Dec_week1 2025 North Korea Prayer
1. Holding North Korea Accountable for Forced Labor of Workers Dispatched to Chinese Fisheries)
Daily NK and the Human Rights Foundation of the Korean Bar Association held a seminar on the afternoon of the 27th at the Lawyers' Hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to discuss the reality of forced labor of North Korean workers dispatched overseas and legal response measures. /Photo=Daily NK
▶▶ Article Summary
It was pointed out that state-led forced labor involving North Korean workers dispatched to Chinese fisheries is violating international human rights norms and threatening the stability of the global supply chain and international security. Daily NK and the Human Rights Foundation of the Korean Bar Association held a seminar titled 'Holding Accountable for Forced Labor' to discuss the reality of forced labor of North Korean workers dispatched overseas and legal response measures. According to presentations at the seminar, North Korean workers must give huge bribes to cadres even before their dispatch, and women, in particular, must endure sexual humiliation in exchange for the issuance of a 'life assessment document' (Saenghwal Pyeongjeongseo). Immediately upon arrival in China, their passports are confiscated by managers, and they are kept under 24-hour rotating surveillance in factory dormitories. Going out is strictly controlled, and workers suffer from long hours of labor, lasting 12 to 14 hours a day, and routine verbal abuse. Workers receive only 10-20% of the wage contracted with the factory as living expenses, with the remainder being recovered by the North Korean authorities, which then controls the distribution method. The seafood produced this way was found to be labeled with the origin 'Product of China' and distributed to various countries including South Korea, the United States, Canada, and Spain. Furthermore, it was noted that some countries are utilizing North Korean labor through roundabout methods, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
[November 27, 2025, Daily NK / Read the article: https://buly.kr/9MRZdXS]
▶▶ Prayer Topics
“May he vindicate the afflicted people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.” (Psalm 72:4)
ￏ Have mercy on the North Korean workers who went to China to escape poverty but are being forced into labor for 12 to 14 hours every day, stripped of even basic rights such as freedom of movement, privacy and communication, freedom of expression, and subjected to wage exploitation. May North Korea's forced labor overseas and wage exploitation, which violate UN Security Council resolutions and international human rights norms, be stopped immediately.
ￏ May China's illegal exports cease, where seafood produced through the unlawful forced labor of North Korean workers in China is brazenly disguised as 'Product of China' and exported worldwide, thereby violating the UN's economic sanctions against North Korea's nuclear development.
2. Even the World's 2nd Largest Exchange is Vulnerable... Who is North Korea's 'Lazarus' Hacking Group, Suspected of Upbit Hack?)
Getty Images Bank
▶▶ Article Summary
North Korea's hacking group 'Lazarus' has been identified as the likely mastermind behind the hacking of Upbit, South Korea's largest virtual asset exchange. Lazarus is the same organization believed to have stolen 58 billion KRW worth of Ethereum from Upbit in 2019. Lazarus, reportedly founded in 2009, is one of North Korea's representative hacker groups, along with Kimsuky and Andariel. It gained global notoriety in 2014 by hacking Sony Pictures, which produced a film about Kim Jong Un. Unlike Kimsuky, whose main goals are stealing and paralyzing information from governments and major institutions, financial gain is the core objective for Lazarus. It is essentially North Korea's 'foreign currency earning' hacking organization, and since the late 2010s, it has mainly targeted virtual assets, which are difficult to trace. The Ethereum hacking incident at Upbit in 2019 was also tentatively concluded to be the work of Lazarus. Earlier this year, Lazarus also planted malicious code in Bybit, stealing coins worth about 2 trillion KRW. Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, even launched a Lazarus bounty site, offering a 5% reward on frozen funds to those who provide information leading to the fund's immobilization.
[November 28, 2025, Hankook Ilbo / Read the article: https://buly.kr/15PxXOf]
▶▶ Prayer Topics
"...They deal falsely, they enter in and steal; they swarm outside and rob in gangs; they make the king glad with their evil, and the princes with their lies." (Hosea 7:1, 3)
ￏ North Korea's foreign currency-earning hacking organization, 'Lazarus,' has been named as the likely mastermind behind the hacking of Upbit, the world's second-largest and South Korea's largest virtual asset exchange. May the security systems of virtual asset exchanges and financial institutions be thoroughly strengthened so that financial assets and personal information are safely protected from hacking crimes by North Korea and others.
ￏ May the international community unite to devise effective countermeasures against North Korea's illegal cyber activities, so that virtual currency assets stolen through hacking are not used for North Korea's nuclear and missile development or to maintain Kim Jong Un's three-generation hereditary dictatorship.
ￏ May national government agencies and cyber security experts thoroughly prepare for North Korean hacking attacks and properly establish security systems to firmly protect national security.
3. [Everard Column] Private Cars with Yellow License Plates in Pyongyang and the Future of North Korea)
John Everard, former British Ambassador to Pyongyang
▶▶ Article Summary
Recently, the number of vehicles with yellow license plates, indicating private cars, has noticeably increased on the streets of Pyongyang, and traffic jams are even occurring in some areas. Since the North Korean authorities relaxed regulations on private vehicle ownership last October, residents have been able to buy private cars since February, provided they have the money. Most of the vehicles are low-to-mid-priced Chinese imports, but some cost as much as $13,000 (about 19 million KRW). Over the past 15 years, the consumer market for mobile phones and high-end home appliances has gradually expanded in North Korea. Recently, service industries such as domestic helper services, dog breeding services, and coffee shops have also expanded, and apartment sales and private tutoring occur frequently. Donju (money masters) have emerged, showing off their wealth with expensive restaurants and cars. The North Korean authorities carried out currency reform in 2009 to block the accumulation of private capital, but the suppression policy was withdrawn due to public backlash. While the only path to success in North Korea was once promotion within the party or state organizations, more stable and higher incomes now come from the market outside state institutions. This inevitably lowers loyalty to the state. After private cars, leisure and travel will likely follow, and the emerging wealthy class may look overseas. This could lead to the 'inflow of culture and information,' which the North Korean regime guards against most. The recent change in residents' consumption patterns indicates that the North Korean authorities, who have pursued suppression policies, have reached a stage where they inevitably must accept the changes.
[November 28, 2025, JoongAng Ilbo / Read the article: https://buly.kr/3j9KFqW]
▶▶ Prayer Topics
"and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
ￏ In certain segments of North Korean society, the use of high-end home appliances, domestic helper services, dog breeding services, coffee shops, private tutoring, and apartment sales are frequent, and the number of private passenger cars in Pyongyang is high enough to cause traffic congestion. Through this trend, may individual property rights and a market economy take root across North Korean society, and may this lay the foundation for a unified Korean peninsula based on liberal democracy and the Gospel.
ￏ As information from the outside world flows into North Korea and the market economy is activated, may the North Korean economy develop, resolving the livelihood and basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter for the North Korean people, and may the freedom and human rights of North Korean residents, who live like slaves, be respected.
