Martyn Williams

If you're interested in North Korea, sign up for my free newsletter on North Korean technology trends. The new edition goes out later today. (You don't need a Substack account to subscribe) substack.com/@nktechlab

North Korean TV didn't carry any live coverage of New Year's Eve in Pyongyang. As it did last year, it ended 2025 with a photo compilation of Kim Jong Un's work and a new year message. The NYE event has gotten bigger in recent years and is now edited and broadcast on Jan 1. I expect the same today.

Here's a vehicle I didn't expect to see on the roads of North Korea. State TV on its way to cover some factory openings in a 1990s-era GMC Vandura.

News from outside disappears in North Korea Decades-long efforts to provide uncensored foreign news into North Korea are facing setbacks now. Big government-funded broadcasters in the U.S. and South Korea have fallen silent one by one this year...

Cuts silence outside news in North Korea | AP News share.google/PJA9QQkL5xY3...

North Korea's first multi-channel IPTV service apparently launched - NK TechLab North Korea’s Manbang Supply Center (만방보급소) appears to have launched a multi-channel Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) streaming service, providing 20 channels of linear television across the countr...

North Koreans now have access to a 20-channel IPTV service. The subscription service is an evolution of the "Manbang" service that began almost a decade ago: www.nktechlab.org/north-koreas...

International Television and Radio Network Broadcast Production Editing Newsroom and Corporate Headquarters Independent Shipping Available A Washington DC based international television and radio broadcast network is making a significant reduction in its operations and will make a complete liquidation of all excess television, radio, stu...

Much of Radio Free Asia's broadcast equipment appears up for auction. This will make it even harder for anything to resume should it be desired or necessary. rasmus.com/auctions/gal...

The Importance of Foreign Information Access in North Korea  - NK TechLab For decades, North Koreans have relied on illicit foreign information to provide news, information, entertainment, knowledge and — perhaps most importantly — ideas they would otherwise never have acce...

Two North Korean escapees recently told us what radio and TV broadcasts from overseas meant to them before they escaped, and before the US and South Korean governments recently shut them down. They have powerful words. www.nktechlab.org/the-importan...

A Nascent Fintech Industry Appears in Pyongyang - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea Electronic payments appear to be gaining popularity in North Korea, thanks to the spread of ...

E-payments are becoming more popular in the DPRK due to the spread of smartphones, state pressures, and the app industry. @martynw.bsky.social analyzes the burgeoning industry.

This Wednesday, join me and others for an examination of major changes in information access for North Koreans this year.

Current Status of North Korea's Drone Program - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea North Korea is expanding its military drone program. During a visit to North Korea’s Unmanned ...

If you haven't been following North Korea's drone program, here's where they are and how they got there: www.38north.org/2025/09/curr...

Here's some video I shot of people working the fields in Rimhan-ri, North Korea, on Sunday afternoon.

How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart

Jaw-dropping story in the New York Times today, if you haven't seen it. North Korea had shown zero interest in talking to the US and this won't help. It probably also further Kim's suspicion that the US is really after regime change. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...

North Korean, Russian officials clash over aircon temperature before summit North Korean, Russian officials clash over aircon temperature before summit Aides struggled over 23C vs 20C setting at venue ahead of Putin-Kim talks

The Chosun Ilbo is using AI for translation, so we get this piece on a September 3 meeting that quotes a remarkably forward-looking report on the event that was published on .... July 3. I get that AI can help, but surely someone should be proofreading the output? www.chosun.com/english/worl...

Kim Jong Un was second-to-last to be greeted by Xi, one ahead of Putin. Kim and Putin would have been next to each other as they waited in the receiving line. The two took the prime positions either side of Xi and his wife in the group photo shortly after.

Just In: Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin appear to share a discussion alongside Xi Jinping as they enter the viewing area for China's Victory Day parade. Kim and Putin were at the head of the group of foreign leaders.

Just In: Kim Jong Un arrives to attend China's Victory Day commemorations. He was one of a string of foreign dignitaries that arrived Wednesday morning ahead of a military parade.

