[1] Reporting is based on information collected from in-country sources, recently returned western visitors to North Korea, stories filed by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), interviews with defectors, and reports published by NGOs and western governments.

[2][3] In 2015, NK News held a Kickstarter fundraising drive to pay to send an investigative journalist to the China–North Korea border.

"[13] Other scoops include the identification of Kim Jong-un's US$7 million yacht[14] and images proving the date of the 2014 Pyongyang apartment collapse.

[17] In November 2014, NK News published a series of accusations by the former Associated Press stringer Nate Thayer, suggesting that the AP bureau in Pyongyang had signed secret agreements with the North Korean government that compromised its journalistic independence and integrity.

[21] Alek Sigley, an Australian national who was a graduate student of Korean literature at Kim Il-sung University, contributed articles about daily life in Pyongyang.