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Named one of the best books of 2015 by The Economist, now revised and updated.
Markets, culture, survival, and everyday life inside North Korea.
Often portrayed only through the lens of politics and military tension, North Korea is also a place where millions of people navigate daily life in complex and resourceful ways. North Korea Confidential offers a rare, deeply reported look at how ordinary citizens live, work, adapt, and connect within one of the world:s most closed societies.
Drawing on interviews with defectors, traders, diplomats, aid workers, and others with firsthand experience, the authors reveal a country shaped not only by state control, but also by informal markets, evolving social norms, and growing exposure to outside culture. From the rise of grassroots entrepreneurship to the spread of foreign media, these changes are quietly reshaping daily life across the country.
Across seven engaging chapters, this book explores topics ranging from fashion and entertainment to economic survival and social hierarchy, offering a nuanced portrait of a society in transition. The result is a more human, grounded understanding of North Korea: not just as a political system, but as a place where people continue to adapt, endure, and find meaning in their everyday lives.
Markets, culture, survival, and everyday life inside North Korea.
Often portrayed only through the lens of politics and military tension, North Korea is also a place where millions of people navigate daily life in complex and resourceful ways. North Korea Confidential offers a rare, deeply reported look at how ordinary citizens live, work, adapt, and connect within one of the world:s most closed societies.
Drawing on interviews with defectors, traders, diplomats, aid workers, and others with firsthand experience, the authors reveal a country shaped not only by state control, but also by informal markets, evolving social norms, and growing exposure to outside culture. From the rise of grassroots entrepreneurship to the spread of foreign media, these changes are quietly reshaping daily life across the country.
Across seven engaging chapters, this book explores topics ranging from fashion and entertainment to economic survival and social hierarchy, offering a nuanced portrait of a society in transition. The result is a more human, grounded understanding of North Korea: not just as a political system, but as a place where people continue to adapt, endure, and find meaning in their everyday lives.
Price: $9.99
Pages: 224
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Imprint: Tuttle Publishing
Publication Date:
23 February 2027
Trim Size: 8.00 X 5.12 in
ISBN: 9780804860017
Format: Hardcover
"North Korea Confidential gives us a deeply informed close-up. Tudor, a former correspondent for The Economist, and Pearson, a Reuters reporter, have pieced together their story from North Korean insiders, defectors, diplomats and traders, and from a careful reading of texts in English, Korean and Chinese." --New York Times
"North Korean society is rapidly changing, affecting everything from what people watch on TV to what they sing at karaoke. With the help of a new book charting daily life we see if you've been paying attention." --The Guardian
"North Korea Confidential, by James Pearson and Daniel Tudor, says that nearly all North Koreans lead a 'double economic life,' supplementing measly rations and puny state wages of as little as $1 a month with extra work in their spare time." --The Economist
"In a new book that the authors say aims to document 'North Korea, the country' rather than 'North Korea, the state,' two journalists --Daniel Tudor, former correspondent for the Economist in Seoul, and James Pearson, currently a Reuters reporter in Seoul--tap a wide range of sources to describe the lives of ordinary North Koreans. --Wall Street Journal
"The authors, both journalists in the region, do their best to beat the stereotypes that have been scraped together over the years, 'the ridiculous international media image that suggests that DPRK citizens are robots who simply live to serve their 'Dear Leader.'" --Associated Press
"…it is refreshing to find a book that neither obsesses excessively over the nuclear issue nor treats the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as simply a bad joke or the world's most irrational place." --Andrei Lankov, Reason
"Dispelling the myth of a brainwashed populace is one of the main goals of the book. Despite horrific prison camps, lack of Internet, and a national fabric called "vinylon," most people still take the risk to watch a foreign film, regularly consume South Korea pop culture, party, and even argue with the police." --The Daily Beast
"North Korea Confidential…uses extensive interviews with recent defectors and people still in the country to build a rich picture of daily life there." --Financial Times
"North Korean society is rapidly changing, affecting everything from what people watch on TV to what they sing at karaoke. With the help of a new book charting daily life we see if you've been paying attention." --The Guardian
"North Korea Confidential, by James Pearson and Daniel Tudor, says that nearly all North Koreans lead a 'double economic life,' supplementing measly rations and puny state wages of as little as $1 a month with extra work in their spare time." --The Economist
"In a new book that the authors say aims to document 'North Korea, the country' rather than 'North Korea, the state,' two journalists --Daniel Tudor, former correspondent for the Economist in Seoul, and James Pearson, currently a Reuters reporter in Seoul--tap a wide range of sources to describe the lives of ordinary North Koreans. --Wall Street Journal
"The authors, both journalists in the region, do their best to beat the stereotypes that have been scraped together over the years, 'the ridiculous international media image that suggests that DPRK citizens are robots who simply live to serve their 'Dear Leader.'" --Associated Press
"…it is refreshing to find a book that neither obsesses excessively over the nuclear issue nor treats the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as simply a bad joke or the world's most irrational place." --Andrei Lankov, Reason
"Dispelling the myth of a brainwashed populace is one of the main goals of the book. Despite horrific prison camps, lack of Internet, and a national fabric called "vinylon," most people still take the risk to watch a foreign film, regularly consume South Korea pop culture, party, and even argue with the police." --The Daily Beast
"North Korea Confidential…uses extensive interviews with recent defectors and people still in the country to build a rich picture of daily life there." --Financial Times
Daniel Tudor is from Manchester, England, and graduated with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University. He has lived in Seoul, Korea for many years, and served as The Economist's Korea Correspondent from 2010-2013. His first book, 'Korea: The Impossible Country' received high praise and has also been translated into Korean, Chinese, Polish, and Thai. Daniel is a regular columnist for a Korean newspaper, the Joongang Ilbo, and has commented on Korea-related topics many times for the BBC, Al Jazeera, and others. He is also co-founder of The Booth, a small chain of craft beer pubs.
James Pearson is a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Seoul, where he covers politics and general news in North and South Korea. He holds a BA (hons) in Chinese and Korean from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a Master's of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Oriental Studies from the University of Cambridge.
James Pearson is a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Seoul, where he covers politics and general news in North and South Korea. He holds a BA (hons) in Chinese and Korean from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and a Master's of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Oriental Studies from the University of Cambridge.