Quick Take: North Korea's Newest Warships Unlikely to Have Sailed - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea The two newest warships in the North Korea’s naval fleet do not appear to have taken to the ...

We noticed something interesting about North Korea's new warships. State media video has been limited and in all the satellite images we have, they are moored or being moved by tugs. They might not have working propulsion systems, despite launches in April and June. www.38north.org/2025/08/quic...

For the first time, North Korean state TV has shown its soldiers battling inside Ukraine. This came the same day it televised a ceremony where Kim Jong Un honored over 100 soldiers who were killed in the fighting.

These posters covered by the Washington Post today: How a thrown sub made ‘Sandwich Guy’ a resistance icon in Trump’s D.C.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Quick Take: A Day at the Seaside   - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea Commercial satellite imagery from August 19 has captured hundreds of colorful tents on the ...

North Koreans enjoying a day at the seaside. We saw these colored dots and zoomed in a little. It's not just the new fancy beach resort where people are enjoying the sea this August. www.38north.org/2025/08/quic...

Kim Jong Un visited his new destroyer (the one that didn't fall over) in Nampho on Monday. Unfortunately, North Korean state media blurred out the good bits. We still haven't seen this ship move away from the dock since it was pushed there by tug shortly after launch in late April.

South Korea's move to lower tensions with Kim Jong Un threatens 400,000 Christians A move to lower tensions with Kim Jong Un's hermit kingdom has led to vital radio broadcasts of Christian material being cut off from the people who need it most.

This article, which quotes my work, fundamentally misunderstands it. Government broadcasts have been cut, not religious ones. The "veteran correspondent" would know that if he bothered to reach out to me. He all doesn't understand how Korean names work. www.foxnews.com/world/south-...

The same panels that had anti-Elon posters are now immortalizing the throwing of sandwiches. I'm presuming a reference to the guy who threw his Subway sandwich at a CBP agent.

Follow my new project, NK TechLab, for updates on technology as it relates to North Korea. Our latest was a listening check today on the current jamming situation after a busy month of change:

YouTube video by ANNnewsCH 【緊急ライブ】太平洋沿岸に津波警報 命を守るために今すぐ逃げて！ カムチャツカ半島付近でM8.7の地震【LIVE】(2025年7月30日) ANN/テレ朝

A M8.0 earthquake off the Russian Far East has sparked a tsunami warning in Japan of up to 3m. Live: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nju7... , www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmDJ... , www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRoi...

80 years ago today, the BBC Light Programme launched entertainment and music on 200kHz longwave (now used by Radio 4 on 198kHz). It lasted until 1967 when it Radio 1 and Radio 2 began. Here's Radio Times announcing the program and the first day's schedule. (more: genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/aa8883a...)

Quick Take: New Seaport Shaping Up at Sohae Satellite Launching Station - 38 North: Informed Analysis of North Korea The full nature of the seaport at North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launch Center is finally ...

The seaport at North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launch Center is shaping up. It looks like a crane will be added for shifting cargo between ship and land, but what cargo and why? Some answers and questions: www.38north.org/2025/07/quic...

Kim Yo Jong firmly rejects denuclearization as a basis for any talks with US: "We do not want to give any meaning to the U.S. side's unilateral assessment of the past DPRK-U.S. dialogue. It is worth taking into account the fact that the year 2025 is neither 2018 nor 2019." kcna.kp/en/article/q...

Russia's Nordwind inaugurated its new, monthly flight from Moscow to Pyongyang overnight. The Boeing 777-200ER appears to be parked at Pyongyang Sunan Airport and will return on Tuesday, according to the schedule. Japan's Kyodo News has video of the aircraft arrival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGxF...

Lots of action on North Korean TV this evening as it repeats the 2024 blockbuster, "72시간" (72 Hours). The movie was released in early 2024 and first shown on KCTV in January. It tells the historically inaccurate tale of how the South started the Korean war.